winds way too high for an end of year flight today

unfortunately, the winds are way too high for an end of year flight today:

KJYO 311340Z AUTO 29021G29KT 10SM SCT065 SCT080 08/M07 A2958 RMK AO2

as a backup, a couple of us might head 0ut to to gravelly point by DCA to watch a few:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asek2Oy1xb8

you can't get much closer than that.

night current again and needed the practice

A couple of us updated our night currency last night at KJYO (at least 3 landings at least one hour after dark every 90 days). One thing that I've been surprised at is what appears to be how few people do that. We do it mostly for the experience and it forces a little more practice (which I always need). I definitely needed it last night.

modern software systems, people and chance

The following article is a fascinating study about the interaction of modern aviation technology and people. It is about a collision of two state of the art, modern commercial aircraft at 37,000 feet over the Amazon in 2006.

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/air_crash200901?currentPage=1

I've been in software systems development for almost 30 years and can easily see how some of the contributing factors are possible. Some of the factors from the article include:

• too much information and too many display choices lead to confusion and uncertainty about what you're looking at and what it means
• modern altimeters coupled with an autopilot allow/cause two aircraft to fly at exactly the same altitude increasing the chances for a collision
• much more to look at and play with inside the cockpit reduces the desire to look outside
• TCAS being off at a high (or any?) altitude should result in an audible alert (particularly if the transponder is off/standby) and not just a text notice on a display device
  
• potential language barriers or difficulties should cause more communication and not less

This is a very informative read for anyone associated with aviation and should cause pilots to review checklists and their personal procedures and habits. It also causes me to see more value in the portable Zaon PCAS MRX that a friend I fly with recently purchased. One thing to note with what I just said. It only works for aircraft with a working and "on" transponder which is exatly what was not happening with the private jet in the article.

some videos of the neat details of flying

you can see a few videos of some of the details (all cool) of flying here:
http://aluwings.blogspot.com/2008/12/virgin-nineteen-egll-to-ksfo.html
it's an actual virgin airways flight from LHR to SFO with detailed commentary by the pilot.
it's just a bit more involved than my typical Cessna 172 flight.

ILS details

As usual, AviationMentor has posted some excellent info on ILS. The following videos cover some risks of partially operating ILS equipment and instrument misreadings as a result.

http://aviationmentor.blogspot.com/2008/12/levels-of-paranoia.html

weather weather weather

KJYO 191920Z AUTO 14005KT 1 3/4SM BR OVC002 06/06 A2973 RMK AO2

The above says that Leesburg (KJYO) is experiencing mist and a 200 foot overcast right now. It seems like the last couple of months has caused a noticeable decrease in my instrument training due to weather. Right now the weekend doesn't look good either.
I am getting a few hours a week practicing ILS, localizer and VOR approaches using MS FSX though. Hopefully, that will help some.

some more IFR training and a C-5

We did another IFR lesson a couple of (very cold) nights ago, shot some ILS and localizer at KMRB and KJYO. just after landing at KMRB we saw a C-5 come in in the smoothest landing I think I've ever seen a large (enormous really) aircraft do. I, however, appear to still be working on my AGLENAT rating (A Good Landing Every Now And Then).

upcoming FAA Safety Events: KJYO and KHEF

here are a couple of upcoming FAA Safety events in my area (KJYO Leesburg and KHEF Manassas). The second one (Tenerife) is a must see. You can find them at faasafety.gov.


12/6/2008
9:00 AM
EA2722152

That Looks About Right: Practical Performance Planning for GA Pilots
Flight Planning and Aircraft Performance Planning
Ironically, the heavier the aircraft the more critical the balance of
weight for takeoff and landing...
Knowledge CreditElective CreditBasic Credit 1.00 WINGS

Leesburg, VA


and

12/20/2008
11:00 AM
EA2722142

The Sole-Surviving Crewmember Speaks!
Runway Incursion - Account of the Tenerife, Los...
First Officer reports seeing both rotating beacons of KLM B-747
aircraft appear overhead the cockpit window...

Manassas, VA

since the weather is bad. how about some F-86!

the weather is bad here so if you remember the F-86 you might like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQL9Kxxd88s

(i found that at: http://www.fearoflanding.com/flying-around-the-web/military-history/ )

new aviationweather.gov flight planning tool

take a look at the new aviationweather.gov flight planning tool at:
http://adds.aviationweather.gov/fpt_application/

i was able to show winds/icing/... add overlays for TAFs, show VORs and so on. this compresses numerous pieces of information into your planned route.

back in the saddle (soon)

i got back from a week long vacation in germany a few days ago (excellent as always) and will be back in the air to build some XC hours this weekend. after that it's back into some instrument training in the plane.
while waiting for a connection at LHR i saw a TV with an ad for this site:
http://pilotseye.tv
it was pretty neat watching actual aircrew flying from the pilot's perspectives. it reminded me of when (as a kid flying in USAF MAC and other aircraft) i could go up into the cockpit. i do miss those days.

first instrument night lesson

my first instrument lesson in the plane was tonight. the weather was calm and perfect for flying around the practice area. did steep turns, unusual attitudes, localizer approach back to KJYO and all under the hood. it was a neat experience. i'm looking forward to more.

KJYO - KLNS - KJYO

a couple of us flew from KJYO (leesburg, Va) to KLNS (lancaster, Pa). it is in the 90-mile range one way so it qualified as cross country and is a scenic flight. i was the pilot not flying outbound and it was a very busy radio traffic day. ATC (potomac) was so busy that they refused our flight following request so we tried harrisburg with more success. the outbound route was KJYO-LUCKE-FDK-EMI-VINNY-KLNS. we flew using VORs so that we would have to identify intersection and the route. KLNS has an excellent pilot shop and it's very difficult to not buy all sorts of stuff but i'm budgeting a bit more carefully so i walked away with some plastic protector sheets for my approach plates ($5.00). i flew the return back to KJYO (KLNS-KFDK-JASEN-KJYO) and it was uneventful with a decent landing. it was a bit more choppy at 4,500 but tolerable.

(another) dumb mistake last weekend on a short flight

last sunday a couple of us were going to fly down to south boston airport, virginia (w78). visibility was poor immediately out of leesburg (kjyo) so we elected to divert to martinsburg (kmrb). i was the pilot not flying so i had to pull out the AFD and sectional to get freqs,course and so on (because i hadn't planned on a potential divert so early in the flight). i also set the new desination into the GPS (here's where the mistake was). in my hurry, i put in a destination of MRB (note the missing K). we continued on our way getting setup for the approach. after a little while we were looking for the airport which should have been right off the nose and wasn't.... eventually, we realized the airport was off to our left. this was because MRB is the VOR and KMRB is the airport so we were on a direct course to the VOR, duh. there was an airshow at KMRB and the airspace was closing about 30 minutes after we landed to we had to head right back out again and go home or else stay for another 5 hours.
i learned 2 lessons from the above:

• be prepared in advance to divert at any time during your flight (from takeoff to landing)
• don't forget the K when putting an airport into the GPS, i had never realized how easy that would be to do
  

2 more instrument rating sim lessons and then the real thing...

i've got 2 more instrument simulator lessons (frasca 142) and then it's time for the real world of instrument flying training in the plane. it's too bad that i don't have the rating right now. the TAF (terminal area weather forecast) is:

KIAD 261138Z 261212 02010KT 6SM BR OVC008
TEMPO 1216 2SM -RA BR OVC008
FM0000 03005KT 1SM -DZ BR OVC003

the above says that, from 0000z, visibility is 1 mile, light drizzle, overcast at 300 feet.

more sim lessons...

i've got maybe 2 or 3 more simulator lessons in my instrument rating training (in the Frasca 142 sim). i'm actually improving a bit here and there (i'm not all over the sky as much). i'm looking forward to flying for real before long. it's going to mean a lot of hood time so we'll see how that goes. i haven't had the hood on since my check ride early this year.

the b-17

a b-17 visited KJYO (leesburg airport) today. i didn't go for a ride but i did take (a lot) of pictures. you can find a few at:
http://flickr.com/photos/dougtoppin/sets/72157607031708979
it can only be described as iconic.

a reason to get your instrument rating

this aopa course (vfr into imc) is an excellent example of why to get your instrument rating:
http://flash.aopa.org/asf/acs_vfrimc/

(note that it's a bit slow loading, don't give up while waiting for it)

a little pattern work and back taxi practice

i felt like doing a little KJYO (leesburg airport) and the weather was perfect today so i left work early and did some pattern work. work is being done on the taxiways so the NOTAMs say this:

08/010 - TWY CLSD ACFT BACK TAXI ALLOWED TO CENTER
MID FIELD RWY 17/35. 18 AUG 10:00 2008 UNTIL UFN. CREATED: 16 AUG 18:41 2008

08/009 - TWY SOUTH CLSD FM CENTER RWY 17/35 TO RWY 35 RUN UP
PAD. 18 AUG 10:00 2008 UNTIL UFN. CREATED: 16 AUG 18:26 2008

what this boils down to is that to take off you have to taxi on the runway to the end and then turn around and take off (which is called back taxi). you have to careful about this to ensure that you do not taxi back while someone is about to takeoff/land.

winds were calm so i was using runway 17. the 17 runup area is available now so you can back taxi and then move off the runway. the first couple of pattern loops went ok and i was planning on 2 more. however, while on the downwind of the 3rd loop someone was doing a back taxi and someone was waiting for them so they could back taxi as well. the first one made it off but the second was just starting his taxiback when i was ready to turn downwind to base. he asked me to extend my downwind (which meant the guy coming in on the 45 for the 17 downwind also had to extend). i probably set a record for a downwind extension before turning base. when i turned to final a helicopter (not the usual medevac but i think a military aircraft) was transiting the area and was maybe 1,000 feet in front of me passing right to left at the same altitude. we were talking (and seeing) each so it wasn't a problem but it looked pretty close to me. my landing left something to be desired but i walked away and they can use the airplane again. after hearing 2 more planes coming in i figured that i was done the day so i parked it. the 3rd landing would have been better but i think the situation was on my mind so i floated a bit more.
i'm glad that i did the pattern work today because it exposed me to a few things that i hadn't had to deal with before. the only back taxi i've done before were on pretty much desolate/empty airports so having to do it in a busier situation was a useful experience (i don't think i made anyone else cry while doing it). it was also useful to read and experience the NOTAMs for the closed taxiways. it seems to cement better in my mind when i experience something rather than just reading about it.
one thing that i'd like to do is setup a multiplayer KJYO FSX online game and try the same situation at some point.

instrument rating sim lessons

my first instrument rating simulator lesson (frasca) was a couple of days ago. it's pretty sensitive so i was "all over the sky" but i'm hoping to get the hang of it soon. i've got 9 more or so and then we hit (so to speak) the real sky. i'm looking forward to all of it.

faa instrument rating written test - pass!

i took the faa instrument rating written test today and passed it. i put a lot of study time in for it and i'm very glad it is over. i could have done better on it but i could also have done worse. now it's time to start instrument flight training.

been studying for faa instrument written test

i haven't posted in a while because i'm spending a lot of time studying for my instrument written test. some of it i have down pretty well and then other parts not so much. i did 5 weeks of instrument ground school for 2 nights a week at 4 hours each night in prep for it. i've been spending a lot of time reviewing material and doing various practice exercises. i have not started the flying (sim training initially) yet. hopefully, i'll be ready for the faa written soon.

lucky enough to go on a washing center (ZDC) tour

i was lucky enough to go on a washing center (ZDC) tour last night. i was able to sit with a controller (more than 20 years experience) and watch/listen for about 30-minutes. it was a fascinating close up view of air traffic control. the amount of experience and coordination going on between controllers and pilots is very impressive. one thing that i did hear more than once though is the significant number of controllers coming up for retirement and the amount of hiring going on. i was also interested in how many controllers in that facility that had been there more than 20-years. there are not many companies that can make that claim nowadays. i was at my first job for 19-years before heading off to the dot com boom in 1998 (too late). that job had a pension which i would now be at 30-years for had i stayed.
when pres reagan fired the controllers (they went on strike in 1981) many were replaced by military controllers which are now retiring. it will be interesting to see how new hires will be trained and fit into the system.

KJYO faa safety presentation sat, 19-jul-2008 "No Stalling Around, Please' - Honing your Flying Skills"

for anyone in the KJYO area (leesburg, va), dave pearce is doing an faa safety thing this sat, 19-jul-2008.

"'No Stalling Around, Please' - Honing your Flying Skills"
Saturday, July 19, 2008, starting at 9:00 am

details at:
http://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/event_details.aspx?eid=20333

weather (visibility really)

a couple of us planned a longish (for us) flight to KVBW (bridgewater, va) and KBCB (blacksburg, va) yesterday. we've been in instr ground school so we picked those specifically because we thought that we could try a little VOR practice and a localizer landing at an airport that is probably not busy. the day looked good but there was some concern about visibility to the south. we went ahead and took off from KJYO (leesburg, va). we had the GPS setup but we were planning on using the VORs to fly the route and ident intersections (all setup and ready to go). unfortunately, shortly after takeoff it was apparent that the ceiling was just low enough to be a concern for 6,500 at KBCB and maybe even 4,500 feet en route to KVBW. by the time we got to HOAGE intersection we were just under (and beside every now and then) the clouds. it was clear that it might not be the best trip to make on that day so we headed back (bummer).
we are both looking forward to an instr rating because yesterday would have been excellent for lowish visibility but no real weather impacting the flight.

more flying and another lesson learned (a close call entering the pattern)

a couple of us flew KJYO (leesburg) - 8W2 (new market) - W45 (luray) - KFRR (front royal) - KJYO today. the weather was good but pretty hot/sunny down in new market. the flying went well in general but i learned (as usual) a lesson. coming back into JYO from the south for runway 17 i usually do a midfield crosswind rather than go around leesburg and come in from the north and entering the downwind on the 45. my instructor warned me about being careful with inbound traffic from the north and potential conflicts entering the pattern from the crosswind and that's exactly what happened today. we were listening and talking to a cirrus coming from the north calling over the water tower and quarry while we were getting close to the crosswind. as i was turning cross to downwind it was right in front of me above and to the right. i had all of my lights on (he had none btw) and i never saw it. the pilot not flying did see it and advised me to turn immediately onto the downwind. the cirrus was watching me (visual and on his TCAS) and entered the downwind 500 feet above me and extended his downwind while i landed. we were talking to each other the entire time but i don't think that made much of a difference. because of the ADIZ, once you're coming in for a crosswind entry to 17 you can't really do anything else w/o a potential ADIZ violation. i think the cirrus thought that he would make it to downwind before i did. i think that in the future, i'm likely to start going around leesburg again (takes 5 or 10 minutes longer) when coming from the south if it's likely that there will be anyone coming back in the same time frame.
does anyone else have opinions on that in this situation?
i also am interested in the portable TCAS units i've seen advertised. i'm not sure it would have told me anything more than the radio did today but i can see the potential value in them. anyone have opinions on that as well?

night currency and instr gnd school

last night was the 2nd instr ground school night. it's from 6:30pm-10pm and feels a bit long by the end of it (particularly since i have a tough boxing class from 6am-7am on the same days). my night currency was coming up so a couple of us did 3 landings at JYO after class (which meant getting home after midnight). the weather could not have been better for flying. there was zero wind and it was extremely peaceful. it is always tempting to depart the pattern and just head on out somewhere.

a little more xc and a little more lesson learning

today, another pilot and i were going to fly KJYO (leesburg)-KGVE (gordonsville)-W78 (south boston)-KPTB (petersburg)-KJYO. there was some weather coming in from the south later in the day but we thought we could make it. the other pilot flew the first leg (to GVE). GVE was very interesting. it's a short narrow field (2,300x40) which is the shortest field we've ever landed on. we found the field without any trouble but being the passenger i got to watch the approach. it definitely looks short from the right seat and i was watching the end of the runway pretty closely. he did an excellent short field landing. the people managing the airport were very nice and offered us ice cream but we figured we'd better be on our way. i do recommend stopping there but definitely be prepared for a short field landing.
the next leg (to W78) was much more eventful. the weather was coming in a bit quicker and visibility was coming/going. we could still see well enough to be legal VFR but we were just a bit uneasy. we were also maneuvering here and there to avoid running into any small puffs of cloud. as we passed KFVX (farmville) the visibility was getting worse so we opted to divert to KFVX. that's where the fun (and the lessons began). we were not as prepared for a divert as we usually are and had a little trouble with the CTAF and runway. i was flying this leg and was very annoyed with myself when i realized that i was on final for the wrong end of the runway. all i had to do was look at the heading indicator and it would have been obvious. anyway, when i realized what i was doing i did a go-around and just went onto the downwind and turned back and landed correctly (a decent landing). i learned a couple of things from this experience. we've gotten in the habit of the pilot not flying having the sectional and AFD and the PIC just flying. this means that you can't cross check any errors. the pilot should always have a sectional on his kneeboard to refer to no matter what.
the next interesting thing is that in the KFVX restaurant we met Sara Parmenter (http://www.doav.virginia.gov/vaap.htm). she's Virginia's Honorary Aviation Ambassador and has been a pilot for 56 years (she's in her 80's). she was there with her cessna 140 having some lunch. we got to talk with her for a little while, take a few pictures of her and get her autograph. she's very nice and you should stop and talk to her if you get the chance.
after checking the weather radar we decided to go ahead and head back to JYO due to a time constraint. i flew back and we were just ahead of the weather the entire way back and had a good landing (we walked away and they could use the plane again).
all in all it was an excellent day and, as usual, a few new learning experiences.
i will get around to posting the pictures soon. i also have a little bit of video (taken with my new flip mino recorder) of the clouds.
we are both looking forward to starting instrument ground school tomorrow night. today was a perfect example of potentially limited visibility affecting a trip. having IFR available if necessary would have kept us going on to our planned destination.

instrument training soon

one more thing, i start instrument ground school next week. 2 nights a week for 5 weeks, 4 hours a night. i suspect it will be tough. i know a couple of people that did it on their own but i think i learn better in a structured environment like a class. i also think that you learn more by hearing personal experiences from others and from discussion. then again, i also seem to think that i'm younger and better looking than i really am.

got some landings in and housing construction at KJYO

a couple of us wanted to do a little flying yesterday, maybe JYO (leesburg)-OKV (winchester)-FRR (front royal)-OKV-JYO. we only had from 1-3pm because of time constraints. when we got to JYO there was a thunderstorm predicted (and on the radar) that was directly in our path during the times we thought we'd be out there. because we had to be done and out of there by 4pm at the latest we couldn't afford to wait out any weather at OKV or FRR. we decided to do some pattern work at JYO instead. we each got in 4-landings (all ok or better). i had the last 4 and got some crosswind work and a little gusting just before the threshold of 17 at JYO. also, there's been a lot of new house construction right around there and there's an interesting optical illusion of being too low on base and final because you're over the houses (at least it looks that way to me).

stall warning horn, EGT and "never seen that before"

i decided to go out for a few landings today at KJYO (leesburg). it was pretty hot but i wanted the practice. during the preflight i discovered that the stall warning horn didn't work (used the inhale test on the wing opening) which i'd never seen happen before. since i was just going to do pattern work i decided to continue (i would not have done that if i was leaving the pattern). while taxiing the run-up area i noticed that the gps had powered itself off so i turned it back on thinking that might have toggled it myself. at the run-up i noticed that the gps was off again so something was wrong with it. once again, since i was just going to do pattern work i continued with the run-up procedures. when i did the run-up i then noticed that the EGT (exhaust gas temperature) needle pegged itself (which i had never seen happen before). i pondered that a bit and pulled the throttle out to idle. after a few seconds the needle dropped back to normal. i did the run-up again and, once again, the needle pegged itself. i kept checking the oil temperature and pressure gauges and they appeared pretty much normal. after a few tries of run-up and watching the needle i decided that 3 issues were enough so i called potomac (i had already gotten my ADIZ transponder code) and told them i was delaying takeoff due to an issue. i taxied back to the ramp and put the chocks and went to ask if i should really abort. a maint guy said that the EGT reading was probably not an issue but the stall horn was. i went back and tied down and called potomac to cancel (was a ADIZ flight plan).
i am continually uncertain about the EGT in terms of leaning and general indications. some percentage of the times that i fly the EGT seems to not be a reliable indication of engine temperature. i suppose that the oil temperature gauge is the best thing to check. i'm still pretty cautious about gauge issues. i definitely don't feel like i'm at a point where i can ignore unusual things that i haven't seen before. i'm probably being overcautious so it's time for some more reading i think.

KFDK fly-in and duat.com

frederick municipal airport in maryland (KFDK) had a fly-in today and i drove up to it. the weather was very hot (upper 90's) and unpleasant. it was as interesting as last year but the heat was very uncomfortable. i went to one seminar called "the top 5-mistakes that pilots make" which was interesting but it was standing room only and i was in the back leaning against the wall which detracted from it somewhat.
while walking through the exhibitor tent (and looking for a vendor that might have had a Vertex Standard VXA-300 transceiver with a good show price) i discovered that there's a duats.com and a duat.com for filing flight plans. i've used duats.com for more than a year relatively successfully but i've always thought that the user interface left something to be desired. i just experimented with duat.com and am much more impressed with it so i'm storing in it right now some typical routes that we use in the area. i never did find anyone selling the vxa-300 at any price better than what i've found online. since my xc flights are getting longer now i'm thinking that a portable transceiver is a good idea (if anyone has any comments on the vertex vs icom transceivers please pass them along).

really bad weather

KIAD 041837Z 041918 19009G15KT P6SM FEW045 BKN130 BKN250
TEMPO 1921 VRB40G60KT 1/4SM +TSRAGR BKN020 OVC035CB
FM2100 24005KT P6SM SCT080 OVC120
FM0800 20003KT 5SM BR OVC120
FM1300 27008KT P6SM SCT050 SCT150

leaning...

along with just "getting better at everything" one area that i really need to work on is how to lean correctly (and more importantly safely). i have this fear of leaning too much at altitude (4,500 to 5,500 ft) and the engine suddenly stopping (a "bad" thing). i do watch the EGT to make sure it's not too cold/hot but i'm positive that leaning is something i need to do better.
i'm also going to get around to posting some pictures to my flickr gallery of the last couple of xc flights that i've done.

longer xc - JYO-LKU-JGG-RMN-JYO

i flew a longer xc (cross country) yesterday with another new(ish) pilot switching seats after each leg. we did:
JYO (leesburg) - LKU (louisa) - JGG ( williamsburg) - RMN (stafford) - JYO.
it was around 4.7 hours in the air. that was longer than necessary but we are trying to accumulate xc hours and wanted to keep clear of RIC (richmond) and a couple of MOAs (military operations areas) so we flew a somewhat circuitous route. the weather could not have been better. LKU/JGG/RMN were all new to us and we were a little uncomfortable about JGG (a shorter/narrower runway with an approach over water) but it turned out well.
the flight planning room at JGG left something to be desired (very small with a flickering light and a slow computer). stafford is a relatively newly airport with an excellent runway (5000x100) and large ramp. we need to pick up xc hours before starting instrument training (maybe late next month) but each flight gives us new experiences to learn from. also, for a change, my landings were ok (as opposed to my usual "carrier" landings). this was also the first time we've flown into active parachuting areas. i thought i'd be able to see them and get some pictures but were not able to see any. i think that both times they came down a few minutes ahead of us. we did hear the calls on the CTAF and were in communication with the jump plane twice though. that was another interesting aspect of the flight.

"Unmanned aircraft pose myriad problems to US airspace, GAO reports"

this is an interesting article (for those of us in the lower altitude range, and high altitudes for some aircraft):
"Unmanned aircraft pose myriad problems to US airspace, GAO reports"
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/27876

an interesting point is that the global hawk is actually autonomous (rather than remotely piloted).

i'm assuming that, with flight following, ATC would be able to see most/all unmanned aircraft and advise of potential conflict. i do wonder though, in a conflict situation, what action the other aircraft would take assuming it detects you.

"carrier" and bolters!

there's an excellent series on pbs now called "carrier". a film crew went out on the aircraft carrier nimitz for a long period and was given a great deal of exposure to the crew and operations. one of the episodes i just saw was on an approaching storm and the captain deciding to give the pilots some practice in rougher seas ("pitching deck" landings). it was an excellent episode and showed how difficult carrier landings can be. in this case, it was particularly tough. the ship began recovering planes (f-18s) and they had at least 15 bolters in a row i think (the plane misses the wires on the deck and does a go-around). when this happens there has to be a tanker up so that they can refuel any plane that is running low. one of the tanker pilots was somewhat concerned about being last guy back (which means there's no tanker up there for him). if you haven't seen the show (and you're interested in aviation) you should try to catch it. it also makes me realize what a weenie i am for being concerned about crosswind landings at KJYO...

weather terms

here's the current weather at KJYO and KIAD:

KJYO 121142Z AUTO 33015G22KT 10SM RA BKN020 OVC027 08/07 A2951 RMK AO2 P0006

KIAD 121152Z 34019G26KT 9SM -RA BKN015 OVC023 07/06 A2948 RMK AO2 PK WND 33029/1110 SLP981 P0007 60035 70411 T00720056 10094 20067 53029

in aviation terms, the above is described as "icky".

some landing practice

i left work a little early last friday (and hence am in the office now making up the time) to go out and do a few landings. the winds were 190@06G16 (from the direction 190 at 6 knots gusting to 16 knots). the active runway was 17 at KJYO so the crosswind component was not bad and i specifically wanted some work with a little wind. i did 5 landings/taxi backs (should have done T&Gs to save some time). the gusts were not bad (after i experienced the first one that is). lately, my landings have been more appropriate for aircraft carriers than for runways so i'm working on some improvements. as usual, i'm going to dedicate more time to technique improvements than i have been. other than that no flying this weekend.

METARs and acronyms?

i usually get weather info from aviationweather.gov. today, i checked OKV (winchester, va) and saw this:

METAR text: KOKV 021920Z AUTO 17009G15KT 10SM CLR 28/10 A2991 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT N

the translated version does not explain 'LTG DSNT N' for some reason. i think it means distant lightning observed but i'm having a hard time finding that one. it seems like METARs have a very large number of somewhat obscure acronyms that you have to be prepared to encounter.

google earth and charts

if you're into google earth you might find this link interesting:
http://www.wikihow.com/Overlay-Sectional-Aeronautical-Charts-in-Google-Earth

i like to bring along my gps watch (forerunner 305) during flights to capture my flight. i then use google earth and upload from the watch and show the track on the earth.

xc and a long day (and a flat!)

a couple of us did a longish xc (for us) yesterday. we took the following route:

KJYO -> JASEN -> CSN -> KOMH -> GVE -> KFVX -> MOL -> KSHD -> CEROL -> AANTS -> HOAGE -> KJYO

(KJYO - leesburg airport, JASEN - intersection, CSN - casanova VOR, KOMH - orange county airport, KFVX - farmville airport, MOL - montibelo VOR, KSHD - shenandoah airport, CEROL/AANTS/HOAGE - intersections)

it was a total of 4-hours in the air and we switched PIC at each landing so we each got about 2-hours total. we had one new event for us. at KSHD we had a flat tire on the main gear as we turned off the runway. a truck had to come out and jack up the plane and take the wheel back in to replace the tire and tube. that was a new one for us. luckily, we were clear of the runway so we were only blocking one of the taxiways. i had thought the tire had looked a little low earlier but we didn't check the pressure, it's time to start bringing along a pressure gauge i think.
i was pretty tired at the end of the day. the non-PIC had the responsibilities for watching out for traffic, radio tuning, reading checklists and generally helping out so it wasn't much of a rest. we also had some discussion on visibility due to haze while flying KFVX -> MOL -> KSHD. it wasn't bad but coupled with the mountains was enough to keep us paying pretty close attention.

taking tomorrow off for some xc

i'm taking tomorrow off and flying with another new pilot. we're thinking we might do (including VORs and intersections):

KJYO -> JASEN -> CSN -> KOMH -> GVE -> KFVX -> MOL -> KSHD -> CEROL -> KW45 -> HOAGE -> KJYO

we're also going to enter a flightplan for the entire route (including a few user-defined waypoints) into the KLN-94 GPS which should be interesting too.

night current again

i went out to JYO And did 3 landings to get night current again (have to do at least 3 landings every 90 days at night to be current). it was a prefect evening. i really wanted to "just keep going".

more bad weather

unfortunately, each time we've tried to get out for some xc (or even night currency tonight) weather has stymied us. we just have to give up tonight because the winds are picking up.

hmm, maybe no xc tomorrow

i was going to do some xc tomorrow afternoon but the weather is not looking good:

KIAD 052339Z 060024 05007KT P6SM BKN100 OVC200
    FM0400 02007KT P6SM OVC050
    FM0700 01008KT P6SM VCSH OVC030
    FM0900 02009KT 4SM BR VCSH OVC015 WS020/07035KT
    FM1500 04013KT P6SM OVC015 WS020/07035KT
    FM1900 04010G17KT P6SM OVC025

overcast at 1,500 and 35 kt windshear at 2,000 ft is certainly attention getting, surface is only 13 kts though?

guns in the cockpit, crazy

this is a recent story about a gun that was brought into the cockpit by a pilot discharging (ie "firing a bullet") to parts unknown while it was on approach to charlotte.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g9H2FwrcdidAVzHfI4QBxa7YlEEwD8VKB31G0

i'll be interested in seeing the outcome of this. it's hard to imagine that the safety wasn't on (basic gun knowledge) and that it was loaded. since it was on approach to land i can't imagine how bad it would have been to have had it hit the pilot doing the landing at a critical (or any) moment. i can also imagine how startled they must have been when it happened.

a commercial pilot friend of mine once commented that he didn't believe in guns in the cockpit. he said he had all of the weapons he needed to defeat a takeover attempt in that he could depressurize the cabin and/or roll the plane to disrupt any attempt.

cross country - JYO-CHO-FCI-CJR-JYO

another pilot and i finally got out for a real cross country flight today (as opposed to the cross town flight last weekend). we flew JYO (leesburg) - CHO (charlottesville) - FCI (chesterfield) - CJR (culpeper) and then back to JYO. we alternated each leg of the flight so that we could pick up the cross country hours (flights greater than 50 miles). it went well but there was turbulence pretty much the entire flight. we also had a DG (directional gyro) fail on the way back but that wasn't much of an issue. i can't imagine how much more difficult and dangerous it was to fly back when GPS wasn't available (or VOR for that matter).
btw, FCI (chesterfield virginia, near richmond) has a very fine airport with an excellent looking cafeteria which was unfortunately closed due to today being easter.

perfect day for flying except...

surface weather report:
KJYO 201820Z AUTO 30023G34KT 10SM CLR 12/M02 A2988 RMK AO2

winds are 23-knots gusting to 34 right now.

winds aloft are:
FT 3000 6000
EMI 3132 3143-08

this means winds are 32 knots at 3,000 ft and 43 at 6,000. in my little 172 i could probably go backwards in slow flight (have done that once).

a cross country, err, cross town flight and some ADM and a new ADIZ lesson

a friend and i were planning on picking up some cross country hours last weekend. originally, the weather looked bad and then appeared to get better so we planned a long (for us) flight from JYO-CHO-FCI-OKV-JYO with us splitting the flying time to pick up the hours. we were due to t/o from JYO at 0930 and had filed the first leg and ADIZ exit flight plans via duats. unfortunately, we ran into a new problem during the preflight. we noticed that the left aileron push rod appeared to be bent and was touching the edge of the access hole in the wing. we had never seen this before and both pondered the implications and decided to get a chief flight instructor to look at it. he went out and held the aileron and had me try to turn the yoke to the right and it didn't move. then, i tried turning it to the left and it turned a pretty significant distance (a bad thing). this meant the plane could not be flown so we had to find another one. the only one available was a 172-S (we usually fly 172-R) which meant we had to take a renter's exam (which meant some review of the performance/limitation info). we've both flown in S's before but always with an instructor. after passing the exam we then had to get updated weather, pre-flight and re-file flight plans. this all took quite a while and we were now looking at a 1pm or later departure. we finally got off the ground after that and immediately ran into unexpected turbulence. we evaluated spending the rest of the afternoon behind schedule, in potentially worsening weather and it being a roughish ride and elected to turn back. this is where the ADIZ lesson comes in. had i been flying solo i would probably have just entered the JYO ADIZ ingress transponder code and turned back. however, we had only filed the egress leg expecting to file ingress later on the return. luckily, my friend had experienced something similar before with an instructor and pointed out that we needed to contact ATC and request a squawk code for return to JYO. that took a couple of minutes and we were on our way home. the funny thing was, after all that time we had not gotten very far (we probably could have walked the distance i think). however, it was a useful lesson in terms of ADM (aeronautical decision making), being hungry, in a hurry, hoping to avoid weather and being tired (a bad combination) and it probably kept me from having an ADIZ violation (a hot topic nowadays) so i'm glad it turned out the way it did. we can always fly another day.
we did decide that we would call the flight a cross-town vs a cross-country though.

AOPA Air Safety Foundation (ASF) airspace training

i got some email from AOPA Air Safety Foundation (ASF) on a little online airspace training course today. you can find that and their other courses at:
http://www.aopa.org/asf/online_courses/

the airspace one is very good in that it also provides audio of typical activities including airspace entry denial which i've never heard before. being a low-time new pilot i very much like to see and hear things like this for when i'm in the same situation.

flew my first (real) passenger today

i flew my first (real) passenger today. the reason i say that is that your first passenger is actually the FAA pilot examiner. today, a friend that got his license a month or so ago were going to fly from Leesburg (JYO) to W45 (Luray). we needed to be back by 10 because there was another reservation after us. we wanted to go to W45 because that would let us start accumulating cross country (flights greater than 50 miles) hours to qualify us for instrument training (he would fly down there and i would fly back). the plane needed gas and oil so we got started later than intended. the route we were going to take was a 170 radial from JYO to the 232 radial from MRB. that radial would take us there via FRR (Front Royal). when we got to FRR we could see that going any further would probably make us late getting back so we elected to land in FRR and switch seats. we headed back via the same route and arrived at 1000. unfortunately, the DG (directional gyro) was still frozen which meant that the next guy (who was going to fly IFR to PHL) could not use it so we shortened our trip for nothing. it was still an excellent little trip.

one more thing, a couple of days ago i mentioned that a flyer at JYO (the paper kind) said to monitor guard on 123.0 (rather than 121.5) while using the JYO notch in the DC ADIZ. i have asked two instructors since seeing that and neither know about that change and both think it might be a typo in the flyer.

another update on this. i called the FAA today and they said that the 123.0 is incorrect and that you should continue to monitor 121.5.

btw DC ADIZ guard freq

btw, at JYO this morning i picked up a flyer on the DC ADIZ procedures. i'm very familiar with them (i thought) until i noticed that it said to monitor guard on 123.0. i have always used 121.5 and asked about the change. i was told that it was likely that 123.0 is now specifically for the DC ADIZ to reduce confusion on listening to 121.5 which i have to agree with. in the recent past i've noticed much more activity on 121.5 and it can be confusing. i'm assuming that 123.0 is only for ADIZ related comms. i'm not sure yet whether or not 123.0 is only for JYO or the other airports in the area but i'm going to find out.

Here's a follow-up on this. I've checked several sources (including the FAA) and all have said that you should still monitor guard on 121.5 (NOT the 123.0 in the flyer, that is apparently a typo).

i passed my faa check ride

i passed my faa check ride this morning. winds were high (close to my limit) and we had a DG (Directioanl Gyro) failure (frozen) on the way out (which was another learning experience). i almost didn't fly because of the winds but i had canceled yesterday for that reason and i figured it was time to "get off the pot".
passing this means that i now have a Private Pilot Single Engine Land (PPSEL) license.

some things i learned on my stage-3 check ride

here are some things i learned on my stage-3 check ride:

• I was challenged to find a small private grass strip NW of winchester VA called 'AL', i navigated to it perfectly using dead reckoning but we never could see it (which surprised me), before the flight i should have checked google earth so that i would be more familiar with what it looked like, this is a link to a view of it
• due to the DC ADIZ, at JYO you have to be careful about your transponder code for egress/ingress, i usually squawk the egress code code on the ramp after i start the engine just to be safe, however, the chief flight instructor doing my stage-3 pointed out that doing that might cause aircraft on final with TCAS or TIS equipment to get a warning about traffic close to them, it's probably preferable to squawk 1226 at the run-up or hold short line instead
• for my simulated engine out demonstration i picked a field that had some hills in it, as we got closer to it i realized it was much more "rolly" than i had thought and was not a good choice, now i know that if you can see hills at 2,500 feet they're going to be a lot higher at 600 feet
  

stage 3 check done, next stop is the faa test

stage 3 check done, next stop is the faa test. it was a long session and i'm beat.

(not) using a VOR radio to monitor comms

a while back i mentioned that it might be useful to monitor a comms freq using a VOR radio (in case of a comm radio failure). i asked my instructor about it and he said that VOR radios (at least the one i use) can only tune VOR freqs so it can't be used for that. just another little tidbit to file away.

got some catch up hood time and review yesterday and then a night flight

i needed some hood work (flying on instruments only) catch up time and some practice on several areas so i flew with my instructor yesterday. i did an hour of hood altogether and then practiced a number of different things. it went reasonably well and i think i'm ready for my stage 3 check with the owner of my flight school. assuming that he's satisfied with that then i'm ready for the FAA test. also, my instructor (my second) has found a job with a local contract airline service so he's moving on. i don't know how that impacts me yet (but i'm hoping not much).
on another note, last night i flew for the first time in the right seat. a friend that got his license a month ago wanted to stay night current (you have to do at least 3 landings at night, which is one hour after sunset, every 90 days) so i went with him while he stayed in the pattern. i haven't flown at night since last sept and it was neat. it was very calm and there was no traffic. a perfect evening to fly. so far, it doesn't sound like that many private pilots stay night current. i'm hoping that i will be able to.

delaying your downwind

here's a scenario to consider, let's say you're on the downwind following someone and they are going either way slower or else do something like turn late to base. if you need to delay you have at least a couple of choices:

• extend the downwind (at KJYO you can't doing this for runway 35 because you might enter class bravo airspace at dulles)
• do a 360 turn, you probably shouldn't do this because you're not supposed to make turns to the right
• go ahead and turn midfield (assuming that there's no conflicting traffic) and enter the upwind as if you're going around (while watching out for departing traffic)

i'm sure that there are other actions too, it's things like this that i'd like to hear /read more about at times. i don't think that i've seen too much literature on "how to react to unusual situations" but i'm keeping an eye out for it.

another review session and a some long(ish) hood time coming

i had another ground review session today (weight/balance/performance, aircraft systems). i also discovered that i need some more hood time (flying using only instruments by wearing a vision obstructing device on your head) before i can do my stage-3 check (and then the faa practical test). i was relatively ready for the session today but it doesn't take too many questions from someone that really does know the cessna 172 to make me realize i've got to hit the POH (pilot's operating handbook) again. for example:

• what type of engine does it have? (4 cylinder opposable internal combustion)
• if the air filter becomes obstructed what happens? (a door opens automatically and air comes in via the cowling)
• how many vacuum pumps does it have? (2)
• if a brake cylinder on the pilot's side fails, can the right seat use the brakes? (yes, this is potentially not true in the diamond da-20)

i had read all of the above in the POH but clearly had not retained it.

charts and charts and chartssss

i had a ground lesson with my instructor the other day to review/prepare for the faa exam. one of the items we covered were charts and he threw a couple of good ones at me. i'm used to using the sectionals from around my area and am pretty confident with them. however, he pulled out the denver chart (way west of me) and it had some aspects/complexity that i hadn't seen before that had to do with elevations and airspaces. i can see that it's probably worthwhile to get a denver sectional just to look at because different areas of the country are likely to have different "things" on the chart that i might not be familiar with.
as usual, aviation is a never ending learning experience.

an elective flight and another lesson learned re chart scales

so far, i have learned something every time i have flown, and more when solo. today i had the day off and the weather was good so i decided to do a little flying and practice some maneuvers. i was going to go jyo (leesburg)-okv (winchester)-maneuver practice near berryville-jyo. unfortunately, the guy before me got back 35 minutes late which ate into my time. i decided to use my terminal area chart for a change so that i could see more landmarks for practice. the okv landing was ok and i did a quick taxi back and departure. while doing my (shortened) maneuvers i ended up closer to mrb (martinsburg) than i had intended. i didn't enter mrb class-d space but if i hadn't seen the tower in the distance i would have been above their airspace. after getting home i realized why, i usually use a sectional chart which is a different scale than the terminal area chart (i knew that but this is the first time that apparent relative distances sunk in). i'll be more careful next time and i'll use the gps map to be certain of where i am.

g1000 seminar and interesting article re "a software anomoly"

recently, i went to an interesting little seminar on a software simulator for the G1000 (advanced flight instruments, aka "glass cockpit"). having been in software development for almost 30 years i am always cautious about technology. this article on a recent 777 crash at heathrow caught my attention: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3216746.ece
down in the article there is a little info on a 777 incident on August 1, 2005. look for the comment 'combination of a failed sensor and “a software anomaly” had created an “unexpected situation that had not been foreseen” and for which the crew had not been trained'.
i do wonder how easy it is to become dependent on the G1000 and lose proficiency with the "steam gauges". software testing is always an interesting area and is a continuous process even for unchanged software because the environment around it is always changing.

long cross country solo done and was a real learning experience

i did my long cross country solo yesterday. i went from leesburg (JYO) to charlottesville (CHO) to richmond (RIC) and then back to leesburg with landings at each airport. i had a few technical problems on the way. they included:

• navigation lights out, this is not critical for daytime VFR (but i was planning on using them to alert the real pilots that "i was out there")
• comm-1 radio failed about 15-minutes out, it was fine during pre-flight check and getting squawk from ATC and requesting flight following, on the way to CHO it was receiving fine and i asked ATC for something, got no response kept trying and then realized it was not transmitting (the 'T' appear on the radio during transmit so it thought it was transmitting), i switched to comm-2 for ATC and that worked, after a while comm-1 stopped receiving as well which meant that i couldn't monitor 121.5 (emergency) nor check weather on it in advance of arrival, i considered this and pondering aborting the flight and returning to JYO but i thought i could get by with one radio, note, after the flight another student suggesting using the VOR radios for monitoring guard/weather since they can receive but can't transmit, i had never thought of that before but it is an excellent idea
• the next technical problem was on the return from RIC to JYO, ATC notified me that my transponder was intermittent which was affecting their ability to provide flight following, they also started getting busier, after another 10 mins or so they lost it entirely and terminated flight following and i noticed that i became "unidentified traffic" when they talked to other aircraft in my area, this concerned me a bit since i had to squawk 1227 to enter the DC ADIZ on my return to JYO, i pondered diverting to winchester (OKV) but figured i was already north of the CSN VOR so i changed my route a bit and dropped to 1,400 and flew JYO via upperville and purcellville, nothing (like an F-16 or Blackhawk helicopter) intercepted me so i guess i squeaked by this time
• the last technical problem i had was that the right wing fuel gauge needle would drop to zero and then back up to the correct level every now and then, that was distracting because i could see it out of the corner of my eye but i could live with it since i had topped off fuel in RIC

and to top all of this off, when i got back to JYO someone had parked in my plane's spot (first time that has happened to me) so i had to turn around and find another spot (probably annoying someone else later).

as to my flying, when i got to CHO the winds were calm and a dash-8 (twin engine commuter/regional airline type plane) was doing touch and go's on a left downwind and the tower told me to fly the right downwind. this was a first for me as i was on the downwind with the dash-8 directly abeam me on the opposite side. the tower told the dash to turn base and said i should be able to turn shortly, i (foolishly) thought that meant the tower would tell me when to turn base so i kept going, and going, ... and going and someone behind me commented on the unusually long time i was taking to turn base so i realized that the tower wasn't going to tell me to do it. this of course made me look rather dorky. ah well, another lesson learned.

landing at RIC was also entertaining in that i think the CHO tower had told them i was taking the short bus to RIC so they were very helpful to me and gave me very specific headings all the way to the runway. i also got progressive taxi to get to the executive terminal (sounds better than it is). it was very interesting being around large aircraft for a change. on the way out, the tower had a large jet following me on the (long) taxi to runway 2. i wish i had had a camera pointing out the back window because i'm sure it would have shown some very annoyed real pilots behind me as i was putt-putting my way down the taxi way.

all-in-all it was a very interesting and informative experience. as far as i know, nobody cried (including me) so it turned out to be a positive thing.
this now means that i have the final checkride at my school to evaluate my skills/knowledge and then the FAA test.

question re airspace restrictions and nuclear power plants

here's a question for knowledgeable people, recently i was in wilmington nc flying with an instructor. there is a nuclear power plant in the area and he said to steer clear of it. i had studied the chart previously and did not see any mention of it being a nuclear power plant and i was wondering why the airspace would not be marked/identified/restricted.
a notam exists on this subject and contains this text (from: http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams.html#1/1980):
4/0811 ...SPECIAL NOTICE... THIS IS A RESTATEMENT OF A PREVIOUSLY ISSUED ADVISORY NOTICE. IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY AND TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE, PILOTS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO AVOID THE AIRSPACE ABOVE, OR IN PROXIMITY TO SUCH SITES AS POWER PLANTS (NUCLEAR, HYDRO-ELECTRIC, OR COAL), DAMS, REFINERIES, INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES, MILITARY FACILITIES AND OTHER SIMILAR FACILITIES. PILOTS SHOULD NOT CIRCLE AS TO LOITER IN THE VICINITY OVER THESE TYPES OF FACILITIES. WIE UNTIL UFN
i'm assuming that someone living in the area would be familiar with it and thus not practice maneuvers anywhere near it but someone not familiar might be unaware. i'm also guessing that the text "to the extent practicable" means they would prosecute a pilot that appeared to be loitering and could not give a reasonable explanation.
the reason this comes to my attention is that i'm planning a cross country to richmond, va and i think my (original) return flight was going to take me near one.

passed stage 2 check

i recently passed my stage 2 check. this means that i can now go on a long cross country solo (a flight of at least 150 nm with landings at 3 airports). my current plan is to go to richmond via charlottesville. that should be pretty cool.
the stage 2 check involved a lengthy oral exam and about 1.5 hours flying with an instructor to demonstrate various things. while near martinsburg (air national guard) i got to vector around a c-5 (ginormous air force plane). neat to see in flight.