First Solo

I finally did it!!!! After all of the work, I finally soloed. It was a normal hot hazy summer day here in North Texas when we started this morning. The odd thing is on the way in to the airport, I saw a lot of fog in a little valley just to the west of the airport. When I got to the airplane, there was fog on the outside of the window. I knew something was up when Richard handed me a key to the lock box this morning (students don't get a key to the lock box until they have soloed).

We did our usual pattern work and he threw several things at me that I handled fairly well. Our problem was that the pattern was pretty full today with a lot of people in from Addison. They aren't too familiar with the noise problems we have from the city of Fairview and I don't think that they care about being good neighbors. I also noticed very different flying styles when turning to base and final than what we use. They have a tendency to carry their base leg a lot farther out than we do. The majority of the people from McKinney tend to keep their base and final legs inside of highway 380 where the rest seem to carry their's way out past highway 380. The one thing that Richard is teaching me is to be flexible. I can fly that long approach or I can fly the rather short one that the tower guys seem to like a lot better.

I even got a wave off today. I was following another Skyhawk who had an option (the option is to do a touch and go or do a full stop landing) and then stopped on the runway. By the time they would have turned onto a taxi way, I would have been right on top of them. So I got a wave off, got right back in the pattern and finally landed. We made that one a full stop where Richard got out of the plane and said good luck.

The tower guys were great and really watched out for me. The McKinney tower guys are really good to us and are generally friendly and easy to talk to. So I got back out on the taxi way and headed for RWY 17 for my takeoff. I was behind another one of the Addison guys so I waited my turn. When I got my clearance and rolled down the runway, I knew that I had to do this one all by myself. As soon as I lifted off, I knew I had to do this one on my own. I got up in the pattern and was number 2 behind the Addison guy. Because of their odd pattern work, I had to extend my downwind leg across 380 before I could turn to base. I had everything lined up great but I carried too much speed in so when I flared, I flared for a long time and put down a lot farther than I wanted for a touch and go. Since I had the option, I chose to do a full stop landing and to turn onto taxi way Delta. I was going a little too fast for the turn so I ended up locking up the brakes and actually got a wheel off into the grass but was able to get it back up onto the taxi way. All of this occurred right in front of the tower for them to see. The controller told me to get my flaps up and taxi back to RWY 17 and he would get me back in the air again quickly.

So I put my tail between my legs and headed back to RWY 17 and got back into the pattern again. This time I watched my speed, position and attitude a lot better. When I finally flared, it was in the middle and much closer to the numbers than the first one. I got it down, let it settle, pushed carb heat in, raised the flaps and pushed the throttle in and went back at it for number 3. all I can say is that number 3 was definitely the best. On centerline, speed was good, flare was good, but I was still a little long. So I made it back to taxi way Delta and the controller cleared me back to the ramp and said "Good job". I kindly thanked him and went back to get my critiques from Richard.

I'm too excited to remember everything but I am very grateful to Richard for putting up with my erratic schedule, my wife for just putting up with me and to Bryan for getting me involved. Now it's on to bigger and better things.

My E-logbook

And Now For Something Completely Different

I got to do something pretty cool today. Too bad it won't count toward my training. I got to go with my instructor to deliver a plane to Gainesville (GLE) to have some engine and radio work done on it. It had a problem with the glide slope indicator flying precision approaches so it needed to be checked out. During the run up before we left, Richard found a problem with the manifold pressure in one of the engines too. So our trip became a 2 for the price of 1 trip.

The plane we took was a Beachcraft Barron 55. It is a twin engine that cruises at 190 knots so our trip to Gainesville was pretty quick, 14 minutes by the GPS for approx 42 nm. We had one of Richard's students takeoff ahead of us in a Cessna 182 so he could bring us back and so he could get some more VOR work in before he gets ready for his check ride. He did some stalls and then did some work under the hood trying to get ready. At least at 5500 feet, the air was much cooler than it was on the ground.

We got back to McKinney and talked about going back out to Gainesville on Thursday to get the plane back. As long as it is ready, I'm game. Where do I sign up?

Even More Heat

Texas has never been known for it's moderate climate but we finally have summer here. Our official high yesterday was 104 and we had a "cool" front come through. We are expecting 104 again today. With that in mind, I made plans to go up at 7:30 AM this morning to beat the heat. It still was a little warm but not as bad as last Monday. We did the usual "staying in the pattern" but with a twist. Since our cool front came through the winds shifted around from the northeast so we took off to the North (RWY 35).

I can't say we did the usual NASCAR circuit because TKI uses right traffic for RWY 35. So instead of go fast and turn left it was go fast and turn right. We did a lot of the same thing and I am just about ready to solo. Other than the occasional drift off of the center line, I put the airplane down pretty well today. I had a couple of them that were a little too fast but they were smooth. At one point Richard had me pull power at mid field on my downwind leg and told me to practice an emergency landing. I used 65 knots as my best glide speed and turned base then turned to final and put it down, just like I knew what I was doing. I am so much more confident in my landings that I think I could put it down just about anywhere (I'll probably eat these words later).

Solo time is getting closer so I need to start going a little more often. We are going to try Wednesday morning to see how that works. I just have to keep it in my head and make it happen again. BTW, check out my e-logbook and see how many landings I have.

My E-logbook

It's About Time (For the Texas Heat)

We have been spared this year from the Texas heat because of some very unusual wet weather. Beginning in June, we expect 100 degrees to be the norm all of the way through September. Here we are in August and we are finally starting to see the temperature approach 100 degrees. With that as a theme for todays update, I'll start by saying that I try to do my flying in the mornings now instead of around lunch time or later.

My usual flight instructor is on vacation so I called Dick Stephens, who was one of my ground school instructors. I really like Dick as he has a great demeanor and is very fun to talk to. I'm learning that the actual flying is but just a portion of what you will go through during this whole process. If any of you are like me, I like to get to know the personalities of the people I'm around to make this a more enjoyable journey.

Since Dick and I haven't ever flown together, he went through my logbook to see what I have been doing. He noticed that I have been doing a LOT of touch & goes but have never been out to the practice area. So we took off and headed out east. I had already been sweating pretty good but as we got going, I kept sweating and it was getting worse. We had a broken ceiling at about 2500 feet so we really couldn't get up above the clouds to the cooler air.

He then had me do some 20 degree turns and some 30 degree turns. I was a little too "smooth" and he misinterpreted that as being timid. I just started trying to make it easier on passengers after my daughter threw up back in April. So he had me do some dutch rolls to get used to being able to manhandle the airplane. I was still sweating profusely as we were doing this. It was starting to rattle me a little that I was so hot. Dick then took the airplane and we did some 60 degree turns. After getting up at 6 and going walking for 35 minutes this morning, then having a large coffee from Starbucks, that I downed just before we took off , and the rather ease at which sweat was pouring out of my pores, the 60 degree turns were almost too much. Not to mention the fact that I have had some kind of bug for the last 4 days that left me less than hydrated. One more 360 of 60 degree turns was enough.

We landed at Caddo Mills (7F3) and turned around to take off again and head toward McKinney. I did my usual flying and we ended up right back at TKI to get in the pattern for some touch & goes. This is where I finally feel more at home, on final at TKI. I think I have finally gotten through my landing problems that I had back in June. We did a couple of touch & gos but were following another airplane in the pattern and he was carrying his downwind leg a lot farther downwind than I like to do. We finally decided that it was time to take it to the house so I requested a full stop landing and was granted one.

We got back in to the FBO to cool off and to let Dick sign my logbook. We talked about what I needed to work on and what I was doing right. I am rather encouraged that Dick seems to think that I am just about ready to solo. Just a few basic things and I should be ready by the time Richard gets back. I'll have to start choosing my attire carefully now that solo time is getting near (the tradition says that you get your shirt tail cut off when you solo).

In the past, I have been posting my hours flown and landings but from now on, I'll just be posting a link to My E-Logbook. Thanks to Tony Philips, a fellow pilot, you can now keep your logbook online so that filling out your form 8710-1 is a lot easier.

Thanks to dick for giving me a different perspective on flying and I will try to relax more, as soon as it cools down and I feel a little better.

My E-Logbook

Dick makes another successful landing with a student.

When Old Friends Reunite

I know this isn't about me flying, directly, but it does pertain to my growing passion for flying. The AOPA has a program called Project Pilot to encourage people to become interested in learning to fly. It has a mentor program that encourages people to find someone and mentor them through their flight training. I am still just a student but I have been feeling so passionate about what I am trying to do, I try to share it with everyone.

I mentioned this to an old dear friend that I have drifted apart from in the last several years and he said that he may be interested too. Unfortunately for all involved, I kind of blew it off because of the reaction I get from everyone else. I usually get the "That's nice dear. Could you get me a drink now?" response from everyone. I sent out an email to several people when I got started in this and got a lot of great responses but haven't seen much traffic through here. I even stated that I was going to keep this blog to chronicle my journey and I do my best to keep it current. About a week ago I got a call from my friend Chris asking me if I had started my flight training and I told him yes. He was very interested in looking into it.

Our flying club has a $59 demo flight where you get to go up for about a half an hour, fly in the left seat and get to experience the joy of powered flight. So I called our chief flight instructor (my neighbor and my flight instructor) to set up a demo flight for him. Everything had been put into place and today at 6 PM, we were going flying. As anyone who has lived in North Texas for any amount of time knows, once we get into June, we won't see rain until September or October. Not this year. We have set records for June and July for rainfall and it continues to rain almost everyday. Today was no exception. Luckily for me we had rain over McKinney most of the afternoon allowing me to get there a little late and no one was harmed.

I won't go into all of the details but Chris did great. He did everything asked of him made a lot of very smooth turns, learned how to control his pitch, throttle, trim, bank and speed. To be honest, I wish I were as smooth as he was. I'm hoping that since he is so enamored with this, he will continue to follow his dream and get that certificate. It makes me feel great that after all of these years, through all of our ups and downs, going our separate ways, and starting our own families and new careers that we are once again able to share something that we have so much passion for. I know that he will do very well at this. He always does.

Not to make light of this but I had another opportunity to introduce someone else to the passion of flying. I have another old friend that I have known a long time who confided to me that he wanted to do something for his son. His son is 15 years old and they are looking for a way to prepare him for a life after high school. He knew I had been going through flight training and asked me how tough it was. Tough is relative at my age so I told him it wasn't too tough for a 45 year old. Once again I went to the AOPA website and found all of the flight training schools near his house in Tarrant county and sent him and his wife the list.

I fixed a computer for them on Sunday and got an email back from his wife today telling me that all was well and she couldn't believe that they were considering letting him do it. I gave them a lot of choices that were within 15 miles of where they live. I'm going to try to arrange something for them to get him a demo flight soon so he can get hooked too.

So for a guy who hasn't flown since the beginning of July, I have been busy promoting the thing I am finding consuming my thoughts more and more every day. As much as I am enjoying this, I really need to go flying myself soon or I'll burst.