Back to flying! I am glad to be at it once again.....a week off feels like an eternity sometimes. I'd fly everyday if I could. For this lesson I was introduced to some hood work (Instrument work). For your private certificate you need a minimum of 3 hours instrument time. I included some video of things that have already been shown in previous podcasts, but it was such a beautiful day that I had to include some footage. All my videos are shot in HD and I wish I was able to show you just how awesome the view is....in a better resolution. It was great to see the waves crashing along the coastline and the manatees in the water. I even saw a set of four tires in the water...I hope there was not a car attached to them...in the past! Maybe somewhere down the road, I will publish a page of all the podcasts in HD, but the file sizes can get out of control, so for now the current format will have to work. :-( I will be flying this Friday with another instructor for the pre-phase solo so wish me luck.

-Greg

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Good lesson today. I felt much more relaxed....I hope I can maintain it for the remaining of my training. We introduced more emergencies - electrical and engine fires. We worked more on in flight engine outs and those went better for me this time around. Casey pulled the power on a downwind approach to rwy 14 so I had to turn an early base and final and forward slip to the landing since I had too much altitude. I really enjoyed the slips today. We had a nice 11/16 gust knot wind from 220° which made for descent sideslip practice for crosswind landings. Overall, landings were better although I still need to let the nosewheel come down slower in landing to trim off airspeed after touchdown and to lighten the force of the nosewheel falling. I also was able to do my first no flap landing and it was at that time that Casey decided to introduce passenger distractions. Check out the video for details. :-)

-Greg

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Emergency practice day and towered airport operations.

Today was the introduction to dealing with emergency situations due to engine failure on takeoff, cruise, and landing. Casey pulled the power back to simulate a failure. It always amazes me how you can have a cool head on the ground and think that you will have no problem picking a field, only to freeze at 1800 feet like a deer in the headlights. Practice makes perfect is what I tell myself. I will say that when the lesson was over I was more relaxed than I have ever been...which makes me feel like I am making progress. A good motivator for me is looking forward to the day when things become more second nature.

We flew over to Melbourne International (KMLB) and practiced some landings and I was able to get some experience with ATC. Things got fairly hectic...very fast. Upon approach I was getting ready to announce my position and intent when a foreign helicopter student pilot chimed in and announced his position and intent for touch and go's. Apparently ATC believed him to be on the wrong frequency and instructed him to changed over to Space Coast tower in Titusville. He came back that he was indeed wanting to land at Melbourne, but there was a bit of hesitation in getting his request across and the language barrier did not help matters. When you watch the video you will understand when I say he did not make any new friends with ATC that day. You will hear a second pilot of similar country origin who it seems that they mistake for the first person, and he is promptly given the same treatment. It is extremely busy for ATC and I definitely can understand the importance of pilots being accurate and to the point....for safety purposes. A good lesson learned today.

-Greg

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For this lesson we worked on more landings and I was introduced to ground reference maneuvers, in particular, the rectangular course and s-turns. Once again, I was getting lost from above and had trouble identifying the rectangular course that Casey was pointing out, which made things difficult. S-Turns went well, though. On left downwind to runway 14 from the practice area, I made an early turn to base for some unknown reason which put me about 300 feet higher on base than I should have been and very close to final, so when I made my turn to final I was still high so Casey had me do a forward slip, which proved to be rather horrible..... Needless to say I had to abort that landing and do a go around. On the landing that followed I hit pretty hard and the camera move down toward the baggage area so that ruined the rest of the video. Things happen that way sometimes.

-Greg

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Happy Holidays! We worked some more with the power off stalls and also introduced steep turns, forward slips, and side slips. The slips were challenging for me...to say the least. Thanks again for Casey's patience. I am extremely fortunate to have picked a good instructor the first time. I can only wish the same experience for all of you.

-Greg

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Ok...this one was interesting. We worked on arrival and departure stalls as well as touch and goes. The weather was perfect which helped out with the landings. Those were by far my favorite. Stalls...not so much, but with a little practice they will get better. I left out the improved stall recovery video, but I did get better as we kept doing them. Flying in the evening was great. We got to witness a nice sunset, so that added some fun to the flight.

-Greg

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I was able to get some video today. I forgot the wide angle lens so things are cramped and a lot of the video was dark so I had to do the best I could during post to brighten things up which in turn caused some overexposure. We are still experimenting here. I am trying to focus on absorbing as much as I can and at the same time document the experience, so you can appreciate the challenges that I face trying to capture the moment. I am having so much fun flying. There really are no words to describe it. It is great to break up the routine and I have been very routine for a long time. Don't get me wrong; I love my wife and son with everything that I have, so I cannot include them when I say "routine". A 3 year old is hardly "routine". This feeds a different part of me. Everyone needs an outlet and I highly suggest flying. :-)

-Greg

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No video yet, but I was able to record some audio from the flight. I had to edit a lot of it and some of the audio may sound rushed. I cut out the dead space where we did not talk so I could provide a decent sample with minimal dead air. Here is a brief summary of what we covered:

Well.....I took my first discovery flight at Valkaria airport (X59) with CFI Casey Allen from Indian River Flying Club. I wish I had accomplished at 20 years old what he has. I was not able to get video during flight as I had to feel things out with Casey. I hope that in the future I can get video to make things a little more interesting for people watching (If any). If I was not hooked before (Yea right) then I am now. That is all I have thought of all week. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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-Greg

I am getting ready to head out for my discovery flight at Valkaria airport with CFI Casey Allen. You can listen to the introductory podcast to find out more about me and and this journal.

-Greg