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.