I Achieved A Great Victory
What it’s like to fly an airplane by yourself the first time:
Flying an airplane is not an easy task. It takes a lot of training and practice to become proficient. In ground school you learn about meteorology, airspace, engines, electronics, aviation regulations, navigation, instruments, aerodynamics and much more. After you complete ground school you must take an FAA exam that tests your knowledge of all of the subject matter.
Then the flying, called practical training, begins. The first thing the student pilot learns is that when on the ground, you steer with your feet. When you first try it is difficult to steer the aircraft in a straight line. You can always tell a new student pilot if you are taxiing behind because they will zigzag left and right.
You practice turns, different types of landings, takeoffs, navigation, and many other skills. The stalls are scary. That’s where you pull the power and push the nose straight up into the sky. Then the airplane literally falls out of the sky, sometimes trying to flip over on its back. The instructor pilot is always yelling in your ear telling you to “watch your altitude, keep the nose up, AIRSPEED!” During the course of dual training with an instructor pilot you always have that experienced person next to you to ask a myriad of questions. The instructor becomes your security blanket. You know if you F things up really bad, he is always there to take the controls and save your life. Then comes SOLO day. The day when you will take to the air alone for the first time. You never know for sure when that day is going to be.
On my SOLO day, I was flying pretty badly. We were doing “touch and goes” where you takeoff, land, and take off again without stopping. On this particular day in 2000 I had made three terrible landings. One of them I bounced 3 times before settling to the runway. After the third crappy landing my instructor asked me to taxi over to the hanger. I taxied the Cessna 172 to the hanger and he jumped out and gave me these words, “Take her around 3 times by yourself. There’s no use in you killing us both!”
Just like that I found myself alone in the airplane for the first time. I called the tower:
“Downtown Tower, Cessna N677QL, Request taxi to Active Runway 14” the tower responded
“CessnaN677QL, You are clear to taxi to runway 14. Taxiway Alpha”
I repeated the instructions back to the tower and throttled up and headed to the runway. When I got near the hold short line (A yellow line at the runway that you cannot cross without permission) I pointed the nose into the wind and began my preflight run-up”
BEFORE TAKE OFF
1. Doors – CLOSED/LATCHED
2. Brakes – ON
3. Flight controls – FREE & CORRECT
4. Flight instruments – SET
5. Fuel valve – ON
6. Mixture – RICH
7. Trim – SET FOR TAKEOFF
8. Throttle – 1700 RPM
- Mags – 125 DROP / 50 DIFF
- Carb heat – CHK
- Engine instr. – CHK
- Ammeter – CHK
- Suction – CHK
- Idle - CHK
9. Throttle – BELOW 1000 RPM
10. Radios – SET
11. Transponder – ON ALT
12. Lights – ON
13. Throttle friction lock – ADJ
I looked one last time at the empty seat next to me. No one there to bail me out now. This time it’s on me!
I then called the tower and they said “Cessna N677QL, Clear for takeoff, Turn immediate heading of 240 for noise abatement”
With that I rolled onto the active runway and came to a stop. My nose was pointed straight at the tress at the far end of the runway. I pushed the independent brakes with each foot and added full power. A big smile crossed my face.
To put into context how big a moment this was, I will tell you this. My very first word wasn’t mommy or daddy. It was “air-pane.” It had been my lifelong dream to become a pilot. At 4 years old I began reading books about famous aviators such as Bleriot, Lindbergh, and Chuck Yeager. As a child on the school bus I would sit on the first aid box next to the driver and she would let me push the buttons to control the stop sign and lights on the side. I would in my mind pretend I was flying a B-17 bomber.
Here I was at the moment where my lifelong dream met reality. I released the brakes and the aircraft lurched forward gaining speed. I noticed that the aircraft was trying to veer hard to the left off the runway due to the P-factor and torque of the propeller. I corrected with right rudder and got her back on the center line of the runway. At 65 knots I pulled back on the yoke and left the Earth. I climbed up to 700 feet and made a left turn on the crosswind leg of my rectangular traffic pattern. I climbed to 1000 feet, traffic pattern altitude as I began my downwind leg of the flight. I felt liberated. My life had forever changed as I became one of the lucky ones who has achieved the dream of flight. I was now flying parallel to the runway I had just taken off from. My airspeed was 105 knots. Now the work began. I began my landing checks.
BEFORE LANDING
1. Seats, belts, harnesses - ADJ
2. Mixture – RICH (CHK DENSITY ALT)
3. Radio (s) – SET
4. Landing light – ON
5. Carb heat ON [any significant reduction of power]
I slowed the aircraft down to 85 knots and waited for the airspeed needle to get into the white. I added 10 degrees of flaps. The nose instantly began to pitch up hard with the added lift created by the flaps. I anticipated this and was already applying forward pressure on the stick. I then used the trim wheel to reduce the pressure of holding the stick. I turned ba<x>se leg and added a second 10 degrees of flaps. Again I re-trimmed the pressure of the stick and rolled wings level on final approach. I noticed a slight crosswind trying to blow me off course. I adjusted by pointing the nose a little right of the runway. This allowed my flight path to track straight down the runway. I looked at the VASI lights at the left of the runway and noticed 3 white and one red. Ok Slightly high. I reduced power slightly and in a second or two I got two red and two white. Perfect. (The pilot saying for the VASI is: Two Red- Two White. You’ve had a good flight)
I crossed the threshold of the runway at 40 or 50 feet of altitude and reduced my power to idle. The aircraft settled near the runway. I kicked a little rudder and my wheels kissed the ground. Dream Achieved.
Peace
Flying an airplane is not an easy task. It takes a lot of training and practice to become proficient. In ground school you learn about meteorology, airspace, engines, electronics, aviation regulations, navigation, instruments, aerodynamics and much more. After you complete ground school you must take an FAA exam that tests your knowledge of all of the subject matter.
Then the flying, called practical training, begins. The first thing the student pilot learns is that when on the ground, you steer with your feet. When you first try it is difficult to steer the aircraft in a straight line. You can always tell a new student pilot if you are taxiing behind because they will zigzag left and right.
You practice turns, different types of landings, takeoffs, navigation, and many other skills. The stalls are scary. That’s where you pull the power and push the nose straight up into the sky. Then the airplane literally falls out of the sky, sometimes trying to flip over on its back. The instructor pilot is always yelling in your ear telling you to “watch your altitude, keep the nose up, AIRSPEED!” During the course of dual training with an instructor pilot you always have that experienced person next to you to ask a myriad of questions. The instructor becomes your security blanket. You know if you F things up really bad, he is always there to take the controls and save your life. Then comes SOLO day. The day when you will take to the air alone for the first time. You never know for sure when that day is going to be.
On my SOLO day, I was flying pretty badly. We were doing “touch and goes” where you takeoff, land, and take off again without stopping. On this particular day in 2000 I had made three terrible landings. One of them I bounced 3 times before settling to the runway. After the third crappy landing my instructor asked me to taxi over to the hanger. I taxied the Cessna 172 to the hanger and he jumped out and gave me these words, “Take her around 3 times by yourself. There’s no use in you killing us both!”
Just like that I found myself alone in the airplane for the first time. I called the tower:
“Downtown Tower, Cessna N677QL, Request taxi to Active Runway 14” the tower responded
“CessnaN677QL, You are clear to taxi to runway 14. Taxiway Alpha”
I repeated the instructions back to the tower and throttled up and headed to the runway. When I got near the hold short line (A yellow line at the runway that you cannot cross without permission) I pointed the nose into the wind and began my preflight run-up”
BEFORE TAKE OFF
1. Doors – CLOSED/LATCHED
2. Brakes – ON
3. Flight controls – FREE & CORRECT
4. Flight instruments – SET
5. Fuel valve – ON
6. Mixture – RICH
7. Trim – SET FOR TAKEOFF
8. Throttle – 1700 RPM
- Mags – 125 DROP / 50 DIFF
- Carb heat – CHK
- Engine instr. – CHK
- Ammeter – CHK
- Suction – CHK
- Idle - CHK
9. Throttle – BELOW 1000 RPM
10. Radios – SET
11. Transponder – ON ALT
12. Lights – ON
13. Throttle friction lock – ADJ
I looked one last time at the empty seat next to me. No one there to bail me out now. This time it’s on me!
I then called the tower and they said “Cessna N677QL, Clear for takeoff, Turn immediate heading of 240 for noise abatement”
With that I rolled onto the active runway and came to a stop. My nose was pointed straight at the tress at the far end of the runway. I pushed the independent brakes with each foot and added full power. A big smile crossed my face.
To put into context how big a moment this was, I will tell you this. My very first word wasn’t mommy or daddy. It was “air-pane.” It had been my lifelong dream to become a pilot. At 4 years old I began reading books about famous aviators such as Bleriot, Lindbergh, and Chuck Yeager. As a child on the school bus I would sit on the first aid box next to the driver and she would let me push the buttons to control the stop sign and lights on the side. I would in my mind pretend I was flying a B-17 bomber.
Here I was at the moment where my lifelong dream met reality. I released the brakes and the aircraft lurched forward gaining speed. I noticed that the aircraft was trying to veer hard to the left off the runway due to the P-factor and torque of the propeller. I corrected with right rudder and got her back on the center line of the runway. At 65 knots I pulled back on the yoke and left the Earth. I climbed up to 700 feet and made a left turn on the crosswind leg of my rectangular traffic pattern. I climbed to 1000 feet, traffic pattern altitude as I began my downwind leg of the flight. I felt liberated. My life had forever changed as I became one of the lucky ones who has achieved the dream of flight. I was now flying parallel to the runway I had just taken off from. My airspeed was 105 knots. Now the work began. I began my landing checks.
BEFORE LANDING
1. Seats, belts, harnesses - ADJ
2. Mixture – RICH (CHK DENSITY ALT)
3. Radio (s) – SET
4. Landing light – ON
5. Carb heat ON [any significant reduction of power]
I slowed the aircraft down to 85 knots and waited for the airspeed needle to get into the white. I added 10 degrees of flaps. The nose instantly began to pitch up hard with the added lift created by the flaps. I anticipated this and was already applying forward pressure on the stick. I then used the trim wheel to reduce the pressure of holding the stick. I turned ba<x>se leg and added a second 10 degrees of flaps. Again I re-trimmed the pressure of the stick and rolled wings level on final approach. I noticed a slight crosswind trying to blow me off course. I adjusted by pointing the nose a little right of the runway. This allowed my flight path to track straight down the runway. I looked at the VASI lights at the left of the runway and noticed 3 white and one red. Ok Slightly high. I reduced power slightly and in a second or two I got two red and two white. Perfect. (The pilot saying for the VASI is: Two Red- Two White. You’ve had a good flight)
I crossed the threshold of the runway at 40 or 50 feet of altitude and reduced my power to idle. The aircraft settled near the runway. I kicked a little rudder and my wheels kissed the ground. Dream Achieved.
Peace
51-55, M
