May :: 2015 :: Cessna Chick

Archive for May 2015

Aerobatics Take Two

This is from my first lesson, but the smile has stayed the same!

Since I finally finished with my tailwheel endorsement and solo meant I could move back to aerobatics. I was beyond excited. I was watching the weather closely even the day before, but you know how accurate the forecasts are (it’s always different). Rain threatened the area since Saturday, but Monday rolled around and no rain. It was slightly windy, but at the time of the lesson it didn’t look terrible so I went without calling.

As I pulled up I saw my CFI walking away towards the hangars. I checked in with the office and went to hunt him down. Luckily, I remember where the Citabria is kept so it wasn’t too hard. His son was out helping and promised him he would get to taxi in the airplane. He’s so adorable that I didn’t mind the extra walking!

We filled her up with a little gas, since too much would put us overweight for aerobatics, and headed out. He did the take off since it had been awhile since I was in the Citabria and it handles quite differently than the Cub.

We hardly eased into aerobatics unlike last time when turns gradually steepening, stalls and spin. We did about two turns and then straight into loops! This lessons he started to critique my execution of the moves rather than just me getting the simple idea of them. Loops, I wasn’t pulling back hard enough in the entry. I kept also wanting to let the stick go neutral at the top of the loop, but he said to keep it held back all the way through the top. The wind was also picking up slightly so making sure the entry was nice and straight because more of a chore.

Next up, hammerheads. I really enjoy this maneuver. I feel on this one I need to anticipate a bit better. I wanted to push the stick forward later than he was telling me, but if I followed that instinct I’m sure I wouldn’t be vertical but beginning a loop.

I learned a move we didn’t do last night, the Half Cuban and Cuban Eight. Half Cuban is a lot like an Immelmann and I had to ask the difference when he first explained it to me (I didn’t study before the lesson!) An Immelmann you roll at 1/2 way through the loop, while Half Cuban you’re not rolling until 5/8 of the way though the loop. The reason for this is the angle you’re headed when you roll out of the inversion will help you build speed when you’re doing a Cuban Eight to do the maneuver again.

I enjoy these types of moves because you’re upside down just long enough to start falling out of your seat. Though I made sure I buckled up tight this time so I could continue to reach the rudder pedals. After a few Half Cubans, he suggested I do a Cuban Eight, which is just two Half Cubans in a row and it looks like a figure eight.

There have been times in both lessons where I just can’t control myself and I let out a “whoo!” during the Cuban Eight that happened, it was just too fun! I have to admit, this move made me feel dizzy afterwards and my CFI called the lesson (he didn’t ask if I felt okay, it was getting to be close to an hour anyway).

As always, I can’t stop smiling after one of these lessons and can not wait for the next one! This was one of the best decisions in my flight training and will make me a more capable and confident pilot.

Has there been any of your training that has brought around confidence in your flying?

Now, only to get the money to buy a Pitts and compete in aerobatics…

Cub Flying

May 12, 2015

· 2 Comments

Even though my CFI awarded me a tailwheel endorsement the other day, due to the winds, I didn’t solo the Cub. I set up one more lesson to get checked out in the Cub so I could rent it. I was so happy when the day turned out to have clear skies and calm winds, exactly what I needed!

I made my way out to the airport, excited and nervous about flying solo. I realized I haven’t flown solo since before I got my PPL. Only once afterwards had I been the only pilot in the aircraft. I knew though that my CFI wouldn’t get out unless he felt I was okay to go.

We did a few landings. I wasn’t quite pulling back hard enough on the stick on the roll out. We worked on correcting that before I soloed. After I did one more landing, my CFI asked if I was okay if he got out. I said “okay!” and I dropped him off before heading off to solo. He said have fun and just put it back in the hangar once I was done.

I have a confession. Every time I’ve soloed up until now, it’s to fit a requirement. I did my solo practice time, I did my solo cross countries, and that was it. I didn’t enjoy soloing. Yes, I enjoyed knowing I can do it all by myself, but I didn’t want to seek out opportunities to fly solo.

This was different. I didn’t want to stop soloing! My first three landings were pretty good. It felt great to have my instructor out of the plane so it could climb faster and I didn’t have to go larger patterns to get to pattern altitude. I was feel great and having so much fun. I knew I had to stop soon since I worked later that night. One more landing I told myself!

There was someone else in the pattern on downwind it looked like. This Cub doesn’t have any electrical system, so no way of talking to them. I rushed a decided to take off before them. Don’t rush in an airplane! I knew that before, and this just reinforced the lesson. I taxied out onto the runway and pushed the throttle forward before I was lined up straight. I got control of the aircraft shortly before coming to the edge of the runway. Whew, okay, I’ll never do that again.

Of course, that threw me off, and my landing was the worst out of all four. It was more of a wheels landing with a bounce than a nice three point landing. Well, that’s what I get for pushing it!

I know I’ll go and solo the Cub again for fun since I truly enjoyed soloing for the first time. Now back to the Citabria for aerobatics lessons! I couldn’t be more excited!

Delta OCC

May 8, 2015

· No Comments

When I attended the Women in Aviation Conference in Dallas, I got the chance to speak with the hiring manager at Delta for dispatchers. The opportunity to speak with him was amazing within itself since I had written off Delta of not being interested in a Part 135 dispatcher with less than a year of experience. Don’t always listen to the Internet! It was chance that I ended up at their booth and talked to him, but he encouraged me to come down to Atlanta and watch their dispatchers at work.

After a few weeks and some email communication, we got it all sorted out and I headed down to Atlanta to go to the Delta Headquarters. It was bright and early for me since I’m currently working nights. I’m learning to function on a lot less sleep now.

The Delta compound is amazingly HUGE! I couldn’t see the extent of it, but it seemed at least 6 buildings in my vision when I entered the main gate. He met me at the gate and I got all signed in and off we went to the Operations Control Center (or I think it’s Operations Client Center now?). I met another gentleman before my tour who was extremely nice and welcome, which seemed to be everyone there.

I was given a tour of the massive OCC where meteorology was located – they are one of the last airlines with their own meteorologists. All the supervisors, maintenance control, Delta Radio, IT, and the dozens and dozens of dispatchers.

I sat with a domestic dispatcher for about an hour or so. I loved talking to her and hearing her background with Delta (she was hired internally) and her experience dispatching for them. She was working flights out of ATL most going to the DTW area. There was some weather in the ATL area so I watched her decision making with alternates. While it’s much more repetitive than my current job, I can’t wait to do it!

Next, I was brought over to the international dispatchers and sat with their supervisor. He wasn’t actively dispatching flights, but we got to talk a lot more about international dispatching and their requirements. There was also a diversion when I was there, which was exciting, but everyone was so calm about it!

After about 4 hours I finally left. I felt terrible for my friend waiting for me, but it was such a great experience! If you ever get a chance to see any OCC, but especially the Delta one, do it! It’s very impressive. Now just to keep up the networking and hopefully I get to work there someday!

Tailwheel Endorsement!

May 7, 2015

· 1 Comment

I haven’t blogged about it as much as I wanted to, but I’ve been working towards my tailwheel endorsement in a Piper J3 Cub recently. I’ve had a few lessons and then had to take about a month break due to work and the weather. Right before that break, I was starting to get discouraged. Unlike Private Pilot, when you get discouraged with your landings, you can take a break and go refresh on stalls or steep turns, not so much with this endorsement. I felt like I wasn’t ever going to learn to land this frigging airplane! Maybe a break is what I needed.

I went gliding the day before so I had flown recently. My CFI had made a comment that he thought since he hadn’t seen me in awhile that I had been discouraged. Oh no! I don’t want him to think that!

It was a bit gusty that day. It started out around 10-12kts sustained gusting to 21. I wasn’t sure if it was okay for the Cub to fly, but I gave a call and it was okay. He said if it was my first time, no we wouldn’t have gone; but he thought I was up for the challenge. It was a slight crosswind but changed to straight down the runway later in the lesson.

My landings weren’t terrible at first. Some of my better ones actually! About halfway through my lesson though I had a bounce landing, he suggested if I added a bit of power at the end it would have been great. Next time around I tried to duplicate it and add power and it wasn’t awful.

I got back in the groove, but we ended up talking a bit more in the pattern so my approach was slightly high and involved a lot of slipping. The landings were good though.

The last landing was perfect. The descent angle was steep, but it was the softest landing. As I turned off the runway, he asked if I wanted to call it a day. I said “yes, I want to end on a high note!”

We went back into the office and while I was paying for the lesson, he was filling out my logbook as usual and asked for my pilot’s license. I didn’t think too much of it and handed it over. I noticed a bit later he was on the endorsement page! He finished and I got my tailwheel endorsement! Yay! I was surprised, but then again, that last landing was super sweet!

He said he would want one more lesson before I could get checked out in their Cub, just when the winds were a bit calmer. I want to get checked out in it so I set that up. But we’re also going back to the Citabria to do aerobatics again after that! I’m so excited! I was getting sick of just doing landings. I want to be inverted again!

I believe my tailwheel training benefits my glider training and vice versa. While I’m not sure it’s the best idea to split yourself between two types of training, it has turned out well for me. I’m going to keep working towards my glider while I do aerobatics, so I’ll let you know if it continues to work out.

I can fly taildraggers now! Yay!

Total Training Time for Endorsement: 6.2 hours

Gliding

May 6, 2015

· 3 Comments

Jake and I joined a gliding club in October in our area. We were both set on getting our glider add-ons for a cheaper fun thing to do together. It’s also a way to build up my flight time for my commercial in a less expensive way. Due to my work schedule and weather, we’ve got extremely unlucky and haven’t flown since then.

Sunday I got to make it out there! I work until 4am, so I didn’t get out there until about 3pm. I wanted to wake up earlier, but that snooze button was too tempting. We’ve been getting pushed by the club to be more active and be part of a crew, so finally I felt like I wasn’t slacking.

I find it interesting how in the club it’s different for people without set schedules or odd schedules, since I figured many pilots and other aviation people would be involved. They have been understanding though and working with our odd schedules.

They had me jump right into learning crew duties. I learned to how to make a rope adapter to attach the glider to the tow plane. We have 2 types of hook ups one for the European gliders and another for the American made ones so I learned about both and making the rope strong enough to handle towing the gliders.

Next up was launching the gliders. I learned all the hand signals and how to prep the glider correctly and be the wing runner when the glider was launching. I actually really enjoyed that part! It’s fun to run along with the glider, but you find out how quickly it picks up speed! I can only get about 10-15 feet before it’s too fast to keep up.

After, I finally got to go up for a lesson. We found an available instructor and we had some ground time before going up. I had been up once in October and two rides with other glider pilots for fun. While I enjoyed the instructor really going over items on the ground since I find I don’t absorb things as well in the moment in the air, it was a bit slow for my learning taste. Again, I did appreciate it though so it made learning up in the air quite easy.

My October lesson was a bit all over the place. It wasn’t bad, but following the tow plane was difficult and the pattern wasn’t pretty. I think due to being current now in powered aircraft and my tailwheel time, things became much easier. I followed the tow plane a bit after the launch and didn’t over control the glider which I did before. I remember from my initial lessons in the 152 that I have that tendency. I kept the rope taut, unlike the first time I kept getting slack line.

Up in the air, we did some turns but couldn’t find any thermals so it ended quickly. He said my control was good and coordination was good too. Again, I know my first lesson I wasn’t using enough rudder since you don’t really need much in a Cessna. Now flying the Cub and doing aerobatics, I’m not timid on the rudder.

Pattern was almost perfect, but I did flare slightly too high at first. It’s a bit scary knowing you have one chance to land!

I went up one more time that day. Again a short time, but I mainly worked on following the tow plane and the pattern. I noticed it got hazy out so it was a bit harder to keep the tow plane on the horizon when the horizon wasn’t too clear.

Second time coming in I was a bit high and we did a slip, but again piece of cake since I slip all the time now. Slipping in the glider is a bit different though, lots of rudder and little aileron. If you put in too much aileron you start to lose control of the glider.

I can’t wait to get this rating! I just have to force myself to get up earlier on Sundays after work. Hopefully there will be more to share next week.

Lesson Time: 0.5

Total Time: 1.7

Archive for May 2015

Aerobatics Take Two

Cub Flying

Delta OCC

Tailwheel Endorsement!

Gliding

About

Flight Follow Cessna Chick!

Archives