Officially a Private Pilot

Posted by geoffpasley on October 29, 2011 1 comment


This afternoon marks a momentous event in my life…I took my oral test and check ride this afternoon. As of noon on October 29th, 413 days after I took my first lesson, I am a certificated private pilot.

It’s a euphoric feeling to have accomplished a life long goal. All day toady I’ve been say “I can’t believe that I’m a pilot!”. I’m ready to begin exploring anywhere I can, and I’ll be starting with my first $100 lunch trip to Lake Havasu City tomorrow.

Here is a summary of my costs and experience up until this point:

    Days since first lesson: 413
    Landings: [Day 210] [Night 11]

    Flight Hours: 55.6 (12.7 solo)
    Ground School Hours: 42.8

    Airplane Rental Cost: $5,942.70
    Instructor Cost: $1,455.00
    Ground School Cost: $240.00
    Equipment and Books Cost: $744.41

    Written Exam Cost: $140.00
    Oral/Practical Exam Cost: $450.00

    Total Cost to Date: $8,972.11

Being able to train on the weekends was very important to me, as I work 40+ hour and I’m a full-time student. My girlfriend and I also like to vacation about one weekend a month, so I pretty much used the few weekends that were left to train. I know that the length of time to obtain a license can be significantly shorter for someone that really focused and trained multiple time a week, but that just wasn’t and option for me.

Whats next? This hole process has inspired me to strive to become a Certified Flight Instructor. I would love to teach people to fly as a part-time hobby, and getting paid to fly isn’t that bad either. I think the first logical step to making this goal happen would be to get instrument rated.

I will continue to write about my flying adventures because I am so passionate about it. I love to share aviation with anyone who will listen, and writing online helps me reach people that are interested. I look forward to the trips to come and sharing them here.

May the wind always be at your back, except when you’re landing. Happy flying everyone :)

Ground School 101

Posted by geoffpasley on September 26, 2011 0 comments

Ground knowledge is a vital portion to becoming a pilot. Not only is it important for you to have an understanding of basic aerodynamics of flight, visual flight rule conditions and generally how an aircraft operates, but it’s actually something that you’ll be tested on during your written exam and check-ride. Because of that, you should absorb all the knowledge you can before you go for your exams. Here are some of the ways you can accomplish this:

  1. Select the best way YOU learn. Everyone has their own way of learning, and thankfully there are plenty of ways you can get the knowledge you need. Probably one of the easiest ways of getting information is the Internet. There are plenty of online sites that will offer you good content, but shop around and use caution when shopping. It’s generally a good idea to stay away from sites that make statements like “Pass your exam or your money back!” or “100% Pass Rate”. These sites are money driven and have minimal or no original content. Another option you have is self-paced learning. This is a great option if you are disciplined enough. You need to keep yourself on task and eliminate distractions. This is the most difficult option, not only because you need to govern your own progression but, because if you find something confusing there is no one who will point the answer out for you. You’ll need to do your own research to find the answer. This option is rewarding for those do-it-yourselfers and those who find it rewarding to accomplish something on their own; and is also the cheapest because there is no instructor to pay for instruction. One other option is to join a study group. This is a convenient option because it can be cheap and you have the opportunity of meeting other people that are interested in the same thing you are. If you have a set aside time to meet your group, it will also help motivate you to learn by keeping you accountable. Occasionally you can find this kind of “study session” promoted at your home airport, and they can also include an instructor during the sessions (most likely for a fee).
  2. Be prepared for what you’re studying. No matter which way you choose to learn the material, make sure you have enough time to learn and understand it. Don’t expect to spend a weekend studying and ace the exam. One way that can help is to have all the material that you’ll need before you start. Here is a list of essential equipment you’ll need: http://flightbloghq.com/my-gear/
  3. Don’t wait too long. This actually has two meanings. (1) Start ground school or self-paced learning soon. You should have a solid knowledge base before your first solo, which will happen sooner than you think (around the 16th hour). (2) Once you have a good knowledge base get your instructor to endorse your log book in order to take the exam. If you wait too long before you take your exam you will lose your edge and you could fail the exam. You are only allowed to miss 10 questions out of 80, and if you fail you’ll have to wait 30 days before you can take the exam again. Once you pass, the endorsement is valid for 2 years.

The End is Near

Posted by geoffpasley on August 17, 2011 0 comments

A quick update on my progress. I’ve completed nearly all of my training requirements! This is the list of aeronautical experience required, according to the FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations), before you’re allowed to take the practical test:

  • 40 hours of training, consisting of:

    • The only items that I’m missing are:

    • 2 more landings at an airport with an operating control tower
    • 2 more hours of “hood time”: flight training on the control and maneuvering of an airplane solely by reference to instruments

    It should only take me about 5 more hours of training. After that I can take my test!

    I also wanted to post the pictures I took on my second trip to Lancaster (KWJF). I’ve placed them here.

    Cross Country with an Unplanned Stop

    Posted by geoffpasley on July 19, 2011 0 comments

    This morning I was planning on completing my required 150 mile cross country. I woke up at the ungodly hour of 5:20 AM to plan the flight and check the weather. I originally wanted to fly from my home airport @ Apple Valley (KAPV) out to Jean Nevada (0L7), but after checking the weather conditions at Jean I decided to change my plans. I planned a flight that took me from Apple Valley (KAPV), out to the Dagget VOR (in order to avoid restricted airspace) and then to Needles (KEED).

    The morning started off relatively on schedule; I did fall a little behind before I left the ground as I needed fuel before I left Apple Valley. I was wheels up at 7:31 AM from KAPV and in route to Dagget. Skies were smooth and the temperature wasn’t too bad for the hi-desert.

    I got within about 15 miles of the airport before LA Center lost me on radar, which is normal for the Needles area due to the mountains surrounding the airport. I was able to see the landing environment from the sky, so it wasn’t anything to be worried about. While I was on my way in I had been monitoring their CTAF and no one was around, I had the whole airport to myself. I had Needles ASOS dialed in the radio as well and the conditions on the surface were pretty calm: 3 knot wind from 150 degrees. I configured myself for a landing on runway 11 and as I turned base I felt something pushing me off track. I had to abort the landing and I quickly tunned the weather back in. The conditions had change significantly from just a moment ago: 11 knot winds from 280 degrees. I couldn’t believe what I just heard, the wind changed 130 degrees and is now blowing 8 knots faster then it was just 2 minutes ago. I left the traffic pattern for 11 and lined up for a landing on 29.

    After about 1h 30m I was on the ground and I was taxing toward fuel. As I approached the shack (literately…a shack) that was the FBO I saw a sign on the fuel pumps that said “Out of Order”. There was a man standing out behind the shanty who I could ask about the issue with the fuel pumps, but his response was less then helpful: “The pumps are out of order. You should have checked the NOTEMS before you came over here.”

    Lesson Learned: Check the NOTEMS of the airports you are visiting, even if it’s going to be a quick stop-over.

    The closest airport with fuel was Lake Havasu City:

    …so I plan out a course, punch in the radio frequencies and head out. I tune in the ASOS and discover that their weather services are out of order. I’m beginning to wonder if I should have gone on this flight at all. I enter the upwind of runway 14 and find that the wind is actually favoring that runway, so I begin my traffic pattern to land.

    To my surprise this airport is very nice. It was amazing the difference between it’s sister airport only 15 minutes away. The have what looks like a very nice restaurant that I’m definitely going to go back and check out. Here is the link if you’re interested: http://www.waldosbbq.com/havasu.html

    The trip back wasn’t nearly as eventful as the trip there. I went to Dagget for a full-stop landing with a taxi back, then made a b-line back to Apple Valley. After 4h and 15m of flight time, I finally returned to my home airport. It was quite an ordeal.

    I would never return to Needles but will be returning to Havasu for sure. Here is a look at what my trip turned out to be:

    Night Flying Cross Country: Temecula (F70)

    Posted by geoffpasley on June 7, 2011 4 comments

    Quick update about how things are going before I dive in. The instructor that I’ve had since October just moved and I had to find a new CFI. His name is Bob and I’ve never flown with him or even spoke with him before last night. On top of that, I’ve never flown at night before and I’ve only planned one other cross country flight (with the help of my old instructor) before this flight. So with all that said, lets begin:

    Wheels up at 20:50 PST, 10 minutes later then what we filed in our flight plan. The Cajon Mountains near Lake Arrowhead are 6153 feet high, so for this flight I chose 7500 feet as our cruising altitude. I calculated a climb of 11 minutes to reach that altitude at which to clear the top of the mountains, but at night there is no way to tell where the mountains begin. So around the 7th minute my palms began to sweat and I started asking the instructor if we were high enough to clear the mountains ahead. He proceeded to tell me “I don’t know. I didn’t make the flight plan”. This did not help instill confidence in my opinion of his teaching ability, nor did it help calm my nerves. Needless to say we cleared the obstruction (otherwise you’d be reading my obituary instead of this post).

    During this particular flight we were using the radios quite a bit. In order to maintain VFR flight following we needed to contact 3 different approach/departure frequencies: Joshua approach (124.55), SoCal approach (134.0) and March approach (133.5). I’ve only been on flight following once before this, so it helped me practice my radio calls.

    The flight path that I chose was pretty much a straight line there. The landmarks along the way were pretty well spaced. I planned to fly directly over Arrowhead Lake, as well as over the Redlands Municipal Airport, and then adjacent to the March Air Force Base. These were all things that I knew were visible at night. The two things that I had concerns about were: clearing the mountains and flying through the class C airspace at March Air Force Base. It turned out that neither of these amounted to any kind of real concern because once I contacted March approach they cleared me for my descent.

    As I approached French Valley (F70 – Murrieta/Temecula CA) my mind began to wonder. I’ve never landed at night before; was it going to be harder then during the day? Am I going to have trouble seeing the runway? All of these thoughts began rushing through my mind. The closer I got to the airport the more those rushing thoughts became less and less. The airport and the runway were very well lit and I had no problem at all seeing the runway environment. I came into the pattern on upwind and made one whole pass before touching-down at 21:25 PST. Piece of cake! My first night landing was over before I knew it.

    ** As a side note: don’t forget to call and close your flight plan if you’re landing at an uncontrolled airport. They begin to wonder where you are and if you’re alive when you don’t check in. We had a briefer call us because we didn’t close our plan.

    Cross Country: Lancaster (KWJF)

    Posted by geoffpasley on April 23, 2011 0 comments

    Update: Here are some pictures that I snapped on my solo cross-country to KWJF on 6/19/11

    Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

    Original Post:

    I’ve gotten to the point in my training that I have begun to branch out to other airports. That’s right…I’ve started the cross country portion of my training. Today my instructor and I planned to fly to William J. Fox airport (KWJF) for lunch. I would have loved to get a cheese burger, but I’ve given up meat for lent. I went with the fish tacos, which weren’t too shabby.

    So food choices aside, it wasn’t too great of a day to be out and about. Here is a weather outlook for KWJF airport:
    Weather Conditions (KWJF):

    • Temperature: 69 °F
    • Dew Point: 43 °F
    • Wind: 27 mph (WSW) Max Gust: 36 mph
    • Pressure: 29.90in

    I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF to file my very first flight plan. Our flight briefer told us there was light to moderate turbulence reported along our route of flight. I could certainly vouch for that statement; we hit an updraft on the way that made me feel like I was riding a roller-coaster.

    We passed by Edwards Air Force Base on the way. It was pretty cool to see the runway where the space shuttle and SR-71 landed. The base has a runway that is over 15,000 feet long. I could land my little Cessna 172 trainer there about 4 times before I ran out of runway. Of course after I did that Homeland Security would be asking me some questions in a brig somewhere.

    On approach we contacted WJF tower and they told us to “make straight-in traffic for runway 24. Report over the freeway”. When we were over the freeway we called them, reported in, and they said, “Cleared to land runway 24. Wind 280 at 23, gusts 27, caution wind-sheer”. After that radio call I knew I would have a handful trying to get this plane on the ground. 40 degrees crosswind deflection with over 25 mph winds isn’t quite my idea of fun just yet. The plane made it out in one piece, but I can’t take the credit for the landing. My instructor had to help with the rudder controls because I wasn’t making enough correction for the wind.

    During lunch we saw an old Russian MIG doing some touch-and-gos, and some pretty cool US Forest Service aircrafts there but I didn’t bring my camera with me on this trip. Next time I head back there I’ll snap some shots of the neat things I see.

    Unsupervised Solo

    Posted by geoffpasley on April 10, 2011 0 comments

    Do you remember the time when you first got your driver’s license? You took your car out on your own
    and no one was there to analyze or criticize your driving; it was just you and the open road. You never
    forget that feeling. Today I felt the same rush of emotions when I showed up to my first unsupervised
    training session. Now it was just me and the sky!

    Conditions were better than perfect. There hadn’t been any wind all day. It was sunny and clear skies
    to boot. In fact the weather was so good that I had to get out that morning and get a round of golf in
    before my lesson.

    I showed up to the airport around 3 PM, and found the traffic in the pattern making right traffic for
    runway 36, a runway that I’ve never landed on before. I didn’t let that phase me; I did my preflight and
    got myself situated. I went to take the tire chalk away and quickly found that that was easier with two
    people. As I took it away the plane began to roll backward….Immediately I put the chalk back. Already I
    had an obstacle to overcome and I wasn’t even off the ground yet. Just then I had a stroke of brilliance!
    If I only remove the front chalk I could roll away once I powered on the engine. Problem solved.

    Now that I’ve gotten in the aircraft, and the engine started, I was on my way to the run-up area. Luckily
    my instructor and I had been by the terminal near runway 36 the week prior, where he showed me
    where to do the run-up checklist for this particular runway. It was just an unused taxiway, there was no
    dictated area. No way would I have guessed that on my own.

    Once I was airborne, there was an occasional aircraft inbound to land or passing overhead, but for the
    most part I had the airport all to myself.

    Overall I logged: 1 hour flight time and 8 landings. More importantly: no injuries and loads of
    confidence.

    Solo Progress

    Posted by geoffpasley on April 6, 2011 1 comment

    Just a quick update of my progress. I just got back from an afternoon flight. My instructor and I have been working on getting in some local solo work and the weather hasn’t been cooperating with us the past few weeks (more like 8 weeks). Today wasn’t any different:
    Wheels-up @ 4:30 – Weather Conditions (KAPV):

    • Temperature: 69 °F
    • Dew Point: 38 °F
    • Wind: 5 mph (SSW)
    • Pressure: 29.94in

    Wheels-down @ 5:30 – Weather Conditions (KAPV):

    • Temperature: 65 °F
    • Dew Point: 38 °F
    • Wind: 13 mph (SSW) Gusts: 23 mph (SSW)
    • Pressure: 29.95in

    How quickly the weather can change. I should also add that it had just begun to rain when I turned final for my last landing. I’ve never flown in the rain so that was a first for me.

    I’ve been getting good experience working on cross-wind landings these past few weeks, and it showed today. I’m glad that I had that exposure with my instructor while he was in the cockpit. It allowed me to feel much more comfortable in windy conditions while I was by myself.

    One note I’d like to add: during windy conditions it is critical that wind correction is held during roll-out and take-off. If not, it could lead to the aircraft taking off uncoordinated and the sensation of the aircraft main wheels dancing away from the wind. If the wind is strong enough it could lead to side loading the aircraft. Its something that I need to still work on and be vigilant about. Everyone be careful on windy days :)

    Crowded Skies

    Posted by geoffpasley on February 13, 2011 0 comments

    Today marked only the second flight that I was the solo pilot-in-command. The weather conditions were great for flying:
    Weather Conditions (KAPV):

    • Temperature: 49 °F
    • Dew Point: 19 °F
    • Wind: 6 mph (SSE) Gusts: 10 mph (S)
    • Pressure: 30.16in

    My instructor likes to see how the conditions are and how comfortable I look behind the yoke before he lets me loose. So both of us strap in and do a few touch-and-goes before I go up alone.

    During our second touch-and-go we hear another aircraft about 5 miles out in bound to land. We’re on downwind already and preparing to turn base, so the traffic is no factor. During separation from the runway on the second touch-and-go we hear another aircraft enter the pattern. On our upwind a third aircraft, 1 mile to the east, was planning to enter the downwind on the 45. Now there are 3 other aircraft in the pattern with us. As we turned crosswind we heard the 3rd aircraft state that he was entering on the 45, which should be done at the center of the runway environment!

    During our turn to downwind we were still climbing at about 700 feet AGL. As we join the downwind traffic the aircraft that supposedly entered the downwind midfield passes over us about 100-200 feet. We were in a Cessna 172 (high-wing) so our visibility to traffic above us is limited. 100-200 feet doesn’t sound close but at 80 knots and 700-800 feet AGL, its close enough!

    In 2010, the NTSB reported 4 midair collisions (7 aircraft and 1 hot air balloon), causing 2 fatalities and leaving 6 with major injuries. Reports found at NTSB website: http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/index.aspx

    Lessons Learned: Stay vigilant when scanning for traffic! You always should be on the lookout for other people sharing the sky with you, even our feathered friends (birds aren’t people, but I think you get my point). Remember that your perception of 3 miles and someone else’s might be different. Be extra careful in the traffic pattern and around airports. Always be on the lookout!

    Solo Flight

    Posted by geoffpasley on February 6, 2011 0 comments

    After 17 flight hours I finally was ready for my first solo. Although weather conditions were not on our side this morning, both my instructor and I were confident that I was ready and capable of getting the job done.
    Weather Conditions (KAPV):

    • Temperature: 58 °F
    • Dew Point: 28 °F
    • Wind: 8 mph (NE) Gusts: 15 mph (NE)
    • Pressure: 30.08in

    My girlfriend came with me and shot the flight from the ground:

    It was a very strange feeling to look over at the empty seat next to you. I quickly realized that I was the only one who’s going to get this plane back on the ground. In addition to that unnerving feeling, its very quiet in the cockpit when you’re in there by yourself. I actually found myself welcoming the com chatter over the radio, instead of being annoyed by it. Although on the plus side…there is a lot more shoulder room in there without another grown man sitting next to you.

    Upon returning to the hanger, I was promptly stripped of my shirt in keeping with the long tradition of a first solo. Here is some history that I found on a fellow Southern Californian aviator’s website (http://160knots.com/)

    • It is thought that it stems from early days in aviation, when pilots wore a scarf with which to clean their goggles. Student pilots, however, were obligated to use their own shirt tails to clean their goggles. When a student became a pilot, the shirt tail was cut and handed to him to symbolize that he, too, was now entitled to wear the scarf of a pilot.
    • Another piece of aviation lore says that in early tandem trainers, it was so noisy that the instructors would get their student’s attention by yanking on his shirt tail. After the student would solo, the shirt tail would be cut as the instructor no longer needed to jerk on the shirt tail.

    Needless to say this was quite an exciting time in the progression of my training (and in my life in general). I’ll have to count this as one of the biggest accomplishments in my life.

    As always comments are always welcome and thanks for reading.

    (Pictures of the adventure):

    Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer