INTRO ROAD TO FLIGHT Flight Log (85k) Flight Expenses

The Road to Flight

I WANNA FLY!


Where am I now?

Dateline Fairfield, New Jersey ...
Tuesday, August 21, 1999

In June 1999, it had been a long, long time since I had updated this page. And people have asked me what has been going on? Did I get my license? Am I still flying?
Did I get my license? ... envelope, please... and drum roll... YES!
In June, I wanted to get my "ticket" to fly and I wanted it before the lazy, hazy days of summer left. So, that's were the journey continues.


I've now broken this page up into timeline sections.
TIMELINE
1997: --- --- --- --- --- JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
1998: JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
1999: JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL --- --- --- --- ---
 

THE INTRO [back to top]

I started flying June of 1997. It didn't take anything. I just went over to Caldwell to see my friend Rich Davisson (who got his private pilot certificate on August 4, 1997), who was also a student pilot at Caldwell Flight Academy. He introduced me to some of the staff there and had me setup an Intro Flight for that day. A hour later, and I was in the air with my flight instructor, Zoltan.

I have been going back ever since. (Although, I was on vacation for two weeks and have now returned to continue.)

 

THE MEDICAL [back to top]

On Thursday, August 28, 1997, I got my FAA medical exam for my 3rd class medical certificate and student pilot certificate. As described by the FAR 61.23, the certificate will allow me to fly alone as a student pilot once I am endorsed by my certified flight instructor to "solo." I got my examination from Dr. Neal ("same spelling") Nadler in Parsippany. It cost $75.00 (see my flight expenses). Neal was a funny, charming doctor, who was full of stories and jokes and made all his patients feel at home. (Although, don't ask about the Mile High Club.) If you go to him, just tell him this Neal sent you.

Neal M. Nadler, M.D., FAAFP
#2 Trojan Avenue
Parsippany, New Jersey USA 07054
Phone: 973-335-1177


 

THE PRE-SOLO WRITTEN [back to top]

On Friday, October 10, 1997, I took my Pre-solo written exam. This will allow me to take my FAA solo checkout ride scheduled on Tuesday, October 14, 1997. The solo checkout ride is administered by another flight instructor and will test basic pilot proficiency in standard take-offs and landings, power on and off stalls, turns, steep turns, emergency landings, flying traffic patterns, and basic aeronautical knowledge. After my solo, I will be able to fly alone and improve my manuevers for my FAA Private Pilot Airplane Single-Engine Land (ASEL) Certificate-- this what most people call THE Pilot's License.

THE SOLO CHECKRIDE [back to top]

Dateline Fairfield, New Jersey--
October 13th, 1997: WOO HOO! I passed my pre-solo written! I got 35 out of 38 questions right (that's 92%). At first, when I began studying, I was actually overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge that I didn't have but as I looked things up in the "FAR," I became more and more confident. In fact, I finished the written in about 40 minutes. (My instructor the previous week had actually suggested that I leave at least an hour and change to do it.) ... Tomorrow, I have my solo checkride.

October 14th, 1997: My solo checkride was scheduled for 4:00PM (uh... 21:00-Zulu). So, I took a half-day from work (I've learned my lesson that the quick, 25 mile drive to Caldwell Flight Academy from New York City takes about an hour and a half in post-4PM traffic.) So, I left work and was home by 2:30PM (WOW! an hour and a half to go.) From home, the ride is only 40 minutes in traffic. So, I changed into something more comfortable (and crash-proof) and was on my way.

Ugh!!!! The weather was bad and getting worse. In the morning, the forecast was "partly cloudy with breaking sunshine, highs of 70 degrees." THERE NEVER WAS ANY SUN! It was severely overcast the entire day. <fear><concern> If the weather conditions deteriorated anymore, my solo checkride would be cancelled. (Minimum visual flight rules require cloud ceilings of no less than 1,000 feet ASL with a visibility 3-5 miles.) So, when I got close enough, I turned on my VHF scanner and tuned into Caldwell Airport ATIS (135.5000 Mhz) to pick up the airport conditions:
"Caldwell Information Golf <two><zero><four><five> Zulu (20:45Z is 15:45EST which is 3:45PM)...
winds 160 at 8 (knots) ... cloudy with 2500 ... temperature 20 ... traffic advisory... contact tower you have Information Golf."

Oh no! With a ceiling of 2500 feet at the airport, who knows how low it is farther out. Well, I still had to show up. So I did. I met the CFI (Elvin) and he ask a couple of times, "Do you want to still go out? Minimally, we can remain in the traffic pattern and at least get some touch-and-go's out of the way." I was really, really thinking "Let's just cancel. That way I won't risk doing so poorly in such poor conditions." But then I thought "Well, I really should do it anyway. I need to know for sure how good (or how bad) a really am." So, we headed out.

To make things a little different, I got a plane that I had neither flown nor seen before-- 757<papa><kilo>. Still, it was a Cessna 152, so onward and upward... PREFLIGHT INSPECTION: nothing out of spec or unusual... ENGINE START... ENGINE START... ENGINE START... <mild annoyance>... It hadn't been flown recently, so, in addition to the throttle pump, I had to prime it twice. Finally, the engine started! ... GROUND CLEARANCE and TAXI: good, nothing weird; no ground or air traffic... RUN-UP: no problems... TAKE-OFF: uh... OK... a little crosswind correction needed but got up... OFF TO THE NORTHWEST to the practice area.

PART I, Manuevers: The further out we got, the worse it became. Anything above 2000 feet was technically IFR (instrument flight rules), which for me was off limits. So, we dropped down to 1500 feet and headed towards a lake (Green Pond near Sparta, NJ). The view from the low altitude of 1500 feet was spectacular: the Fall foliage was in full "bloom" and we were close enough to pick out the trees and unique leaf colors. (Usually, by the time I get out that far, I'm at least 3000-3500 feet. So, it definitely was a different view.)

At the practice area, we practiced slow flight, stalls, and steep turns. I did pretty well (maintained altitude and heading for the most part). The nicest thing was that, with such poor visibility, I had very little horizon reference. And I still did well.

PART II, Navigation: Now, we had to get back! Well, I never had really worked on getting back to the airport. I mean, I always flew back but I never really navigated (ie: pull out a map, plot a general course, and go.) So, I was kind of concerned. But, I pulled out the map, figured it out, and headed back. Since I never had gone out to that particular practice area, the terrain wasn't as familiar. But as soon as we hit Boonton Reservoir, I was able to reconnoitre and get back into the traffic pattern for Caldwell Airport.

PART III, Traffic Patterns, Take-offs and Landings (Touch-and-go's): Back in the pattern, we were landing on runway 22 (piece of cake, my "Home Town"). After a couple of perfect, regular landings, the CFI was pleased and said "Well, let's work on different stuff, since you are comfortable with landings." So, abeam the control tower, he ask for me to request a short landing. I did. Then he cut the power! Ask me what to do. I went through the emergency procedure for in-flight engine failure... AND landed the plane with no POWER!!!! COOL!!!! (I had done it before with my regular CFI but it was cool to do it on my own with no instruction or assistance.) I even SIDE SLIPPED the plane to get a better descent! Then once we were up again, he cut the power again and I landed again. After that, we did some short field landings and some zero flap landings. All were fairly good. All said and done,

I PASSED!!!!


SOLOING [back to top]

After I passed my solo checkride, I was allowed to fly solo (that is, without an instructor and NO PASSENGERS!). This allows a student pilot to polish up on various take-offs and landings, required maneuvers, airport traffic pattern operations, and radio communications. So that's what I did, from November 1997 to January 1998. In January, it was time to preparing for cross-country flight.

Why Call It Cross-country?

Now I know and I have heard time and time again, "Why do they call it cross-country, if you guys aren't flying across the country?" Well, cross-country doesn't necessarily mean "across the country." For flying, it means flying "...a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles [55 statute miles]...." (see FAR 61.1.b.3.ii.B).

Think of it this way: when someone says they're going cross-country skiing or ran cross-country track in High School, we don't picture them skiing or running from New York to California.

 

NIGHT FLIGHT [back to top]

In January 1998, I learned night flying with my flight instructor.

 

CROSS-COUNTRIES [back to top]

By mid-March, I had done the ground school for cross-country and was ready to do two trips with my flight instructor. We did one day three-leg flight from Caldwell, NJ to Scranton, PA, to Allentown, PA, and back and a day/night, three-leg flight from Caldwell, NJ to Binghamton, NY, to Schenectady, NY, and back. That flight included doing a diversion to Oneota, NY. A diversion entails flying different route than originally planned and can include considerations for weather, fuel, time, and wind conditions. A pilot might have to perform a diversion to avoid weather, to deal with in-flight medical or mechanical problems. During the trip back from Schenectady, there were real problems to deal with-- we lost all cabin and instrument lighting AND we hit rain and thundershowers through Kingston, NY... a lot of buffeting -- but that's what training's for.

  In May 1998, I got checked out and received an endorsement to do my required solo cross-countries. It took a month of waiting for good weather to perform my two flights. I did my first cross-country from Caldwell, NJ to Poughkeepsie, NY, to New Haven, CT, and back. In that flight, my VOR (navigation radio) broke down. So, I had to ask New York Approach to open my flight plan for my second leg. Upon arriving in the vicinity of New Haven wasn't sure whether the airport was to the north or south and had to request "vectors" to it. The flight back home from New Haven was spectacular-- south, down the Atlantic coast and Long Island sound, passed just north of New York City, and headed for a "straight-in" landing on runway 27 from the east (my first-time doing that approach).

For my second solo cross-country, I had three cancellations due to wind. During that time of year, it had gotten pretty windy in Pennsylvania. By July, I got it done... a fun and uneventful flight.

 

THE DEAD CALM [back to top]

Now, here's were things slowed down... I had all (or at least 99%) of my flying done. Next up was my FAA written exam, pre-checkride checkout by my flight instructor, FAA checkride sign-off by the chief pilot (usually) of the school, and my (ultimate) FAA checkride. My biggest mistake was I didn't plan on the time needed to study. I should've broken it down at the beginning of the year and that way would've been ready right after my last solo cross-country. But, I didn't. So, I caught summeritis. (I didn't want to spend half of my summer in books.) By the end of the summer, I still hadn't finished studying. Then, in the fall, work hours and project deliverables became painful all-encompassing. I began working 7 days a week and that didn't end until January 1999... and I still hadn't allocated time to study for my FAA written!!!

 

FAA WRITTEN [back to top]

So, I "bit the bullet." I scheduled (despite any work/time issues) to take a 3-day FAA Written Preparation course (given by American Flyers) and take my written the day after. The course cost about $295.00 but 9-out-of-10 enrollees passed. With my lack of summer and fall commitment, it was worth it. So, I signed up and took the class (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). My exam was on Monday at 11AM. Sunday evening, I got a call from work saying that there was a crisis. So, Sunday night, I went in stayed all night to resolve the issues, got home at 5AM, finished some last minute studying, slept for 1 hour, and rushed off to the airport to take the exam... I PASSED WITH AN 88%!!!!!!

... The Home Stretch....

With my FAA written out of the way, I had to prepare for my FAA checkride.  

FAA CHECKRIDE (or Pratical Test) [back to top]

The FAA checkride is the ride where you either receive your pilot's certificate or not. It is covers the entire spectrum of everything a private pilot should know and be able to do. It is not simply limited to flight. It covers FAA rules and regulations, procedures, limitations, weather, communications, flight planning, emergency procedures, aeronautical medical knowledge, flight maneuvers, instrument maneuvers, various take-offs and landings, airplane systems, and airport and traffic pattern operations. It is conducted by an FAA examiner under the guidelines of the Practical Test Standard (or PTS). During the Practical, the examiner can ask you any questions that you, as a private pilot, should know. It is this active testing that makes it harder than the written exam.

  From May 1999 to June 1999, I've been putting in at least two flights a week-- to ensure my flying is up to spec and prepare for my oral examination.

The Checkride

How much have I been flying?

See my FLIGHT LOG (85k).

How much is it costing?

See my FLIGHT EXPENSES.

You can get many different "licenses" to fly. The Federal Aviation Administration (or FAA) has broken up these into Certificates and Ratings (See FAR 61.6 [301k file]). Under the Federal Aviation Regulations/Aeronautical Information Manual (or the FAR/AIM '97), the certificates allowing a person to fly fall under categories of:

Certificates:

The FAA further applies ratings to those pilot certificates (with the exception of student pilot).

Ratings:

INTRO ROAD TO FLIGHT Flight Log Flight Expenses