As soon [...]]]> I flew my short cross country solo back in February during reading week. It was a cold, overcast day with quite a bit of snow on the ground. Having not flown for over two weeks, the first flight of the day was a checkout with Ashley making sure I haven’t forgotten how to fly.

As soon as the check out was complete and we were down I set to getting the weather and doing all the other final flight planning things which needed to be taken care of. The waypoints on this flight were a bit different than on my dual cross country. The Brantford to Tillsonburg leg was still the same however I did not go to Kitchener-Waterloo. Instead, from Tillsonburg I took off and headed for the south end of Cambridge, the red dot on the map below.

The flight preparation complete, I handed it off to Mark, the manager of the airport and an instructor at Brantford to look over while I was walking around the plane. I headed outside, made sure GINS was all ready to go: fuel tanks full, oil good, brakes and tires looking good, etc. Mark cleared me to fly and reassured me that I will be in radio range of CYFD the whole time.

I took off from runway 29, made a right turn to climb to altitude then came over the airport for the set heading point and off to Tillsonburg I went. The whole way there I was trying to match what was on the ground to what I was seeing on the ground. This worked well until I approached CNQ4 and realized I could not find the airport yet again. I tuned the Tillsonburg frequency and there was a lone aircraft broadcasting as it landed full stop. I frantically searched the ground and for an airport but I could not for the life of me find it. I maintained cruise altitude (the higher you are, the better your field of vision). As I was beginning to lose hope and considering turning back to Brantford I gave it one more shot. Through the windscreen I could see a fairly large city at my 10 o’clock. Looking at the map, the only city it could be was Tillsonburg so drawing a line to approximately where I was put me…right on top of the airport. Looking down, beneath GINS’s main gear I could see Tillsonburg airport gliding below me. I turned toward the city, flew an appropriate distance away then turned around, made the radio calls needed and proceeded with an uneventful touch and go.

You can see my flight path on the map below. This was recorded by my iPhone (don’t worry it was stowed away in my flight bag and I didn’t take it out until I got back to the clubhouse).

As I took down the time I left Tillsonburg I realized it was getting close to 16:00 EST. I remembered seeing the plane booked at that time and there was no way I would make it to Cambridge and back to Brantford in time. I made a quick radio call to the Brantford Flying Club asking what they would like me to do: come back or continue with my cross country. It seems while I was flying the booking at 16:00 was cancelled so I had the airplane for the rest of the day. “Brantford Unicom, GINS, roger. See you in half an hour,” I said and continued on to Cambridge. The second and third legs of the cross country were uneventful. Finding the water tower in Cambridge was straight forward and coming back to Brantford posed no challenges.

All in all it was a fun flight and I was happy that I didn’t lose myself and give in to frustration when I wasn’t able to find CNQ4. Map reading is a skill I will continue to practice and improve.

Next up: diversions and the long cross country!

Posts that may be related:

1. Short Cross Country (CYFD, CNQ4, CYKF) – Dual
2. Flight lesson update, or rather lack thereof
3. Cross yourselves, then cross the streams

For the first few times I’ll be in the circuit so I plan on practicing soft and short field landings along with regular ones. Also, if my instructor allows [...]]]> I will be going solo again soon and I’m hoping to get some input from you as to what I should do on my “free time.”

For the first few times I’ll be in the circuit so I plan on practicing soft and short field landings along with regular ones. Also, if my instructor allows it, some engine failures in the circuit (of course this would also depend on how busy the pattern is). What else should I practice?

After that I expect to go out to the practice area a few times. Here I plan to do some regular turns and steep turns, climbs and descents with and without flaps, range and endurance and maybe some instrument failures (electrical, vacuum, etc.) Anything else you suggest I should practice? What do you usually have your students practice when they’re up there alone?

I look forward to your suggestions in the comments! Thanks for your help!

Posts that may be related:

1. Update on my flight lessons
2. This is why we don’t have pirate pilots
3. The importance of proper communication

What the Cessna is doing is a spin, or a stall aggravated by yaw. A spin is a very dangerous situation to find yourself in and usually happens inadvertently when the plane stalls (which can happen at any airspeed) and the pilot [...]]]> Take a look at this video and read on about this manoeuvre:

What the Cessna is doing is a spin, or a stall aggravated by yaw. A spin is a very dangerous situation to find yourself in and usually happens inadvertently when the plane stalls (which can happen at any airspeed) and the pilot doesn’t control the yaw with the rudder. To enter a spin (and this should be done only with an instructor present and for training purposes only!) the aircraft is stalled and then the rudder is kicked to one side.

Here’s a play by play of what’s happening in the video:

• 0:19 The plane begins entering the stall by idling the engine and pulling back on the yoke to climb and lose airspeed.
• 0:24 The plane is stalled and the instructor kicks the rudder to the left.
• 0:25 – 0:28 The plane is in the incipient stage of the stall (first 360 degrees).
• 0:28 – 0:36 The plane quickly loses altitude while the pilot is holding the rudder in the opposite direction of the spin.

To recover from a spin you have to:

1. Keep the ailerons neutral.
2. Throttle idle.
3. Full rudder in the opposite direction of the spin.
4. When the rotation is stopped, push the control column forward to break the stall and neutralize the rudder.
5. Recover from the dive.

Fascinating! I’ve never seen a spin from the outside, but I did experience a couple from the inside of a Piper Cherokee. I’m not a big fan of roller coasters so they were a bit rough on me (also I forgot the paper bags though luckily I didn’t need one).

[via Pilot Report]

Posts that may be related:

1. Confusion in the cockpit
2. Flight Lesson 2
3. Planes on conveyors

You see, I was getting ready for my first cross-country at the beginning of November. It was a cool, clear, sunny Sunday [...]]]> I was hoping that by now I’d be posting about my flight test and my success. That was the plan, but unfortunately plans don’t always go the way you uhhh plan them to.

You see, I was getting ready for my first cross-country at the beginning of November. It was a cool, clear, sunny Sunday morning when I woke up to get the latest METARs/TAFs and finish up the planning. Around 7 AM, Kenny calls me to give me the news: Tradeport has locked Peninsulair out.

Peninsulair, my (now) former flight school, had had issues with Tradeport previously in the year. The dispute was over the rent on the property Peninsulair operated on. Frankly, the rent was the least of PenAir’s worry:

• Lack of advertising and marketing.
• Airplanes literally falling apart around the pilots.
• Of a fleet of six or so planes in working order, only 1 was night-flight acceptable (i.e. the necessary avionics were in place AND functioning).
• No commercial training program.

It’s easy to point out the failures of a failed company. There are always enough fingers to do the pointing and really it doesn’t help any with hindsight being 20/20 and all. PenAir did have a few things going for it as well:

• Only flight school in Hamilton.
• Only flight school in the area accessible by public transportation (see my earlier post).
• Operating out of an international airport giving its students much radio practice in a (sometimes) busy airspace.
• Perfect location for sightseeing flights: 1 hour to downtown Toronto and back or to Niagara Falls and back not to mention the beauty of lake Erie’s shore
  

  From In the sky and around CYHM

Unfortunately, none of this helped and in the end Tradeport had its way. There is a lengthy discussion on AvCanada defending Peninsulair and putting the blame on Tradeport for those interested.

After all is said and done, it comes down to this:

• Peninsulair is out of business. There are rumours of possible buyers, but even so, PenAir’s days at CYHM are done.
• I am looking for a flight school to finish off my remaining lessons: cross countries, diversions, instrument time.

My options as they stand now are Spectrum Airways at CZBA (Burlington Airpark) and Brantford Flight Centre at CYFD (Brantford). Both are within an hour’s drive but therein lies the problem: I don’t have a car. Buying a car for the two months or so it would take me to finish off the lessons I have left doesn’t really sit well with me.

Until I find a place to fly out of again, Flying Dan is grounded. In the mean time, enjoy my previous flight lessons posts.

Link List
The Hamilton Spectator – Locked out…and looking for help
The Hamilton Spectator – Lease woes buffet flight school
AvCanada – Peninsulair locked out at CYHM by Tradeport!
Brantford Flight Centre
Spectrum Airways

Posts that may be related:

1. Flight Lesson Update: I SOLOED!
2. Flight Lesson 11 and getting to the airport on public transportation
3. Flight Lesson 1

I SOLOED!

It was an amazing experience! Kenny and I went up for a couple of circuits then he had me practice an engine failure for the full-stop. We taxied back to Peninsulair, all [...]]]> It’s been a while, a lot of things have happened in my flying career. First and foremost:

I SOLOED!

It was an amazing experience! Kenny and I went up for a couple of circuits then he had me practice an engine failure for the full-stop. We taxied back to Peninsulair, all the while he let the controllers know I was going up for my first solo. I dropped him off, taxied on the apron, did my run up checks (Brakes ON, Switch Tanks, 1800 RPM, etc.) listened to the ATIS and called Ground.

Me:“Hamilton Ground, Cherokee GQEQ with information ___ (I forget what it was)”
YHM Ground: “QEQ, Hamilton Ground. Runway 24, winds ___, taxi Charlie, Hotel, hold short runway 24.”
Me:“Charlie, Hotel, hold short runway 24 for QEQ, and I can take the intersection departure.” (Meaning that I did not need the full runway, I had 3100′ left from the intersection of taxiway H and runway 24 and I was going to use that).

I taxied to the runway, went through my pre-takeoff checklist, took a deep breath (then exhaled) and pulled up to the hold short line (200′ from the runway).

Me:“Hamilton Tower, QEQ is on Hotel ready for takeoff 24, for a circuit.”
YHM Tower:“QEQ, Hamilton Tower, altimeter ____, winds ____, from the intersection of Hotel, cleared take off 24.”
Me:“QEQ.”(I acknowledged the instructions) *hit the throttle and start rolling toward the runway*
YHM Tower:“QEQ hold your position, I’ll have company Cherokee do its touch and go and then let you go so we’re not rushing you.”
Me:*hit the brakes* “QEQ”

This is when the fun started. FTDS was doing touch and goes and they were on final for 24. As I was waiting for my clearance, I hear the tower clear TDS for a full-stop on the runway because a coyote decided to run across runway 24 towards me. I guess he was excited for me too. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my furry friend for giving me some extra time to mentally go through the maneuvers that were to follow.

TDS taxied up the runway all the way past Hotel taxi way, where I was still holding short and finally received its takeoff clearance. Tower instructed me to “line up and wait” so I throttled up again and made it onto the runway. Once I received my clearance:

• Throttle max
• Keep straight with the runway
• Engine instruments green, air speed active
• Air speed 55 and OH MY GOD THE PLANE ROTATED ON ITS OWN!

I continued my climb to 500′ Above Ground Level. There I retracted the flaps, fuel pump off, engine instruments green, fuel pressure holding. Turn left and continue climbing to 1000′ AGL. Once at 1000′, I turned left again, paralleling the runway (on the downwind leg) and admired the view. I especially enjoyed the view off my right wing, seeing as how with Kenny there, I don’t get to see out that window. I started my downwind/landing checks and completed them well before the end of the runway.

Once at the end, I throttled down to 2100 RPM, 10 degrees of flaps and slowed down to 80 knots. Watching the runway, I waited until it was 45 degrees behind me to set flaps 25 and slow down to 70 knots. After four swings of the trim wheel to get the approach speed set up I began turning base and called up the tower.

Me:“Hamilton Tower, QEQ is turning left base, 24, full stop.
YHM Tower:“QEQ, Tower, winds ____, cleared for landing runway 24.”
Me:“QEQ.”

I touched down, a bit rough, taxied to the end of run way, off on Bravo, and all the way back to Peninsulair.

Kenny was waiting for me.

Kenny wasn’t the only one waiting for me though. Glenn had a present for me:

It was an amazing experience. The first solo is one I will never forget. Since that Saturday’s 0.3 solo hours, I’ve added on 4.8 more and even headed out to the practice area on my own.

Now that my midterms are somewhat over I can start studying for the Written PPL test. I’m also preparing for the cross country part of my training. I’m preparing for a cross country this coming weekend, one that will take me from Hamilton(CYHM) to Kitchener/Waterloo(CYKF) to London(CYXU) to St. Thomas(CYQS) to Welland(CNQ3) and back to Hamilton(CYHM). I’m looking forward to a long trip and I’ll make sure to post pictures!

Posts that may be related:

1. Flight lesson update, or rather lack thereof
2. Flight Lesson 2
3. Flight Lesson 11 and getting to the airport on public transportation

My instructor, Kenny, is the camera man

Regular flying around

Steep turn (bank angle of 45 degrees)

Westjet 737 landing at Hamilton Airport while we are on the base leg

Posts that may [...]]]> In case you didn’t believe that I was ACTUALLY taking flight lessons and learning to fly, here’s a picture

My instructor, Kenny, is the camera man

Posts that may be related:

1. Flight Lesson 10: Steep turns and spirals, oh my!
2. Flight Lesson 11 and getting to the airport on public transportation
3. The view from the control tower

Click the image for larger version

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Posts that may be related:Flight Lesson 10: [...]]]> I had a chance to go up in the Hamilton airport control tower. I’ve always wondered what it looked like from up there (and also in there). Check out these pics:

Click the image for larger version

Click the image for larger version

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Posts that may be related:

1. Flight Lesson 10: Steep turns and spirals, oh my!
2. In flight videos for your entertainment
3. A full service tower