Resolution Progress

A couple of posts back, I posted a few of my New Year's Resolutions.  It's been almost 2 months since then so I thought I'd let you know of my progress.

Here is the list I posted, with my progress added in PINK of course.

1.  Get my medical so I can actually focus on going solo :)  My medical certificate finally arrived earlier this week.  Unfortunately, with the mint weather, there have been no bookings available for me to go flying.

2.  Start my new job. My first day of work at my new job started on 26 January, 2011.  It's been a busy month for me work-wise and I've been devoting a lot of time coming up to speed with my new specialty area (Clinical Research Trials in Hepatology). 

 

3.  Strike a positive work/life balance with plenty of flying! The work/life balance with my new job is great.  I work Monday, Thursday and Friday plus alternating Wednesdays.  There hasn't been much flying recently though!

 

4.  Complete my PPL this year. I have 2 exams left to pass for my PPL, as well as most of my flying.  I still think this goal is achievable and I am still definitely working towards it.  I will do my next exam on 26 March (I sat out today's exam because I haven't had enough time to study while getting settled into work) and hope to get back into weekly flying lessons soon.

 

So, that's where I'm at...not horrible progess overall but not great in the flying department.  I'm looking forward to having my head around my new job so that I can devote more time to flying soon.  Also looking forward to flying with Parakai Flying School's newest instructor, Scott!

What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday morning was sunny and relatively calm.  Not an exceptionally warm day,  but warm enough that I went for my flying lesson in a tshirt dress, no jacket.  By last evening, the temperature had dropped and the wind started to pick up.  During the night, I woke up to the sounds of screaming wind and driving rain - had the thought that the planes had all better be tied down well.  This morning, just 24 hours from yesterday's lesson, the wind continues to howl and little bursts of rain come and go - it's amazing how much the weather can change in just one day.

Yesterday's lesson was definite preparation for me going solo.  We revisited engine failure after take off and glide approaches.  We went around and around.  And around.  For 1.2 hours.  The last landing I did was mint, but there were a number of marginal ones before it.  I'm finding it really hard to judge my own progress at this stage...

On The Verge

After a flight today with our female senior instructor, we were discussing my progress.  "You are on the verge, lady" she said to me.  I replied, "So, best get that medical then?"  "Oh, yes," she replied, "we don't want you stuck going round and round much longer."

So, a glimmer of hope for solo before 15 hours.  I have flown 13 hours including today's 1.1.  The weather today was almost perfect...just could have used a bit of head wind to slow our progress on final. 

Once we hopped out of the plane, we had fish and chips lunch with the boys at the field and I crossed the car park for home.  On my facebook, I found some wonderful photos my husband took of my "on the verge" of being 1 year old daughter watching me fly the plane...

Love it!  Hope everyone else is loving something as well :)

The Onset of Summer

This past Sunday, New Zealand turned it's clocks ahead to Daylight Savings Time in preparation for summer.  And I must say, it worked!  After weeks of wild rainy and windy weather, yesterday and today have been beautiful clear "summer" days.  In fact, we don't really start summer until Labour Weekend (25 Oct) but the weather is good enough right now to really amp up the anticipation.

Over the past few days, the props have been turning and students have been enjoying their lessons...except me!  I usually take the 'left-over' spaces available when there is an instructor out here at the field already.  These past few days, with the weather being so good means that all the spots have been filled!  Everyone has been hanging out for some great flying weather, not just me.  I'm all right with that, I probably need a bit of distance from the frustration I was feeling over my poor landings so that I can get in a positive head space about learning to fly again.  

I'll let you all know when I'm in the air again - probably this Friday! 

Flying in Style

Harriet Quimby, the first woman in the US to receive her pilot's license once said, "If a woman wants to fly, first of all she must, of course, abandon skirts and don a knickerbocker uniform."  While I wouldn't go quite that far, I do believe that there are certain considerations to be taken when dressing for a flight - you must dress so that you will be comfortable and unrestricted.

My usual flying outfit leaves a lot to be desired in the style department, but fits the comfort and ease of movement conditions to a t.  Generally I fly in a t shirt and jeans with a pair of well fitting flat slip on shoes on my feet and a I wear a light weight wind breaker jacket while I'm outside checking over the plane.  While I'm perfectly happy with this, I do think I could easily dress far more stylishly and glamorously and STILL be comfortable and able to move.

You may wonder what has prompted me to reflect on what I wear while flying.  It's simple, I got an email the other day from BurdaStyle encouraging me to try a new look...that look is Aviator Chic.  I suppose the fact that I'm a real live aviator made me take notice of this, and the fact that I don't really bother with chic at all when I fly.  They cite Amelia Earhart, the "First Lady of Flight", as their inspiration for donning such classic pieces as bomber jackets, wide leg trousers, and button up blouses or being a bit more daring in khaki jumpsuits.  Amelia was also known for wearing slim leg jodhpurs tucked into her boots and scarves, knotted expertly around her neck.

I trolled around and found a few of my favourite images of Amelia Earhart and actresses playing Amelia to share here for your inspiration and my own.

While I probably wouldn't go for the khaki jumpsuit, the wide leg pants, blouses, and light scarves would be easy and comfortable to wear and I already have 2 bomber jackets (one black light weight "fashion" jacket and one real army green flight jacket).  So, I will keep the idea of dressing well for flying in the back of my mind for future lessons...no promises, but you may get a photo of me one day as I'm heading off to a lesson and looking as casually glamorous as today's style icon, Amelia Earhart.

Friday's Flight

I had a flying lesson on Friday.  Yes, it's now Monday and I'm just finding the time now to say anything about it.  That's what preparing for children's birthday parties does...I had to spend the rest of Friday and Saturday baking for the 16 kids we had around yesterday...not to mention parents!  Good thing I like cupcakes and cookies about as much as I like flying...

My lesson on Friday, while yet another lesson in the circuit, was different to any lesson I've had so far.  I was flying with a female instructor.  The dynamics of the lesson seemed somewhat different flying with a female instructor.  I'm not sure what it was but it was nice to have a different perspective on flying anyways.
As I said it was another lesson in the circuit...actually, another lesson on emergency procedures in the circuit - glide approach to landing.  As usual, all of the in the air stuff was good and I found myself setting up the glide approach with relative ease.  As usual, putting the plane on the ground was the difficulty.  For once, there wasn't a crosswind, but my landing technique is only good in a crosswind...side slipping and S bends aren't very nice on a calm day. 

While I can consider glide approach to landing learned, I have yet to perfect my landing techniques and can't really go on to the next lesson, flapless landings without getting regular landings down pat.  My goal for the next lesson is to pick a nice calm day and hammer the circuit with a real emphasis on a nice smooth landing without a crosswind!

The Quest for the Perfect Crosswind Landing

Today was a funny day.  The weather was so up and down that we cancelled my lesson at one point and then decided it was back on.  That's not to say that the weather cleared right up and we had perfect conditions...

In fact, today's conditions were rather challenging.  There were good physical demonstrations of the effects of wind shear, head winds, tail winds, and crosswinds. 

The main goal of today's lesson was to get that crosswind landing technique down.  Crosswind landing technique is hard to describe but to do a good one, you want to land on one of the rear wheels, let down until the second rear wheel is on the ground and then gently let down the nose wheel.  You have to physically 'dip' the wing into the wind and then oppose that action using opposite rudder to keep you straight.  I had a good number of tries today and did relatively well.  Did I get the technique down pat?  Well, my instructor did say one of my landings showed "perfect crosswind technique" and was "sweet as" and on the last landing when I had a momentary doubt and asked him to take control, he chided me saying that I had that one and he was perfectly confident that I could have handled it. 

We also simulated a few engine failures after take off and I was able to handle them without any stress...even when the simulation came late on the crosswind leg and I wasn't expecting it.  The instructor was impressed that I didn't get confused by difference as engine failure can happen at any time.

With such positive feedback today, I feel like I'm really on track to going solo in the next couple of hours.  Hard to believe I've done 8.8 hours of flying already! 

One other thing...I found this quote today and I thought it was awesome:  Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings.  ~C.D. Jackson

Exam News and Crosswind Circuits

I finally found out the results from my Aircraft Tech exam this morning.  Happily, I passed.  And I even did better than "just pass", I had a good margin between me and being a failure. 

The uncertainty surrounding the results is one of those things that reminds me I don't know everything and this whole learning to fly thing is actually a challenge.  I don't know everything...far from it.  My excellent memory is used up with all sorts of information not related to flying - my husband and children's birthdays, the recipe for a delicious lamb soup, and my mother's phone number...all very important, but totally unrelated.  Time to start those neurons firing again and making room for more, flying related, memories!

Speaking of flying.  I went for a very short lesson yesterday.  Just 0.4 hours (24 minutes).  We stopped because of the unpredictable gusty crosswind.  I did the first circuit all myself, but let's just say my execution of the crosswind technique the instructor was walking me through left a bit to be desired...or so I thought!  On the next circuit, I got everything all set up and let the instructor demonstrate a crosswind landing that was similar to the one I just did.  We did a full stop and decided to give it a rest as, truth be told, it was out of my league at this point in time (I believed the instructor when he told me he really had to work at the landing).

I may or may not get airborne today.  The plane and instructor are off on a cross country lesson.  They left a bit later than planned and the sky is much greyer than it was when they took off.  Sometimes the only thing to do with flying is wait and see.

My Week of Illness and Impatience 23/8-27/8

So I really must have over-extended myself on Saturday and then on Sunday I just went about my normal life without a thought to taking it easy or recovering.  Come Monday, I started to pay the price.  Whatever illness I thought I was over left me vulnerable and I caught something new and nastier.  I don't think I've ever had such blocked sinuses before - it hurt to touch my forehead on Wednesday! 

So between being sick myself, and taking care of a baby who is also not feeling flash, I didn't get out of the house much or do much.  This left me with a lot of time to think.  To think about my exam and become impatient about finding out my results so I can move on.  Yes, mostly I am anxious to move on from Aircraft Technical Knowledge for the time being (pass or fail). 

If I've passed, I won't have to give it much more thought.  I mean, I will have to go over the missed questions with our B Cat sometime before I'm granted my PPL but that's a long way away.  If I've failed (shock, horror, gasp!) I'm still going to move on from the subject for now and focus on the Radio Operator exam next; I will have to bite the bullet and revisit Aircraft Tech later on when I've gotten over my humiliation.

The testing agency tells you it will take them 7 days to mark your exam.  I'm not sure why this is as it's simply 20 multiple choice questions.  It's been 6 days since the exam and I was hoping the results would have been posted now.  They're not.  Another weekend of impatient waiting, I guess...

Exam 2 & Lesson 09

On Saturday, I sat my Aircraft Technical Knowledge exam and had a flying lesson.  A bit crazy looking back on it as I was absolutely exhausted afterwards.

The exam was difficult.  I won't lie, the internal workings of in line and radial piston engines don't hold much interest for me so studying was probably  a bit sparse considering my learning curve.  I will just wait and see the results when they're posted next week and be happy with a passing mark.


After the exam, despite feeling a bit brain dead, I went up for a lesson in the circuit.  The lesson was Engine Failure After Take Off - you know what to do if for some reason the engine cuts out when you're a mere few hundred feet off the ground.  So, how do you practice that?  Well, you begin your circuit with a nice take off and at some point on the climb out the instructor pulls back the throttle, now you have to recover and get the plane flying toward a suitable landing site without power.  Right.  The first time we did it, I was a bit blonde and recovered by putting the throttle back in (right answer when doing a go around which feels similar in that you have no power on but you want to fly again, but wrong answer if there is no power available like on an EFATO).  It took me a couple tries with the instructor feeding me my "lines" to get it right and not reach for the power.  Next lesson we are going to have to do a few more of these and then add in the bit about glide approach to landing...

Good news is, my landing set up is getting a lot better and I was actually lining up the runway well despite a cross-wind.  The cross-wind was making getting the plane onto the ground a lot different and I'm sure I'll appreciate learning the cross-wind technique once we get to it.

Lesson 8 - Progressing in the Circuit

Yet another lesson in the circuit.  Circuits will be a common theme on this blog for a while so I hope I don't bore you too much.

After last lesson's heady pace, I talked to the instructor I was flying with today and let him know I'd like to do full stops between the first few circuits.  Doing a full stop means that you land the plane fully and have a bit of time on the ground to regroup and discuss the set up and landing before going again.  I'm glad I spoke up today because the breaks in between helped me to relax somewhat over the full on touch and goes that I did last time.

Going well:  take off, climb to 200' and lowering flaps, turn onto crosswind leg at 500', radio call on downwind leg, downwind checks, initial set up.

Needs work:  judging when to turn base, lining up the runway, maintaining 65 knots, flaring, and touching down softly.

You may remember that I was having trouble with taxiing...  Having driven a car for so many years, the nerves associated with taxiing an aircraft took me by surprise but now I realise is that it's so different from driving a car that I shouldn't compare the two.  Anyway, taxiing is becoming more and more controlled; I have adjusted my sitting position so I can adequately control the rudder and brakes and be comfortable.  I think within the next few lessons it will start to become second nature. 

On a different note, I bought some red and white rhinestones to bling my headset!  Exciting :)

Lesson 7 - Stuck into Circuits

So today was my first lesson doing nothing but circuits.

"What is a circuit?" you non-aviation types may be asking yourselves...well, it's basically a big roundabout.  It's the pattern you keep to when you're doing take-offs and landings so that people can predict where you're going to be and what height you'll be flying at based on your radio calls so you don't bump into each other.

Today was better than yesterday in some ways, much the same in others.  I was doing better with my "downwind" checks and set up, but still tending to come in high on "final".  I was still tense about it all, maybe more so than yesterday because I didn't get the release of laughing at myself for being a knob/noob.  It is somewhat hard to judge your own progress and I was flying with a different instructor today so there wasn't any feedback on progress from him, unfortunately.

My lesson lasted 0.8 hours or 48 minutes.  It seems at once to be a very short and long period of time.  I'm not sure I've been quite as challenged and exhausted by 48 minutes of non-physical activity in years.  It's the good kind of challenge and exhaustion - the kind that makes you feel like your brain is working, even if for only 48 minutes a day!

Lesson 6 - Revision, Circuits, and Really Bad Taxiing

There are days when you just have to laugh at yourself.  Today was one of those days.

Perhaps it's the edges of this cold hanging on or the 2 week gap since my last flight, but I was having an "off" flying day.  Feeling a bit fuzzy around the edges and not altogether awesome.  That said, I did do a spectacularly perfect level medium turn...

Circuits are the bane of most student pilot's existence for some time and I can see why.  You're doing the same loop over and over and over again.  Doug, my instructor, said circuits made him lose the will to live (figuratively, obviously). I am not at this point yet - circuits still seem reasonable and I was happy with my progress in the circuit today...

The bane of my existence is taxiing.  And the highlight (or lowlight, depending on how you look at things) of today's lesson  was a taxiing incident.  An incident that was not dramatic or scary, but just embarrassing.  Today I taxied off the side of the runway into the soft, wet grass.  I had to shut down the plane, at approximately the midpoint of the runway, and get out and push it back onto the seal.  Not only did I push, Doug pushed, and two of the engineers from a nearby hangar came out to help us too...I wasn't so stuck that I needed all of us, but I guess it's good to know the help is there if I ever am.  

As we got back into the plane and started everything back up as quickly as possible so as to remove ourselves from smack-dab in the middle of the runway, Doug and I were laughing.  There wasn't really anything else to do - no one was hurt, the plane wasn't broken, and there were no impending landings.  I suppressed a giggle as I made my radio call and proceeded to taxi in a perfectly straight line down to the turning bay...

So today I made a mistake.  I took responsibility for it and tried to learn from it.  And I laughed...

My First Five Lessons

This blog is meant to be journal of my efforts towards getting my Private Pilot's License.  I've already got 5 lessons under my belt; since I'm not flying today, I thought I'd reminisce about those...

My first flying lesson was on 29 June and I flew for 0.8 hours.  No, my recall is not that awesome - every flight must be logged in a CAA approved Pilot's Logbook.  This lesson is meant to be your first taste of what happens when you step on the rudder or move the control yoke and it leads directly to the second lesson about the secondary effects of the controls. 

My first two official lessons (and for that matter, my third and forth as well) were somewhat a review of things Simon had shown me on our flights here and there.  I whizzed through them as well as "straight and level" (lesson 3) and "medium turns" (lesson 4).  I mastered the basics of controlling an airplane to an acceptable level in flight. 

On my third lesson, I did my first successful take off.  I'm a bit less confident in the planes when they're on the ground (I find taxiing very difficult) so it felt great to be able to get it up myself.

The fifth lesson was "basic stalling" and something that I had heard of, but never done.  It was a bumpy day in the air as well.  Thankfully, I took it in stride and lived up to the challenge of something new on a day that wasn't pristine.  I also almost did the whole landing myself...the instructor helped me with the flare but said I was very good on everything else (lining up, controlling the airspeed, and bringing her down nice and evenly).

My next lesson is "revision" and beginning "circuits".  The revision of all my skills up to now will help me to bring them all together and fly the standard circuit at the airfield so I can practice my take-offs and landings. 

4 hours down, 46 to go...

Inaugural Blog Post

For most women, flying a spoonful of rice cereal into their baby's mouth is the closest they will ever get to piloting a plane.  Well, I guess I'm not most women.

I married into a family of pilots.  My husband's eldest brother holds a Commercial Pilot's License (CPL) and a helicopter license, his middle brother is a Licensed Aircraft Mechanical Engineer and holds a Private Pilot's License (PPL), and his dad is an ex-PPL who now holds a Microlight License with an "ATO" status instructor rating.  My husband also holds a Microlight License with an instructor rating and he's a current PPL student.

At some early point in our relationship, I went flying with my husband and thought it didn't seem that difficult.  Perhaps it was then that I made up my mind about someday holding my own pilot's license despite knowing that none of the other women in the family had one.  Now a couple of years on from that first flight, I'm finally motivated towards getting my PPL. 

I intend for this blog to be a loose representation of my journey from normal mum to Angelina Jolie status (she's a PPL if you didn't know).  I hope you'll read along and comment...encouragement, criticism, links to your own woman in aviation blogs or websites; it's all welcome here!

PS - If you really want it, that choice airplane spoon and matching runway bib with LED landing lights is available here.