Colin's Aviation Blog

Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted, I haven't had a lot of time lately -- here's an update of what's been going on the last few weeks:

- I had a checkride prep flight with my instructor a couple of weeks ago, and there were a few areas that he thought I was a little weak on, so we wanted to schedule on more flight with me before I had a checkride stage check with the owner of the flight school. Flew with Andy (my instructor) again in the middle of the week, and he felt that I was very ready for the checkride stage check. My only weakness was short field landings.
- Had the checkride stage check with Bob (the flight school owner and most sr. instructor) the following weekend -- it was essentially a mock of the flight portion of the checkride. He told me that he felt very comfortable signing me off the take the checkride, and could tell within the first 10 minutes that I was ready -- he was very happy with my performance (so was I!) including being able to dead-stick the plane down to an airport in a simulated engine failure. The only rough area was those short field landings, the first one was not very good, then second one was acceptable, but I was still not pleased with it.
- Flew one more time with Andy and worked on the short fields, and got my last 1/2 hour of required sim. instrument flight. I think the short field finally clicked, and I'm feeling a little more comfortable now.
- Last weekend, I completed a 2 1/2 hour mock Oral with the ground instructor, and he told me that of the 100's of oral preps he has done, I was in the top 2-3%! I was VERY happy with this, as the Oral has been freaking me out a little bit.

So -- I have one more flight scheduled next weekend so get some solo practice in, and then I have my checkride scheduled out of KCHA (Chattanooga, TN). I've planned a X-C from KCHA to KSAV (Savannah, GA) which of course I won't fly more then 1-2 checkpoints....
I'm very excited, nervous, anxious, all the emotions that go with this since I've invested so much energy, time, and of course money into getting this far. I can't wait to finally have my PPL to show for it (hopefully!)!!

My checkride is scheduled on Friday, July 20th with Ben Carr out of Chattanooga, TN (KCHA). I'll post updates as they come...

I finally got my night X-C flight in, flew on Thursday night from Kennesaw (McCollum Field, KRYY) to Chatanooga, TN. I had an observer in the back seat, so the weight of the three occupants would have exceeded the max gross weight of the plane if it was full of fuel, but it was not. It was interesting to see how much differently the plane handled that close to gross. Had to keep the extra weight in mind when rotating for take-off, it took quite a bit longer.

Anyhow, on the way up to Chatanooga, my instructor informed me that KCHA was one of the most difficult airports to find -- especially at night since it was smack dab in the middle of the city lights. I did finally manage to find it with a little help, I was relying strictly in pilotage and visual navigation, so I didn't have the benefit of using the GPS or VOR's for navigation/airport location.

Once I did spot the airport, and I was getting set up for an arrival direct into runway 2, I was vectored in following a couple of other planes. The plane in front of me was a citation, and it was quite a bit in front, but my instructor thought it would be a good idea to pretend it was a 747 and follow proper wake avoidance procedures. I came in above the glidepath and ended up landing about 1/3 of the way down the runway.

Since I needed three full-stop landings to meet my night requirements, I came to a full stop after requested another trip around the pattern. One the second landing, I was told to extend the downwind leg a couple of miles to follow another plane in, and after my instructor tuned in the localizer/glidescope, I used that to guide me down the path to the runway, and made the second landing clean (no flaps).

From there, we took off, and started heading back to Kennesaw. After about 10 minutes, before getting a chance to tune in the GPS for navigation home, my instructor asked me how I would divert to ROME, a nearby airport. So, by using outside references, and the chart, I was able to figure out approx where ROME is (what bearing) relative to my location, and start heading towards it. From there, I tuned in KRYY in the GPS, and headed home.

I landed at KRYY, secured the plane, and headed into the FBO, by this time it was about 11:15, and although I did not feel tired at all while flying, it hit me when it got inside.

So, I now have my night requirements fulfilled - I'm getting closer every week.

Hours this flight: 2.1 (for a total of 3.1 night hours)
Total Hours to date: 74.8

Had my second flight with Andy Manning here at McCollum Field (KRYY) this morning. The weather was supposed to be really bad today, but the thunderstorms came through last night, so it was clear and sunny - albeit VERY hazy this morning. We went out and did some normal landings, and some short field / soft field landings.
He was very happy with the way I was handling it, and while chatting afterwards indicated that he would feel comfortable giving me my solo endorsement as soon as I complete the airplane checkout questionnaire, and the pro-solo written. I'll make sure to have that done by Thursday when I am completing my Night Requirements. I'll be planning a flight from KRYY to KCHA (Chatanooga, TN) for that flight, and keeping my fingers crossed for co-operative weather!

After that, I need to do some Oral Exam preparation, get out there and practice my maneuvers again get my last hour of simulated instrument, and then I'll be ready to start thinking about booking my checkride -- woohoo!

Hours Today: 1.4
Total Hours To Date: 72.7

The weather has been unbelievable amazing here in Atlanta for the last few weeks, almost every day has been sunny and warm -- except of course last Saturday when I was supposed to have a flight from 9-11 AM. The ceiling was down to 400 ft, so even work in the pattern was out of the question.

So, I'll try again next Saturday, and then I have a night X-C flight scheduled for the Thursday following.
My next task is to try and prepare for the oral exam which I am so not looking forward to!

I had my first flight in Atlanta on Saturday with Andy Manning, a Sr Flight Instructor at Superior Flight School.
We went out to the practice area, performed all the standard maneuvers: Steep Turns, Power-on/power-off stalls, Turns around a point, S-Turns, did a simulated emergency, covered local area familiarization as well as some VOR navigation, then came back to the airport and did a few landings.

He felt very comfortable that all my maneuvers were at checkride standards, and next week we're going to do some work in the pattern, so that I can hopefully get solo'd once again.
Once that's done, I have an hour of Simulated Instrument, and a Night X-C flight to get done, and then hopefully it won't be too long before i can schedule a checkride!

I'll be keeping this blog up to date with my latest accomplishments, and any updates as they come.

Total Time of Flight: 1.4 hours
Total Time Logged to Date: 71.3 hours

Welcome to my blog. I am going to be posting updates here on my pursuit for my PPL (Private Pilot's License).
So far, I have 71.3 hours, and have met all my requirements except for the following:

- 1 hour of Simulated Instrument (under the hood)
- Dual Cross Country

I have once again switched training facilities since I have temporarily relocated to the Atlanta, GA area. I will be finishing off at Superior Flight School out of McCollum Field (KRYY)