First Solo

Today was one of the top five proudest days of my life! After three delayed solo flights due to weather, today the weather was perfect.

I will not lie, the longer amount of time I had to think about it the more nervous I was. I was confident in my abilities to fly the aircraft, yet we spend so much time preparing for the “what ifs” that it was all I could think of. I have so much to live for, I found myself second guessing my motives for flying. In the end I was able to take it in stride. Since I have walked through fear when I dove with sharks, went skydiving, ran into burning buildings, etc, I knew I could do it again.

It was sunny and the winds were a mild 5 knots per hour. My CFI and I pre-checked the 2007 Diamond Eclipse DA20-C1 (N362DC) and spent some time in the traffic pattern. I was a little rusty, but everything went well. My approach was still a bit high, but I had reasonably smooth landings.

When I asked my CFI what he thought, he stated: “It is a bit sloppy, but you won’t kill yourself in the solo.” I assume he was at least half kidding. After about six landings, I taxied back to the ramp where Kate and Rome were waiting. I let Adam out of the plane, and with well wishes from him and Katie, I was on my way.

I was very meticulous in completing every step on the pre-flight checklist. I even stated everything I was doing outloud, as if there was someone else that could hear me. I called to ATC and stated my intentions and included that I was a “student pilot on my first solo.” This seemed to have an impact as I noticed that they spoke slower and articulated clearer than normal, which was much appreciated.

I took off runway one. As the plane lifted off the ground, I had the most unbelievable feeling of thrill, pride and excitement. This was it! I was flying the plane all by myself. No longer a passenger. After nearly 14 hours of flight training, weeks of reading, and years of dreaming I can finally say I was a pilot (even if it was a student). Of the billions of people on this planet, it is an exclusive fraction that can say they have done what I was doing at that moment.



That being said, I didn’t have time to get reflective, I needed to maintain focus on flying and then landing. The expectation of the first solo flight is to take off and land, to a full stop, three times. Normally this is done with a stop and go. It is exactly what it sounds like, you land the plane completely and then take off using the remainder of the runway. It is actually more tricky than what I have practiced in the past because the more of the runway I take to land, the less runway I have to get to take off speed. Runway 1 is 5,546 feet long, so it is easily doable, but it did force me to plan to touch down as soon as possible.

I talked my way through the flight. Announcing each action of “flaps to neutral” or “leveling off at 1,500 feet” as if I had my CFI to hear if I was doing something wrong. This strategy was actually very helpful to maintain concentration and ensure I didn’t miss any steps.

I made my final approach longer than normal and I glided in as low as feasible. I was pleased with the landing and when I came to a complete stop for the first time, I said outloud, “I’m on the ground. Ok, I just proved that I can do this, two more times will not be a problem.” This pep talk must have worked, as the rest of the flight was uneventful. Nothing was really forgotten, except the last time around I flew the traffic pattern about 200 feet higher than my goal.



On my last flight, I asked ATC for a “full stop.”  Once the wheels stopped rolling the ATC, knowing it was my first solo, said, “You flew like a pro 362DC.”  That was very kind, but I was so filled with adrenaline that I hardly acknowledged it.

I taxied back to the west ramp where Adam (my CFI), Katie and Rome were waiting for me. It was awesome to have my family there. Without a doubt, I am very blessed to have them in my life. Kate even made celebratory brownies.



In American aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot's shirt tail is a sign of the instructor's new confidence in his student after successful completion of the 1st solo flight. In the days of tandem trainers, the student sat in the front seat, with the instructor behind. As there were often no radios in these early days of aviation, the instructor would tug on the student pilot's shirttail to get his attention, and then yell in his ear. A successful first solo flight is an indication that the student can fly without the instructor. Hence, there is no longer a need for the shirt tail, and it is cut off by the instructor, and sometimes displayed as a trophy.



As long as I live, I will never forget this day.

Flight time: Dual Hours = .7 Pilot In Command Hours = .5
Cost: Plane rental - $138.00, Instructor Fee - $28.00



Almost!

Like I mentioned in the prior post, my CFI thinks I’m ready to solo. Well, my last two flights were canceled due to weather, so I was itching to fly. Today was nearly canceled again due to threats of storms. At the last minute I got the call that said the storm was headed a different direction. Great news!

As planned, I was to execute a few take offs and landings with my CFI and then drop him off and fly on my own.

Had a couple of unusual events with my flight with him… First, I followed the taxiway directions given to me by ATC and came upon another plane going in the opposite direction on the same “Juliet” taxiway. I guess he had planned to divert me to a different taxiway but never told me. It wasn’t a big deal, but it did take me back a bit seeing a large plane headed my direction. First for me.

Next, I was given clearance to land on runway 19 behind a Cessna. I gave him plenty of time to land, but he still hadn’t cleared the runway by the time I was nearing the end of the final approach. I was ordered at the last minute to abort the land and fly a go around. I had anticipated it so, once again, it wasn’t a big deal. It did remind me to stay vigilant of other traffic regardless of what instructions I receive from ATC.

When we first went up, the wind was about 7 mph. After being up for about 10 minutes, the winds had changed to about 23 mph. Not knowing how much more the wind would pick up, it was unwise to solo (at the time of typing this post the wind are at 31 mph). Disappointed, yes, but my main concern is always safety. We stayed in the traffic pattern and I did 6 take offs and landings. I was a bit rusty, but was very pleased by today’s performance. I did feel the effects of the wind, which made flying more challenging, but I am growing more confident in my skills with each flight.

Since I haven’t mentioned it lately, I just wanted to note that my taxiing skills have greatly improved. It can still be awkward at times (especially at slower speeds) but I’m able to keep the aircraft in a somewhat straight line while on the ground.

I’m very blessed to have such a wonderful wife that supports me reaching for my dreams. Kate and Rome drove out to the airport in hopes to witness my first solo flight. The solo didn’t happen, but I was able to show them around the airport and provide them with a tour of the plane. Kate was even able to take a picture of me landing.

It meant the world to me that Kate and Rome were there.

Flight time: .9 hours
Cost: Plane rental - $103.00, Instructor Fee - $40.00

Challenging Flights Make Better Pilots

At first glance, one could have predicted that today’s flight was “just more of the same,” but it ended being much better than expected.  After the pre-check of the 2009 Diamond Eclipse DA20-C1 (N322DC) , I taxied it out to runway 19.  We were in the plane for 1.5 hours, and spent the entire time in the traffic pattern above the Smyrna Airport.

My first few landings were less than ideal.  In fact, 3 times I had to abort a landing and do a go around.  I’m not sure if I’m making an excuse, but it had been a week since I had last flown and there was a stronger crosswind from the southwest than I have experienced before.  In addition, the traffic pattern was to the right, which made it difficult for me to keep an eye on the runway.

What I noticed was that I was ending up closer to the runway upon approach and coming in faster than I would have liked.  There are some maneuvers to help slow the aircraft’s speed and reduce altitude.  One maneuver is caused a forward slip.  The pilot applies full rudder and then the opposite aileron.  This causes the plane to fly in straight line, but the nose of the plane is pointing to a different direction.  It causes addition “drag” (basically making the plane less aerodynamic) on the aircraft and helps to decelerate the plane.  At the last few seconds before landing, the pilot will straighten out on the runway.

This works well and helped me land successfully a few times, but there were three landings that I was still too high and fast to comfortably land, and I preformed a go around.  A go around is simply adding more power and regaining altitude.  It was frustrating not being able to perform a simple landing that I have done dozens of times, but it is the safest option.  While I had not planned to practice go arounds, it is a valuable skill I need to know.

By the end, I had managed to compensate properly for the wind and I had some of the smoothest landings to date.  Over all, I had another 10 take off / landings.  I absolutely feel that I’m a better pilot after today’s flight.

The biggest news was that my CFI gave me a copy of the written exam for my first solo.  I am to take it home and have it completed when I return for my next flight.  We will spend part of the time next lesson reviewing what I have learned and then I will fly solo.  This is a huge milestone in my training and I am both nervous and excited.

Flight time: 1.50 hours

Cost:  Plane rental - $180.00, Instructor Fee - $60.00

Inside the Cockpit – Altimeter

One of the more important instruments on the cockpit is the Altimeter.  The altimeter senses pressure changes and displays altitude in feet.  Just like I mentioned in prior posts, there are several different types of altitude.  The altimeter reads indicated altitude.  You’ll notice that the altimeter has three different hands or pointers similar to a clock.  The big hand/pointer displays 100s of feet.  The medium hand/pointer displays 1,000s of feet.   The smallest hand (in this case just a triangle with a white line) displays 10,000s feet.  For example, the altimeter reading below is just under 800 feet (most likely above sea level)

  Since the altimeter reads pressure, the outside barometric pressure is important.  The standard atmosphere, or the atmospheric pressure at sea level is 29.92 inches on mercury (Hg.).  Since barometric pressure changes, the pilot needs to adjust the setting prior to take off.  When checking the weather, visibility and other factors, the pilot should note the barometric pressure and adjust the altimeter with the small knob in the lower left corner.  Most airports are a few hundred feet above mean sea level (MSL).  For example, the Smyrna airport is about 550 feet above MSL.  The highest airport in the U.S. is Leadville Airport is over 9,900 feet above MSL, and that is before you ever leave the runway.



The altimeter will not display how high you are from the ground (absolute altitude), but will display the distance above mean sea level after it has been adjusted.  For each one inch of change in Hg the altimeter will be off by 1,000 feet.  While traveling , the pilot will need to check the barometric pressure. 





Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down

Another great day in the air. The 2007 Diamond Eclipse DA20-C1 (N362DC) had a new tire and was ready for flight.  After the pre-check, I taxied it out to runway 1.  We were in the plane for 1.6 hours, and spent the entire time in the traffic pattern above the Smyrna Airport. 

We took off, flew to the runway 32 and then landed.  Without stopping completely we took off again.  17 take offs and landings in total.  It was great to get so much practice.  I wouldn’t go as far to say that landed perfectly any of those landings, but I felt much more comfortable than I ever have.

We tried landing with several different scenarios such as, landing without flaps, short runway landings, forward slips, and turning without the use of ailerons.

I also spoke with the tower more than I ever have.  I didn’t sound like a professional pilot, but the ATC was able to at least understand me.

I mentioned in my last post about the precision approach path indicator (PAPI).  The PAPI are a very helpful and simple device that enables the pilot establish a glide slope to the runway that will avoid any obstacles such as buildings, trees, or telephone poles.  It is especially critical at night when ground obstacles are difficult to see.

The pilot see four lights near the runway and will be on the best possible glide slope when they see an equal number (2 of each) of red and white lights.  The more red lights the pilot see, the lower the plane is and the greater likelihood of hitting an obstacle.  The more white lights the pilot sees, the higher the plane is, which will require a steeper decline to reach the same point on the runway.

It is a great safety net for pilots, but I tried not to focus too much on the PAPI today.  As noted by the Lebanon airport, not every airport will have them.  I don’t want to become too reliant on them that I struggle to land smoothly without them.

As of today, I have logged 11.2 hours of flight time and completed 51 landings and take offs.

Flight time: 1.60 hours

Cost:  Plane rental - $184.00, Instructor Fee - $68.00

Smyrna, We Have A Problem

Perfect day today for a flight.  We were scheduled to take the 2007 Diamond Eclipse DA20-C1 (N362DC).  My pre-flight check went smoothly. And I taxied it to runway 10.  I was making good progress and taxing it smoothing when all of a sudden, the plane started bouncing a bit on the left side.  I wasn’t sure what had happened, but my CFI knew instantly that we had a flat tire.

Apparently this happens often with the Diamonds.  I was told there was nothing I did to cause this, nor anything I could have done to spot it early.  My CFI said this was his fourth flat tire in two years.  Similar to a bicycle tire, it has tubing underneath the rubber tire that can sometimes give out.  It is filled with nitrogen, because regular air has moisture which can freeze at high altitude.

So, I asked the question: “what would have happened if we discovered the flat on a landing instead of taxing?”  I was told it would not have prevented the landing, but landing on a rim would have made it more difficult to control.  Of course, it would not have been ideal, and we may have been stranded at an inconvenient airport.

We got out of the aircraft and had it towed back to the hanger to get it repaired it in the morning.   

Next I pre-checked the 2009 Diamond Eclipse DA20-C1 (N322DC), and all was good with this plane.  We took off to the northeast at  a cursing altitude of about 2,500 feet above mean sea level.  Our destination was the Lebanon Municipal Airport (M54).  Google maps say it is about 23 miles away and should take around 32 minutes.  Our GPS said we were approx 16 miles away (as the crow flies), and traveling at about 100 knots, it took us just a few minutes. 

The Lebanon airport is a very unassuming airport with just one runway.  It is uncontrolled, which means there is not ATC at that airport, so the pilot self announces their position and intentions.  Oh, there is also a seldom used grass runway there as well.  The Lebanon airport does have corporate planes from the Cracker Barrel there, as Cracker Barrel’s headquarters are in Lebanon, TN.

We practiced several take offs and landings at M54, and this really raised the challenge level.  It was a smaller runway than I’m used to, no ATC to help separate aircrafts, TN-840 was right before the runway, and they did not have a precision approach path indicator.

After spending some time in the pattern at Lebanon, we returned to my home airport of Smyrna, and continued to practice more take offs and landings. 

At landing number 10, my CFI demonstrated a landing in which he let the plane float a few feet above the runway for several yards before reducing the power to idle letting it drift onto the runway.  The method I had been using was attempting to place the plane on the runway as soon as feasible, thus it was not as smooth.  On landing #11 and #12, with this new method, I was very pleased with the results.

This was one of the “ah-ha” moments that I think will make me a better pilot for years to come.  I’m not sure why I was opposed to using more of the 5,000 or 8,000 feet of the runway, but now it just seems silly.  It is no safer to land on the first 500 feet than it is to take 3,000 feet of the runway, and it creates a much smoother landing.

Flight time: 1.50 hours

Cost:  Plane rental - $180.00, Instructor Fee - $60.00

Cloud Cover

Although there was no actual rain today, the cloud cover made it unsafe to fly.  We took this as another opportunity to complete some ground lesson.

Instructor Fee: $40.00

Practice, Practice, Practice

It was a great day for flying.  We took the Diamond DA20 N362DC for a long 1.6 hour flight.  Nothing new in the air was introduced, but we practiced, practiced and practiced.  I’m starting to feel more confident in my new abilities.

I completed 8 take offs and landings and they were not smooth has as last Tuesday. 

During one landing, my CFI cut the circuit to the flaps to make them inoperable.  I was able to get the plane safely to the ground without the use of flaps, which is reassuring, but I did use more runway than I would have liked.  I now have a better appreciation for the additions of the flaps (I mentioned them in a prior post, but I’ll go into more detail in the future).

We also practiced a landing with a simulated engine failure.  Once again, got the plane safely on the ground.

On another positive note, my taxiing skills has progressed from absolutely terrible to awkward but still on the taxiway.  Communications with the tower is progressing as well.

In the end, there wasn’t one part of today’s flight that I can say “I nailed it!”, but overall I’m pleased with the results for my training.

Ground instruction: .3 hours   Flight time: 1.60 hours

Cost:  Plane rental - $184.00, Instructor Fee - $80.00

Rain Will Not Stop Me Today

After days of record breaking sun and heat in Nashville, about 2 hours before today’s flight, this is what I saw out my front window…

By 3pm, the time of my scheduled flight, the rain had stopped but the sky was still a little gloomy over the Smyrna Airport so we took this as an opportunity to complete our first two ground lessons.  Mostly topics I have covered in prior posts, but is was still good to knock some of this out of the way.

Smryna Runway 1

Also, it just so happen that the Metlife blimp was parked at the airport, which Kate and Rome had seen yesterday over Centennial Park, so that was an added bonus of the visit.

Photo Credit: Katie A. Palmissano

Instructor Fee: $38.00



Questions from the readers

Since I received the first question from a reader (my father-in-law, Chuck) I thought it may be a good time to address some of the questions I have received since starting this adventure.

I wonder how you would communicate to a tower in a non-English speaking country. Is there a worldwide way to communicate?

Yes, there is.  While the ATC at international locations will speak the predominate language for that country, the International Civil Aviation Organization requires the English language must be used upon request.

That being said, it may not be the English that is normally spoken.  Pilots use a phonetic alphabet and number system.  The popular “niner” is used instead of nine, so it will not be confused with the German word for no (nein).

Has anyone ever done an emergency landing on a road?

Absolutely, and YouTube has tons of videos of examples.  The reason why you don’t hear about more of them is because a road is not in ideal location to land.  It is easy to visualize landing safely on a hard, smooth, straight surface, but roads tend to be narrow and have signs or other obstacles on the sides of them that would sure to be struck if the pilot landed there (not to mention cars and trucks).  The wingspan of a small aircraft, like the Diamond I’ve been practicing with, is about 10.87M (about 36 feet).  The average width of a lane is 10-12 feet.  You would have to have a 4 lane road to comfortably land the plane, and four lane roads tend to be busy.  A much more preferable location would be a wide open field.  Most of us live in cities, so we forget that most of America is agricultural, but finding a large field to land is easier than one may anticipate. 

How do plane rentals work?

Most small airports have general aviation planes to rent.  They tend to be older but very well maintained.  Rental prices range about $100-$250 per hour and most of the planes I would be flying are near the bottom of that range.  The pilot rents them, not by the day, but by the number of hours actually used (rounded up to the nearest 6 minutes).  A plane doesn’t have an odometer, but they have a Hobbs meter.  The reading on the Hobbs meter basically says how long the plane’s engine has been running.  So if you fly for two hours and six minutes, but spend 4 hours on the ground at another airport, you still only pay the two hours and six minutes.  At most locations, this is true within a 24 hour period.  For a second (or third) 24 hour period, there is usually a minimum per day.  At my school, the daily minimum is 4 hours per day.  As you see, renting a plane for a quick day at the beach can be very reasonable, but becomes cost prohibited for longer trips when the plane would be grounded for several days.

Are you planning on making a career change?

While the lookout for the demand for qualified pilots looks promising, I have no plans to make this anything but a hobby.   For most airline pilots, it can be a decade long commitment to develop their craft to be marketable to the airlines.  At 35, I would be considered over the hill.  For example, the FAA will not hire any ATC over the age of 30. 

In addition, it is a lifestyle I don’t want to have.  I enjoy being with my family on the evenings, weekends, and every holiday.  That is usually not a possibility for career pilots.

Why do you want to fly so badly?

This is probably the hardest question to answer.  Some answers I have heard are:

·         To see the world from a different view

·         To travel to far off places quickly

·         For the $100 hamburger (google it)

·         Peace and tranquility of being in the air.

While these are all great reasons, they don’t completely express my feelings.  The best response I have heard is “asking me why I fly is like asking someone why they fall in love.”