Thursday, June 16, 2005

Another flight lesson well done

I just got back from two flying lessons. The first one was a flight at 7:30pm which lasted until 9:15ish. Second one was a sim ride at 10pm, so I was one the flight simulator for another hour or so. Both lessons went really well. I am executing all instrument procedures at or above Commercial standards. I am having so much fun in my instrument training!

The flight today consisted of VOR course interceptions, GPS waypoint user-defined interceptions and a little bit of review on instrument scanning procedures. All of this was done under the hood (for people who don't know what the "hood" is - it's a plastic hood you wear over your head which prevents you from looking outside and makes you rely on your instruments to simulate flying in the clouds). The last part of the flight constisted of a soft-field, short-field, and power-off-180 accuracy landings. My first landing back into Grand Forks was an ILS approach with a soft-field landing, which I think was the best soft-field I have ever done in my life. I don't know how I did it, but I did it perfectly. I flared at just the right time and airspeed, walked the power out slowly and just bumped up the power a split second before touch down to ease the wheels to the ground as smooth as possible. The rest of the landings were great, other than me needing to review proper short-field take-off techniques (I cannot let the airspeed go lower than the computed 50-foot obstacle speed, which would mean a failed stage check).

Learning to fly has helped me so much in my life. It's given me a boost in confidence and allows me to set higher goals and standards for myself; it has helped me learn to believe in myself. I just can't wait until the day I get my Commercial SMEL certificate and my CFI, CFII, and MEI certificates!

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Beautiful Day, but can't fly to Wisconsin

I was supposed to fly to Ashland, Wisconsin today by myself in the Piper Warrior, but I am too sick for flying such a long cross-country. My chest hurts a little along with some minor congestion. I don't think it'll prevent me from going on a local flight with my instructor though, so I have a flight scheduled for 4pm today.

Today's lesson calls for conducting all take-offs and landings to Commercial Pilot SEL PTS standards. I will be watched for smoothness and accuracy, proper trim techniques, and will be reviewing VOR and GPS navigation. I must also make my power-off 180 accuracy landings within 300 feet of the intended touch-down point. These power-off 180's are difficult to do here in North Dakota because depending on the winds (can vary from calm to 35 knots on any given day) you have to accurate judge the EXACT time to turn base for final.

I am not on course template with my flight course. This means there is a slight chance that I won't be able to get the extra-credit flight points. This could mean me getting a B instead of an A in the instrument ground school course...all because of the crappy weather. I have to receive an overall 93% in order to get an A in the course (since a 92% is a B, below 84% is a C, and below a 76% is a D here in the aerospace courses). I will do my best to get an A in this course and finish my flying on time.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Car Insurance (revisited)

Okay, so I got car insurance. I got a North Dakota driver's license so that they'd run my driving record under North Dakota, which is free of any tickets or accidents. I actually ended up paying about the same as I did for insurance in California. $513 every 6 months. I think I was paying $400-ish every 6 months in California. Supposedly it's higher because ND has more minor collision and road debris claims (stupid winter weather here).

Flight Cancelled Due To Weather

METAR:
KGFK 071753Z 09009KT 10SM BKN016 OVC021 17/13 A2971 RMK AO2 SLPNO T01670128 53003

TAF:
KGFK 071720Z 071818 06010KT P6SM OVC015
FM0000 05012KT P6SM BKN050
TEMPO 0206 5SM -TSRA BKN025CB
FM0600 07018G28KT 5SM TSRA OVC010CB
FM1200 17018G28KT P6SM VCTS BKN025CB

I am trying to get my solo cross-countries in and I can't with this stupid crappy North Dakota weather. I'm supposed to fly solo to Wisconsin this weekend - I sure hope the weather holds up.