2014 - When I Left The Earth

As the year winds down, friends and family (and CFIs) take time off to be with their families, and the weather begins to fit the season, I'm ok with the fact I may not fly anymore until next year.  I'll be jumping at the chance to get back in the cockpit as soon as possible though.

In spite of its ups and downs (no pun intended, seriously), this has been one of the best years of my life, in many ways.  Yes, a lot of that is due to the fact I've begun my journey toward my PPL, but a lot of other non-aviation things have gone on, both good and bad.

In the end, some of it made me stronger.  Some of it wore me down.  But all of it showed me what I, and those I hold dear, are really capable of achieving in spite of life's challenges.  Lessons I've learned before, but even more so this year I believe.  Take that, 2014.  You were such a lightweight.

One of my favorite things that happened this year is that I started this blog to share my journey, and my passion for aviation.  Actually, I started it on a forum dedicated to a spaceflight simulator.  But I wanted to share it with more friends and colleagues without them having to register for an account there.  So I made the jump to Blogger, sort of.  I'm duplicating posts there at this point.

Speaking of aviation-related things, I've been an avid flight-sim junkie for years (which helped me cover a LOT of ground in my early lessons in a hurry). I also in recent months began recording videos of Flight Simulator X with FRAPS just for fun.  Since I have a Google account, I decided to upload one to YouTube, unlisted, and share it over at orbiter-forum.com to see what kind of reaction/advice I got.  The comments were all positive and constructive, so I took some suggestions, and made another video last week.

Here is the first.  Please forgive the poor audio quality.  I'm using a Rugged Radios headset with an adapter cable for PC and a Turtle Beach USB adapter.  It actually sounds like a low-end aircraft set because it pretty much is.

And my most recent.  Improved audio this time around thanks to a Logitech USB microphone, as well as improvements to the default KHNB scenery by yours truly.

For me personally, my flight sim setup has been invaluable during my training, especially with all the down time I've had due to weather, plane maintenance, sickness, etc.  I do still plan on uploading a video showing my hardware setup.  Perhaps I'll get to that over the holidays.  But maybe not.  I'm in the process of doing my own testing of the recently-released FSX: Steam Edition, which I picked up for a cool $5.  Expecting great updates from Dovetail going forward, but already performance is better than the original/CD version of the simulator.

That's about it for now.  I don't have a lesson scheduled next week, but I'm ready should the opportunity arise.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good flight!

Two Victor Uniform, clear of the active.

I Haven't Got Time For The Pane(s)

Yes, I spelled that p-a-n-e-s. As in windows. 34Q got new ones installed this afternoon. Got the text from Randy about 5 hours before flight time, said he'd just found out they were putting them in today. And as a result, you guessed it, no flight lesson for me this week. 

It's just as well. Here's the METAR for about the time I'd have been finishing my preflight walkaround:

KHNB 022115Z AUTO 23007KT 3SM OVC006 02/00 A3020 RMK AO1

In case you don't know how to read the METAR, in a nutshell, the clouds were too low. And it didn't end up getting much better. In fact, the ceiling dropped another 200 feet a few hours later, and is now back up to 600. 

We'll try again next Tuesday. Forecast at this point is upper 30s & partly cloudy. As long as they're 2,000 MSL or above, I don't care if it's overcast. As long as I can get some landing practice in, I'm content. 

Two Victor Uniform, clear of the active.

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

It had been 8 weeks since the last time I was up in 34Q, which is far, far too long.  During that time, she had some new goodies installed - Mainly, a Garmin 430 along with a new GPS-enabled Course Direction Indicator (CDI).  However, the scheduled engine change and interior refurbishing have yet to occur.  More on those later.

I hate cold weather.  When it comes to being out in it, I hate it even more.  But, you make sacrifices for the ones you love, especially when they have two wings, three wheels, and a prop.  Preflight felt like a day hadn't gone by, and I actually didn't notice the cold wind that much.  It was a fairly steady wind coming out of the northwest, so the tie-down chains were in place.

It was no time at all the two of us would shed these shackles and be free of this earth, even if only for a brief time.  I asked Randy if the new engine was in, he said no, not yet, but the new parts for the interior were in the hangar and we'd take a look at them later.

Didn't miss a beat when it came to the preflight passenger briefing, even added a little extra personal touch as always.  Startup was a little rough.  You see, 34Q and I, we're both the same age.  We're getting older, and neither one of us are a big fan of this 'Winter' business.  But, after 4 tries, the engine fired, and on with the checklist.  Randy showed me the ins and outs of working the radio now with the 430 (I was familiar with the GPS side of things since that portion of the Garmin units has been in Microsoft's Flight Simulators for years).  Dialed in the AWOS and picked up that we had a 3,000 ceiling (that's in AGL - above ground level for those that don't know), and we'd have a 7 kt crosswind, right front quartering for runway two-seven, but the sock was nearly straight across at times.

I taxied to runway two-seven, did my runup, then made my takeoff call.  We departed to the Southwest, with the intent of climbing to 3,000 MSL, which is about 2,500 AGL, the required 500 ft below the clouds.  But the clouds were much lower than AWOS reported, so we leveled off at 2,500 MSL.  Slow flight and steep turns were the short menu tonight, just to get me used to flying again.  Slow flight felt easy for me, seemed to come naturally.  Steep turns took a bit of getting used to again, but I was nailing them after a few.  Comfortable I was back in the groove, we headed back to practice landings.  I ended up getting 6 total landings in.  Over the course of those the crosswind gradually increased to 8, then 9 by the time we parked.  Number 2 was by far the best landing, but even though the others weren't as good, I still felt good about them overall, and Randy did as well.

As we're locking the hangar doors, Randy complimented me on how well I flew tonight in spite of not having flown for two months.  I told him I owe a lot of that to my flight sim setup, and additionally the C172 Trainer from A2A Simulations.  I briefly mentioned that its flight profile is almost spot-on with 34Q and that the approach speeds are amazingly realistic, which makes practicing landings actually beneficial and applicable in the real world.  The only real difference I can see is that the A2A is a C172R and is fuel-injected, so no carb heat.  Other than that, it 'feels' like I'm flying the real thing.

On the way back to the office after putting 34Q in the hangar, Randy showed me the new parts that were going in.  We're not talking just some new leather and new seat covers.  Oh no.  The old girl is getting the entire interior replaced.  ALL the paneling - side posts, ceiling, instrument panel, carpet - the works.    They're doing a full restoration, nose-to-tail, new paint job included.  They plan to do it sometime in February, when the weather's less favorable for flying and it's less of an inconvenience for her to be down for a few weeks again.  I can't wait to see what she looks like when they're done.

Back in the office, we debriefed the flight, where he again complimented me on very little loss of skill over the two months I'd been out of the cockpit.  I later pulled up a picture on my phone of my current flight sim hardware/setup, and he said it explained a lot.  He didn't want to say anything while I was flying, but he could tell I'd been doing 'something' during those two months.

It felt good to know that the painstaking hours I've spent getting everything setup to where it feels 'right' and realistic have been absolutely worth it.  Perhaps I'll post a pic or two in the coming days to show exactly what I've been using so others can benefit, or even offer pointers or suggestions for improvement.

Since the time has changed, and it's now dark an hour before my normal lesson time, we're now scheduling my lessons tentatively on Tuesday afternoons provided the weather cooperates.  I have some vacation days left, so I'm going to use most of them for flying since I don't have any real travel plans the rest of the year.  It actually works out very well.  Next Tuesday is looking good.  Mid 40'sF and mostly sunny.  I need some back-to-back weeks of flying.  Here's hoping I get them.

Two Victor Uniform, clear of the active.

ASEL: 19.4
68 Landings
Landings - Touch-and-Go: 51
Simulated Instrument: 1.1
Dual:  19.4  Total: 19.4

If you love something, set it free.

If it comes back to you, it was meant to be.

It's been 5 weeks since I saw her, but 34Q and I have a date Tuesday evening.  My instructor texted me last night letting me know they had the plane back, wondering if I'd want to fly Tuesday evening. That's like asking me if I want pizza. The answer will always be yes. 

There's just this one small problem called the weather...

Really hoping the rain is gone by 5:30.  Guess we'll see. 

Two Victor Uniform, clear of the active.

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Thank you, Tom Petty.  Truer words were never spoken, especially when it's been over 3 weeks between flights.

34Q is still at the avionics shop in Henderson, getting all fancied up with a G430 & some other goodies (I know a new engine was expected at some point, possibly a new interior, but the most I've heard confirmed during this downtime is the Garmin gear so far).  IF I get to fly next Tuesday, it will have been 4 weeks since I've been in the cockpit.  That ties the longest stretch between flights since I started lessons back in May.

I've been spending lots of time in FSX, doing lots of pattern work in the Carenado C172N and the A2A Accusim C172R Trainer just to keep up on the basics, but there's just no comparison to the real thing.  I think I've said it before, but I'll repeat, flying the real plane is so much easier.

I keep reminding myself it could be worse, and that it will all come together.  Patience is something I've learned a lot about in recent years.  But now, I have that same feeling I get when I'm going somewhere with someone, we're on a tight schedule, and I'm waiting on them because they're running behind, and we're running out of time.

2VU clear of the active

The Old Shall Be Made New

Er, replaced with new that is.

A few weeks back I learned that when 34Q was down for her next 100-hour, she'd be getting a new engine and new avionics.  That time has come - my instructor texted me this morning with the 'unfortunate' news.  Unfortunate, because this means I won't be flying next week.  At all.  And, although I'm discouraged about the fact that this will mean another three week stretch between flying, I'm excited to see her with the new hardware and hear the roar of the new engine.

Honestly, the weather early next week isn't looking that great anyway.  Mid-70s during the day and 40s and 50s for the lows.  This is setting up the perfect conditions for an unstable atmosphere, and the forecast shows it.  Rain and storms for the next five days, with an 80% chance of T-storms Monday (when I was scheduled to fly),  I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I've found a surprising patience in all of the delays and lesson cancellations throughout the summer.  Timing is everything, and it does seem everything is setting up to fall into place at the perfect time.  Until then, I'll continue with ground school studies and practicing with FSX and X-Plane.

Two Victor Uniform, clear of the active.

I wasn't SAFE

Yep.  It's true.  This time I cancelled my lesson based on my own self-check.  I'd been fighting a stomach bug all day, and it wasn't getting better.  Two hours before my lesson, I texted my instructor and cancelled.  I hated to do it, but at the same time, if I had gone ahead, I really don't think it would have been a productive flight.

Beside my illness, at the time I cancelled, there was about a 13 kt left front quartering crosswind down runway 27.  I've flown in those conditions once before, and I really wasn't up to doing it again this evening.  13 kts is toward the upper limit of the Skyhawk's abilities, and the upper limits of my nerves.  On a good day.

I started to beat myself up today for cancelling, but quickly reigned that thinking in and snapped back at myself that I'd made the right choice, and besides, that was yesterday and can't be changed.  This is today.

Next lesson is scheduled for Monday of next week, which is a deviation from my usual Tuesday.  My daughter loves The Veggietales, and they're coming to town Tuesday evening, so I'm taking her.  Seeing her laugh and smile as she enjoys the music is about the only thing on Earth that trumps flying for me.  Flying is in my soul, but she has my heart, hands down.

Two Victor Uniform, clear of the active