Lesson 20 - My First Short Cross-country

Lesson 20
Flight time logged:	1.9 hours
Total flight time logged:	30.3 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	113
Solo time:	1.5 hours
Total time solo:	3.1 hours
Total cost to date:	$4960

It's been some time since my last blog entry. I had to take a couple weeks off from my lessons to finish up a project at work. It turns out that the weather was not that great anyway, so I did not miss much flying time. I was ready to get back up in the air, though.

Last week we were continuously getting isolated severe thunderstorms that would appear in the middle of the afternoon almost daily. Finally, towards the end of the week, the forecast for Sunday and Monday was looking promising. I signed up for three hours of time on Monday morning hoping for good weather. On Sunday, I started planning my cross-country to Baldwin County airport in Milledgeville.

I arrived at the airport at 9:30 AM this morning to finish by planning by gathering the winds aloft forecast and preparing to file my flight plan. The winds aloft were very light today. My instructor was off helping another instructor pick up an airplane from another airport. He called me at 10:00 AM to tell me that he would be late. I waited patiently until he arrived an hour later. We went over the flight plan; I filed the plan with the flight service station over the phone; then went off to perform the pre-flight on the airplane. I had to take 6CP again because 81J was out for maintenance on the starter.

I had filed my departure time as 11:45 AM (15:45Z), but did not take off until 12:20 PM (16:20Z). Upon leaving the airspace, we radioed Macon FSS to activate the flight plan. I had planned to climb to a cruising altitude of 5500 feet MSL, but the standard briefing had mentioned a few cumulus clouds with bases at 3500 feet AGL. Once I climbed to 4500 feet MSL, the few cumulus clouds just happened to be right in my path. In order to avoid going through one of the clouds, I had to descend back down to 3500 feet AGL. I ended up cruising at 3500 feet AGL the remainder of the flight down to MLJ.

I was amazed by how accurate I was tracking the planned course. I hit the checkpoints almost dead on the time I expected. Typically I would either be a minute ahead or a minute behind. It all balanced out in the end. I was also amazed by how fast we made it to the destination. It was going to be a 35 minute flight, but it went by quickly. After I passed by last checkpoint, I had the airport in site, made my calls, entered the pattern, then landed on Runway 28. Baldwin County airport is a really scenic place because it is on Lake Sinclair. You fly over the lake to land on Runway 28.

After landing, I changed out my nav log for the return trip and prepared for the flight back to LZU. I taxied out to Runway 28, took off, and headed back towards LZU. I had power lines off to the left of my course, so I used them as a ground reference to keep me on track. My return cruising altitude was 4500 feet MSL.

On the way back, I requested flight following. My instructor wanted to show me how to use flight following. Basically, you're asking air traffic control to watch you on their radar and give you traffic updates. It was interesting trying to listen to two different radios at the same time.

Before long, I was within 10 miles of LZU. My flight following was terminated once I had the airport in site. I contacted the tower to request a full stop landing. I was cleared to enter on a five mile right base and then to land.

After tying down the plane, we walked back inside the office and talked about the flight. My instructor complimented me on keeping on the course and on my landings. I was surprised myself since it has been three weeks since I've last flown. I figured I would be rusty.

I decided that I wanted to do another short cross-country to get more practice with the instructor in the airplane with me. My instructor asked by to prepare a short cross-country to the northeast.

I'm scheduled to fly again on Friday morning. I'm going to stay in the practice area this time and practice ground reference maneuvers, stalls, and steep turns since it's been a month or so since my last practice. Hopefully, I will not be rusty. It's nice to be flying again.

Solo 3 - First solo to another airport

Solo 3
Flight time logged:	1.5 hours
Total flight time logged:	28.4 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	111
Solo time:	1.5 hours
Total time solo:	3.1 hours
Total cost to date:	$4650

My short cross-country flight was canceled yesterday due to thunderstorms. We had a cold front pass through pushing a line of thunderstorms in front of it. Instead of flying on yesterday, we reviewed my nav log to verify everything was correct, and then I signed up for some solo time of which I flew today.

Today the weather was great. The temperature was in the mid-80s, light winds, and scattered clouds. I arrived 15 minutes before 6 PM, the time I had scheduled the airplane, and filled out the form necessary to fly solo as a student pilot. Unfortunately, the airplane I usually fly was undergoing the 50-hour maintenance, so I had to fly another airplane that I had not flown before. It was still a Cessna 172R, but you get used to flying a certain plane.

Another variable was the fact that the winds were coming out of the East, so Runway 7 was the active runway instead of Runway 25. This wasn't really a problem since I've taken off and landed on Runway 7 a few times, but this would be the first time solo. Since I was headed west to Winder, it actually made it a little easier to depart.

Everything looked good from the preflight, so I climbed in the cockpit, started up the engine, and called Ground to taxi to the runway. I taxied out, did my run-up, and then waited at Runway 7 for another plane doing a touch-and-go. I called the tower to request takeoff, was cleared, and then taxied out to the runway. Full throttle and away I went!

I was excited and nervous at the same time since this was my first flight to another airport. I wanted to make sure I did not get lost on the way out. I climbed up to 2,500 feet, leveled off, and began to look around me for landmarks that I was trained to use. Because I was more north than where I had flown before, I could not really see the water towers I had used before. I was flying over them. Because I could not see them, I used bracketing -- this is where you pick out two roads, railroads, power lines, etc. and fly with one to the left and one to the right. I knew Hwy 316 would take me directly to Winder and it was to my right. Another highway and railroad that also go to Winder was to my left. I also happened to be using the GPS to help me keep an eye on my distance from Winder.

Luckily, the air was not bumpy. It wasn't perfectly smooth, but it was within my comfort range. Maybe I'm just getting accustomed to the bumps.

It didn't seem like I was up in the air that long before I saw the lake at Fort Yargo. This lake is about six miles out from the Winder airport. I figured that Runway 5 would be the active since the winds were coming from 50 degrees. This was another variable. I have only had one other lesson where I used Runway 5 at Winder. It is the shorter runway of the two and has a displaced threshold. Coming from the east, I could practically call a long final to land, but that is not the appropriate thing to do. I needed to enter the pattern on downwind. Originally, I had planned on going north of the airport in order to enter the pattern without overflying the airport. I decided not to do this since I was not familiar with the area. Instead I flew next to 316 towards the south of the airport.

As I got closer and after getting the ATIS information, I made a call to Winder Traffic. No one answered. I check the radio to make sure I had the right frequency tuned. I did, so I made another call. Again no one answered. As the airport came into sight, I noticed that no traffic was in the area. Usually, Winder is busy with at least two or three planes in the pattern. I was actually glad no one was there. I could actually practice without dealing with traffic.

I announced to Winder Traffic that I was overflying the field at 2,500. I flew over the field and performed a tear-drop turn to the right to enter the left downwind leg for Runway 5. The first time I turned from base to final, I realized that I was too high. I judged the turn to base too early. I needed to extend my downwind a little more. I suppose I could have performed a forward slip, but I decided to go-around. After coming around the pattern again, a helicopter announced that it was on its way into Winder. I was on downwind and spotted the helicopter in the distance. He graciously waited for me to do my touch-and-go, and then landed at Winder.

I continued doing normal landings and takeoffs, then tried some short-field landings. I was also watching the time because I had to be back at the flight school by 8:00 PM. After seven landings, I decided it was time to go back. I really want to keep practicing, but I did not have time. I took off from Winder and headed back to LZU.

On the way back, I used Hwy 316 again to guide me back to LZU. In no time, I had the airport in site after getting ATIS. I called the tower with my position and requested to land. I was asked to report entering right downwind for Runway 7. I changed my heading to fly towards the mid-field point. After getting on the downwind leg, I reported to the tower my position. The tower gave me immediate clearance to land. No other traffic was around.

As I was taught, I landed long on Runway 7, just past the thousand-foot marker, since the taxiway I needed was close to the middle of the field. As I cleared the runway and began my post-landing checklist, I went to turn the transponder to Standby and noticed something strange. The knob was missing! It must have wiggled loose during the flight back. I sat there for a minute looking for the knob to no avail. Finally, I just taxied back to the ramp so I would not be holding up ground traffic. After parking, I found the knob under the front seat, just in time to turn off the transponder before shutting down the engine.

The transponder knob falling off was pretty much the only strange thing that happened. I was watching the fuel because the left tank gauge was going down, but the right gauge did not move. The fuel selector was on both the whole time, so that was not the reason. I suppose it is possible the needle was stuck. This was not really an issue since I was only flying about 1.5 hours.

I was happy that I made my first solo to another airport with ease. It is definitely confidence building. Unfortunately, I will not be flying for the next week or so because of my work. I have a project deadline coming up in a week and will need to spend uninterrupted time finishing up the project. Once the project is delivered and stable, I'll be signing up for more flying time. My next flight will be the short cross-country. I'm already looking forward to it.

Lesson 19 - Solo 2

Lesson 19 - Solo 2
Flight time logged:	1.6 hours
Total flight time logged:	26.9 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	103
Solo time:	0.6 hours
Total time solo:	1.6 hours
Total cost to date:	$4452

Today was a little cooler than last week, but it was still hot at 90 degrees. The wind was out of the NW at 10 knots. Luckily, there were no gusts. I flew my instructor over to Winder to practice a few touch-and-goes with short and soft takeoffs and landings. I believe I'll just have to get use to this bumpy air because it seems to always be bumpy every time I fly. I don't mind the up and down movement of the airplane. That doesn't bother me. It's the rolling that bothers me. I don't like when one wing gets pushed up unexpectedly by a thermal or gust of wind. I guess it takes experience to get use to flying in these conditions.

After Winder, I flew my instructor back to the flight school, dropped him off, and then proceeded back out to do some touch-and-goes at LZU solo. This was the first time I soloed at LZU. LZU has a tower and a lot more traffic than Winder. At one time, I was number four in line to land. I also had to extend my downwind due to a Learjet coming in to land. I slowed the plane down just as my instructor taught me so that I would not extend the downwind too far out. After seeing the Learjet pass me on final. I turned onto base keeping in mind that I need to stay above the jet's flight path to avoid wake turbulence. As I turned final, I aimed for a point just in front of where the Learjet touched down.

After three touch-and-goes, I taxied back to the school. I knew that I needed to get back to work since I was on a project deadline and did not want to be thinking of that while flying. Not to mention, it was past my lunchtime and I was getting hungry. :-)

I flew solo for 0.6 hours of the 1.6 hours today. I am supposed to fly solo to Winder tomorrow and practice short field landings there. My instructor wants me to get in 1.5 hours of solo time tomorrow. I'm hoping for good weather, light winds, and a not-so-bumpy flight.

After I return, we are going to put together a nav log for my first short cross-country flight. It is tentatively scheduled for July 5. I'll be flying south to Baldwin County airport in Milledgeville. My instructor will be with me for this flight, but I'll have to do the same flight solo in the near future.

Lesson 18

Lesson 18
Flight time logged:	1.4 hours
Total flight time logged:	25.3 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	95
Total cost to date:	$4245

This hot weather just keeps getting hotter! You know it's hot when you are sweating when doing the preflight before getting in the cockpit. Today my instructor had me fly "under the hood" again on departure from the airport. He had me fly headings and then do a VOR cross-check to determine my position by using a sectional chart. Since the air was really bumpy, I was really having a hard time dialing in the nav radio and setting the OBS since the plane was not steady. I'm sure with practice it will get better. Again, it's one of those things I know how to do; it's trying to do it while doing ten other things at once that makes it a challenge.

Anyway, I found that I was on approximately on the 85 degree radial from the ATL VOR and the 235 degree radial from the AHN VOR. Looking at my sectional (while also watching airspeed, altitude, keeping the wings level, looking out for traffic, etc.), I picked the spot where the two radial crossed. According to this point, I was just north of the Covington airport. My instructor had me remove the "hood" so that I could see outside. I looked around, made a turn to the right, and then noticed Covington airport off to my right.

I then proceeded to Covington airport to do some short and soft field takeoffs and landings. My instructor showed me how slow I could actually fly on final and still keep the airplane from stalling. This made me feel much more comfortable with slowing the airspeed below what I was used to flying. After a few touch-and-goes, I flew back to LZU.

It was just barely VFR flying conditions because the visibility was only three miles. We had tons of haze and smog. As a matter of fact, the news reported that today was a red alert smog day. At 3500 feet, it was really hard to make out objects in the distance.

We both we glad to get back to the air conditioned office. Rain was forecast for the weekend, and I was really looking forward to it.

Lesson 17

Lesson 17
Flight time logged:	1.2 hours
Total flight time logged:	23.9 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	88
Total cost to date:	$4008

It was another 100 degree day. I hope the weather goes back to normal. I was grounded earlier by bad weather, now we really need the rain so I'm all for it coming back. I keep getting stuck with mid-afternoon lessons, so I have to deal with the heat and thermals caused by it. You know it's hot when the density altitude at LZU is above 3000 feet!

The lesson for today was navigation using VORs. My instructor had me fly south from LZU an intercept a VOR radial from the Athens (AHN) VOR. I had to fly away from the VOR on the radial. I then had to tune in the Atlanta (ATL) VOR and intercept a radial, flying towards the VOR. My instructor then had me turn 180 degrees, fly to another AHN VOR radial, then track it back towards the AHN VOR. All of this included the basics of identifying the VOR by listening to the Morse code, turning the OBS to select the radial, then tracking the needle. I knew exactly what to do, and have done this many times before on the simulator, but actually doing it while really flying in bumpy air was a challenge.

Lesson 16

Lesson 16
Flight time logged:	1.5 hours
Total flight time logged:	22.7 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	85
Total cost to date:	$3800

Today was an introduction to turning stalls. In past lessons, I had to perform power-off and power-on stalls keeping the airplane coordinated and from turning to the left or right. Now I had to tack on the addition of banking five degrees to the left or right. Banking the airplane before stalling does not feel natural, and it is very difficult to make yourself do.

After practicing stalls, I practiced steep turns again. My instructor complimented me on my steep turns. It's nice to get compliments that make you feel like you're making progress.

Engine failure! Well, not exactly... my instructor pulled the power on me to simulate and engine failure. I was at 3,500 feet (2,500 feet or so above the ground). I immediately setup the plane in a 65 knot glide and started looking for a place to land. My instructor reminded me that I need to turn the plane in order to look 360 degrees around my location. As soon as I turned 180 degrees, I found a runway. It just happened to be Monroe airport.

After lining up with the runway, I ran through my checklists. First I tried the engine restart procedure. Then I ran through the engine out procedure. As I was approaching the runway, I could tell I was still too high. I needed to lose altitude. I had already extended the flaps fully, so a forward slip was out of the question. I performed a 360 degree turn to try to lose altitude. After the 360, I was right upon the threshold. I touched down gliding from 3,500 feet. It was a nice feeling.

I spent the rest of my lesson time practicing short and soft field takeoffs and landings at Monroe. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it now. Practice makes perfect though.

Lesson 15

Lesson 15
Flight time logged:	1.5 hours
Total flight time logged:	21.2 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	79
Total cost to date:	$3520

My Tuesday lesson was canceled due to the first tropical storm of the season moving across the southern part of the state. The feeder bands caused overcast skies and IMC. My instructor canceled by lesson since conditions did not satisfy the VFR minimums. I try to always schedule three lessons a week just in case one gets canceled.

Now that I'm past my first solo, it's on to the next stage of my training. This lesson introduced soft field and short field takeoffs and landings. Unlike last week, I was back with a mid-day lesson. It's been hot lately -- in the mid-90s -- so I was anticipating a bumpy ride on the rising thermals.

After the preflight my instructor jumped in the passenger seat ready to go. The winds were light today with not much of a crosswind. I taxied out after getting my clearance. A jet was waiting at runway 25 for information from Atlanta approach, so we requested an intersection takeoff. This was a first for me but not a problem since the runway is 6000 feet long, I had plenty of runway to use. I taxied down to the first taxiway intersection and was cleared for departure. I performed my first short field takeoff.

I flew over to Winder to practice short and soft field takeoffs and landings while remaining in the pattern. As the time progressed, the temperature had become hotter. After about six or seven landings, the thermals started to bump me around. I knew that I had been over controlling the airplane in the past when I encountered turbulence or thermals such as today, so I asked my instructor how to handle them. He showed me how to let the airplane ride the "bumps" by just keeping a light touch on the controls to keep the plane from making any abrupt maneuvers. I feel a little better now about handling the thermals. I just need more practice to become more comfortable.

Lesson 14 - First Solo!

Lesson 14
Flight time logged:	2.0 hours
Total flight time logged:	19.7 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	69
Total cost to date:	$3233

Well, the day finally has come! Today I finally soloed! The lesson started out strange though. I was assigned to another plane, 62X, because "my" plane (81J) was just back from maintenance and was rented out to someone else.

I went out to the plane and started the preflight. After checking the circuit breakers, I turned on the master switch, lowered the flaps, turned on the lights, checked the annunciator lights, and then checked the fuel gauge. The annunciator lights looked like the "FUEL" light was out, and the fuel gauge reported only 10 gallons of fuel in each tank. I quickly walked around the plane to check the lights. The taxi light was out, but the strobes, beacon, landing, and nav lights were working. I turned the lights off and master switch off. I figured that I had better call the fuel truck, so I walked back to the office and called for fuel.

After returning back to the plane, I remembered that sometimes the fuel gauge can be faulty. I checked the fuel by looking in each tank. It was full! "Strange," I thought to myself. I quickly called the fuel truck to cancel my request. I finished the rest of the preflight and entered the cockpit with my instructor. I mentioned my findings to the instructor. I then prepared to start the engine. I turned the master switch on but heard nothing. Normally you hear the gyros spinning up. We tried the avionics switch and again heard nothing. The battery was dead. Apparently it had enough power to extend the flaps and burn the lights for a few minutes.

We secured the plane and returned back to the office. It turned out that "my" plane, 81J, was on the ramp and available to fly. I picked up the flight bag from the dispatcher and proceeded to preflight the plane. I suppose I was meant to fly 81J today.

I flew over to Winder to practice touch-and-goes with my instructor. My second landing was awesome, and my traffic pattern transitions were so smooth that my instructor gave me great compliments on how it felt like a pro was flying. I was really feeling better today about my abilities and was more confident.

On the fourth landing, my instructor asked to be let out, that he did not need to be there anymore. I asked him to show me the proper technique for a taxi-back before leaving though since I had to do three taxi-backs for my solo. I taxied back around to the runway, communicated my intentions on the CTAF, and then started to take off. After lift-off, my instructor pulled the power stating "engine failure". I immediately set my glide speed and floated back to the runway. He was impressed and told me I was ready to go solo.

I taxied over to the main building at the airport, shut down the engine, and let my instructor out. He endorsed my logbook and student pilot certificate making me legal to fly by myself. After he walked inside, I performed my startup checklist and taxied back to the runway. My instructor warned me about the airplane taking off and climbing faster since it was lighter. He wasn't kidding! I was up to 500 feet AGL in no time.

Everything went well during the solo flight. I had a few other planes in the pattern, but they did not bother me at all. I followed the process that was drilled into my head. My landings went well. It was a great experience. I taxied back to the main building where I secured the plane and met my instructor at the on-field restaurant for some lunch.

At lunch, we talked about the next steps: short and soft field takeoffs and landings, navigation, night flying, and the cross-country flights. I'll be working on short field takeoffs and landings at my next lesson. I'm looking forward to the cross-country flights. I think everybody does when they are learning to fly.

After lunch, we got back in the plane. My instructor sat back as a passenger and let me fly the two of us back to LZU. As usual, we received a straight-in final approach from the control tower. It was a hot day (95+ degrees), so it seemed like we could not descend at all. We ended up coming in high and having to forward slip to lose altitude. I made a good landing and taxied back to the ramp.

After securing the plane, my instructor took my picture next to it.


As with tradition, he cut the tail off of my t-shirt and wrote the info about my solo on it.


I'm required to fly solo for at least five hours, so I'll be heading out to practice alone in the future. It is great to finally achieve a grand milestone along the way to my Private Pilot License!

Thanks to everyone supporting me, especially my wife Brandy!

Lesson 13

Lesson 13
Flight time logged:	1.4 hours
Total flight time logged:	17.7 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	61
Total cost to date:	$2938

It was another beautiful morning. Just I had expected my "bird" 81J was not out of maintenance. Instead I took 6CP today. This was also an interesting day to fly since everyone was making a big deal about the date: 06-06-06.

Today's lesson was nothing but more of the same: takeoffs and landings. I headed over to Winder to practice more touch-and-goes. The active runway today was Runway 5. This would be my first time using this runway. It has a displaced threshold so you have to adjust your landing somewhat.

After several touch-and-goes, I flew back to LZU to do a few more touch-and-goes there. All of this time, my instructor just sat as a passenger giving me tips to help me along the way. After taxiing back and securing the plane, my instructor indicated that I would be doing more of the same at my next lesson, then possibly a solo. I wonder if I'm ready...

Lesson 12

Lesson 12
Flight time logged:	1.5 hours
Total flight time logged:	16.3 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	53
Total cost to date:	$2707

I was finally "back in the saddle" again today. The weather for this week is looking good, and today was no exception. Of course, it helps to have a lesson in the morning. This was the first week I actually was able to schedule morning lessons. Another student always seems to get the morning slots every day, but this time I put myself on the schedule two weeks out just to have some morning flying time.

I wanted to practice my slow flight, stalls, and steep turns again since it has been six weeks since the last time I performed these maneuvers. I flew myself and the instructor over to the practice area and began to run through the list.

I performed slow flight (straight and turning), followed by a power-off stall, then a power-on stall. Even though it had been six weeks, my instructor said that I was still doing well on these maneuvers. I was a tad bit rusty, but after warming up, I was back in the game again. I also wanted to get more instruction on emergency procedures and how to best find a field to land on, so my instructor showed me a few fields and private landing strips in the area.

He then wanted me to practice my steep turns, but to throw in some added difficulty, my instructor covered up the instruments forcing me to literally fly by "feel" and sight alone. I used Stone Mountain as my starting point of reference, banked to the left into what felt like a 45 degree bank, keeping the horizon at the same level, and then turned out right as Stone Mountain came back into view. I immediately banked right, again into what felt like a 45 degree bank, keeping the horizon at the same level all the way around. As I banked back to straight-and-level flight while facing Stone Mountain, my instructor removed the cover from the instruments to show me how I rolled out within a couple of degrees of my original heading and how I did not lose any altitude at all. I was somewhat surprised since I was use to using the instruments to keep my altitude and to turn out at the right time.

A few minutes after my steep turns practice, my instructor pulled the power on the engine and announced engine failure. I ran through my ABCs (Airspeed - best glide speed, Best field for landing, and Checklist). I was near a grass strip of a private airport. It happened to be about 180 degrees behind me. I made a 180 degree turn to the right until the strip came into site. I was at 65 knots and descending about 500 feet per minute. As I lined up with the strip, I went through my engine restart checklist: fuel on both, fuel shutoff value in, mixture rich, aux fuel pump on. Then I went through the engine failure checklist: fuel shutoff value out, mixture idle cutoff, ignition off, radio "Mayday", squawk 7700, seatbelts secure, doors opened and jammed. I had plenty of altitude, too much in fact, so I extended the flaps fully. I was still high, so I did a 360 degree spiral to lose altitude. Coming around to line up again with the strip, I finalized the checklist: flaps were already down, avionics off, master switch off. Of course all of this is simulated; I really did not turn anything off. At about 300 to 500 feet AGL, I applied full power and initiated a go-around: achieve climb with positive vertical speed, retract flaps one notch, enter normal climb speed and attitude, and then retract remaining flaps.

I left the practice area and headed back to LZU. The winds were out of the NE, so Runway 7 was the active runway. I did a few touch-and-goes before my time was up. My landings were getting much better -- but that was partially because I did not have gusting winds today.

Next lesson is tomorrow morning at the same time. My instructor told me that we would spend the lesson doing takeoffs and landings over at Winder. I'll most likely be flying a different plane (different ID but still a C172R) tomorrow since "my bird" is going in for its 100,000 hour maintenance today.

New toys

This past Sunday I finally broke down and bought a headset and a handheld transceiver. In my "downtime" of my last few "lessons", I asked the CFIs at the school with assistance on buying a good headset. They all recommended David Clark, and my research had revealed the same, so after even more thorough research, I went out to Sporty's online and bought the DC 20-10S headset.


I also wanted an aviation band scanner, but my instructor told me I should spend the extra few dollars to get a transceiver instead. With this, I would always have a backup radio for communications. I'm going to take it to the airport this weekend to try it out.

Stormy weather

Well, this week was a bust. My Wednesday lesson was canceled because I had a family emergency. I went to my 5:00 PM Thursday lesson knowing that thunderstorms were moving across the area to the north of the field. I went out to the airplane and started the preflight hoping the bad weather would stay to the North. While out of the ramp (and I must say it was the opposite end of the ramp from the school), I noticed the dark thunderclouds to the North. As I made my way around the airplane, I noticed the skies were getting darker to the West. I was checking the fuel when I saw cloud-to-ground lightning to the West just a few miles out. I immediately got back in the cockpit, put the flaps back up, put the control lock back in, grabbed the key and flight bag, and headed back to the school. I started to walk, but then ran when the thunder and lightning worsened. I just made it back into the school when the rain began to poor.

The storm that came through the area brought high gusting winds (greater than 40 knots!) with hail. It lasted for almost an hour. I sat inside with my instructor talking about various topics related to my lessons. Finally, the storm passed and I was able to go back to the airplane and get my flight bag and headset. The winds were changing direction every few minutes and still gusting, so I made a judgment call and decided not to fly. It was already late anyway, and I wanted to go over my pre-solo test.

I spent another hour going over the test with my instructor and discussing some ground school topics. I made another 100% on this test. My instructor endorsed my logbook for the pre-solo knowledge test.

On Friday, I had a lesson at 5:00 PM. Yes, another late afternoon lesson -- prime time for latent heat thunderstorms. The weather was looking good on my way to the airport. Then I saw the dark clouds to the North. It was almost like they were following me. As I walked into the flight school, my instructor said "Looks good today." I told him not to be so sure. I was being followed. Five minutes later the phone rang. It was the owner requesting that the instructors tie down all of the planes on the ramp due to a severe thunderstorm warning just issued for the area. Not ten minutes after the instructors returned from the ramp, the skies became dark and the rain began to fall. My luck was just not good this month. "May" must have been short for "mayhem".

My next lesson is schedule for June 5. The schedule was already full for next week, so I could only get on the schedule for the week after. That's okay, because I was able to schedule a morning lesson. The morning weather is much calmer with a better chance of never seeing a thunderstorm. I've scheduled my three lessons for in the morning. Maybe, just maybe, I will actually get to solo in the next couple of weeks. I've been out of practice, so I'll have to get "warmed up" again.

Lesson 11

Lesson 11
Flight time logged:	1.2 hours
Total flight time logged:	14.8 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	49
Total cost to date:	$2460

I was worried about today's lesson since it has been two weeks since I had last flown. The weather wasn't that great -- the winds were at 10 knots gusting to 20 knots from the NNW. This gave the runway a considerable crosswind (still less than 15 knots though, but close). My instructor thought it would be a good day to practice crosswind takeoffs and landings.

I was feeling good about flying today and excited to be going up again. Upon holding at Rwy 25 for takeoff, a jet that had just landed became disabled on the runway when one of its engines had an overspeed condition. I had to wait, airplane at idle, for almost 15 minutes for the jet to be towed off the runway.

Upon takeoff, I could feel the strong gusts coming from my right. I attempted to crab into the wind to keep on the centerline while maintaining my 80 knot climb. It was tough with lift being taken away and provided every other second. It was bumpy... and unnerving. I took a deep breath and made my way around the pattern.

On the downwind, I kept drifting in towards the runway with each gust. I had to keep making major corrections. My confidence level started to diminish. I just didn't have enough experience flying in these conditions.

On final, it was a rough ride. The gusting wind blew me to the left of the center line. I felt like I was fighting the airplane (of which, by the way, you should never do). I didn't think I was on a stabilized approach so I performed a go-around.

My second circuit around, I was a little better, made the turn to base and to final much better, and did a touch-and-go. The landing was a little bouncy while trying to land on just the right main wheel with the crosswind.

When I turned crosswind on my third circuit, I spotted traffic in front of me of the feathered kind. It was really more to my two o'clock position. It was a turkey buzzard soaring in the wind. I told my instructor, "Bird at 2 o'clock," and maneuvered toward the left. We passed the buzzard close enough to see its red head and eyes watching as we passed. My instructor told me that was a little close. I know we cleared the buzzard by at least 100 feet.

On the base, my instructor wanted me to keep traffic pattern altitude so that I could perform a forward slip to a landing on final. I needed to practice forward slips, but with the gusting winds I was not looking forward to this approach. After turning final, and trying to line up with the centerline by crabbing into the wind, the airplane was being bumped around by the wind and slight turbulence. I put the airplane into a forward slip, but the winds kept me from holding it for too long. I kept going into the slip then out. This cost me runway length. I ended up touching down almost halfway down the runway.

I practiced more touch-and-goes, some with engine-out short approaches, for the next few circuits. It was getting close to the end of my lesson. I finally called it a day... a not so good day. I was confident about soloing, but now I want more practice in conditions like this so I can handle it on my own.

Delay of game

The weather this month has been strange. It is May, yet the weather thinks it's March! The winds are gusting abnormally high. The jet stream has dipped down through Georgia bringing all kinds of weather and keeping the air cooler than normal. My lessons kept getting canceled due to the weather. I had a severe head cold that kept me from going anyway, but before I could cancel, my instructor would call to cancel due to weather. It's been almost two weeks since my last lesson.

In the meantime, I've been studying ground school and taking yet another pre-solo test that was more thorough than the last two. I'm scheduled for my next lesson on May 17. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. I will also get the pre-solo test to take home.

Lesson 10

Lesson 10
Flight time logged:	1.2 hours
Total flight time logged:	13.6 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	41
Total cost to date:	$2200

I had a 1:00 PM lesson today. A cold front was just off to the NW, and isolated thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon. Cumulus clouds were building and beginning to tower. While doing my preflight, I felt a few rain drops fall as a dark cloud passed over. I was wondering if my lesson would be canceled. The ceiling, however, was over 5,000 feet, and it looked like I would be flying as long as the thunderstorms remained hours away.

I headed for Winder-Barrow airport (WDR) to practice some touch-and-goes at a non-towered airport. I had my first experience seeing rain clouds up close and seeing the sheets of rain fall from them. I also had my first experience flying through the rain.

After the touch-and-goes, I flew north and climbed to 3,000 feet to practice slow flight, stalls, and steep turns. With rain all around, there were drafts making us bounce around a little. After practicing the maneuvers, I headed back to LZU.

When I came in to land, I was determined to make a good landing. I kept on the centerline all the way down and softly let down on the runway. My instructor gave me kudos on a good landing. I think the practice is paying off.

After taxiing back and tying down the plane, the rain started to come down. We had just made it back inside before getting wet. Inside, my instructor graded two pre-solo knowledge tests I had to take. I scored 100% on both. He said I would get about two more hours of instruction, and then I would do my solo. I have two lessons scheduled for next week, so my solo could be as early as next Thursday, but more than likely will be the week after. Of course, all of this depends on the weather...

Lesson 9

Lesson 9
Flight time logged:	1.0 hours
Total flight time logged:	12.4 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	35
Total cost to date:	$2000

Today I practiced more touch-and-goes. I basically flew the traffic pattern doing takeoffs and landings for an hour.

My instructor showed me another emergency situation where you lose partial power near the airport. He pulled the power to 1500 RPM to simulate the engine losing power. I had to maintain traffic pattern altitude which basically meant that I had to fly much slower. I simulated the call to the tower indicated the need for an immediate landing due to a rough-running engine. Then my instructor pulled the power to idle to simulate complete engine failure while I was on the downwind leg. I had to perform a short approach and land.

After practicing landings today, I feel I'm starting to get the hang of "feeling" the airplane. I go up again on Thursday.

Lesson 8

Lesson 8
Flight time logged:	1.1 hours
Total flight time logged:	11.4 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	27
Total cost to date:	$1835

Today was a calm day with clear skies. Runway 7 was the active runway. In today's lesson I remained in the traffic pattern doing touch-and-goes to practice my landings and to practice a few emergency landings. Because it was such a nice day, there was more traffic than usual for 6:00 PM. I had to keep on my toes while flying the pattern.

My normal landings are getting a little better. I found it interesting that my best landing was the one where my instructor did not talk as I was landing. I'm still getting the feel of the plane in ground effect, but I believe I'm getting the hang of it. I felt like I did not do as good as I could today. I'm not sure if it was due to the distractions (including the instructor) or what.

My instructor introduced emergency approaches and landings today. In the traffic pattern on downwind, my instructor pulled the throttle to idle to simulate an engine failure. We were at TPA abeam the thousand-foot runway marker. I trimmed for 65 knots then talked through the engine restart procedure. I then glided down to the runway threshold maintaining 65 knots. I had to use some flaps, but made the touchdown successfully.

I started feeling a little frustrated with the instructor today. I feel like I know what to do now, but I'm still trying to listen to the instructor to get additional input. The problem is that the input is more like "static" in that it is distracting me from getting the feel of the landing.

Anyway, my next lesson is tomorrow evening. I was told that we would do some maneuvers (stalls, slow flight, steep turns, etc.) to keep those in check and to act as a warm up for me. After these, I will continue practicing normal and emergency landings. I hope I'm more in the zone tomorrow. I still think I'm four to five hours out from soloing.

Lesson 7

Lesson 7
Flight time logged:	1.9 hours
Total flight time logged:	10.3 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	17
Total cost to date:	$1650

What a nice day it was today! A cold front moved through the area yesterday with some thunderstorms ahead of it. Today, the skies are clear, although it is a little windy. I had a crosswind on takeoff today, so I got to practice my crosswind takeoff. In today's lesson, my instructor was acting like a check-ride examiner just watching my actions.

I turned crosswind after takeoff, then the instructor made me put on the "foggles" to do more instrument-only flying. He gave me altitudes and headings to fly, and I flew downwind and then out of the pattern. I flew for five to ten minutes by instruments alone. Then it was time for my lesson in recovering from unusual attitudes. This is where I have to close my eyes as the instructor puts the airplane into a steep climb about to stall, a straight dive, a spiral dive, a steep banking climb on the verge of stalling, etc. Once he says "you're controls" I have to look at the instruments, determine the plane's attitude, and recover. Talk about an awkward feeling! I was able to recover nicely from each situation he set up. He complemented me on my good recoveries.

I then had to perform slow flight maneuvers. I had to slow down to 55 knots with no flaps and then perform a few turns to headings. I then added full flaps to slow down to 40 knots and do a few turns at that speed. My instructor then had me perform a power-off stall. After the power-off stall, I performed a power-on stall. I was actually keeping my heading very well today.

Next I had to perform steep turns. I cleared the area with two 90 degree turns, and then performed a steep 180 degree turn to the left followed by a steep 180 degree turn to the right. My instructor again complemented me on performing well for these maneuvers.

The next tasks I had to perform were the ground reference maneuvers. I was at 3,500 feet MSL and needed to descend to 1,800 feet MSL. I started a 500 feet-per-minute descent. My instructor then asked me to do a forward slip down to 2,500 feet MSL. I put the plane into a forward slip and increased my descent to about 1,200 feet-per-minute. Within no time I was down at 2,500 feet. I transitioned back to a 500 fpm descent to 1,800 feet MSL.

Once at 600 feet above ground, I found a house to use for my turns-around-a-point. I performed two circles around the point. My instructor indicated that I was good a doing turns-around-a-point. I was good a making a circle of which seems easy, but not when the wind is blowing over 10 knots. It's all about changing you bank angle as you go around the point.

After the turns-around-a-point, I flew over to a straight road and performed S-turns to the right, then S-turns to the left. I did much better today than Tuesday. My instructor was convinced that I could do all of the maneuvers, so I headed over to Winder-Barrow airport for some touch-and-goes.

Over at Winder there were a few other planes flying so I really had to keep an eye out. My instructor taught me to talk on the CTAF since Winder does not have a tower. I caught on pretty fast to the communications part. I was feeling good about my performance thus far and was looking forward to practicing landings. I did three touch-and-goes, getting a little better each time, and then headed back to KLZU. I still need to work on my flares.

At about eight miles out from KLZU and after getting ATIS, I called the tower with my position and requested a landing. I was cleared fly straight in to Runway 25 on a three-mile final. I positioned myself to turn onto the extended final. My instructor wanted to show me how to use the ILS during an approach, so we tuned in to the ILS and turned on the marker beacon alerts. As I turned to a heading of 250 degrees, the outer marker beacon alert sounded indicating that I was five miles out. I was at 2,500 feet MSL starting my descent to pattern altitude of 2,100 feet MSL. I was right on the centerline the whole way in. I had to crab on the way down due to a crosswind, but managed to keep the centerline. I passed the middle marker, then the inner marker as I prepared for touchdown. The landing was a little rough, but okay. I really want to spend time getting better at my landings.

After taxiing back to the ramp and doing a post-flight, my instructor and I went in to the office to do the post-flight briefing.

I have scheduled three lessons for next week: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. My instructor said that we would spend Monday and Tuesday working on my landings and doing overviews on the other maneuvers. He then said something about letting me solo of Thursday. "Thursday?!," I said. He said that I should be ready in about five or so hours. I'm not sure I'm ready to solo just yet. He replied that I would do a dual flight with him first, but he would just be a passenger and not help me in any way. He said he feels comfortable with me flying the plane since he spends most of the time during my lessons just riding along. I figured I was at least two to three weeks away from soloing. Of course, I do not have to solo until I am ready, so it all depends on my confidence level. We'll see...

Lesson 6

Lesson 6
Flight time logged:	1.8 hours
Total flight time logged:	8.4 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	13
Total cost to date:	$1330

It's been a week since I've last flown, so I was ready to get back into the air. Today the weather was nice -- some wind -- but overall good. I arrived at the flight school at 5:30pm and spent a few minutes with my instructor going over traffic pattern operations. I did the pre-flight using a new, more detailed, checklist given to me by the instructor. I like this checklist better because it "flows" around the airplane as you check items.

After the pre-flight, I called ground asked to taxi to Runway 25 for a South East departure. I taxied to the run-up area, performed the run-up, and taxied into position holding at Runway 25. After takeoff clearance from the tower, I took off then turned to my departure route.

I flew over to the area between Winder airport and Monroe airport. Another pilot mentioned that there were a few good roads for practicing S-turns, so I picked one to practice my S-turns. I then flew over to Monroe airport to practice landings.

On the way there, I got to do forward slips for the first time. This was an interesting feeling. You're basically putting the plane into a configuration that makes it fall in order to lose altitude quickly. I turned the ailerons completely to the right, applied full left rudder, and down we went. The relative wind hits the side of the fuselage as you do the slip making it even more interesting.

Over at Monroe I was fortunate to not have any traffic at the airport, so I was free to concentrate on touch-and-goes. I made six landings and takeoffs while at Monroe. After one landing, my instructor made me keep the nose wheel off the runway while taxiing the rest of the way down the runway. This maneuver was supposed to help me get the feel of holding the nose up in the flare. It's called popping-a-wheelie in a plane, and I'm sure it looked odd to anyone on the ground around us watching. I put the nose wheel down, taxied off the runway, did my post-landing checklist, then started to taxi back for a takeoff. I also performed a short field takeoff while at Monroe.

After six landings and take-offs, I headed back to KLZU. On the way back, my instructor showed me how to use the GPS while in flight. I entered in KLZU and pulled up the radio frequencies. I also could see my ground speed and the distance to KLZU. Once I was approximately 10 miles out, I listened to the ATIS for KLZU and then called the tower reporting my position and requesting a landing. The tower had me ident my position -- a first for me -- however, I've used this before on the simulator so I knew to press the IDENT button on the transponder. I was cleared to enter a two-mile base.

I entered base and called the tower with my position. As I came to the point to turn to final, I received my landing clearance. I made my landing okay, but not the best in the world. I taxied off the runway and back to the flight school.

In my post-flight briefing, my instructor told me that he had noticed improvement and that I was more confident. I'm starting to feel more comfortable flying as I get the concepts drilled into my head. I definitely need to practice landings. My takeoffs are looking good, but I need to really practice my timing on the flare when landing. During my next lesson, on Thursday, my instructor wanted to do a progress check to see how I'm doing. For this, I will have to do everything that I've learned thus far. Hopefully, I'll remember everything.

IMC today

Well, just as I expected, the weather this morning was overcast with a ceiling at 200 feet AGL. It was definitely instrument meteorological conditions. No flying would be happening today. I spent an hour at the school with my instructor going over performance charts, weather, and various other subjects. My next flight is scheduled for next Tuesday. Rain is forecast for the rest of this week.