Commercial Stage One Check...Check

Today was finally the day for my commercial stage one check. As expected, it was rather simple. The ground portion was about 45 minutes and consisted of questions about emergency procedures, lost comm procedures, special emphasis areas and not much else.

The flight was pretty smooth. Completion standards for stage one aren't PTS, but you do have to demonstrate knowledge and the ability to complete the maneuver. I made two minor errors. First lazy eights. Basically a lazy eight consists of a 180 degree turn, with a bank and climb for the first 90 degrees and a descent and smoot rollout to beginning point and altitude. If done smoothly and properly, the plane will fly itself for 90% of the maneuver. One the first attempt, I just didn't pitch up enough and had to over fly the plane to get back to point. The second attempt was just fine.

The other slight error was during eights on pylons. Eights on pylons is a maneuver where you pick two points/pylons to circle within a certain distance of each other by adjusting with pitch vs. bank to maintain your points from the correct pivotal altitude (ground speed squared x 11.3 + field elevation). This is an over simplified explanation, but the Airplane Flying Handbook has about 10 pages explaining eights on pylons. Anyway, the second point was a little too close to the first point which made it too difficult to maintain the point smoothly. It was sloppy, but I told the check inspector what may mistake was and he said that knowing your mistakes and learning from them is 90% of the process with eights on pylons. I didn't have to do another one.

We did a power off 180, soft field and short field and all were fine. We returned to Gateway, where he had me do a soft field on point with 20 degrees flaps. The tower was just getting ready to do a runway change and we had about a 10 knot tailwind. To my surprise, I actually did land soft on the thousand footers. Nice.

Stage one complete. Next is stage two. It starts out with a couple of long cross countries in the single engine, then on to entirely multi engine for about 30 lessons. Between now and November 15th, I'll put about 40 hours in the Seneca sim and about 30 in the Seneca itself. I'm ready for multi.

Hold South On The Stage One Radial - EFC: Thursday, 13:00Z

My instructor turned in the paperwork for my commercial Stage 1 check last Saturday and we expected it to be schedule by Monday or Tuesday. For whatever reason, it was pushed back to Thursday at 6 AM. It's weird to be 2 days from ground school completion, but only on Stage 1 flying.

Stage 1 is not really a big deal. It's actually kind of touchy-feely from what I understand. Simple ground review of emergency procedures, commercial pilot privileges and limitations and some weather. The flight is just a review of high-performance maneuvers, simulated instrument flying and in-flight emergencies.

I don't like sitting around unable to fly while up for a stage check. When they want you to do something, it's RIGHT NOW. When you want them to do something, it's when we get around to it. All I have left to do after the stage one check are a day and night long cross country flight before beginning multi-engine flying.

Today, I flew the official "Pimp My Ride" plane, Archer N4182L. It really isn't that entertaining to fly, but it lands like a dream and the a/c is very nice. I also have to give 2 thumbs "way-up" to the soft-as-butter leather seats with lumbar support. Flying from Falcon Field (KFFZ) to Wickenburg (E25) isn't nearly as easy as from Stellar. Falcon's position is just barely north of the approach for Sky Harbor. Sky Harbor approach wouldn't give me bravo clearance and I had to hop around the Valley under the Class B shelf. That took me over Scottsdale and Deer Valley before I could climb above 4,500. I'm curious to see how it goes in reverse tomorrow morning, when I initiate flight following with Luke Air Force Base (KLUF) approach. Will I get clearance into Bravo? I doubt it.
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Here's an amusing video about a couple of pilots that decided to play Evel Knievel with extreme aft cg on a Saab 340. Sorry about the small size.

A New Formula

11,500(G1000/j) = air sickness bag
   Mexican Food              500ml

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The other day, my friend Dana called and said she was dying to go flying. She hadn't really done any flying since she got her CFI. In between, she'd been to Europe and then an unfortunate accident landed her in the hospital for almost a week. Needless to say, I indulged. My wife is also getting in to the flying thing wanted to come along.

Where to go? Hmmm. Well, I could spare about 6 hours. Where can we fly round trip in six hours within range of Phoenix? The coast is 2.5 hours each way, no time to spend on the ground. Vegas is 2.5 and really not much to look at during the day anyway. Grand Canyon? Maybe. How about Monument Valley. That sounded like a great idea.

We planned to Page, AZ. Page is at the far Eastern edge of Lake Powell and about 75 miles from Monument Valley. Sounds like a plan.

Our departure from Stellar was unexpectedly delayed and we go off the ground an hour late. Oh well. We decide that we can modify the trip as necessary.

Dana took the left seat for the first leg. She was grinning from ear to ear as the G1000 MFD lit up and she realized she was going flying again. Our route took us from P19 through the West transition over Sky Harbor and we went GPS direct from there, thanks to Phoenix approach. The direct route from Phoenix put us over Cottonwood, Sedona, just West of Flagstaff, over the Western slopes of the San Francisco Peaks, over the Little Colorado and Eastern end of the Grand Canyon in to Page.

Page has a very nice airport, with a 6,000' x 150' runway right on the shore of Lake Powell. Needless to say, it's a very scenic approach. There were several Grand Canyon sightseeing aircraft landing around the same time as us, but we had no difficulty with a straight in approach for runway 33.

Apparently, competition is rather fierce between the two FBO's there and we were PROMPTLY greeted by the fuel guy from Classic Aviation. He offered a courtesy car before we could even inquire and off we went to a Fiesta Mexicana, which was recommended by the FBO. It wasn't exactly a courtesy car. More like a salvaged title, green Ford Windstar with a 2 out of 4 speed automatic, bad struts and a power steering pump that sounded like a pissed off camel. (Yes, I've pissed off a camel before)

At lunch, we decided our time was too limited to make it to Monument Valley and that we would just head back to Stellar. The people at the table next to us were European tourists. I think this was their first experience with Mexican food. The husband and wife each drank 3 glasses of water after 1 chip w/salsa each. It was hilarious. Lunch was better than expected and we left looking and feeling like Happy Buddhas. Way too much Mexican food and way too much soda.

Anyway, we got back to the airport and there was a sign at the FBO that read, "We are away from the front desk momentarily. Please be patient." Umm...We don't have time to be patient. We got off the ground late at Stellar and now there's no one there to pay for our fuel! Nana and Papa are watching the kids and they have other things to do today. Crap. We can't leave without paying for fuel. 45 minutes later, we find someone who can take our money. He takes nearly 15 minutes to settle the fuel bill! Things move a little slower in Page, Arizona.

Well, at least the left seat was mine now. We taxied to back to runway 33. During the run up, Dana recognizes the voice of someone we knew from school that now flys a C206T on flight seeing tours. We chatted briefly over the Unicom, bummed that we missed her.

We departed right over the lake and did a 360 over Waheap Marina, the gateway for every Lake Powell houseboat vacation. There are ENORMOUS houseboats at the marina, some exceeding 100' in length. We resolve to get a group of people together for a week and rent one.

We turn back and fly just West of Glen Canyon Dam. What a sight. Thankfully, Dana scans as much as I do and we both simultaneously caught a Caravan converging on us. The pilot obviously didn't see us. I took evasive action and all was well.

As we were heading along the Eastern edge of the Grand Canyon, boredom set in and Dana started reading the barf bag. We started joking about it and all of the sudden my wife chimed in with a completely mortified look on her face. Apparently, she got a touch...ok more than a touch of airsickness a few miles earlier and lost her lunch. She didn't know that there were barf bags on board and puked in a McDonald's cup. She thought we could smell it! Dana handed her a barf bag and she transferred the contents and that was that. What's funny is that neither Dana or I knew that she had puked. I felt terrible.

So we're running about 45 minutes later than we were supposed to, so I decided to check and see if my cell phone had any signal. Get this: we're 25 miles East of the Grand Canyon, 25 miles North of Flagstaff (with a 13,000' mountain between us) and there's 3 bars of signal. Can you hear me now? Well yes, actually. I called to give my in-laws a heads-up that we were going to be later than expected. Don't you love technology?

We're making great time when Dana's bladder decides to protest two 32 ounce Cokes and water. Luckily, we're just north of Sedona and we decide to set down there.

Sedona is a challenging airport. It is at just under 5,000' on top of a mesa. Today was my first time landing there...and it showed. The winds were favoring runway 21, at least according to ASOS. We entered the pattern and on final, felt a pretty decent tailwind and decided to go around. Being on top of a mesa leaves little margin for error. Flying over the airport, I notice that the windsock still favors 23 and decide to try it one more time. Apparently, the mesa does some strange things with winds at Sedona because there was a 10 knot tailwind on final. I decided the 1st 1/3 of the runway was my go-round point and just as I was about to push the throttle for a go around, we settled down. Sedona airport is not for the faint hearted.

We taxied to the ramp for a brief shut down for kidney relief and, after a nice short-field takeoff, were on our way back to Stellar.

The flight back was uneventful. We did the East transition over Sky Harbor and set down at Stellar at 5:00, an hour later than planned. Dana was nice enough to tie down and turn in the paperwork, allowing us to get home as soon as possible.

I don't feel sick. Do I look sick?

THE BAG.

Lake Powell, just North of Waheap Marina

Glen Canyon Dam

Eastern edge of the Grand Canyon, where Little Colorado meets The Colorado

Approaching Sedona

Some perspective of Sedona Airport's mesa

One last cool shot of Sedona.

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I've really become fond of the G1000 cockpit. Some of the things I really like are the digital audio replay, XM radio and NexRad, automatic altimeter activation and general ease of use. Really, the only thing I don't care for is the awkward transponder controls. In my limited experience opinion, there are too many steps to change squawk codes on the G1000.

I'll reserve judgement until I've used it for IFR flying. I need more time to be proficient for IFR use of the G1000.

Dorothy, Are We In Kansas? Wind Makes A Decision For Me

That is the question. The wind does blow here, but like rain, lightly and infrequently unless accompanied by a thunderstorm.

The last few weeks have been the exception. The weather is weird here, which I believe is a sign of a fairly significant El Nino this winter. For anyone that isn't familiar with it, click the link and it will take you to a NOAA site that introduces El Nino and its sister La Nina.

For Arizona, El Nino usually means the summer heat makes an early departure, frequent (well, for AZ at least) rain systems and plenty of snowfall for the Southwest. It usually wreaks much havoc on California, where mudslides and rivers such as the Russian swell past flood stage. The effects here are pleasant. Unfortunately, it means heat, drought and much suffering in areas of the world from Australia to East and Southeast Asia.

My point is, these weird winds we've been having seem to be a piece of the El Nino puzzle. Today, the winds were worse than last week with winds of 22 knots with occasional nasty gusts.

The wind hit around noon today, coming from the southwest. It was from the remnants of a tropical depression from the Gulf of California. Usually in El Nino years do tropical disturbances have any affect on Arizona weather. Normally, they turn out to the cold waters off of Northern Baja and die quickly.

Today was the day for my check out in either a Diamond DA-20 or the pimped out Piper Archer I mentioned yesterday. I was going to follow John and Pedro's advice and go with the Eclipse, but the winds were just a little to gnarly for an 1100 pound aircraft with a 35' wingspan. They offered me a block deal to check out in both, with the Archer being first and I bit.

Did I mention that this Archer is pimped out? Just the air conditioning alone made my day. It burns a lot more fuel with the a/c on, but it's a wet rental, so who cares? It was nice to enjoy on the hot ground. I haven't flown a Piper aircraft built in the New Millennium, much less the 3rd quarter of the previous century and there were quite a few differences. Most striking is the overhead console with the primer, magneto and lighting switches. No need for a sun visor. It felt like being in a George Barris chopped Mercury.

Oooh...and the high back leather seats with lumbar...check.

It's a good thing I was comfortable, because the takeoff roll was like a long road trip. This pig is heavy. 180 horses felt like 120. The extra weight from the A/C, Nav equipment and other options make this thing fly like a dump truck...albeit a comfy dump truck. I have it reserved for my next trip to Wickenburg and will see how I like it on cross country flights.

The check ride was unusual. The winds aloft were pretty wicked. We were doing slow flight at 4,500' and, when I looked at the Garmin 430, it showed our ground speed as 20 knots. Just because the winds are strong, it doesn't mean they can't change. This pig would drop like a lead balloon. The CFI was amused by it and I was not. He wanted me to continue to see how low it would go and I said, "I demonstrated slow flight and I'm paying for you and the plane. If you want to come back out and have fun, have at it." I recovered and we headed back to Falcon to do three landings. The runway was 22R with winds 260 at 22 knots. That's about 14-15 knot crosswind and about a 17 knot crosswind and within crosswind limits for the Archer. I couldn't believe how easy this plane corrects and greased all three landings. It must be the extra weight up front from the compressor and condenser.

I have already done the ground portion of the Diamond check out and with the same instructor, it shouldn't be more than a 20-30 minute flight to finish up. Hopefully, I'll have a day where my schedule and the weather cooperate. I'm really excited about flying the Eclipse.

Decisions, Decisions

For my extra-curricular flying, I've been flying Cessna 172's from Angel Air. They are very nice aircraft, all 180 horsepower SP's with GPS, leather and autopilot. However, they are fairly expensive to rent. They have a generous fuel reimbursement rate and that makes them great for long cross-country trips, but my weekly trips to Wickenburg are 1/2 tank trips at best, so the fuel isn't a factor.

I found another FBO at Falcon Field (KFFZ) in Mesa. Falcon Aviation has several planes for rent including a few older 172's, 172XP w/210HP mod, 182P, a few Warriors, an Arrow, an Allegro (fun little light spot plane that looks like a 3/4 scale Cessna 152) and the two that I'm particularly interested in: A 2003 Archer III and a 2005 Diamond DA-20 Eclipse.

The Archer is loaded like a Cadillac with AIR CONDITIONING (I'm in Arizona, after all), dual Garmin 430's, slaved HSI, Stormscope, electric trim and a full leather interior. Not a bad place to spend a few hours. Plus, they just lowered the price.

The Diamond Eclipse is a lot of fun. It's like a motorized glider. It has Dual Garmin GPS, 125HP Continental engine (5.5 GPH!!!), Traffic Information Service, electric flaps and trim and is a whole lot of fun to fly. I've flown one before, but it was an older model with a Rotax engine. The new Eclipse climbs at 1,000'/min, cruises at nearly 140KTAS while sipping only 5.5 gallons of fuel per hour. I can't wait to get checked out in it.

My dilemma is this: which one should I check out in first. Money is tight (duh, I'm a student pilot) and I can only afford to get checked out in one. The practical, creature comfort loving side of me says Archer. But, the Archer is really just a dolled up version of what I fly all the damn time. It's like a Cadillac Escalade vs. a Chevy Tahoe. Same thing with a few more HP and doo-dads.

The thrill seeking side of me says Eclipse. I don't need to haul passengers and gear, it flies 25 knots faster and is $20 and hour less expensive. With the cooler weather coming, the canopy top won't be a factor either.

Any suggestions?

Life Is Good

!PRC 09/068 E25 AP LGTS OTS WEF 0609142200-0609281300
!PRC 09/067 E25 OPEN 1300-0200 DLY WEF 0609142200

As I mentioned in earlier posts, my real job takes me to Wickenburg, a small town Northwest of Phoenix on the road to Las Vegas. It's only about 100 miles from my house, but I have to contend with Phoenix traffic. With no traffic, it's 1:45. With heavy traffic, it's taken me as long as 3 hours. For a 24 hour trip, that's 6 hours of driving. Although my daily driver is a an Audi A3 and I love it, 5-6 hours of drive time for a 24 hour trip is brutal.

Wickenburg Airport (E25) has been closed for the last 5 weeks and just reopened with a new 6,500' runway. The lights aren't installed yet, so it's day VFR until October. That's fine with me. I can leave after ground school at 2pm, be there by 2:45 work all afternoon and in to the evening, leave the next morning at 10am and be back in time for ground school at 11.

It's a pleasant flight and with the weather cooling off, one that can be done at 4,500' without having a heat stroke.

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Since I finally started flying for my commercial training last week, things have been happening very rapidly. We've been doubling up lessons to catch up and I'm already at the end of stage 1, which is commercial maneuvers. I did power off 180's yesterday for the first time and nailed them all. It's a fun maneuver. I'm getting better at Chandelles and Lazy Eights.

With a little luck, I'll have the stage one check ride by Friday. Stage 2 is FINALLY multi engine flying. By this time next week, I hope to be flying in the Piper Seneca. I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm extremely satisfied with my instructor. He really knows his stuff. His father is a 767/777 pilot at Delta and he's pretty much an aviation savant. Actually, I call him Rain Man with a personality.

Life is good.

Back To The Beginning

Today was my first commercial lesson. It was basically a stress-free refresher before beginning practice for the commercial maneuvers (Chandelles, Steep Spirals, Lazy Eights, Eights On A Pylon and Power Off 180's).

I think the purpose is to make sure that the former instrument student didn't forget how to fly an airplane. As an instrument student, I viewed myself more as a pro-active passenger/programmer. I'm not making light instrument flying. I'm just saying it's different and there are things you forget how to do well...like landing.

So we went out and did some stalls, 50 degree banked turns and some slow flight. Yawn. At least I remembered how to do them all properly.

Then we returned to Gateway where my instructor informed me that we would be doing some touch and goes. Good information to have when I call the tower.

So we get in the patter and he tells me to do a soft field landing. Where is HG Wells when you need him? How the hell do I do a soft field. Finally about half way down wind the squirrel cage starts spinning and I begin to remember. I line up for final on 12R and tower tells me to sidestep to 12C just to ruin my concentration, I'm sure. I grease the landing...until he tells me to transition to a soft field take off. As I reach down to take flaps for 40 to 25 degrees, I push in the yoke too far. Then as I take off, I completely blow through ground effect. How embarrassing. Oh well, that's the point of a review flight, right?

Then he tells me to do a short field on the next one. Instead of closed traffic, tower had instructed me before landing to fly runway heading. We're about 4 miles out and I'm about to call the tower and say, "just wanted to confirm that we're to fly runway heading" and they finally tell me to turn crosswind. Some people might think, what's the big deal? Well touch and goes are quite an investment at KIWA. The runways are all 10,000 feet long and one turn in the pattern is a ten minute investment. Extending upwind 4 more miles adds 5 plus minute to that.

So I'm mid-field downwind for 30C going through the mental checklist for a short field landing, which I haven't done in over 3 months and the tower calls me and says to extend downwind and they'll call my base. CRAP. Now I'm going to have to recalibrate my approach. Sure enough, they extend my downwind to the Utah border before issuing the landing clearance. I actually touched down on the 1000 foot markers. The landing was a little harder than I wanted it to be, but would have passed PTS. I flared about 3 feet higher than I should have. We do a stop and go and one more short field with the same result. I flared too high.

Since this was my first flying event involving PTS maneuvers in over 90 days, I wasn't too upset with myself. The most important thing I learned to do when things don't happen the way you plan them is: Be Patient. Bad decisions happen quickly. Good decisions take time.

Today was a long day. I woke up in a strange hotel room, worked all day and drove 100+ miles to be at school on time. I got to see my kids for a half an hour before bed time. I feel bad about that. I'm afraid my wife will learn to live without me. This is hard. I know it will be worth it, but damn, it is hard.