What did they say to me?

We got a lot accomplished in today’s flight.  We practiced stalls, slow flight, forward slips, and ground reference maneuvers.  The ground maneuvers (Rectangular Course, S-Turns, Turns Around a Point) is designed to practice turns in a crosswind environment.  It was fun practice and it forced me to spend more time looking outside of the cockpit.  I just wonder what the people in that barn below was thinking with a small Diamond aircraft circling over them for ten minutes.

Rectangular Course

S-Turns

Turns Around a Point



In addition, we spent some time in the traffic pattern, and I did a record breaking (well my personal record) of six take offs and landings.  It was very helpful to do so many in a row like that.  Overall I was very pleased with my performance.  Out of the six landings, there were about two that could have been smoother, so I’ll have to work on consistency.  I did notice that my CFI appeared relax and his hands spent very little time on the controls, which I take as a good sign.

Once again, my rudder work with taxiing on the ground still needs some fine tuning.

With all that we did, there will only be one thing I’ll remember from this flight.  My CFI saying: “Do you want to try talking to the tower?”  He did say “want to try”, which would imply that I had a choice, but to me it sounded like a challenge.  If he thought I was up for the challenge, then I couldn’t say no.

The pilot talks to “ground” pre-take off and post landing, and “tower” during while in their airspace during flight.

The main topics you should cover are:

1. Who you are calling

2. Who you are

3. Where you are

4. What you want

For example: “Smyrna Ground from Diamond 223 November Hotel ( the “N” number on the plane is N223NH) at the …  ready to taxi, departing to the east.”

At this point ATC will provide the pilot, at auctioneer speed, directions on what runway and the taxiway to use.  The pilot should then repeat the directions and re-state the plane’s “N” number.

This is where it gets hard.  Due to the busy schedule of the ATC, communications need to be clear, concise, and brief.  There isn’t a lot of time to ask for them to repeat it several times.  Luckily, my CFI was able to quickly interpret and repeat it to the ATC.

The rest of the flight I communicated with the tower, with the assistance of my CFI.  Once again, more practice is needed.  I guess that is why they don’t give you a pilot’s license within the first 6 hours of training…

Ground instruction: .3 hours   Flight time: 1.50 hours

Cost:  Plane rental - $141.00, Instructor Fee - $72.00