Back to the Traffic Pattern

Lesson 38
5-1-13
1.0 hours logged
46.3 hours total recorded in logbook

Though a lesson scheduled for yesterday morning had to be scrapped because of thunderstorms in the area, today dawned sunny. The winds were not too strong and the morning air was smooth. Jim went over the plan for the day's flight with me after I'd preflighted the plane then we were climbing in and were soon ready for takeoff at 27. I find the ground handling gets a little easier each time as I continue to readjust to it.



What a VOR indicator looks like

 Once airborne after a smooth takeoff, Jim showed me how to fly the 275 degree radial using the VOR. As I said in my last post, I had an introduction to this instrument at my previous lesson and, though understanding them for the written test gave me fits, I found it to be a relatively straightforward instrument to use. Flying this course soon had us over our destination only about 12 nautical miles outside of OSH--a narrow strip of green scarcely distinguisheable as an airstrip unless you could see the white specks on either end which marked the thresholds or the windsock off to one side. I flew right over it the first time without ever seeing it and only after circling back did I finally make it out.

We flew a few practice patterns around it, first at high alititude. I practiced maintaining speed and alititude with pitch and power adjustments just as we'd done at my last lesson. The only difference was that now we were flying the rectangular course that makes up a standard traffic pattern. After a few of these, Jim had me take it down a few thousand feet where we did the same thing at lower altitude and slower speed but still without descending on the final leg. At last, however, he had me do this too and then had me hold that low altitude over the runway before adding power back in and climbing away.

Now it was time to try it at OSH, the "big" airport. I called the tower and we were given permission to fly a straight-in approach to runway 9. As we neared it, we began a descent for a low pass over the runway. About a wingspan over the runway, I flew most of its length then added the power back in and flew an entire pattern, extending my downwind leg so as not to "catch" another plane that was just turning final for our runway. In the RV-6 it's extremely easy to find yourself suddenly flying a good deal faster than the standard traffic pattern speed of 80 knots if you aren't precise with your control inputs. This particular type of airplane is built for speed and it doesn't want to slow down which can be a good thing. I'm just not used to having

to make a plane slow down. The RV-6 has so much extra speed and power than I'm used to and it requires constant vigilance for me to stay on top of it because it's such a fast airplane! I'm still learning to keep that all under control. It has a tremendous amount of performance when compared to the Cub or even a Cessna 172, a very standard training airplane. Once you finally do get it slowed down however, it makes gorgeous landings as I discovered once again as we touched down and rolled out smoothly. It's really a sweet airplane once you've become aquainted with it. After fueling, we taxied back to Weeks. Another hour, another lesson, another step closer...



My instructor, Jim, and I after the flight

Back to Basics in a Still Unfamiliar Airplane

Lesson 37
4-25-13
1.0 hours logged
45.3 hours total recorded in logbook



Climbing up above the clouds



Per our prior arrangement, I arrived a few minutes before our scheduled flight time to preflight the plane and pull it out of the hangar. Jim arrived and we were soon buckled in and ready for another flight. We taxied out to runway 27 and after being cleared, took off into a slight crosswind from the right. On climbout, we altered our course to the left to allow the jet which took off behind us to pass safely. That's one thing I never had to worry about that down at HXF!



Over Omro



There was a broken layer of clouds at about 2800 feet but we had soon climbed above them and over a sizeable hole, we picked up where we'd left off the day before with practice holding various airspeeds and altitudes using stick (or elevator) to control the former and throttle, the latter. Today we also added in the use of flaps. We were over Omro for a while and it was here we finally descended below the clouds and turned back towards OSH. Now Jim showed me how to use the VOR to navigate back to the airport (even though I knew right where it was). It was exciting to try my hand at this entirely new mode of navigation. The Cubs at CubAir are not even equipped with VOR receivers and so I'd never had opportunity to use one before, though of course I've seen them in other planes. With such an instrument available in most planes, you'd think it would be impossible to get lost!

Over OSH. The tower is at center.

As instructed by the tower, we entered a right downwind for 27 and Jim took over the radio so I could focus on flying. Right up until then, he'd let me handle everything on the radio and I was both surprised and delighted to find that I could actually do it! I do, admittedly, have little faith or confidence in my own abilities at times.



Now descending on final and finding that the wind had picked up considerably since takeoff and had become rather gusty, Jim decided to turn our planned touch-and-go into a low pass over the runway. The plane before us had aborted their landing and opted to switch over to runway 36 so as to be a little more into the wind. We followed them around the pattern for that runway and did another low pass then at last entered yet another pattern, this time for runway 31 (even more into the wind)  where we at last touched down and taxied to the fuel pump. As we climbed out, we found the wind not only strong but quite cold also. I was glad to climb back into the cockpit and get the required taxi clearance back to Weeks.



On final for Runway 31

After cleaning the plane up a bit, filling out paperwork, and a debrief, I was free to go, again with joy in my heart at being able to fly again. I guess I won't take take it for granted quite so easily again. If there's one lesson I learned from that seemingly endless wait, it's simply to appreciate every time I am able to fly as a gift and a blessing.

To Fly...

Lesson 36
4-24-13
1.0 hours logged
44.3 hours total recorded in logbook

In spite of differing forecasts--everything from snow and rain to partly sunny--the day turned out very beautiful indeed--sunshine and blue skies and--yes! oh yes!!!--I flew today! At long last, I flew!!! At ten days shy of five months since my last flight, my long unasked for furlough from flying is at last, it appears, over!

It was a while before I could convince myself to believe that the flight was indeed going to happen but once I was on my way to Oshkosh, I was flying almost before I'd even reached the hangar! In twenty minutes, I was there, had met Jim Kress, and, in short order, we were preflighting and pulling 6YE (the RV-6) out into the sunshine. It was much warmer than last time I flew in it I realized as I noted how easy it was to buckle in over a light jacket rather than the thick winter coat I had worn at my last lesson. Jim climbed in and seated himself beside me and, after a review of the panel, we were ready to go.



Holding short of Runway 27 before takeoff

 I couldn't suppress a smile as I turned the key in the ignition and watched the propeller blades spin individually at first, then become a blur as the engine caught and roared to life. How good it sounded! We listened to the ATIS broadcast--winds 270 at 11 knots gusting to 15--then called ground control and taxied out. Preflight checks and run-up complete, we waited for another plane to takeoff ahead of us then runway 27 was ours! Lined up on the runway, I advanced the throttle to full power and in response to the roar of power, the little plane was soon speeding down the runway and had lifted gracefully into the air. "Airborne!" I heard Jim say and, oh! what a multitude of thoughts went through my head at that moment. To fly! How much is wrapped up in those simple words! It is pure joy and I closed my eyes for a second with a happy sigh and an unspoken prayer of thankfulness that the endless wait was over at last! The thrill of flight! How I've missed it!

 

We climbed out to the west and I was amazed again by the responsiveness of the controls and the terrific speed (even though we were flying into the wind) with which we passed Rush Lake, were parallel with Green Lake and could see Berlin just ahead of us. Yes, those are some of the biggest differences between the Cub and the RV and I am continuing to adjust. The RV-6 simply has a lot more performance--higher horsepower and faster speeds--than I'm used to in the Cub.  

My lesson for today was, inevitably, review--turns, climbs/descents, slow flight. After not having flown for so long this is to be expected though I hated to backtrack, as it seemed. However, I determined to do my best to gain back as quickly as possible anything I had lost. I was also getting used to yet another new instructor, remember, but I found this to be an easy adjustment. Jim did a great job and I was quite comfortable with him. It was actually not the very first time I'd flown with him. It was he who took me up for an introductory flight in his Cessna 150 at Brennand Field on the very first International Learn to Fly Day, May 15, 2010. So to fly with him again was sort of like coming full circle. Who would have thought then that, three years later, I'd be well into my flight training and flying with him as my instructor? Strange how things work out! 

 

Below 4,000 feet it was rather bumpy so we stayed above that altitude most of the time doing a lot of work on slow flight. I had some difficulty staying precise with speed and altitude especially at first but got a little better as we continued. The hour slipped quickly by and soon we headed back toward the airport, entered a right downwind in the pattern and were cleared to land. We were a bit high on approach but flaps and a decrease in power put us where we needed to be on final. The runway came up to meet us and, a few seconds later, I felt the main gear gently contact the surface and the nosewheel follow. We were down. What a beautiful landing! I still can't get over what nice landings the RV-6 makes.

We turned off the runway and taxied to the fuel pump. After filling the tanks I got to call the tower for permission to taxi back to Weeks. Back at the hangar, Jim let me push the plane in then we pulled the great doors closed and my first lesson in months was complete. It was so good to be back at it once again!

The Turning of the Tide

April

The months that passed since I learned of Joe's getting a new job with the consequence that he would no longer be instructing with the EAA Employee Flying Club were slow and difficult. I strove in vain to find an instructor and plane together and at a price within my budget but it was all to no avail. I was getting pretty discouraged. Day after beautiful, sunny day passed in March and I could only experience them from the ground simply because I couldn't find an instructor! It was incredibly frustrating. The flying club does, of course, have other instructors, but none of them were available at the time.

At long last, however, the beginning of April brought the return of the club's main instructor for primary students, Jim Kress, from his winter sojourn in Florida. I had known he would be returning but had hoped I wouldn't have to wait that long to fly again. Well, in God's plan I did have to wait that long for reasons only He, as yet, knows.

As soon as I knew he was back, I contacted Jim but with the end of March there also came an end to the beautiful weather. The whole entire first half of April, the weather was not flyable for the most part so I had to wait a little longer. But I knew the tide had turned. The day was not far off when my wings would be restored. The long wait was almost over. In the meantime, there were a few things that happened which helped to buoy my spirits and which made the long wait seem, perhaps, a little more worthwhile.

One of these was an all-expenses-paid trip to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH (a birthday present from my brother-in-law, Matt, and and my sister, Naomi). We spent most of two days at the museum and could have spent another I'm sure. Below are a few pictures. I didn't include any from inside the museum as I would have had a hard time choosing just a few! I guess you'll just have to go and experience it for yourself which would be much better than looking at pictures anyway as pictures (even the outside ones) can hardly do it justice!

Monuments in the

beautiful memorial gardens

outside the museum.

The museum is immediately adjacent to Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base, the first military base I've ever been on!

The other event was a Launch Party send-off for EAA's WWII-era B-17 bomber in preparation for its leaving on tour as it does each year. Employees in attendance were entered in a drawing to receive a ride in the plane with an extra entry if you dressed up in the style of the era (1940's). Figuring it would be worth the extra entry, I did and (oh joy!) was one of the ten drawn!!! I haven't had my ride yet but it should happen sometime around AirVenture. As part of the festivities, we were allowed to explore the plane at our leisure and sit in the various stations as we chose. Quite amazing to think of spending six hours on a mission in one of these, bundled in heavy flying gear and an oxygen mask! A WWII veteran, Doug Ward, ball turret gunner on a B-17, was there and spoke of his experiences which, alone, was worth coming for! Gives me a whole new appreciation for these brave men.



Here I am in the pilot's seat! Wow!
Is this for real?!



Honored to have my picture taken with Doug Ward,
former B-17 ball turret gunner.

In a way, these two experiences sort of made up for the endless period of no flying, or, as I said before, at least made it seem just a little more worthwhile. Winning that ride was so much more than just luck. I believe it was a special gift from God to me--a sign that my aviation journey is not over yet by any means and will go on, an inspiration of hope for the future and, for that reason, it meant the world to me! Thank you, Lord!

What Patience Means

4-4-13

Today, it has been three months since my last flying lesson and the last time I was up--the hardest three months I've had yet to face in all of my flight training, not because of what I've been doing but because of what I have not been able to do. Having experienced the thrill of flight under no human hands but my own, knowing that I possess the capability to do this and yet am unable to, has made this trial all the more difficult to bear. It's ten times worse than waiting to begin flight training. You have only a vague idea of what it will be like then, but after you've had the life-changing experience of solo flight--well, nothing else is quite the same again and not being able to fly then is especially trying.



This plane flying by our house a week ago made a low
pass which seemed meant especially for me even
though I have no idea who the pilot was.



When I first started on this journey in earnest, now almost a year ago, I never dreamed it would take this long. I thought I would easily be able to complete it over the summer. Then, when a month and a half passed without a single lesson and I still had not soloed, though somewhat disheartened, I thought, surely I can finish in October, or maybe by my birthday. I finally soloed in September but October's weather was contrary and flying that month was very sporadic. Still, I clung to the seed of hope planted by Stephen, my instructor, that I could finish by Christmas. November saw a turn in the weather, slight, but enough that I had a decent number of lessons and was able to complete my first solo cross-country flight in early December. Soon after this, I made the transition to Oshkosh to begin work on my instrument, night flying, and towered airport work but my hopes of finishing by Christmas had already faded as reality struck again. I had only just begun my instrument work when weather, mechanical problems with the plane and finally, the loss of my instructor intervened to bind me once more firmly to earth even while my heart yearns to be soaring again.

Though I've looked into several options to continue my training nothing has worked out yet and most of them have turned into dead ends. Finding an instructor and a plane together in the same place has proved far more challenging than I ever imagined it could and as I run up against brick wall after brick wall the fight against discouragment grows ever more difficult. It would seem all circumstances are conspiring against me to keep me grounded.

In the midst of all of this, verses like the one I shared in my last post and Ps. 37:4-5 and 84:11 continue to provide the only hope I have to cling to.


It's still hard to see others fly when I cannot but I cannot
 rightly begrudge them their happiness so I strive
 to rejoice with them.



"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."

"For God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."

I also read these timely words by Lane Wallace from her column in the December 2012 issue of Sport Aviation. She tells the story of her stepson's circuitous route to his pilot's license and, while I don't agree with everything in the article, it certainly struck a meaningful chord with me, particularly this paragraph:

"In point of fact, those goals we set out for ourselves, that seem so straightforward, but prove so circuitous and challenging, might even teach us far more important lessons than the ones we set out to master. Even if one of those lessons is simply the importance of persistance. The goal attained might not be any sweeter for the length of time it takes to achieve it. But the degree of wisdom attained in the process is almost always greater."

I share all of this here only to ask that you would pray with me and for me that I would trust a little longer, have faith that God has a reason for this waiting, and learn the lessons He has for me even in the midst of this most trying part of my aviation journey. Perhaps one of these is simply patience.

Clipped Wings

3-7-13

The past months have been a trying exercise in patience, trust, and the struggle not to let my determination and persistence flag in the face of numerous discouraging setbacks and problems that have kept me from continuing my flight training. It has been just over two months since my last lesson.

First, it was weather. Lesson after lesson in January was cancelled due to low ceilings, bitter cold, wind or snow. Then finally a good day--at last! Sunshine and blue sky! With excitment, I met Joe at the hangar, eager to fly, and preflighted 6YE. We tugged it out, buckled in, started up and began to taxi out for another instrument flight--only to realize that the directional gyro was still spinning wildly. It sometimes does this just at first and Joe thought it might stop when it warmed up a little but he was wrong this time. It was such a beautiful day and Joe tried everything he could to get the stubborn instrument to cooperate but to no avail. Well you can't very well conduct an instrument flight without the directional gyro and so, bitter disappointment as it was, there was nothing to do but to turn around and go back, put the plane away and accept the fact that we just would not be flying today. Oh, that was so hard!

For the next few weeks, just into February, the plane was down while the instrument was being repaired. Meanwhile, I watched more beautiful days go by where I could only stare helplessly into the deep blue sky and hope it wouldn't be too much longer. Each time I saw or heard another plane fly over was a sort of torture.

At long last, the plane was fixed and I contacted Joe to set up a long-awaited flight lesson--only to have him tell me he'd just gotten another job and so would not be instructing with the EAA Flying Club or at Hartford any more! What?! I couldn't believe it! I was totally surprised--completely shocked. What next? Joe was a wonderful instructor and I'll surely miss him. 

Thus began the search for a new instructor which, up to this point, has not yet yielded much in the way of results yet. There are several possibilities but so far none of them have worked out. I'm working on this though and still cling to the hope that my next lesson and the continuation of my training are not too far off. The words of Isaiah 40:31 have become particularly meaningful to me as I wait.

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

In the midst of all these setbacks however, there is one bright spot. I passed my written exam with flying colors on Jan. 10 at Fox Valley Tech! All that studying paid off! Whew! What a relief!

Instrument Flying

Lesson 35
1-4-13
1.1 hours logged
43.3 hours total recorded in logbook

It was a beautiful day for flying. I met Joe at Jack Mark, pre-flighted 6YE, and we rolled her out and climbed in--or bundled in. Once again I noticed that the cockpit doesn't seem quite so roomy when both occupants are wearing at least 3 inches of extra clothing!

How many planes, or parts of planes, can you spot in this
photo?

We started up, listened to the Automatic Terminal Information Service (more commonly known as ATIS, a continuous broadcast of recorded noncontrol information containing weather observations, altimeter setting, and other airport information), and taxied out . Prior to entering the main taxiway however, we had to call ground control for permission of course. When Joe told me I was going to do it, however, I was surprised. I knew I'd have to do it eventually but wasn't exactly expecting it this soon. But Joe was already telling me what to say. He repeated it several times and I repeated it back to him. I took a deep breath, pushed mic button and spoke:
"Oshkosh Ground, Experimental six Yankee Echo is at Weeks, with Hotel, for westbound departure."

Ground control came right back with taxi instructions which Joe repeated back since I'm not sure I would've remembered everything. They cleared us to taxi via Bravo to the ramp, to taxiway Echo, across Runway 22 and hold short of runway 27. At the hold short line, we did our run-up and had to call the tower--or rather, I had to. Once again, Joe made me do it. But this transmission was quite simple. The controller cleared us for takeoff and we taxied onto the runway, paused a moment to make sure everything was set, then throttle forward, stick back slightly. The nose came up and we were airborne.

What flying "under the hood" looks like

It still surprises me how steeply the nose must be pointed up to keep the speed within the appropriate range. We flew west of town then Joe handed me a large visor with blinders on either side, otherwise known as "the hood." He took the controls while I put it on. The purpose of this device is to limit one's view to the instrument panel, simulating flight in instrument conditions.

With the visor properly adjusted, Joe gave me the controls again and let me practice holding altitude and heading in straight and level flight. Without the visual cues of outside reference, you must rely only on the indications of the instruments to tell you if you're succeeding. It's a very odd sensation at first and makes you feel a little strange. I guess you just don't quite realize how much you rely on outside references until they are gone. It's a weird feeling and to keep it to a minimum, you must avoid rapid head movements.

After flying along straight and level for a while, Joe had me make first some 90-degree turns, then a few 180's. Eyes continually scanning the instruments, this isn't too hard as long as you stay on top of things. Catch errors early and adjust gradually. A key to instrument flying, in addition to having faith in the instruments rather than trusting your bodily sensations, is to make any needed adjustments to the controls in small increments.

When he finally let me take the visor off, I found we were flying south just about parallel my house but west of highway M. We turned back toward OSH and Joe had me call the tower once again to request permission to land. It was given and we flew a righthand pattern and made a beautiful landing. Joe said it was the best I'd ever made in the RV but I'm not sure how much the credit is due me. The plane as Joe said is "a real sweetheart" when it comes to landings. I'm almost beginning to doubt it's possible to made a bad one in it!

We taxied to the fuel pump to fill the tanks before taxiing back to Weeks to put the plane away for the day. Another lesson completed, my first in the new year, my first taste of instrument flying and another lesson closer to finishing. I hope it's not too much longer.