Private Pilot Knowledge Exam

I took my Private Pilot knowledge exam today. I studied for two days this week in preparation for this test. I knew that I had enough knowledge to pass it and to at least make an A on the test; however, I wanted to make a 100% on the test. One of my pilot friends made 100% on his test, so I was determined to do the same.

The test is 60 questions. You have 2.5 hours to take the exam. I scheduled my test for 12:30 PM today. I arrived at 12:00 PM after eating a quick lunch. My proctor checked my items that I brought to verify that I could use them for the test. All I had with me was an electronic E6B flight computer, a mechanical E6B, and a plotter. I was issued the FAA figures book, some paper, and some pencils. I sat down at the test computer and started the test at 12:30 PM sharp. Within 15 to 20 minutes, I had completed all 60 questions. I spent the next 15 minutes reviewing the questions. I was confident that I answered them correctly, so I submitted my test, took a quick survey as the system graded my test, and then received my score. I answered 60 out of 60 questions correctly for a score of 100%! I was happy I met my goal.

It was now a little after 1:00 PM. I tapped on the window to let the proctor know I was finished. He thought that I was asking for a restroom break and did not know I was finished. He was surprised to find that I had finished within the first 30 minutes of the test time. When the proctor saw my score, I got a congratulations and a compliment for being the first person at the flight school within the past year to make 100%. I was just happy to be past another milestone in my journey to being a private pilot.

Lesson 25 - Night cross country

Lesson 25
Flight time logged:	1.9 hours
Total flight time logged:	44.1 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	142
Solo time:	0.0 hours
Total time solo:	9.4 hours
Total cost to date:	$7000

Yet another month has passed. It has been difficult trying to get a night flight scheduled with my instructor, but finally I was able to fly tonight. I flew a cross country to Washington-Wilkes (IIY). My instructor usually takes his students to Cedartown for a night cross country, but thought that I would benefit from going to Washington-Wilkes instead since it is a "black hole" airport. A "black hole" airport is one where there are no lights around the airport, just the lights on the airport itself. It is harder to determine how high off the ground you are just by looking outside. You really have to use the instruments.

This flight was exciting. You can see lights everyone on the ground until you fly past Athens. At that point, the area is pretty rural, so the lights are scarce. What made the flight even better was the unexpected meteor shower. After passing Athens, the night sky was really clear and you could see a billion stars. I was looking for traffic when I noticed a bright glowing object flying across the sky faster than any plane I know. A couple of minutes later, I saw another one. The objects were meteors. They were amazing!

I did a couple of landings at IIY then headed back to LZU. The flight was uneventful on the way back.

After landing and parking at LZU, my instructor and I talked about the next steps in my training. Actually, my training was almost complete. The next step would be to take my written exam. After he test, all that would remain is preparation for my check ride - the practical test.

Lesson 24 - First night flight

Lesson 24
Flight time logged:	1.4 hours
Total flight time logged:	42.5 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	139
Solo time:	0.0 hours
Total time solo:	9.4 hours
Total cost to date:	$6740

It has been over a month since I've flown. I've been busy with work, not to mention waiting on the weather to be nice enough to fly at night. I'm working on my night flying hours now. Tonight's flight was a short flight over to PDK (Peachtree-DeKalb).

Flying at night is great! The air is so smooth and the scenery is spectacular. I could see the Atlanta skyline as it lit up the horizon. I was really excited flying over to PDK - the second busiest airport in Georgia.

While at PDK I performed a few touch and goes and full stop landings. I have to have 10 landings at night as required by regulations. For tonight, I would do 8 landings and save the remaining two for my night cross country flight. I did four landings at PDK then headed back to LZU to do four more.

At LZU, my instructor made me land without outside lights (no landing or taxi light). That was an interesting experience. I had to use the runway lights as a reference for how close I was to the runway. On my next time around, my instructor pulled the power for a simulated emergency landing. I glided all the way from downwind around the base leg, to final, and then landed. On my third time around, my instructor turned off all of the interior lights and had me fly without lights inside and out. I had to use my flashlight to view the instruments. My fourth landing I was able to do a normal night landing.

My next night flight will be a cross country to Washington-Wilkes (IIY). I can't wait to go!

Solo 6 - Long solo cross country

Solo 6
Flight time logged:	3.1 hours
Total flight time logged:	41.1 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	131
Solo time:	3.1 hours
Total time solo:	9.4 hours
Total cost to date:	$6480

What a trip! I followed up my last short solo cross country flight with a long cross country flight. For the long cross country, you are required to fly a minimum of three legs with one leg at least 50 NM long and the total length at least 150 NM. You also must land at three of the points. I flew from LZU to 9A1 (Covington) to HQU (Thomson-McDuffie) to IIY (Washington-Wilkes) then back to LZU.

After some delays and an extensive pre-flight, I took off from LZU towards 9A1. The winds were gusting a little by the time of my takeoff, so I had to use my crosswind takeoff skills. Once I got on course it was not long before I could see the Covington airport. Since this leg of my flight was short, I decided not to get flight following until the next leg. I did open my flight plan once I was outside of the LZU class delta airspace.

As I approached Covington, I radioed my position and my landing intentions. Covington does not have weather reporting, so I had to rely on the latest ATIS from LZU and looking at the windsock on the field at Covington. As I entered the downwind for Runway 28, I noticed another plane at the hold line for Runway 10. I asked the pilot for wind information since he was on the ground and had a better view of the windsock. He stated that the wind was a direct crosswind at a few knots and that either runway could be used. He suggested that landing on Runway 10 was easier. Given that construction crews were working on the threshold of Runway 28 (making the runway 500 feet shorter than normal), I quickly decided to leave the pattern and re-enter the downwind for Runway 10. I announced my intentions and re-entered the downwind for Runway 10. As I came down on final approach, I felt that I was too high and decided to go around. On my second circuit around the pattern, I lengthened the approach to give myself more time to descend. This time I came in too fast and floated along in ground effect. I felt that I would not have enough runway length to stop due to the construction, so I did another go around. Finally, on my third landing attempt, I came in just right and landing without a problem. After a quick taxi back to Runway 10, I took off towards HQU.

The leg to HQU was the longest leg. As I leveled off at 3,500 feet, I called for flight following. Finding my checkpoints on the way was really easy. There were several good landmarks to choose, not to mention I was flying parallel to Interstate 20. About half-way to HQU, I started to smell smoke. I knew it was not from the airplane, but from wood burning outside. I looked over to my right and saw a forest fire. The smoke was somewhat reducing visibility. I began thinking that I would have to descend to maintain visibility with the ground. Before long, though, the smoke cleared. Not too long after, I had HQU in site and flight following was terminated.

I entered the pattern at HQU and made a perfect landing. After taxiing off the runway, I remembered that I needed to close my flight plan and open the flight plan for the return flight. I should have done this before entering the pattern. I tried to call the flight service station from the ground but had no luck. I immediately prepared the cockpit with my chart, nav log, and necessary items for the return legs. I wanted to get back up in the air quickly in order to close my flight plan on time. I took off from HQU and headed for IIY.

As I was climbing, I tried to contact the FSS again. I could not get anyone to respond, so I tried a different FSS frequency. It happened to be the Anderson FSS and not the Macon FSS, but I did get a response. They assisted me by relaying my request to the Macon FSS to close my flight plan to HQU and open my flight plan back to LZU. By this time, I could see the Washington-Wilkes (IIY) airport. I started my descent to get in the pattern. Again I had a good landing. I taxied back to take off again, this time towards home - LZU.

On the leg home, I used flight following again. I flew at 4,500 feet back to LZU. It was pretty uneventful. As soon as I parked the plane, I closed my flight plan. I was excited that I completed my first long flight by myself. It was a real confidence booster.

Solo 5 - Short Cross Country

Solo 5
Flight time logged:	1.9 hours
Total flight time logged:	38.0 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	127
Solo time:	1.9 hours
Total time solo:	6.3 hours
Total cost to date:	$6040

I did it! My first solo cross country was a success. I flew to Milledgeville. The round trip distance was 120 nautical miles. I was ready for this flight. After rescheduling a couple of times due to weather, today was the day. The clouds were forecast as scattered at 5,500 feet AGL. This should have allowed me to fly at the 5,500 feet MSL cruising altitude that I had planned; however, once I was airborne, the clouds layer was actually lower. I ended up flying at 3,500 all the way to Milledgeville.

The visibility was also not that great. It was ranging from 5 to 7 miles along my route due to haze. I could still see my checkpoints for the most part however. On the way to Milledgeville, I kept flying to the east of my course, correcting back to the course, the flying a little to the east again. There really was no wind, so I was trying to figure out why my calculated course was not working exactly. Once I reached Milledgeville and setup for a landing, I noticed that the direction gyro (heading indicator) had signigicant precession and was not synched with the magnetic compass. It was off by a few degrees. That explained why I kept heading a little to the east and having to keep correcting in order to hit my visual checkpoints. Something to remember in the future: always check the heading indicator against the magnetic compass every 15 minutes or so just in case the heading indicator precesses so you can reset it.

On the way to Milledgeville I also called for flight following. I had VFR flight following for about 10 minutes before the controller stated they were just too busy. So, I was on my own for the remaining 15 to 20 minutes of my flight.

On approaching Milledgeville, I tuned into the CTAF and checked for traffic. Two Airtractor airplanes (used for crop dusting) were using the opposite end of the active runway for landing. I knew I had to be extra vigilant to avoid a runway incursion. I decided to cross over the field to look at the area before descending to the traffic pattern. No one was there, so I entered the pattern and landed with no problem.

After taxiing back to the hold line and preparing my nav log for the return trip, the Airtractors called in stating they were landing. They were just flying straight in on final and not flying the traffic pattern. I watched as they slowly made their way down, landing long on the runway so they could taxi down to the end of the runway where the supply trucks were parked. After the runway was clear, I announced my intentions to take off and taxied out to the runway. Up, up, and away! I headed back home.

The trip back went much smoother since I had corrected the heading indicator. I did not have to adjust my heading very much at all. I was unable to fly at 4,500 feet, however, due to the cloud layer being at that level. At about halfway back, I received flight following all the way back to the airport. My instructor wanted me to get in at least 2 hours for this flight. Glancing at the Hobbs meter, it looked like I had it. As I approached the Class D airspace I contacted the tower and requested to land. I was cleared to land on Runway 7 and happened to be the last to land before they changed the active runway to 25.

After parking and going through my post-flight checklist, I found that I only had 1.9 hours. I was off by 0.1 hours! This means that I will have to fly for at least 3.1 hours on my long cross country. The long solo cross country is my next scheduled flight. I'm primed for it now that I've earned the confidence to fly alone for long distances. My next flight should be around 300 nautical miles or so. I just have to plan it such that I get at least 3.1 hours of flight time.

Lesson 23 - Presidential TFR

Lesson 23
Flight time logged:	0.8 hours
Total flight time logged:	36.1 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	125
Solo time:	0.0 hours
Total time solo:	4.4 hours
Total cost to date:	$5880

Today I had planned to fly with my instructor and practice stalls and other maneuvers to keep my skills in check. When I arrived at the flight school, I learned that a TFR (Temporarily Flight Restriction) had been issued due to the President's visit to Atlanta. Our airport was within the outer ring of the TFR but outside of the no-fly zone. The sky was clear above the airport this morning, and I was ready to fly. I was afraid that I would not get to fly today due to the TFR. Once my instructor arrived, however, he showed me what was needed in order to fly out of the TFR area.

Even though we were flying over to the practice area, we needed to file two flight plans -- one for exiting the TFR and another for re-entering. Before takeoff, we were issued a squawk code so the ATC could identify us flying out of the TFR. We successfully exited the TFR with no problems. However, weather turned out to be our next obstacle.

As we were heading towards Winder, the clouds started to build with bases around 2,500 feet MSL. I was flying at 2,500 feet. My instructor instructed me to climb over top of the clouds. They were broken so I could still see the land below. As I leveled out above the clouds, I was amazed at the scenery. The clouds below with a vivid blue sky above were amazing.

I did a couple of stalls, but the clouds were building around us. At one point my instructor had to take the controls to get us to a better spot. We descended through a cloud on the way back down to 2,500 feet. This was my first sensation of flying through a cloud. I now understand the "invalid" messages that your brain can send. My body felt like it was turning a different direction. I trusted the instruments though.

As we cleared the clouds I took over the controls. We were at 2,500 feet. The clouds were just above us. We were too low to practice stalls, and the visibility was getting lower by the minute. We decided to call it a day and head back. We called the FSS to open our return flight plan. They gave us a little trouble because of the TFR, but after acquiring a squawk code from Atlanta Approach, we were able to file and get back into the TFR. After that, it was a normal landing as usual.

Back on the ground my instructor told me to prepare for my solo short cross country. That would be my next flight and my first test of being pilot in command for a round trip of 120 nautical miles. It should be interesting.

Lesson 22 - Cross-country to Cedartown

Lesson 22
Flight time logged:	1.8 hours
Total flight time logged:	35.3 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	123
Solo time:	0.0 hours
Total time solo:	4.4 hours
Total cost to date:	$5720

Finally, the weather this morning was clear enough to do another cross-country. I pulled out my nav log to update it with the current winds aloft and to recalculate my times and ground speeds. When I filed my flight plan, I received a standard briefing on the weather and any NOTAMs. The skies were mostly clear with no signs of thunderstorms.

We departed LZU at 11:35 AM and headed west towards Cedartown. The skies were clear over the airport, but as soon as I reached my cruising altitude of 4,500 feet, I could see cumulus clouds building in the distance. Both my instructor and I predicted that we would see rain showers and possible thunderstorms later in the afternoon. This would not impede our flight because we would be back long before the clouds grew into storm clouds.

On the way out the Cedartown, I did have to change my altitude from 4,500 feet to 4,000 feet to avoid the clouds. Every time I flew under the building layers of cumulus clouds I was flying into convective turbulence. You can count on bouncing around anytime you fly under a cloud in a light aircraft. I had asked for and received flight following from Atlanta Approach, so I was on radar the entire flight and provided their services.

Upon reaching Cedartown, the first thing you notice is that the area is mostly wooded. Trees are everywhere. This also includes the airport itself. The single runway is surrounded by trees. It looks like a strip was cut out of the forest. Even so, the trees were far enough from the threshold that they were not a factor in landing. After landing, I closed my flight plan and setup my kneeboard with the information I needed for the return flight. My instructor needed to be back on the ground at 1 PM, so we needed to head back. This runway does not have taxiways, so this would be my first time ever having to back-taxi on a runway. Basically, this is just entering the runway and taxing up the runway to the threshold.

I took off, exited out of the pattern to the east, and intercepted my course for the flight back. I had planned to fly at 5,500 feet on the way back, but too many clouds had formed and would not allow it. I chose to climb to 3,500 feet. On the climb out, I contacted Atlanta Approach for flight following again. Not too long after contacting them, they asked me to climb to 4,000 feet due to some flight operations over at Dobbins Air Force Base. I climbed to 4,000 feet and established cruising speed.

The flight back was a little shorter due to having a tailwind. We were moving along with a ground speed of 122 knots. I also noticed that the visibility was getting lower. We had over 10 miles of visibility when we departed from LZU on our way out to 4A4. Going back, it looked like the visibility had dropped to about 6 miles. Listening to the nearest ATIS facility revealed that this was the case.

I manage to stay right on my course and before long I had LZU in sight. I called Atlanta Approach and indicated that I had LZU in sight. They gave me the tower frequency to tune in and terminated radar services. I obtained the ATIS and then called the tower with my position. I was asked to report right downwind for 25. I entered the right downwind for 25 and reported in. I was then cleared for landing.

At about the time I was abeam the numbers, my instructor pulled the power and indicated that the engine had failed. It's been a while since I practiced emergency procedures, and I must admit that I was surprised by this. I quickly ran through my ABCs -- airspeed for best glide, best landing area (the airport of course), and emergency checklist. I flew the plane as a glider all of the way down to the runway.

My next flight will either be more practice or my solo short cross-country. I'll be flying back to Milledgeville again, but this time alone. Let's hope the weather cooperates.

Solo 4

Solo 4
Flight time logged:	1.3 hours
Total flight time logged:	33.5 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	121
Solo time:	1.3 hours
Total time solo:	4.4 hours
Total cost to date:	$5380

Due to bad weather with low visibility I've had my next cross-country plans cancelled three times now. My last flight was over two weeks ago. I was really hoping the weather would clear up soon. I thought today would be the day. I figured by three o'clock the skies would clear and be great for flying over to Cedartown. Instead, the clouds did not budge. Instead of calling it a day, I hung around discussing my future lessons with my instructor to get an idea of what was remaining. He figures that I'll be ready to take my practical test at around 45 hours. My prediction is that it will be in the low 50s. I have about 10 lessons to go. These include 5 hours of night flying, solo short cross-country, solo long cross-country, and practice time.

After hanging around for a couple of hours, the skies cleared. I was amazed. Yet, it was too late to fly to Cedartown and back before sunset. Instead, my instructor wanted me to get more solo time, so today I took off by myself again to practice over at Winder. This would be my second time flying solo over to Winder. I was more comfortable this time around. The visibility was much better, and I was able to see the airport at the half-way point between LZU and WDR. It was late afternoon, but I had just enough time to fly for a little over an hour and still get back on the ground before sunset.

Lesson 21 - More practice

Lesson 21
Flight time logged:	1.6 hours
Total flight time logged:	32.2 hours
Total takeoffs/landings:	115
Solo time:	0.0 hours
Total time solo:	3.1 hours
Total cost to date:	$5200

Today was mostly just a refresher flight to practice stalls, steep turns, and ground reference maneuvers. I also practiced getting my location via VOR position fixes. There's not much to write about today since this was mostly just a practice day.

I am preparing for another dual short cross-country flight to get more practice in flying cross-country. This time I plan to go to Polk County (4A4) in Cedartown. It is almost due west of LZU. I've never flown west of the airport, so it should be exciting. There will be a lot more to see since I'll be flying over a more populated area and points that I'm familiar with on the ground. I'll also be flying under the Atlanta Class Bravo airspace. I will be flying by PDK, Dobbins Air Force Base, Lake Allatoona, and all with the Atlanta skyline off in the distance. Normally, my instructor takes his students on this flight for their night cross-country. I will get to do this flight during the day. He wants me to fly to another airport for my night cross-country that is more challenging since I'm more advanced than his other students. This particular airport is in a "black hole" -- what pilots refer to when they talk about airports in areas with no lights. At night, it is hard to tell where the horizon is located. You really have to use your instruments.

Until next time...

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.