Well, I finally completed my FAA check ride for my pilot’s certificate.  I am now licensed as a private pilot of single engine – land airplanes (as opposed to seaplanes), with all my time in a Cessna 172.  I began the training process back in November, right after Thanksgiving.  I had always wanted to fly, but never quite believed I would have the time, money or later-life inclination to do it.  That all changed when my neighbor took me flying with him a few times, and my wife suggested I take flying lessons.

It was a lot of fun.  I enjoyed my training immensely, even when I reached a plateau fairly early on in learning how to land properly and gently.  I eventually crossed the plateau as described in my previous post here, and went on to finish my training with some quite enjoyable activities, including flying into a controlled airport and six cross country flights, three of them solo.

I did my three required solo landings at a controlled airport at Newport News (PHF) in April, shortly after my solo.  We spent a day there with me under instruction, and Kacper introduced short field takeoffs and landings and soft field takeoffs and landings too.  Then we went back the following week and did a few practice landings before Kacper got out of the plane and let me do my solo landings.  It was somewhat anticlimactic.

The first cross country flight was soon after that, cruising down to Halifax, NC (IXA).  My chart was marked up and I picked good checkpoints I knew I could identify.  I used Google Earth to “fly” the route to assist in identifying the landmarks and it helped.  We landed in Halifax with no difficulty and taxied around for an immediate takeoff and return.  On the way back to PVG, we practiced a diversion and landed at Suffolk (SFQ) for lunch.  The restaurant was newly reopened, and we had some delicious burgers.  Then back to PVG without further incident.

The next flight was scheduled to complete all the night training requirements (3 hours).  We started at PVG and did some stop and go landings and then began the night cross country trip, again to IXA.  It was nice seeing all the lights from 4500 feet, and it made finding landmarks easy, as I had picked towns to look at.  We did a few touch and go landings at IXA before returning, again stopping at Suffolk to do some more landings.  I did 16 landings that night with at least 13 of them full stop landings.  We ended the trip just before midnight.

Then I got to do my first solo cross country to IXA.  It was a very nice, clear day and I finished the trip in 2 hours, which included 4 full stop landings at IXA before returning to PVG.  I filed and activated a flight plan for this trip, as I had done for the two previous trips with Kacper, but did not request flight following from ATC.  I was familiar with the route, having “Google Earthed” it as well as having flown it twice.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and wished I had been flying longer!

Kacper and I then did a three point cross country together, going to Emporia (EMV), Edenton, NC (EDE) and back to PVG.  It was a nice day, but my normal training buddy, N2102P, was not available, so we took N64754.  It was a little different, but I had a few hours in that plane too, so I got comfortable quickly.  It was another very nice day, with a little more wind this time that before, maybe 10 – 12 knots at Edenton.  It was fun getting to fly to three airports and to see all the countryside in between.  A couple of weeks later, I made the same trip solo, once I got a good weather day.

I still needed about an hour of solo cross country time to complete the experience requirement for a private pilot trainee, so I picked Tappahannock (XSA) for a destination.   That’s up in the area where I grew up, so it was fun getting to fly there myself.  I had been before with Dick in his plane.  The trip started out nicely, but it got slightly bumpy on the way up and I had to descend a bit below my cruise altitude to clear some clouds that formed.  Other than that, it was no problem getting there and making a nice landing.  I back taxied and took off again to get back to PVG without burning too many extra (expensive) flying hours.  I steered a bit farther to the west on the way back to avoid the clouds again and landed with 2.0 hours on the Hobbs meter.  Another very nice trip.

At this point, my training was all preparation for the check ride.  I practiced several maneuvers that I had not performed since December, like S-turns and turns around a point.  Also, I needed work on my short and soft field landings and takeoffs.  I was making good progress; now well into the month of June.  However, the weather had turned more summer-like with afternoon thunderstorms.  In fact, it turned into a wetter, cooler, stormier year than I could remember for a long time.  I had a few periods of over two weeks without flying due to weather and work schedule not matching up to provide me with an opportunity.  June dragged into July, and Kacper went to Poland for three weeks too.  I trained with Andrew while Kacper was gone, but even then I had to wait two weeks for the weather to improve.

Finally, toward the end of July after Kacper returned, I was getting close to check ride proficiency.  My short and soft field landings were the last things needing improvement.  More weather delays, and more training.  Finally, in early August things came together.  I had to show Kacper one more good day of good soft field landings.  It wasn’t a great weather day, with marginal ceilings and a few scudding clouds right at pattern altitude.  My landings were poor: disappointing.  We ended the day with less than an hour on the Hobbs.  I was determined, and came back the next day for one last try with Kacper before he departed again for three weeks of pipeline inspection flights.  I had pulled things together and made several nice soft field landings and one great short field landing.

Kacper signed me off for my check ride, and we scheduled the exam with the examiner for the following Tuesday morning.  He advised us to make sure all the required ground training was included in my log, and we spent some time getting that done.  I signed up for one last practice flight with another instructor, Chad, before my check ride.  It went well, and I was set.

The examiner called me on Sunday afternoon to ask if I could do my check ride on Monday instead of Tuesday.  I gulped and said, yes, I could do that.  He gave me a cross country assignment to plan for a trip to Front Royal (FRR).  I spent the next 4 hours getting everything planned, calculated and shined and ready to demonstrate to him the next day.  Route drawn on chart, weight and balance calculated, fuel requirements calculated and adjusted for temperature, takeoff and landing roll calculated, extra airport information tabulated in case I have to divert while enroute, etc., etc.

I met the examiner Monday morning at 1130.  He spent about 15 minutes looking over my logbook and the aircraft logs to make sure I was qualified to take the exam and that the airplane was safe to fly.  Then we logged into the FAA system and finalized my application to start the exam.  We spent about an hour and a half doing an oral exam, which he punctuated with some interesting stories and commentary as well as a few bits of wisdom and advice.  It was rigorous, but pleasant and helped put me at ease. 

By 1330, we were on our way to the flight school to check out and preflight the airplane.  I completed the preflight and we discussed the plan for once we were airborne and then got in and started up the airplane.  I taxied over to Runway 10 and demonstrated a soft field takeoff and then climbed out and began the mock cross country portion of the check ride.  He halted me about 10 miles into the trip and had me put on the hood for simulated instrument work, and once that was completed, demonstrated steep turns, slow flight, stalls and some situational awareness.  At this point, the examiner took control of the airplane and demonstrated some interesting slow flight, stall and spin characteristics and corrective actions.  It was a nice diversion and I learned a good deal.

By then, we were about halfway done with the flight.  Once he turned the plane back over to me, he had me cut the throttle to idle and execute a simulated engine out landing which went well, with him offering encouragement the whole way down.  He particularly seemed to like how I performed a nice forward slip to reduce altitude to make a good approach on my selected emergency field.  He then had me recover and level off at 1000 feet to demonstrate turns around a point.  About two turns around the barn I selected and he had me climb back to 2300 feet.

He then had me, without looking out the windows, use equipment in the airplane to find my current position on the chart.  I was allowed to use the GPS, but not the map display portion, so I plugged in PVG and got the bearing and distance and quickly located us on the chart.  Then he had me dial in the Norfolk VOR and steer to it.  Completing that, he had me use the CDI fed by GPS to steer toward PVG.  We followed that until a few miles out of the field, and then called in on UNICOM to get advisory info to identify the runway in use, as the winds were light and variable from the north. 

Runway 2 was identified, so I maneuvered to enter downwind at a 45 degree angle, and executed a normal landing.  I then taxied back and he had me demonstrate a short field takeoff, followed by a short field landing.  After taxiing back, I made a normal takeoff and the examiner cut my power while we were at about 500 feet on climbout, simulating an engine loss on takeoff.  He emphasized the need to execute the checklist, and then had me recover and continue in the pattern.  He asked me to throttle back to about 1800 RPM on the downwind leg, which was actually my normal power setting, so no problem there.  Then he told me to reduce power to idle when abreast the touchdown point and execute a soft field landing, no power.  As I began, he said something my instructor said several times while we practiced engine out landing away from the airport, “You better make it!”  He also said not to worry about the displaced threshold; he would accept a landing anywhere on the runway.

Honestly, while it was critical that I get that landing right, I was already very comfortable in the cockpit with the examiner, and was “all warmed up” after a couple of landings.  I began my turn to base early and did not deploy flaps yet, wanting to make sure I could reach the field.  I knew I would be quite high on final, but decided it would be less risky to be high than low, and I could always slip down to glideslope, which seemed to be something the examiner enjoyed doing and seeing.  So I did.  Once assured of reaching the field, I applied 10 degrees of flaps and once stead on final I put down full 30 degrees of flaps.  I was quite high, so I went into a nice, steady forward slip until I was down far enough to land at the threshold.  He suggested I might dump a little more altitude, but I didn’t do it.  We leveled off just before the threshold and touched down pretty much on the numbers with the nose high and I held the nose wheel off the ground until full elevator no longer would hold it and gently set it down.  He was very complimentary, and I have to say it was probably the best soft field landing I had ever made.

He had me taxi back to the hangar, and once shut down, he congratulated me and told me to finish taking care of the plane and he would meet me back at the terminal.  With my head swimming, I went into the school and checked the plane back in and paid for it, gratefully accepting the congratulations of all.  I went back to the terminal and the examiner printed out my temporary certificate and congratulated me again.  I thanked him, and told him I learned a great deal on the ride and appreciated his flying tips and advice.  He seemed genuinely pleased to hear that, and we shook hands as I left, head still swimming in disbelief, relief and excitement.  It was 1535.

I still can’t quite believe it is over and I have a private pilot’s license to fly single engine, land airplanes.  I will definitely miss flying with my instructor.  Kacper is a great pilot and a wonderful, patient and capable instructor.  I thoroughly enjoyed flying with him, and hope I can afford to have him check me out in a couple of the other airplanes the school has available for rental, particularly the Warrior.

I’m not sure yet when or where I will fly for my first flight as a licensed pilot.  I expect it will be some time in the next couple of weeks, as I do not want my skills to atrophy, but I have not yet selected a destination of purpose.  Whatever it will be, I know I will enjoy it completely!

N2102P – the Cessna 172SP that is my trusty companion for flight training.

Back in March of 2012, I was invited by Dick, one of my friends and neighbors, to go flying.  He suggested we might fly to Tappahannock and then from there to my mother’s house so I could take some pictures.  It was a beautiful day, a little cool at the start, but clear, calm skies. We took off and flew over the Dead Fleet in the James River, toward Williamsburg and then on to West Point before descending and landing at Tappahannock to stretch our legs and see what the new airport there looked like.  Then we took off again and flew northerly over the Rappahannock River to the Northern Neck before bearing a little east toward the Potomac side.  We crossed just north of Montross, emerging
over the Potomac at Currioman and the little sandbar island known as Hollis Marsh.

The sand island known as Hollis Marsh, where I used to help Franklin Foxwell fish his peeler traps 30 years ago.

We could see the cross on St. Clement’s Island easily. We then headed southeast down river toward the Yeocomico, and then back in to the southwest just upriver from the mouth of the Yeocomico toward Mom’s place.  We circled the house a few times while I snapped photos, and then headed more or less straight back to Hampton Roads.  We crossed
over Farnham, then back across the Rappahannock and over the race track on Rt.17 north of Saluda.  We kept our course to the east of the airport at West Point to avoid sky divers there and then back toward Williamsburg, over the Dead Fleet and back on the ground at Hampton Roads Executive Airport.  We might have been gone 2 hours, total.

I had a great time, and took lots of photos along the way.  I have been keenly interested in aviation since I was a young boy, attending airshows every chance I got, and reading about aviation history and aviation in general all my life.  Over the next 9 months or so, I went
flying with Dick several more times, and even got some “stick time” as we flew from place to place.  Unknown to me, he and my wife spoke about my flying, and around Thanksgiving, my dear wife suggested I might start take flying lessons as a birthday, Christmas, anniversary gift “for the rest of my life.”  I don’t know why it had not occurred to me on my own, but somehow I had always considered it out of my reach.  I decided not
to give her a chance to back down, so I accepted, and right after Thanksgiving began my lessons.

I researched the local schools and talked to several friends and neighbors before settling on the Curtis Eads school at Hampton Roads Executive.  I stopped in one day (the 26th of November) on my way home from work to inquire, and was presented with the opportunity to take a “Discovery Flight” right then.

I was paired with a very friendly CFI named Kacper (Polish, pronounced “Kasper”) who gave me a checklist and pointed me to a Cessna 172 on the ramp.  He assisted me in making a preflight inspection and then he motioned me into the left seat as he got into the right and walked me through the checklist as we started the airplane and taxied to the
run-up area.  He patiently got me through all the preflight checks and discussed the takeoff procedure and then we taxied to the hold-short line for Runway 2 – one last chance to back out – nothing doing.  He announced our intention to take off on the radio and we taxied onto the runway, got on the centerline, powered up and took off.  I don’t remember the details of what we did, but we flew around the area a little bit as he talked me through each maneuver and the checklists, and then we were headed back into the pattern for landing.  He talked me through the process as I followed along as best I could, and we somehow
ended up on final approach with about the right picture out front, and we (or he) landed right back on Runway 2 and taxied back to the school. It was the fastest 30 minutes of my life.  Of course, I was hooked.  I signed up for my next flight right then, and off I went on my quest for the private pilot’s certificate.

Training began in earnest.  My next lesson was 1.2 hours and we began learning basic maneuvers – climbs, descents, turns, straight and level flight and three touch and go landings at Suffolk.  The next time we practiced maneuvers from lesson 1 and added more on power, pitch and trim and some “foggle” time to begin some basic simulated instrument training.  Each lesson from there added more maneuvers to my repertoire
and more practice to gain proficiency.  After four lessons of maneuvers and practice, we began dedicated landing practice.  I had no idea it would be so difficult for me to master landings.

I spent the next 4 lessons doing nothing but pattern work and touch and go landings.  46 landings in the course of 5.1 hours of instruction. Then Kacper was out of the area for a few days, so he lined me up with Daniel, another instructor, for a lesson.  The pattern work was interrupted for this lesson as Daniel took me out to the training area and we practiced maneuvers, stalls and navigation/situational awareness. Then back to the landing training the next 4 weeks with Kacper.  Then the next week, finally, I was starting to get the hang of it.  I had bought some other study materials to help get past my landing plateau,
and I finally realized I was doing everything required for a “good” landing – just not all together on the same approach.  I studied hard, sat in a chair with my eyes shut and walked myself through the pattern from takeoff to crosswind, downwind, base, final and then landing.  I memorized and learned everything about it – target airspeeds, engine
RPMs, flap settings, altitudes and procedures.  I drilled myself so I would not let it fall apart in practice.  For several days, I talked to myself in the car on my long work commute.  That week I got into the cockpit with Kacper and confidently worked my way through the checklist, took off and ran a nice pattern and approach and got a decent landing.
Then another and another.  I was hitting my target airspeeds, altitudes and timeline.  I did not feel rushed and I knew what I was doing and what I was doing next, and when I was going to do it.  I wasn’t perfect, but I was getting the hang of it and I was feeling much more in control. After the second week of good landings, including a pretty gusty day’s worth, Kacper booked me with another instructor, Andrew this time.  We went over a few pre-solo knowledge items before heading out to the plane, and then we headed out of the pattern to demonstrate some maneuvers.  All went pretty well, including a good engine-out simulated landing.  We returned to the pattern.  This time, the “main” runway at Hampton Roads was out of service, and we used Runway 2, which is a shorter runway with a 900′ threshold setback.  My meticulous pattern work was disrupted by the shorter downwind leg, and a few other distractions and the different instructor.  My first attempt to land
turned into a go-around.  My next 4 attempts were landings, but the first 2 were not good.  The last 2 were OK, but not great.  Although I got some good words on my airwork outside the pattern, I knew I wasn’t getting the nod from Andrew for a solo the next week, and I knew he was right.

The next week came, and I arrived early.  Kacper wasn’t there yet, so I got my weather brief and made notes on a few items there.  I looked over my pre-solo quiz and made sure I had it completed.  Kacper arrived and asked about the weather brief.  Then we went over my pre-solo quiz which he had given to me two weeks previous to complete.  We discussed a few items and made a couple of additions where I needed a little more
detail and then went out and gassed up and preflighted the airplane.  We took off and began the old landing routine.  I was back in the groove, and using the “good” runway – Runway 28 – so was making pretty good landings again.  I was asking myself where that was the week before with Andrew, but soldiered on, hoping to get the news that I would be coming back to solo the next week.  Finally, Kacper told me to go full-stop on the next landing.  Once on the ground, he asked me if I had my logbook and medical cert with me.  I replied affirmatively.  As we exited the runway, he directed me to a spot on the ramp and had me shut down.  I knew I was going to solo!

After shutting down, we got out of the plane and I handed him my logbook and medical certificate so he could endorse them for me.  He signed them off, and described the process.  Follow the checklist.  Three takeoffs, three full-stop landings.  Bring the plane back.  I was a little anxious, but as I glanced at my log with the new endorsement in it, I
realized I had about 140 landings in it.  And I had just done 10 more in the last hour.  I watched Kacper walk away toward the terminal as I got back in the airplane and strapped into my seat.  As I began my checklist for starting, I began to feel the exhilaration.  The anxiousness vanished as I started the engine and checked operating parameters and
continued the checklist to get ready to taxi.  This is what I was doing this for!  To take off and fly an airplane by myself!

I taxied to the run-up area and did my run-up checks.  So far, so good. Completed my run-up checklist and my pre-takeoff checklist.  I taxied to the hold-short line for 28 and waited as a Warrior made a touch and go. I announced my departure, and after making one more check of the pattern to make sure there was no one else on base or final, I taxied onto the runway, lined up and applied full power.

Good oil.  Good vacuum.  Good amps.  Right rudder, a little crosswind…right aileron.  Airspeed alive.  Right rudder – stay on the centerline, a little less aileron.  55 knots, rotate.  More right rudder.  Begins lifting off…a little less aileron, wings level.  Climb
at 74, right rudder – straight out the end of the runway.  Wow, tons of runway left.  Right seat’s empty; well, I have to land it – the alternatives are not acceptable.  600 feet, “Hampton Roads Traffic, Skyhawk 02P turning crosswind, Runway 28, Hampton Roads.”  Begin nice easy turn to left.  Keep climbing – 74 knots.  Level off at 1000 feet,
pull power back to 1800.  Look around…any traffic?  Announce turn to downwind.  Maintain 1000 feet.  Landing checklist.  Seatbelt on, fuel selector to “both,” mixture full rich.  Maintain 1000 feet – look for other traffic again.  Look for aim point on 28.  OK, next to the numbers now.  Power back to 1500, 10 degrees of flaps.  Slow to 75 knots and
descend at 75.  Watch out for drift…correct for drift.  Keep scanning. Announce and turn base.  Flaps to 20 degrees, slow to 70 and descend. Watch out for drift…stay perpendicular to the runway.  Wow, there it is in the left window already.  “Hampton Roads Traffic, Skyhawk 02P, turning final, Runway 28, full-stop, Hampton Roads.”  Flaps to 30
degrees, line up on centerline.  Slow to 65 knots and descend.  Keep those numbers on the bug spot on the windshield.  A little high, power down some.  Drifting left…get back on center…ailerons and rudder for wind correction.  Lined up nice…add a little power back to stay on glide.  Almost there…right on center.  Airspeed looks good.  Wow, here are the
numbers!  Level off…hold it off…hold it off.  Ease the nose up a little more….hold it off….Kacper always reminds me, gotta do it myself now….hold it….hold it…hold it!  Wow…wheels just kissed it!  Keep holding the nose up…..hold it…nose just comes down nice and soft.  OK, brake….easy braking.  Wow, plenty of room…gonna make the first turnoff!

One of my first three solo landings.

And that was it.  I got around the pattern, hit all my targets and made
a pretty good landing.  Mains touched down nice and easy and the nose came down gently.  I made my first solo takeoff and landing!  Wow!  I turned off and completed the after landing checklist and began my taxi
back the threshold.  After the second landing I noticed Cathie (Dick’s lady) standing by the fuel truck taking pictures of me.  Then I saw Dick in the terminal.  I thought, “That’s cool!  They have pictures!  They must have had a deal with Kacper to let them know when I was going on my solo.”  I completed my final taxi, takeoff and landing and taxied triumphantly to the school ramp.  I completed my checklist and shut down.  Dick and Cathie were already there to greet and congratulate me. I had on a brand new shirt, so was hoping they were not going to cut the tail off, despite it being my first solo! Kacper came around and
remarked that the airplane looked OK, so things must have gone well. There were several posed pictures and much more back slapping and congratulating, and then Kacper and I went in for the debrief.  We discussed the new privileges and limitations I had as a solo student, and discussed the next steps in my training.  The very next week, we would start working with some controlled airports.

As it turned out, Dick and Cathie had been at the airport for over an hour, watching as I went around the pattern with Kacper.  They did not have any deal with Kacper to let them know when I was going solo – I’m not sure he was sure until that afternoon.  Dick just had a notion that I would be going on my solo that day, so they watched and waited.  They hid behind dumpsters, the fuel truck, other airplanes and the terminal to keep me from seeing them.  Cathie stepped out one landing too soon, as they were not planning to let me know they were there until I had completed all three landings, but it all worked out in the end.  That evening, they presented me with a very nice keepsake album with photos
of my solo – something I am deeply appreciative of and will treasure.

My solo on 26 March 2013 was exactly 4 months from my first training flight with Kacper on 26 November 2012.  I was about a month behind my expectations, but I am very happy anyway.  I am particularly pleased with my instructor, who is not only patient and friendly, but is also a great teacher.  I look forward to completing my training with him and getting my private pilot’s certificate sometime this summer.

Just finished my first solo flight!