Successful Checkride. I'm now a pilot! - 10/21/2002

written: 1/2/2003
checkride date: 10/21/2002
checkride airport: STS - Santa Rosa
landing airport: Q69 (Petaluma)

I. Pre-Checkride.

   For weeks, I had prepped with my instructor, Jeff , and another CFI - Khaled at Oakland Flyers.
   They were both very helpful - and Khaled was specific in grilling my oral knowledge (Without hesitation), and helped me thru my first 'divert' which would have been a failure (didn't change altitude to appropriate VFR cruise alt.).

   Got in touch with the DE the week before (schedule for 10/20/2002 - a Sunday) and we had to postpone to that Monday, the 21st. This was at first a tough decision, but I was ready and did not want to wait weeks before the combo of DE and plane were ready.

II. Cross-Country Planning for the checkride

   It was 5pm, then 6pm, then 7pm and I hadn't heard from the DE - was this a psych test?
   I called my CFI, who called the DE and contacted me with the checkride info.
   I was to plan a checkride from STS to SBA (Santa Barbara).
   Even though this was a shorter xc than one to the LA area, it still took several hours of planning:
   W&B, Fuel, TO/LD distances, WX-brief, etc... there was a MOA, and several necessary altitude changes for terrain.
   I finished around 11pm or so and went to sleep.

III. Morning Prep.

   Got to Oakland Flyers in the am (around 10am I think) for a 2pm checkride at STS.
   Went over the xc plan, quick mental quiz (airspace, etc) and got ready to depart to STS in 99348 - the clubs 160hp C-172. The weather was CLR into the late day, but I was concerned that if I didn't pass, I would have to fly at night and thru SFO's class Bravo to get back to OAK if the weather turned the typical late-summer overcast. Jeff signed me off with practically several endorsements just-in-case, and sent me off to STS.

IV. Flight up.
   Nothing new to report - just very excited - and happy to see Petaluma, Gnoss, and finally STS all where I remembered them. Tied down where Jeff diagrammed (on a paper plate I might add) and walked over to the DE's office.

V. Exam (Oral).
   The examiner showed up a little late, but was in a good mood - well worth the wait in my book!
   We went inside - I was dressed professionally, and had my books / materials in a nice book bag and my flight bag. After a general info on his history: CHP, CFI, etc... and doing the FAA paperwork, we got to the real stuff.
 
   1. Systems.
      a. Fuel System
      b. Flap System
      c. Engine

   2. Regulations.
      a. *most* of them
      b. airspace
      c. flight reviews - BFR, etc... - this one I got wrong (said 6mo and he corrected me)
      d. instrument inspections

   3. XC Planning
      a. went over my chart in detail
      b. asked about several classes of airspace (i.e. if you were here, at this altitude, what class)
      c. asked about airspace entrance requirements
      d. asked about the MOA in SBA
      e. in general - asked 'why did you chose this' etc...
      The DE was pretty happy with my XC plan and showed it during the test - didn't grill me here as much as with the regs.

   4. W&B / Airplane Logs
      a. looked over my W&B - having copies with diagrams / exceprts from the POH was *really* good
         this seemed to impress the DE with quality, and also made his job easier to do.
      b. logs - this was where I learned more than I was checked - the DE showed me how to read the logs, and said that while most people never look at them - him included, that when first renting from a place, or purchasing an aircraft, it really is up to the PIC to inspect the logs.

   5. "Let's go flying".
      The DE was really nice and helped me relax with the whole process... so I was ready to go.

VI. Exam (Preflight).
   1. This was pretty obvious - he asked me about several of the antennas on the aircraft etc, and said to do a normal preflight.
   2. He actually told me some funny stories, which really made it easier to relax. One student threw the fuel from the wing sump at the DE's shirt instead of the ground by mistake!
   3. I went thru a very abbreviated passenger brief, but he was happy that I told him the basics, and I double checked both his door, and that the controls were free from obstruction. I also asked him to be careful not to obstruct them.

VII. Exam (Flight)
   1. I had handed the DE my deluxe kitchen timer and he was fascinated with it. All of my calls to ground/tower were professional and 'correct', and we were cleared for takeoff. This is where I forgot one thing: to set my timer. While I had the time to within about a minute (watch), the DE has very nicely started my timer on takeoff.

   2. At around 2000', the DE had me level off and continue the XC at that altutide.

   3. Divert - the DE had me 'do' a diversion to Angwin (which I dreaded) but only the numbers (heading, distance, fuel, speed) and also using the E6-B calculate our groundspeed from takeoff to our current position over Santa Rosa.

   4. Maneuvers - he had me fly him over a little W-SW, where there was a low fog coming in over the hills.
      a. We did an engine out that while not perfect, he thought would have been survivable (long field, but I was a bit high too).
      b. Stalls - these went really well. He had me 'turn right' and while in the turn he had me stall the aircraft. He said that my turning stall was one of the best he had seen - nearly up to commercial standards. I was coordinated the whole time, and the break was gentle and neutral.
      c. Steep turns - one to the Right - OK. one to the Left - hmmm - that fog is looking somewhat close. The DE had set me up from the other maneuvers so that my last steep turn would bring me within questionable distance from the fog. In increasing urgency/stress, I challenged his instruction, until I told him I was not going to proceed with the turn - he was happy with this!
         So - the DE takes the yoke, and instructs me to put on the hood.

   5. Hood Work
      a. Climb, Turn, Descend, mix climb and turn, etc... all were fine.
      b. Unusual attitudes - he was happy with all of them, and said that if anything - I should more aggressively fix the problem (vs. smoothly).
 
   6. Alternate Airport - Petaluma Q69.
      We were cruising now around 2000' and nearly abeam Petaluma when I took the hood off and was instructed that we would do our landings at Petaluma. I told him that I would consult the chart & AFD prior to approach/landing, so I turned somewhat away 15-30 degrees from the field.
      After taking my time with the AFD and chart (he was happy that I bookmarked useful airports in the AFD), I put away the AFD and it was time to do a normal non-towered pattern entry. I made intention/traffic calls from about 5 miles out, crossed midfield for the windsock (tetrahedron), and to enter on the 45. I called out every leg, of every pattern, and tried to read/do/announce the checklists. Landings - we did just a few of them 4 is my guess from memory - and he was happy with them. I knew they weren't my best, but all were very close to the centerline. Finally, on upwind leg, the DE said a few great words: "take me back to STS, safely and legally". I announced our departure from Q69 and climbed out to 2000' on Q69 freq.

   7. Cruising back to STS - tuned and wrote down the ATIS info. Called STS tower with a perfect position/info report (in a mix of poor communications from other pilots) and was given Left Traffic for RWY (14?). On the way back the DE asked me if anyone else in my family had flown before etc... and said I was doing a great job - definitely handled the aircraft well and that my radio/checklist procedures were well prepared for a future in flying.

   8. Landed - taxi to a specific tiedown the DE had picked out - all the while careful to follow procedure, checklist, and control-wind-compensation.

      "Shutdown, and...
      let's go print up your certificate!"

Solo flight from OAK to Livermore (LVK) for touch-n-goes - 10/13/2002

10/13 Sunday

99348 Solo - 1.4 hobbs/PIC
OAK-LVK

7 T&Gs at LVK
1 to/ld at OAK - (no flaps on this one - I think?)

4 normal landings at LVK
1 short field
1 short approach
1 no flaps

all of these went well!
the main thing was to trim for hands-off flight at the specified speed, and use power to adjust the glidepath.
somehow, I forgot this, and was really hand-flying the plane for all recent landings.
not to mention with XC practice, and pre-checkride stuff, few landings in a row to work things out like approach etc...

got to within about 500' of every aiming point, and never short of any of them. Really paid attention to airspeed, energy, and such this time. The short field was definitely within tolerances...

Real IMC (instrument meteorological conditions) - 10/10/2002

10/10

2.2 hobbs
20117 with Khaled
owe him $110
real IMC + one approach

This was a pre-solo dual/instructional flight with Khaled - a great patient CFI...

things went well - filed an IFR-VFR on top flight plan, and flew over towards APC and CCR.
we went thru the maneuvers, all of which went well.
we were flying around 4200' and Khaled asked me to divert to Byron. I did this, but forgot to figure altitude 1000s +500',
so would have failed right there... uh-oh!
once at byron - traffic was on runway 23 - the smaller 75' wide runway, and it looked really small. I have little experience
on runways without threshold marks etc... so went-around the first two times (Khaled was not thrilled).
Also - with the turbulance, I flew too fast an approach each time.

back for some orbiting (fly this heading ... wait... new heading etc...)
then got cleared for the ILS for 27R - flew in totally on instruments!!! this was ny first NR inst approach. very cool.

that's about it... more on the next one.

Solo XC + Checkride Preparation. 10/6/2002

Sunday, 10/6/2002
11am-3pm
99348 2.2 Hobbs
Noah - Solo XC + checkride prep

Edit (years later): The prep for this flight involved silly blocktime booking rules and frustration with the for-profit flying club. The short summary is that non-profit flying clubs (alameda-aero for example) were far more to my liking.

I seriously look forward to joining another flying club, or joining a partnership on an aircraft.

Now for the flight!
OAK to STS checkride XC, maneuvers, and T&Gs.

Short + sweet - getting to STS was easy.
Few pattern maneuvers (1 each loop) for spacing/traffic/departures/parachute jump (warning, not yet), etc...
Even heard wake-turbulance caution as 4 Apache-looking military helicopters flew by the R-downwind for 14 in formation.
The last (planned 4th) T&G came in for a no-flaps landing, but floated way down the runway, so 'Go Around', even though I was departing
straight out.

Ok - back to the bay (w/o flight following) Oak Ctr was busy, and I knew they wouldn't get to me until I had to req freq change for
maneuvers over SP Bay.

Did S-turns over a highway (possibly 37 to Napa) at 1500'. Did a great engine-out to approx 200-400' AGL/MSL (large concrete development, possibly for future homes)
on the north side of san pablo bay. I swear that if I had to, I could have landed there without any damage/injury etc...
Did some turns around a point after recovering to 1500' just near the abandoned Hamilton AFB runway (good gliding spot from 1500').

Finally, climbed up to 3000' for more clearing turns (did them earlier also).
Did power on and off stalls. All good - all probably to the PTS - none perfect. Did steep turns - all felt good, and were PTS +-100' etc...

back to OAK for a good landing (all today were nearly greasers, but not perfect...) I have less practice in 348 lately vs. 1658F.

Night Cross-Country (XC) - Dual - 9/30/2002

Monday, 9/30/2002
approx 7-10pm
99348 1.1 Hobbs
Jeff - Dual Night

Night Flight XC
Asked Jeff for a longer/more complex night-XC, so we went to Salinas: SNS.

This was part-routine, part-lots *lots* of vectoring by ATC, and parts VOR tracking to
fly direct to SNS.

Overall - my 2 full stop night landings were much easier than on the first night flight.

Tried following the ILS for OAK 27R, but read the vertical indicator (horiz bar) wrong, and got
way high, but still landed and taxiid off on Golf.

note: I want a GPS for serious night flight - maybe for simple jaunts to APC or LVK it's ok w/o them... but
expect to follow highways etc. and be comfortable with the area.

Night this time was really nice - only problem was holding altitude - need to rely more
on instruments.

ATC vectors were soo frequent/far off course, that my XC plan was nearly useless. Except for
VOR freqs/idents, and the mental work of pre-flight planning/familiarity with the city outlines etc,
didn't follow much of the plan.

Highways are easy to see. Airport Beacons still hard to see, but much easier this time.

Night instruction. Beautiful SF Bay. 9/23/2002

Monday, 9/23/2002
7:30pm->10pm (approx)

1658F, 2.0 Hobbs
Jeff - Dual Night

First night flight (real night, not just coming in at dusk).

[to fill in more later]

SF-Bay was very, *very* beautiful - visibility was incredible, buildings in downtown Oakland were pretty,
the air was smooth, nice... LVK landings weren't hard at all - I let it down (flared too high) a little
rough most of the time - but nearly on centerline (even with the landing light off).

Ironically - after practicing no-landing-light landings at night, one of the two bulbs quit on us just after
take-off from LVK 25R back for OAK.

Things really, *really* look different - everything was smooth/comfortable, but a few things 'got me'.

First - flying from SP-Bay to LVK - it looked like the hill-peak behind the M.Temple was far higher than
Mount Diablo. This was an illusion - due to having no real horizon to speak of...

Second - on flying from LVK to OAK, I just assumed an altitude of about 2500' - Jeff (and I!!!) would have
preferred 3000'. Even though Jeff assured me in the past that 2500' clears the range, I didn't even think
about it - and the moon-lit hill-tops loomed below us in a very menacing way below 58F's left landing strut.

I would *definitely* keep higher at night - and once as a PP-ASEL, would either plan my night trips better,
including airspace boundaries w/night-references, or ask ATC for clearance thru Bravo/etc...

I really liked it - some hassle due to preflight with flashlites, postflight, etc... but a rewarding experience.
I think in the Bay Area - primarily for sightseeing w/friends/family, this has a high probability of happening.
Perhaps even to keep T&Gs current with changing schedules. As for real XC flights - I (today) don't see myself doing much
night XC as PIC, unless several factors are met:

1. I'm 110% comfortable with it
2. I'm 110% familiar with the terrain along the whole route +
3. The whole route has good 'outs' - i.e. runways nearby, a highway to follow, etc... no major mountains > 2000' etc
4. perfect mental/physical condition - here's a real disqualifier for life!!! hehe
5. I'm familiar with the radio procedures along the route + airport approaches along the route etc...

6. probably get a GPS. While VFR it was easy, *easy* to fly the airplane, but chart-reading was tough, and
   I don't imagine that VOR triangulation and lost-procedures would be easy without GPS.

Long solo cross-country (XC). Oakland --> SAC --> STS --> OAK. - 9/22/2002

Sunday, 9/22
1658F
Hobbs: 2.3
Long Solo XC

OAK->SAC->STS->OAK
10am-1pm.


This was one of the greatest flights to date. Following the Modesto solo XC, this was a 2nd in a row experience
of new things and new places. My routes were all direct, and the leg from SAC to STS would be completely new to me.

Starting off: the morning went really well - fog burning off before 10am, signed off by CFI David at OakFlyers,
preflight for 1658F smooth & careful/slow as always.

Started up 1658F, got ATIS, taxiid to 27L east runup, and everything was good.
Took off for SAC w/flight following, and the winds over the east-bay-hills range seemed way off from
the aloft forecast (ok, I wasn't at 3k/6k yet :). Should have been lined up about 3nm right of CCR, but
instead was 2nm to the left. Corrected my course to get right back on the line. Next came the river,
then abeam Rio Vista Apt (never saw Travis off to my left about 8nm). Already had the Sacramento aquaduct
in-sight, but the panel-GPS was giving me strange nav readings. Looked at the world, the chart, and also
had the (offset from the airport) SAC-VOR telling me that I was right on course. Finally saw SAC and
requested freq change from Sierra Appch.

Did a good full-stop at SAC, and taxiid back to the runup for 20 (long runway). Called tower and said something like:
"looks like I'm number 3" as there were two in front of me. He said quite clearly: "you're the first to call me - taxi and hold",
but I wasn't in a comfortable position to taxi past the other two, so waited for one of them... learning!
I was the second to take off after a shiny metal, twin-rudder plane...

Took off on the 'unknown' leg from SAC to STS. This would take me over a 2000' range, and lake berryessa.
Thru the valley, I flew abeam UC-Davis and it's water towers, and the woodlands/hw-80 interchange (a checkpoint actually),
and finally saw the town of Winters and it's highway checkpoint.

And then... hmmm those ridges look pretty menacing! Looked outside/chart/repeat... and the chart looked like 2000' was the tops, but
it looked higher to me, and you can't make a forced landing on the chart, so I called Travis-Appch and announced my climb to 6500'.
The lake was beautiful - and I was glad to have the extra 2000' - constantly looking for that 'place to land' if you have to. Saw
Angwin airport (looked tough to get in-to) under my right wing, and finally crossed St. Helena.

Now - more about that GPS. I was mixing my checkpoints (last two would mark distance, but not course deviation L/R very well)
and the GPS direct-to data to pick my exact course. When Oakland Center dropped me off for STS, I still didn't have the field in sight.
I was about 10nm from the field, with the GPS saying turn R-6deg, and the field was at my 11 oclock, or about Left-15deg. Thankfully,
I was using the VOR which helped spot the field.

STS was hopping! planes waiting to depart, land, drop parachutes, and going every which way. I finally got in a word
at about 7nm to the NE. (which should have been pure East had I been on course). Was given an instruction to be 'restricted above 2000') and
report crossing the 101. He forgot about me in the chaos, and I was turning North, away from the field when I finally reminded twr of my
position. Then, from 2100' he asked if I could make the field (approx 2-3nm away), and I said yes!

I was reasonably sure I could make the descent from this position, but didn't realize how tough it would be. Probably should have requested a 360 or something!
So there I was, going about 100knots, and slipping from 2100'! Slowed 58F down, put in 10deg of flaps, and still slipping. Was slipping at 70knots
until on short final, and then leveled the wings, greased in a landing (honestly well-beyond any real aiming point), and did the T&G, departing nearly
straight out for OAK.

Oakland Center had me 'in their queue' from STS until abeam Gnoss field! I thought to cancel my request and
call Bay directly, but was later glad I waited. The handoff to Bay got all the info to Bay (very busy at this time) with me simply
announcing my being 'with them'.

Finally back at OAK - good landing, all today were on-centerline, and taxiid to Kaiser Chevron. Hopped out,
and the CFI Khaled met me there (he had the plane at 1pm - now).



All in all - if you can't tell: the Long Solo XC was an awesome experience. I don't think I've been to two airports before on one day/flight - even with Jeff.
Each leg of the trip was something new (at least for that day), and there were some mild decision-making I had to do to be safe and timely.
whooHoo!

Second Solo XO, First to a new airport. Oakland to Modesto (MOD). - 9/19/02

Wed: 9/19
Hobbs 1.9 - Solo XC, PIC
1658F (c172)

Second Solo XC (first to a new airport :)
OAK<->MOD (modesto)
4pm-7pm

This solo XC went really well. Only two things were problematic:

1. I missed my last checkpoint before MOD - the small 'vandell' airport - and now learn that small airports are poor checkpoints.
   Knowing that my course was pretty good to start with (made all the checkpoints before right-on/over them) after 30sec of tension, relaxed and flew
   my course - to see MOD just a few minutes later (after making the tower radio call).
2. Couldn't get 'Rancho Radio' on any published freq (after using the freq FSS gave me on 800-WX). This was very frustrating in the MOD heat.
   So... sitting on the taxiiway/runup for 28L, shut-down (would probably leave on/idling next time) and called using my cell.
   It took 3 tries to start 58F back up (Jeff said they're tough to start when hot - have to let cool down...)
3. 58F is in the port-o-ports, and there's no exit if OAKflyers is closed!!! so I had to walk to kaiser... no big deal, but wouldn't want to
   do with friends/if it was really hot out.

Now for the good stuff:

   The winds (wrong) were forcast as light/vrb the whole route, so I had no XW components - just published TASs from the book.
   Left OAK for a usual & strong 58F 180hp climb at 1000fpm and the course asked of me by tower was within about 2 degrees of my XC CH planned.
   Handed off to Bay Dep, crossed over abeam LVK, then handed to Stockton App, saw Byron to the Left, and the restricted area to the right (unusually marked),
   and now for the first checkpoint in the valley - ug! it's all highways every 2-4 minutes, all with overpasses & no good features.
   Tons of water-ducts, rivers, etc... not too distinctive.
   I fired up the GPS, but didn't use it for anything except my call to MOD tower: "1658F is 9 miles to the West" etc...
   The second to last checkpoint had a hwy crossing + two private stripts... well: one of them was gone, and the other, listed as two parallel runways,
   only had one runway (the other was being either demolished or re-paved from scratch), but was clearly visible.
 
   Finally got to MOD, made a wide turn for descent (forgot due to missing my last checkpoint, doh!), and entered Left downwind for 28L (calling to twr).
   Noticed the trees Jeff mentioned, but no worry - I was high anyway ;-). Came in for a greaser landing a little long.
   (radio-foobar omitted, listed above).
   Finally started 58F up and was immediately cleared for Left closed traffic 28L. Made downwind and saw the low sun + valley haze, so asked for straight-out
   departure after this T&G (funny, it was my only/first T&G). Came in for a greaser landing! this time - right on/slightly above the 2-bar approach lights.
   This time, on glidesloap, really noticed the trees. Made me just a little nervous!
   The T&G was really nice - soft, nose-high, and 58F's STOL kit made it barely want to stay on the ground.
   Since I was on centerline, I let the nose lower (but not touch) and simply added full power for an immediate lift-off (still 10deg flaps) and
   stayed in ground effect until Vx (took about 2 sec!). And by the time I rotated was already at Vy.

   With the sun in my face, and at 4500', felt like I was going much faster back to OAK. (chose to cruise at about 2350-2400 rpm instead of loafing along).
   Finally back with bay appch, heard an airline pilot joke to ATC about traffic at 12 o-clock: "I've got the sun at 12 o-clock" and thought... cool, me too.
   Straight-in for 27L, North of Hayward, and was already lined-up going about 110 IAS, when a slow + higher cessna 172 was at my 2 o-clock. They let them go first!
   So, while they loafed, well off centerline, I had to slow down, and was nearly abeam them, so asked twr for a right 360. Approved.
   Came in for a great landing - also a greaser, on centerline, just beyond my touchdown point. 58F really likes to be finessed, or maybe I'm improving.

   That's the story... Sunday for the long XC to SAC(exec) and STS.

First Solo Cross-Country!!! - OAK <-> STS - 9/18/2002

Wed: 9/18
Hobbs 1.9 - Solo XC, PIC
20117 (Cessna 172)

First Solo XC!!!
OAK<->STS(santa rosa)
9am-1pm.

first: took these hurdles step-by-step, evaluating each, and nearly decided to 'no-go', but each one was resolved to my satisfaction before proceeding.
*make sure to read below - fun stuff there!

Today was a crazy, murphy's law kind of day.
1. Arrived to be handed 99348's binder (thought I had it too), and after filing a VFR flight plan + double checking weather with WX-brief,
   was told that I had 20117, not 99348. Amended my VFR flight plan, and then...
2. They couldn't find 20117's binder... anywhere... finally calling the MX (maintenance) staff who came over with it.
3. Last Sqwak of 'Total Radio Failure' was unresolved... MX staff forgot to sign off that this was due to the alternator/batt failure - now fixed.
4. MX staff forgot to enter MX taxi hobbs/tach/fuel.
5. Finally started preflight around 10:15am, noticing that the nose strut was a bit low - but ok after a call to OakFlyers.
6. Had to top-off the tanks, as I couldn't see the fuel visually (after the MX)
6.5. Rough 'R' magneto during runup - and the first 30-sec lean burnoff didn't clean/clear it. Thankfully the second try at max power did the trick.
7. Time-Off for STS was 10:45 (activated VFR flight plan 1 min prior, all was good etc.)
8. By the time I got to STS (approx 11:20) had to use the restroom! so I didn't ask for T&G, but full-stop.
9. With the very helpful & non-stressed STS-ground's help, I easily (no mistakes/perfectly) found the Apex Aviation FBO where I parked, shut-down, and used their restroom.
   I thought it better to do a mini-preflight (total time out of the plane was < 6 min) and shutdown/restart than rush back to OAK without the bathroom stop.
10.Taxii'd (with tower perm of course) along the STS ramp... and just before taxiing near the hold short line...
11.As I adjusted the air-vent, the pilot's wing-vent-assembly fell out completely.
12.I asked STS ground if I could hold where I was and they approved.
13.Figured out how to stick the (curse here) vent back into place, and then requested taxi again.
14.Off again back to OAK with flight following the whole way.
15.Nice landing at OAK (centerline, ~250 feet beyond my target 500' markers) and ground psychically asked me to taxi across 27R on H as I was holding doing the after-landing checklist.
16.Fuel prob at Kaiser Chevron - the credit card machine kept killing the current fueling - this took ~ 30-40 min!!!
17.squawked an altimeter prob back at OAKflyers



Flight Following today was really easy + good. On the way back, I didn't know for certain which freq to use, so simply used OAK center that followed me to STS. I'm getting used to position reports etc not having to be 'perfect', but close enough that they can find you after you squawk.
In STS saw a B-17 (refinished/tour plane) taxiing - what an awesome sight! - four props - yes, that's 4 propellers, and as I walked to the FBO, the B-17 took off runway 32.
As I made my left downwind departure, I climbed out above (offset) the B-17 which was now on about a 3-4 mile final for 32. Very *very* cool!
Along the way out to STS, heard Jeff in a piper doing IFR instruction, and recognized about 1/2 of the GA traffic as Oakland Flyers: 85Q, 348 (jim) etc...
This was really fun.

Tracking VORs and using DME (distance measuring equipment) under the hood. 9/17/2002

Tue: 9/17
Hobbs 1.3, 0.9 Hood
*note: logbook has '9/16' as date
Cessna N1658F

We went up from OAK to SP-Bay for hoodwork - started asap on it (hours req) and Jeff ran me thru all the maneuvers:
Flew to two VORs (Skaggs, Sausalito), and used the DME for the 1st time. Then he had me use the GPS to fly direct to Santa Rosa (towards for a minute),
and then compass turns... (hard! for those of you not in the 'know' about these things - at least the first few times). Did power on and power-off stalls
under the hood, including incipient spin (non-developed) entry and recovery both left and right w/hood. Also did unusual attitude recoveries.
Finally, flying altitude from ATC (doing all the radio work except one traffic advisory) - got ATIS, Bay-Appch, Oak-Twr, and with directional vectors from Jeff,
brought us right over the 'temple' and took off the hood. Came in for a landing on 15 - accidentally started aligning with downwind for runway 33! (oops!) -
will have to think a bit more about this.

all told - a great flight - did a long (massive in my mind) slip to lose altitude from 2500' over the temple to essentially a straight-in for 15.
personal note: forgot to note the time-off... :(

Tomorrow is a solo XC to Santa Rosa, then on Thursday it's solo XC to Modesto (new airport solo!), and Sunday may be a solo XC to Sac-Exec->STS (long)

PIC - Oakland (OAK) to Napa (APC) - 9/9/2002

9/9
99348 9am-noon
time off: 10:15am
time back: 11:20am (approx)
Hobbs: 1.3

1.3 hrs PIC - not XC, but to APC/Napa which is > 25nm etc...
Normal TO and Short-Field LD at OAK - the LD was short, but well off
centerline.
Any other (non 150' wide runway, and would have gone-around...

4 T&Gs at APC - first one, was too wide a pattern, and balloned a little -
somewhat off center, but returned ok. Second was a pretty good 'normal' landing
- had to make a 360 on downwind (abeam the numbers) but this was fine. Third
and Fourth were short-field. One of them was great, one was ok - a bit of
ballooning, but still on centerline. Radio work was great, but had to ask for a
repeat of the pattern entry (just to make sure!) and on that call told twr that
348 was a student pilot.

Back to OAK was happy to see some traffic before they saw me, and before bay
app/dep called it out to either of us, but then couldn't find two traffics on
departure that bay announced to me... oh well. they were still happy with me.

oh - and back to APC: they did seem happy with me - I did everything they
asked, and the only prob was a wide pattern (it wasn't *that* wide was it?!)
There was a guy in the pattern who could not for his life follow instructions,
nor find the proper runway - I was tempted to ask for a departure direct from
downwind when I heard this guy! (frightening radio work on his part)... oh
well.

Things were safe & all went well. Glad to get a little more experience and
hopefully my landings are improving... they seem a bit off from the high (near
solo time), but that's probably because I'm doing approx 10 landings a week
instead of 30...

Oakland to Yolo County '2Q3' Airport - 9/5/2002

9/5/2002
Hobbs - 1.6 99348, $23 fuel, 3hrs Jeff

Log for 9/5/2002:
Met Jeff at 4:20pm at OAK and planned our XC (from scratch)
from OAK<->Yolo County '2Q3'
We preflighted + took off with winds 280@20kts - strong tailwhind during taxi,
plus slow groundspeed on takeoff was interesting. Desired course heading of
3deg, but vectored to 050deg for traffic, then own nav with bay dep.
The flight took us just over Travis AFB (private) and abeam the big runways -
awesome!!! saw something like c-130 tankers taking off, and doing T&Gs - sweet!
I spotted much better checkpoint features this time (highways, power lines,
etc... - nothing wrong with maintaining a sense of spatial orientation the
whole way) and the actual checkpoints were much better... Spotted 2Q3 about
7-10 miles out and asked Travis Dep for freq change. Called traffic for several
legs and made mostly my own decisions (i.e. on traffic calls, how to enter the
45, found the wind tetrahedron, started our descent on time etc...

we made the t&g - I thought safe, but marginal as we were well off centerline
(I had not adjusted enough for the right crosswind)... thought about go-around,
but we were going straight down the runway so... a crappy soft-field... going
to do more T&Gs on the next opportunity.

Departed straight out from 16 as noise abatement requests, and contacted
"rancho radio" several times - finally they responded, and we closed our flight
plan. Then Travis Appch for a friendly & calm controller. Overflew the AFB,
abeam nut tree, over the 'mothball fleet' of old navy vessels, abeam CCR, and
in visual range of the 'hump' of a hill with a tower on it, directly behind the
Mormon Temple... Jeff says that at 2500' you can clear the whole range, but I
was at 3500' approx... contacted Bay appch and made a smooth transition into
the airport airspace (just 2 min later approx handed off to OAK twr).

Finally - made an ok (Jeff wasn't happy with it) short-field landing. I guess
I'm used to the wide OAK runway and haven't done much LVK or APC T&Gs lately.
We did the 180 for back taxi and were chewed out by the controller, who later
apologized - that he was on a landline, and what we did was fine... expedited
off on Alpha and back to Kaiser...

whoo! off for a weekend, and then solo to APC, then solo XC to STS, night +
requirements! woohooo!

Oakland to Sacramento (SAC) to Oakland (OAK)

8/27/2002
5pm-6pm plan
6pm-8pm fly XC OAK-SAC-OAK
Usual CFI
Cessna N20117 (C-172)
Hobbs 1.7
Dual XC

I was a bit late, and it took until just before 6pm to complete the winds etc...
We took off at approx 6:30 and headed on my XC plan (non-filed) to SAC
All went well, but I was a bit North-West of course, flying near CCR. In N20117 I had more trouble keeping a heading w/trim.
Once past the river, I found a river on the chart that led right up to SAC. Finding it from approx 10nm out was very cool.
Jeff was happy with that. We were brought in for a wide left base for runway 30 (was on the ATIS, but Jeff heard it and I didn't - it was the active with winds from 300)
Called in a 3/4nm left base as instructed, and in for a T&G. Not perfect, but more or less a decent short-approach (trees at the end of 30)
Departed straight out until SAC 'exec' tower approved our left turn towards OAK.
Handed off to Travis Apch - no problem.
They terminated us VFR near Mt. Diablo w/o transfer to Bay (d'oh!)
Called Bay with the DME as 12nm NE of OAK which they confirmed - cool... and were vectored to the mormon temple.
I didn't realize exactly where it was and was a bit off course, but after the freq change to OAK tower, we were told to fly over
lake chabot (we were already close).
Aside from not seeing traffic on downwind and then base (we were # 2 after them) and Jeff didn't see them either, Jeff asked
me to land on the 2000' markers.

Now the landing :)
20117 has MPH instead of Knots on the airspeed indicator, so I was using the green arc (better than my rusty memory - should have been more prepared, but didn't know we were in 20117 until I arrived).
Staying well (15mph or so) above the bottom of the green arc, and mostly by feel at this point, I dialed in progressively more
flaps until about 30deg. Our approach was very *very* stable, and over the runway it was like slow motion / floating.
I let us descend more steeply at the 1000' markers, rounded out in ground effect, and right on the centerline, cut the power at about the 1500' marker.
Landed exactly on the 2000' markers and on the centerline!
Awww yeah :)


things to improve:
1. Short approach - nothing too bad, but could have been more nose-high and slightly firmer landing.
2. Heading - particularly on the way back (I had planned from Yolo 2Q3, not SAC to OAK - so didn't have exact heading TH).
    - get a better long term 'out of the cockpit' reference on the horizon and hold it - using feet mostly - as trimmed out as possible.
3. Pay attention to altitude and throttle - if it moves, tighten it up to avoid the up/down oscillation I kept getting with alt.
4. Checkpoints should have more than one identifying feature!!! Why not use: Cities, Water, Highways, Towers, etc... all of these combine to give
    - a greater sense of situation / confidence in the position. These were much better than simply 'abeam ccr' etc...

Solo Flight to San Pablo Bay - 8/21/2002

8/21/2002
Solo Flight to San Pablo Bay
Cessna N99348

5:40pm liftoff, 6:25pm at Kaiser shutdown

METARS (for given times)
note: 6pm = 18:00 = 01:00 Zulu
2002/08/22 00:53
KOAK 220053Z 29011KT 8SM SCT011 16/12 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP143 T01560117
2002/08/22 01:18
KOAK 220118Z 29017KT 9SM FEW006 BKN009 16/12 A2996 RMK AO2


From the TAFs all day, it looked like layers of clouds in different FM groups would keep me on the ground today.
I called Jeff and he said to come in, and that I would skip the Napa (APC) component today to beat the OVC back to OAK.
Went to OaklandFlyers and got a WX briefing - I could tell that the briefer was either in a lazy mood, or had only the TAF
w/o more significant coverage (i.e. satellite/radar/etc). He said SKC and VS10 and unrestricted over SP.Bay.

Did the preflight - went well, and then taxied up from the closest space (about 25') to the line at Kaiser.
Contacted OAK-GND and requested T&Gs - they were unable, so requested SP.Bay.
Runup went well - two other C-172s (one from Sierra) were in the runup area going slowly (Dual, students like me :)
I was first to contact OAK-TWR on 118.3 and cleared on the first call for departure.
Took off - and at a comfortable 500' made the turn to the Nimitz. I could see the wall of hazy air over Oakland... ug.
Thought about turning back, but I was still *far* away from the haze, with good vis below and on all sides, so climbed
up to 1800' (departure said < 2000') and was loafing well above the layer. Handed off to Bay, and told to remain VFR, so
I climbed up to 2500', and then 3000' - all very well above the layer, and up here, visibility was indeed >> 10SM - probably around 15 or 20
with just a little haze left over from the fires (in the pac-northwest this past week).

Anyhow - over to S.P. Bay - my course was very close to normal with the layer below me.
Due to the advancing layers now behind me, I did the maneuvers, each once, and they went well:
Steep Turns each way, Slow-Flight, Power-Off stall, Power-On stall.

I was maneuvering at 3300' and heard another C172 call-up over SP-Bay and Bay called me out as traffic to him (they were 3800' and two miles away).
I was ready to come back (after hearing a 'bay tour' call it a day and request return to OAK as well) and called up Bay.
They knew who I was exactly and in the situation (also thought it was good to call up while I was in ATC's mind) and they had me do a 360 turn for spacing.
I followed in the other C-172 which after the turn was pretty far ahead of me.
Flying 'direct' to the Temple was a challenge and I got a bit off course to the East. Maintaing 2700' to be below 3K and well above the layer,
I noticed the houses & Berkeley-hills *far* closer than I had seen them before.
Nothing uncomfortable, I was just glad to be VFR and above the layer. I added some power and climbed to 2900' before reaching the Temple.
I was only about 1 mile East of where I normally cross the Temple, and still about 3 miles out, so turned to intercept the Temple
and make R-Traffic for 27L.

As I entered the pattern, visibility was crappy, but far better than when I flew in low-vis with Jeff (could see all runways, tower, etc),
but... just as I was at TPA and turning, a (very small) puffy cloud came across the pattern. I lost 100' and turned a little early, lining up
with the pattern before abeam the numbers.

And - as if to add another 'fun' item to the list!
I was # 2 after a Citation with the "Caution, Wake Turbulance".
I knew I was landing long (about 1500' markers) and Jeff told me that Jets always land on the 1000' markers, so I just stayed high
and started my descent on base. On final, I was a bit out (from waiting for the Citation) so just kept the power up with 20 degrees of flaps.
Really chopped the power while above the 1000' markers and landed just past the 1500's. Taxi'd off on Papa (diagonal) which I had *more* than enough
room for. On to 121.9 and Chevron!

whooHooo!

8/13/02 Flying mVFR (min visual flight rules).

Date: 8/13/02
Usual CFI
Cessna N99348
5-8pm
1.3 Hobbs, 0.5 Hood




mVFR, short-field TO, landing on 33 (small pattern, appch, etc)

Today we had planned on a long XC to SAC and 2Q3 (Yolo). I had done much of the planning sheets (checkpoints etc),
but several factors 'sounded like an ntsb story' according to Jeff. I told him that anything he said 'sounds like an ntsb story'
would cancel our flights!

factors:
I had a meeting from 4-5 that went to 5:15, and we had planned like usual to meet at or before 5pm. I arrived at 5:30pm.
The aircraft binder (keys, checklist, W&B, etc) was missing. It turned up at OaklandFlyers, but after 6pm.
The weather was getting poor, and forecast for IFR at 9pm. 99348 is *not* IFR certified to (AFAIK) to lack of DME.
Finally: we were rushed for time, and even prior to the IFR forecast, it was really poor visibility etc.

what we did:
We went up for some hood work over San Pablo bay.
It was quite uneasy for me, but Jeff reminded me often enough to 'look down' - even though the overcast/haze layer
was (to me severe) thick, you could still see the ground for a few miles, so we weren't "in overcast".
I requested a climb to 6000' and we climbed to 5500'. This was really awesome. The horizon started to re-appear,
with a blue-sky, and Jumbo-Jets cruising around like they were floating on top of a white carpet - they looked really-black against the white layer.
So - off to San Pablo bay - we did two power-on stalls, and then a steep turn each direction by my request to keep those current.
Then the 30 min of hood-work.
now, with the card-gyro-heading-indicator blocked, we:
Started with turns to a compass - this was cool, and I need to memorize the 'north/south' cardinal headings and lead/lag degrees.

Triangulated our position correctly just over the Carquinez bridge (crockett?).

We did a bunch of unusual attitudes - and as I was 'doing well' - Jeff covered up the attitude indicator completely!
I had to rely on the electrically powered turn coordinator, and the altitude needle. Looking at the vertical speed indicator
was almost useless, as it pegged at 10+ or 10- which looked the same. Most times I over-compensated on the recovery, but eventually got back to straight-n-level.
This was fun, and for the first time during training, I became acutely aware of my stomach - no problem though, didn't even mention it (not queasy).

Triangulated our position correctly just over point Richmond (still hood-on). Called Bay-Appch who kept messing up our tail number - Jeff even tried to correct him to no avail.
Then he gave another instruction and I repeated it, ending with "99 *3* 48" for emphasis and he finally got it right.
Proceded on a course Jeff gave me of approx 130 degrees at 2500' to the M.Temple as instructed - switched freq.s to
OAK twr, which made me think that we were closer than we were so I lost a few 100'. Took off the hood 2 min before the
temple and the vis was poor - I was glad to have a CFI and be 'for landing' right about now.

On decent for RP 27L like usual, twr asked if we could take 33. I accepted and they told us we could overfly 27R (no construction at this time - 7pm or so).
Jeff had me keep North or above 27R for practice, where I made one smooth turn to a half-decent landing on 33.

This was a short flight, but really awesome - even mVFR haze can be disorienting. Scanning the instruments, and the partial-panel simulation gave me confidence in the
equipment vs. my inner-ear. Twr thanked us for taking 33 'helping them out' - and I'm beginning to feel comfortable with
new/different instructions, and in general - being accommodating to the situation in addition to being safe/flying the airplane/etc.