Increased Complexity

 The flying club that I've been a member of for the last few years has two airplanes - a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 177RG.  I've been flying the 172 and, while it's a good plane, the 177RG is much better for longer trips due it's higher speed and range. To fly the 177RG, a Complex Endorsement is needed.  Last week I started learning how to fly this more complex airplane. So, what makes this airplane "complex"?  

Two major differences set the 177RG apart from the 172.  First, it has what is known as a "constant speed propeller".  Instead of controlling the propeller speed with the engine RPM, there is another control that lets you set the propeller pitch, which then regulates the engine RPM.  The major advantage of this system is greater speed and better fuel economy.  A good analogy is that the 172 is a car with only 2nd gear, and the 177RG has many gears to choose from based on whether you need power or speed.

The second difference is the "RG" - retractable gear.  Landing gear is a major source of drag on an airplane and getting the gear out of the wind adds quite a bit of speed to an airplane.  So, getting in the habit of putting the gear down before landing is a key aspect of successfully flying the 177RG.

I'll need at least 10 hours of dual instruction time in the airplane to meet the training requirements for the endorsement and the insurance requirements.  I'm hoping to complete the training in a few weeks.

The Next Phase

 Something is happening...

Owatonna Lunch Run

Ok, I'm a bit late on this post but late is better than never, right?

A month ago, my wife suggested that we fly somewhere for my birthday, so I decided to fly my wife and son down to Owatonna for some shopping at Cabela's (an outdoor super store) and have lunch at one of the nearby restaurants.  I checked the weather and it looked like the nice weather was going to hold all day so I reserved a plane and headed up to the airport.

 This was my first "$100 Burger Run" so I was curious how everything would work out.  I was told that once you landed in Owatonna, you could simply call Cabela's and they would send a shuttle for you (it's about 1.5 miles away).  I had heard there was also a courtesy car (which we later saw) but I didn't spend a lot of time finding out how to get the keys.  Definitely next time though.

The flight south went very well, and we landed without incident at KOWA.  I was amazed at how nice the facilities were...brand new flight prep room, lounge, and a conference room.  All of it was free to use by transient pilots.

After a few minutes, the shuttle showed up and took us over to the Cabela's store.  They have some pretty cool indoor animal displays, and every piece of outdoor gear you could imagine.  However, we were hungry so we took a quick tour inside the store and then walked to Famous Dave's rib joint.

After we ate, we headed over to the store again but I was worried that the haze was going to close in on my home airport, so we didn't spend a lot of time shopping.  The manager gave us a quick ride back to the airport and we headed north again.

When we were airborne, it wasn't long before I could see Minneapolis in the distance...at 25 miles I could still make out the skyscrapers, so I knew that the weather wasn't a concern.

We had a lot of fun, and it was great being able to fly the family somewhere for lunch and shopping.

Icewater Mansion

It felt good to stretch my wings a bit.  After getting my fill of local flights, and flights to nearby airports, I asked my wife Monica what she'd think of a "flying vacation".  She thought it was a great idea, and so we made plans to fly to Sky Harbor Airport on Duluth's Park Point.  Monica and I both went to college in Duluth, and it's a neat town, so we like to visit as much as possible.  Plus, Lake Superior, which boasts the largest surface area of any lake in the world, is also a seaport and the ship watching is very cool.

Amazingly, we left the house on time, got to the airport a little early, and took off 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  Another club member landed and was putting a plane away when we were getting ready, and said the air was very smooth.  He was right...it was a nice smooth flight all the way up to Duluth.  I climbed to 3500 feet and cruised at a stately 108 knots (fuel burn of 9.6 gallons per hour).  As we approached the Duluth/Superior area, I heard on the shared CTAF frequency that they were doing skydiving ops over the Superior Airport (3 miles southwest of Sky Harbor) and there was a slightly disoriented older gentleman over the airport as well.  I did a non-standard wide entry to base for Sky Harbor and landed without a problem.

Jake helps with the preflight

Gotta make sure the altimeter is set correctly...

Just like riding in the car. 

Sky Harbor is the bare patch in the middle of the narrow strip.

Later my wife mentioned she was nervous because the runway looked so short.  It's actually 3000 feet long but with water on both sides, it's a much different sight picture than what she's used to.  My son Jake simply played his leapster in the back seat the whole trip.  I took that as a compliment.

Actually it does kind of look short from up here.

Ship watching in Canal Park.  You have to take the bridge to get to Sky Harbor.

After using my iPhone to learn how to tie a knot in the tiedown, we grabbed our bags and met the Enterprise rental car driver.  We dropped him off, and did our usual touristy stuff.

The flight back was a little bumpier, as the winds had picked up a bit, but the takeoff, cruise, and landing at Crystal Airport were all uneventful.  I even got my wife to take the controls for a bit as I set up the GPS, but upon looking back outside, I noticed we were in an unusual attitude.  So, we might have to look into a pinch hitter course for her some time...

Home sweet home.

All in all, it was a very fun and successful weekend.  My wife has now made more suggestions for flights like Madeline Island and Door County, Wisconsin.

The Long Forgotten

I've been delinquent in blog updates of late, as you can tell.  I've flown a couple of times since the last post, but they were just local flights that weren't really worth talking about.

However, I'm flying the family up to Duluth in a few weeks (KDYT on Park Point) and we're staying at Canal Park overnight.  This will be the first practical use of my pilot credentials since my checkride over two years ago.  I know, it's a slow start, but at least it's a start. 

Watch here for the full report.

Long Lunch

So I work with this guy named Luke and ever since he found out I'm a pilot, he's suggested on a weekly basis that maybe we could take a long lunch and go flying.

Well finally we had an opportunity today to grab a real quick lunch and head up to the airport. The winds were calm and the sky was blue. Everybody had the same idea and it was pretty busy at Crystal airport.

Since we had to do a quick flight, I just did a loop around Lake Minnetonka and Lake Waconia. It was calm on the ground but a little bumpy up in the air. We snapped a few photos and zipped back to the airport. It was nice to get up in the air but I hope to do some longer flights now that winter is finally gone (fingers crossed).

Winter's Bone

A month ago I foolishly ventured onto a large ice patch and broke my leg. Now, as a Minnesota resident, I'm no stranger to slipping and falling on ice...it's practically a tradition for those of us in the frozen north. In the past the worst that's happened is a mildly bruised backside. For some reason, my leg tangled with gravity, force, and momentum in the wrong way and was soundly defeated.

That being said, I'm on the road to recovery. I have a removable walking cast that allows me to put some weight on my leg. Oddly enough, it's the ankle that is the source of most of the pain lately...I wonder if I messed it up a bit when I fell or if the surgery to insert the stabilizing rod caused some distress.

So I'm hoping in 2-3 weeks I can get into the air again before I forget too much. The weather is improving as well, but this vicious winter is reluctant to let go.

Here's a photo of the break and repair for you to peruse. They laid some sort of contrast enhancing sheet over the leg to take the xray, but if you look above the horizontal stripe, you can just make out the spiral fracture:

Status: GROUNDED

Last Sunday, during the Great Blizzard of 2011, I managed to break my left leg on a patch of ice near my house. I'm not thrilled about that but I decided on surgery to speed things along versus a full leg cast for a month (followed by many more weeks in a smaller cast).

So, with a rod down the middle of my tibia secured with surgical lag bolts, my leg is pretty solid and the partial cast will most likely come off in three days. Then I will have five or so weeks with a brace. Doc says I shouldn't have a problem getting back in the air after the brace comes off.

On the brighter side, winter should be over for the most part by the time my leg is healed. But then again, considering the winter so far, it might not be over till June...

Flight Review

So, on Feb. 12th (a week ago) the weather was perfect for some flying. I met Bob, a club CFI, at the hangar for my Flight Review.

The Flight Review is required by regulations and must occur every 24 calendar months, starting from the time the initial checkride is passed. There are some situations that allow you to go longer (such as participation in the FAA's Wings program) but normally if you are beyond the 24 months, you are not current to fly as PIC (pilot in command).

Well, as I mentioned in the previous post, the winter has not been ideal for flying small airplanes. When it's been warm, the clouds have been low and/or it's been snowing, and when there's no clouds, it's been very cold. So I had a 90 day hiatus in flying which put me beyond the 24 month flight review requirement and the 90 day flight currency with the flying club. Thankfully, I knew I could knock both of these out at the same time.

The flight review requires a minimum of 1 hour of ground instruction / review, and 1 hour flight time. So as soon as I got to the airport, Bob was asking questions, sometimes so nonchalantly that I didn't realize they were part of the ground review. I answered most the questions correctly, got a little review on some things, and then we taxied out for some flying.

My steep turns were a bit rough but it had been awhile since I'd done any. We kept them up until Bob was happy, then did some slow flight (flying right above stall speed, and maneuvering without stalling). After that, some stalls. Now, I've never had any problems with stalls, and the last time I did them was last summer when I was checked out in the club 172. But this time, I had a hard time keeping it coordinated during the stall despite my best efforts. The first stall resulted in a spin, which I was glad (after the fact) that I immediately stopped with opposite rudder, neutral ailerons, and throttle. Understandably, Bob wanted to polish stalls a bit more so we did a few more power-on and power-off stalls until I wasn't dropping a wing anymore.

Then we did a bit of "foggle" work (goggles that prevent you from seeing the outside world so you have to fly on instruments). Those skills hadn't atrophied much so we moved on to landings.

I'm proud to say that in general, my landings are pretty good. Granted I don't often land on 1000 foot strips in 30 knot crosswinds, but when it comes to landing, I look forward to it because it's fun and challenging to do a good one.

I did 5 landings with Bob and all of them except the last one were safe but ugly. And the reason is that Bob kept talking during the entire pattern, increasing his chatter and tips during the short final. After landing #4 I asked him to please not talk during short final. He did anyway but I ignored him and had a nice smooth landing.

We did another 30 minutes of ground review and he endorsed me for 2 more years and another club checkout.

The long, cold, brutal winter.

Anyone who lives near me can attest that this winter has not been ideal for small airplane flight. It's either been sunny and too cold, or warm and snowy. So I haven't flown since November.

Every two years, a certificated private pilot must obtain a Flight Review from an instructor to make sure that he or she is safe to fly and is keeping current with their knowledge and skills. Also, a Club member must fly at least once in a 90 day period. I've exceeded both of those timeframes. Since the Club now requires a checkout, and the FAA requires a Flight review, I decided to knock both out at the same time. I had a flight review scheduled with a Club CFI for February 5, but it was foggy and I had to postpone. This Saturday the weather looks like it might cooperate. With any luck, I'll be back in the air soon.

River flying and a new passenger.

It was a beautiful day to fly so that's what I did. I arranged for a friend and his 7 year old son to meet me at a small regional airport 20 minutes from my home base of Crystal Airport.

Now this flight contained a series of planned and unplanned "firsts". I carefully planned my flight but forgot to check for TFRs (temporary flight restrictions) until I got to the airport. Then I realized that the Vikings were playing at the Metrodome and my departure from Crystal Airport took me very close to that TFR. Also, the airspace from Crystal to New Richmond has multiple types of controlled airspace that has to be carefully avoided or prudently managed with radio work. So, I called up Minneapolis Approach (at the "big" airport) and got a transponder code that would allow me to plow through everything as long as I was in contact with them. It was much more painless than I anticipated and it reduced my workload considerably.

The second "first" was having someone meet me at a distant airport. I did some careful research and found the most likely place to meet them (self serve lounge at Griggs Aviation). I landed and found them hanging out at a picnic table nearby and we loaded up.

One cool thing we saw was a Republic RC-3 SeaBee airplane right in front of us on the taxiway. I guess that was also a first...I've never seen one in person before.

We cruised around St. Croix county and the little guy picked out his house and his grandma's house and even found a buddy's house. He definitely seemed to be having a great time. Eventually we headed west and picked up the mighty St. Croix river and followed it north. Then it was time to return to New Richmond.

We landed uneventfully and my passenger disembarked. I then flew back to Crystal. As I was on short final approach for 14L, the controller switched me to 14R which was odd but somewhat amusing. I managed to keep my stabilized approach and make a decent landing - ending a very good day of flying.

Google Earth Track

Fully Loaded

It's been a few weeks but I flew again today, and had some company with me. We have an exchange student living with us, Rachchapol, who is from Thailand and is hoping to be an airline pilot with Thai Airways. Now, I've attempted to do this flight 3 times in the past, and had to cancel every time due to high winds. Today it was windy but within my personal limits so Rachchapol (or "Name" as he likes to be called), Joe, and Jake headed over to the airport and got the plane ready. Jake asked if he could help with the preflight, so I said "sure" and he walked around the plane, fussing over a rivet or the tires. He'll be a pilot some day.

Everything looked good so we hopped in and took off. It was a bit bumpy up there but not horrible...nobody complained of nausea so we just motored around, enjoying the flying. Joe took a bunch of photos of farms and houses - he is attempting to grow as a photographer. He gave me permission to share a few here:

Changes.

Yesterday after work I went up to Crystal Airport to work on getting familiar with the Cessna 172 and the airport layout. I knew Flying Cloud airport like the back of my hand and never had to use an airport taxi diagram, but Crystal is quite a bit different. The penalty for making a wrong turn and getting on a runway without permission can be significant, so I wanted to make sure I learned the layout.

Winds were very light and the air was smooth, so it was a good day to learn the taxiways and the airplane without throwing huge wind corrections in the mix. I made three takeoffs and landings (all three rendering the airplane suitable for further use). I still have some polishing to do on the landings but that just means getting used to the airplane. My brother Joe kindly snapped some pics while I was in the pattern.

I think the next step will be a trip to Duluth/Superior or possibly Brainerd for lunch.

Movin' on up.

I'll spare the suspense - I passed the checkout flight so now I can fly the two Cessna 172s at Yankee flying club.

The checkout flight was pretty straightforward. The CFI gave me a briefing on the plane's communications and navigations systems, went over the differences between the Warrior and the 172, and taxiway navigation at Crystal Airport. Then we took off and headed to the west.

First he started me with steep turns...haven't done those in a long time. I deviated from my altitude a bit on the first run, but the second one was a lot better. Then we did some power-on and power-off stalls, and a simulated engine out to a landing at Buffalo airport. Amazingly, I never did a simulated engine out to a landing during my primary pilot training - we'd approach some hay field and then throttle up and fly away. It was fun, and a little hairy, but my first landing in a 172 was a dead stick landing. Sure it was a little rough, but the plane was flyable afterwards so I counted it a success.

We headed back to Crystal and did 3 landings. The first one was kind of rough...I found it a lot harder to pull the yoke to flare, and I didn't want to pull too hard. The second landing I put some muscle into it and got a good flare and soft landing. The third one was a no-flaps landing, yet another first, and though the speed was higher than what I'm used to, and the landing roll longer, it wasn't too big of a deal.

After wiping off the bug guts and buttoning up the plane, Kevin signed my logbook and said he was very satisfied that I could fly the 172 safely. If the weather is good this week I'll take one of the 172's up and get some pics and video for all the world to see.

All good things must come to an end.

I can definitely say that I had fun while it lasted. Many of my loyal blog readers have noticed a lack of flying on my part, and now I will explain to you why.

Renting is great for taking flying lessons, but not so great for anything else.

A few months ago I started scouting some flying clubs in the twin cities area, limiting my search to Lakeville, Eden Prairie, and Crystal. I found a great club in Crystal (at Crystal Airport, KMIC) that had a good combination of affordable share price, very nice planes, and reasonable plane hourly rates. So the past few weeks I've held off renting so that I could use the money to get going with the Yankee Flying Club.

Now before the nice people who run the club will let me fly their nice planes, I need to do a "check out" flight. Insurance requires a designated instructor to verify that I can fly the plane safely. In this case, I'm going from a low-wing Piper Warrior to a high-wing Cessna 172. Sadly, the last four scheduled checkout flights were cancelled due to daily thunderstorms. Tomorrow is attempt #5...and the morning looks t-storm free so I'm confident that I'll be able to get checked out.

Hopefully this will allow me to fly a lot more...my anemic logbook is begging for more ink.

Artic Blast

Ok, I live in Minnesota and I've been hardened against cold weather. But December and January have been so cold as to test my ability to tolerate it. Nothing works right at -20°F. Motor oil is like grape jelly. Garage door openers fail. The dog can barely take care of his "business" before his feet start to freeze. And nobody in their right mind flies a small airplane unless...nope, they just don't.

The relentless cold subsided a bit on the weeked of January 17 and I decided to do a little pattern work to keep the rust away. I did 5 approaches, with one go-around due to a "technical" runway incursion, and 4 landings.

My brother came along again and took photos and videos. The video is from my nifty new Zi8 HD video camera, and I think the video came out really clear.

The weather was calm with high ceilings but visibility was low at 4 statute miles. The visibility improved while we were flying and ended up at 6-7 statute miles.

Here are some photos my brother took during the flight:


Folks icefishing right next to the airport.


Downtown Minneapolis peeking through the haze.


A view of Flying Cloud Airport from the pattern.


Final approach!


Certificated Aeronaut.


Brother Joe the flight photographer / videographer.

Currency.

One of the rules of most FBOs (Fixed Base Operators) is that you need to be checked out in an airplane to make sure you can safely fly their rental aircraft. In the case of Thunderbird Aviation, where I took my training and rent my planes, is that you need to fly each type of plane you are checked out in at least once every 90 days, or you need to get checked out again. Last week I got an email saying that my currency on the Tecnam Bravo would expire on the 24th of December, so I started watching the long range weather forecasts to see when an opportunity would arise. When saturday rolled around, the weather was very cold (0°F) but calm and sunny. At 9am I rolled up to the FBO and saw they had the heater on the Bravo, which is a very good sign.

I preflighted and fired it up, taking my time in making sure I knew where all the gauges were and re-learning how to program the glass panel and GPS. I made the call to Ground control and taxied over to the run-up area to perform the pre-takeoff engine checks. As I increased the engine RPM, the cowling (engine cover) flapped up on the left side and I had to cut the power to prevent damage. I radioed ground and told them I needed to taxi back to Thunderbird to secure loose equipment. Now, the cowling on the left side isn't accessed as part of the FBO's checklist...BUT...I should have checked to make sure it was secure anyway. Seeing as how I didn't damage the aircraft, I fired up the engine again and called for permission back to the runup area, and soon I was airborne. Tower told me to make left traffic (I was staying in the pattern for full stop landings so left traffic meant to make left hand turns back to the runway) and on downwind, the plane was flying extremely crabbed (angled to the direction of flight).

I was a little worried: what was wrong with this airplane? Was the rudder damaged? There was only a gentle breeze on the ground, so I didn't immediately suspect such strong winds above, but sure enough, as I descended for landing the wind died down. The landing itself was my best in the Bravo by a long shot, a squeaker to be sure. Now, I'm getting to learn this neat little airplane's personality. The Cessna 152 and the Warrior are much different to land, because you start putting in flaps long before your final approach to landing. Because the Tecnam Bravo's safe speed for flaps is so low (70knots) I can't safely put them in until I'm on final approach.

So anyway, I'm current again in the Bravo and I hope to fly enough this winter to keep my skills from getting too rusty. I'd like to budget enough money to fly a lot more next spring, and possibly look into a flying club to cut expenses a bit.

Until next time, fly safe!

I haven't stopped flying.

I apologize for the lack of updates but my last two flights were done solo and were more to keep my skills updated than anything else.

I flew the Tecnam Bravo in September for some takeoffs and landings, and to maintain currency with the outfit that rents planes to me. The landings were a bit rough but overall it's a pretty easy airplane to fly and it was a lot of fun.

In the beginning of November I took a Warrior out for a jaunt around my stomping grounds, just to relax and enjoy flying.

I have obtained a small HD quality video camera that I will mount on my next flight, so expect some high quality video soon. I'm curious to see how it works in the plane.

Passenger Service

Like many Americans, I had Labor Day off, which happily coincided with a visit from my Dad who lives in Colorado. So when I mentioned that I'd be flying that day, four of my family members in all asked for a ride:

Joe, my younger brother and veteran of many of my flights;
Susan, my baby sister (who happens to be an archaeologist);
Julie, my other baby sister, who expressed both a desire to fly with me and serious reservations against, and
Dad, who has flown quite a bit as a passenger in small airplanes, mostly while I was in diapers.

Four adults would be a full load and an unnecessary risk, as well as leaving someone behind anyway, so I decided to fly two "sorties".

Sortie Alpha

My first flight was with my two little sisters, neither of which had flown in a small airplane before. Julie, the older of the two, was the most nervous, so I made a point of explaining in detail the emergency procedures in case of engine failure, flight into IMC, electrical fire, and inflight structural failure.


The wind was almost nonexistant, so the takeoff was smooth as silk and straight as an arrow. We climbed out to 2500 msl and I did my usual tour of the countryside, lakes, and my house. The visibility was about 8 miles or so with ground haze but no clouds to speak of.


Julie was sitting up front and I offered her the controls. She put her hands on it, clearly afraid she was going to crash the plane. I said I wouldn't allow that, and did she want to make a gentle right turn to follow the highway? Nope, she didn't want to, but I had her keep her hands on the yoke so she could see what the control input for a turn felt like. She seemed relieved to take her hands off the controls.


Soon we turned back towards Flying Cloud, I dialed up the weather (hadn't changed) and made a nice straight in approach for landing, and even greased it a bit. I taxied back to the FBO and shut down the engine. After disembarking my passengers, I embarked the second set - my Dad and my youngest brother Joe.


Sortie Bravo

With my second load of passengers loaded, I performed a hot start procedure on the Warrior, which started without any trouble (I'm told some engines can be fussy about hot starts). We launched into the hazy blue sky and cruised over Lake Minnetonka and watched a sailboat regatta, and did some lazy flying around the countryside again.


My Dad took the controls for awhile and I decided to head for my house. Just as we were getting near, my brother, who was in the back seat, said "Traffic, behind and to the left". I immediately spotted the plane and noticed it wasn't moving in relation to my plane which meant we were going to get closer to each other than I was comfortable with, so I lost some altitude and watched the other plane cruise over me without so much as a sign that he'd seen me. I bought my brother lunch that day - his experience as a passenger and traffic spotter kept the other plane out of my safety zone.

We headed back again to the familiar runways of Flying Cloud, which was difficult to see with the sun illuminating the haze. I was about 4 miles out when I could finally see the runways. I greased up the landing and wheeled onto the ramp, having successfully completed Sortie Bravo.










Logbook: Logshare
Google Earth Track - Sortie Alpha
Google Earth Track - Sortie Bravo

VIDEO - Takeoffs and Landings

Crosswind Practice

So, I got an email from an old high school buddy ("Rob") who reads my blog, and he asked if I'd take him flying. So I scheduled a plane and we met at the local aerodrome.

It was a bit breezy, but not gusty, and the wind was pretty much aligned with the runway, so I felt pretty confident that we'd have a nice smooth flight.

Rob walked through the preflight with me and after I was satisfied that the airplane was airworthy, we saddled up and got in the air.

However, the air was fairly bumpy, but both pilot and co-pilot were holding lunch down well, so we pressed on. Rob snapped some pictures (finding out along the way how hard it is to take good photos from a plane) and then I gave him the airplane. He made the same mistakes, at first, that everyone makes the first time they get the controls of an airplane. After awhile, he got the hang of straight and level flight, and even some turns. I had him continue with my IFR flight plan (I Follow Roads) and we flew back to Flying Cloud along Highway 212.

I got a little surprise with the ATIS weather report...winds at 16 gusting to 24. Now, this isn't a dangerous situation, as I have plenty of crosswind landing experience and the Warrior is very stable in crosswind situations. But it means I would have to work a little harder to get in a good landing.

So, I made a decent pattern and set up for a crabbed crosswind landing. A couple of times, the gusts blew the plane almost 45° to the runway (briefly), but I kept the plane on the glide path, kicked the tail over as we crossed the threshold. I felt plane float just a bit, then the tires kissed the pavement for a brief moment, then we were up a few inches, floating along again. The tires yelped a bit and we were down. Rob thought it was a good landing, so we'll go with his assessment.

Here are some pictures for your amusement. The batteries for the GPS tracker were dead so no track for you!

Next flight I'd like to take the bravo up again so I don't forget how to fly that little go kart with wings.


Rob is more or less in control of the aircraft.

A view of the beautiful Minnesota countryside.

Coney Island on Lake Waconia. Once a resort paradise...

Oh yeah, the plane is still airworthy, yessir!

Pictured here: Rob