I had my first instrument lesson today. My CFII and I spent two hour all together. The first half hour was on the ground, discussing what we'd do going forward and what we'd do in this lesson today. Once we got in the plane, he went over additional preflight checks that are necessary for IFR flight.
The flying I've done so far has all been VFR -- Visual Flight Rules. IFR refers to Instrument Flight Rules and IFR flying is done with reference to the instruments. If the plane is in the middle of a cloud, looking outside isn't going to be very helpful since you can't see anything but the cloud. Consequently, the pilot needs to be able to control the plane and fly accurately and precisely solely by reference to the instruments in the plane.
After takeoff, Kyle had me put on the foggles, which look like sunglasses but are totally black on the sides and the front except for a small square opening. Wearing the foggles allows a pilot to see the instruments but not see out the front or sides of the plane, so it simulates flying in weather when you can't see out.
Today, we spent about an hour on basic instrument flying. We did straight and level flight, turns to the left, turns to the right, climbs and descents, all with reference solely to the instruments. (While I was looking at the instruments, Kyle was watching for traffic outside, since we were actually flying in clear weather).
I hadn't done any instrument flying since the small amount that was required for the private pilot license. I really enjoyed it last year and found that I enjoyed it again today. It forces you to fly very precisely and to control the plane much more accurately than is truly needed for visual flight, which is one of the reasons why doing an instrument rating will help a pilot become a much better pilot even for visual flight.
I hope to move forward with the instrument training reasonably quickly, with a goal of finishing it over the next couple of months. We'll need to work around my business travel but I hope to be able to get in either two or three lessons each week.
:-)
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Flying up the Hudson
On Monday, September 21, two friends and I decided to go for a scenic flight at the end of the day. By the time we got into the air, there was only about an hour of daylight left and the shadows were growing long.
We departed Glens Falls Airport to the south, climbed to 2500' and immediately turned west to follow the Hudson River. As we continued to follow it, we ended up flying directly into the sun, which caused the river to turn into a brilliant silhouette.
We continued flying toward the mountains. The wind had been quite light all day and from the south, so I wasn't concerned about mountain wave activity. But I wanted to be high enough to have an out if my suspicions turned out to be incorrect. Fortunately, the wind over the mountains was very light and we experienced little turbulence.
We continued to follow the river, turning north at Corinth and descending as we flew upriver toward Luzerne. I wanted to get lower, so we made a gradual descent, getting lower and lower until we were well below the tops of the adjacent mountains. Flying below the mountains provided a spectacular view of the scenery.
Since the day was growing short, we had to decide how to head home. After following the river for a bit, I decided to climb up to 4500' so we could pass over the mountains toward Lake George. This gave us a great view of the lake. As we got to the lake, we turned slowly to the south and headed back toward Glens Falls. It was a nice, late afternoon view of the local scenery from a perspective that most folks never get a chance to see.
In a week or two, the foliage will begin turning. I hope the weather will cooperate so we can make some foliage flights. I think it might be a good season for the foliage, if the weather holds.
We departed Glens Falls Airport to the south, climbed to 2500' and immediately turned west to follow the Hudson River. As we continued to follow it, we ended up flying directly into the sun, which caused the river to turn into a brilliant silhouette.
We continued flying toward the mountains. The wind had been quite light all day and from the south, so I wasn't concerned about mountain wave activity. But I wanted to be high enough to have an out if my suspicions turned out to be incorrect. Fortunately, the wind over the mountains was very light and we experienced little turbulence.
We continued to follow the river, turning north at Corinth and descending as we flew upriver toward Luzerne. I wanted to get lower, so we made a gradual descent, getting lower and lower until we were well below the tops of the adjacent mountains. Flying below the mountains provided a spectacular view of the scenery.
Since the day was growing short, we had to decide how to head home. After following the river for a bit, I decided to climb up to 4500' so we could pass over the mountains toward Lake George. This gave us a great view of the lake. As we got to the lake, we turned slowly to the south and headed back toward Glens Falls. It was a nice, late afternoon view of the local scenery from a perspective that most folks never get a chance to see.
In a week or two, the foliage will begin turning. I hope the weather will cooperate so we can make some foliage flights. I think it might be a good season for the foliage, if the weather holds.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Instrument Instruction
I had a two hour lesson with my flight instructor today. More than half of it was spent sitting on the ground tossing around ideas for how to best progress with instrument training.
Put most simply, the instrument rating allows pilots to fly in the clouds. Pilots who do not hold an instrument rating must stay clear of the clouds at all times, day or night. An instrument rating allows a pilot to fly through clouds under the control of Air Traffic Control (ATC). This can be invaluable when you want to get someplace and the weather isn't good enough to permit flight according to visual flight rules. Consequently, an instrument rating allows a pilot to fly at times when he or she would otherwise need to sit on the ground and wait out the weather.
The instrument rating for a general aviation pilot most definitely is not a license to "go anywhere at any time". There are many kinds of weather where even an instrument-rated pilot should choose to sit comfortably on the ground and wait for better weather. But obtaining an instrument rating trains a pilot to be a better pilot and that's perhaps the best benefit of all.
Right now, it looks like we'll begin my training within the month. More updates to come.
Put most simply, the instrument rating allows pilots to fly in the clouds. Pilots who do not hold an instrument rating must stay clear of the clouds at all times, day or night. An instrument rating allows a pilot to fly through clouds under the control of Air Traffic Control (ATC). This can be invaluable when you want to get someplace and the weather isn't good enough to permit flight according to visual flight rules. Consequently, an instrument rating allows a pilot to fly at times when he or she would otherwise need to sit on the ground and wait out the weather.
The instrument rating for a general aviation pilot most definitely is not a license to "go anywhere at any time". There are many kinds of weather where even an instrument-rated pilot should choose to sit comfortably on the ground and wait for better weather. But obtaining an instrument rating trains a pilot to be a better pilot and that's perhaps the best benefit of all.
Right now, it looks like we'll begin my training within the month. More updates to come.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Garnsey's Airport
I've been busy with other things, so I haven't been posting much. But I'm still going to try to hit all of the grass strips in this area.
One of my favorites is Garnsey's Airport. It's a bit south of Glens Falls, in Schuylerville, NY, right along the Hudson River. There's also a floatplane "runway" on the river itself. I hadn't been there for a while, so I decided to fly down with a friend and do a landing and takeoff. It was a beautiful day for flying so after taking off, I decided it would be fun to fly along the river for a bit at a low altitude. To be legal, we needed to be 500' above the terrain, so I chose to fly about 700' above ground level. We flew south for about ten or fifteen minutes before turning back and returning to Glens Falls airport. All in all, it was a grand day to be flying. :)
One of my favorites is Garnsey's Airport. It's a bit south of Glens Falls, in Schuylerville, NY, right along the Hudson River. There's also a floatplane "runway" on the river itself. I hadn't been there for a while, so I decided to fly down with a friend and do a landing and takeoff. It was a beautiful day for flying so after taking off, I decided it would be fun to fly along the river for a bit at a low altitude. To be legal, we needed to be 500' above the terrain, so I chose to fly about 700' above ground level. We flew south for about ten or fifteen minutes before turning back and returning to Glens Falls airport. All in all, it was a grand day to be flying. :)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Landing and departure at Argyle, NY
This is the first in a series of occasional videos that I want to make showing landings and departures from grass strips. This one is at Argyle, NY (1C3), on August 29th, 2009. It was a cloudy day and a bit windy at pattern altitude but calm at the surface.
Finally... the end of the trip :-)
I finally found the time to put together the last video for the trip to the midwest. It was my first long cross-country flight and one I will long remember. I learned a heck of a lot from this trip -- about flying, about my plane and about myself. There were moments that were fun, others that were challenging, a few that were embarrassing and almost none at all that were boring. I met lots of great folks who collectively helped a great deal. I would have had a much harder time completing this trip, especially given the mechanical problems with 70L, had it not been for the many kindnesses offered to me by other pilots and mechanics. Pilots are nice people. :)
This is the last video for this first trip. It depicts my departure from Erie, PA, where I'd been holed up for a day and a half, waiting for the weather to clear. It shows that I first flew up the coast along the lake, to avoid the mountains of northwest Pennsylvania. I then turned right and started heading all across NY. NY is a big state, depending on which way you cross it. My flight took me most of the way from Buffalo to Albany before I turned left to head up to Glens Falls. That's one of the longest straight lines you can make while crossing NY.
My flight took me over farm country, all of the finger lakes, the central plain of NY and then across the southernmost part of the Adirondacks before coming into Glens Falls for a landing. I could have flown it as a single leg but I wanted to stop in the middle, for fuel and a chance to get out and stretch my legs. I chose Hamilton, NY, based on recommendations from another pilot. I don't have any video of landing or departing there because my video camera was screwing up (again). But it was a GREAT place to land and a very, very friendly little airport. I spent quite a little bit of time there, talking to the airport manager and the kind gentleman who is the local mechanic but also clearly does much, much more at the airport. A former airport manager himself, he seemed to know everyone in the northeast and I very much enjoyed chatting with him.
The whole trip, including the stop, took almost four hours. The weather was pretty good, although I did run into low clouds in a couple of places and was glad to have onboard weather. It was also fairly turbulent over the Adirondacks and also a bit on both the departure and landing. But, overall, it was a glorious day to fly. :)
This is the last video for this first trip. It depicts my departure from Erie, PA, where I'd been holed up for a day and a half, waiting for the weather to clear. It shows that I first flew up the coast along the lake, to avoid the mountains of northwest Pennsylvania. I then turned right and started heading all across NY. NY is a big state, depending on which way you cross it. My flight took me most of the way from Buffalo to Albany before I turned left to head up to Glens Falls. That's one of the longest straight lines you can make while crossing NY.
My flight took me over farm country, all of the finger lakes, the central plain of NY and then across the southernmost part of the Adirondacks before coming into Glens Falls for a landing. I could have flown it as a single leg but I wanted to stop in the middle, for fuel and a chance to get out and stretch my legs. I chose Hamilton, NY, based on recommendations from another pilot. I don't have any video of landing or departing there because my video camera was screwing up (again). But it was a GREAT place to land and a very, very friendly little airport. I spent quite a little bit of time there, talking to the airport manager and the kind gentleman who is the local mechanic but also clearly does much, much more at the airport. A former airport manager himself, he seemed to know everyone in the northeast and I very much enjoyed chatting with him.
The whole trip, including the stop, took almost four hours. The weather was pretty good, although I did run into low clouds in a couple of places and was glad to have onboard weather. It was also fairly turbulent over the Adirondacks and also a bit on both the departure and landing. But, overall, it was a glorious day to fly. :)
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