On 3/1/14, I got a call from the airport telling me that N60338, their C150, was back in service after a brake malfunction. 45 minutes later, I got to the airport and was ready to go flying. It had been a while since I had flown the C150, so Joe would be accompanying me for some of the time. I went to the airplane to preflight as well as refuel the airplane. Joe came out after I was done, and we went flying.
After completing the CIGAR checklist, we departed runway 26 with relatively gentle winds and headed direct to Dayton Wright Brother's Airport(KMGY). There, I entered the left downwind for runway 20 and made a full stop, taxied to Aviation Sales Inc, and shut it down. Joe decided that it would be a time to show me where I will be taking the Private Pilot Knowledge Test("the written") next weekend. After showing me around a little bit, we hopped back in and headed back to Stewart. Once we exited runway 26, Joe hopped out and told me to just go on a mission and explore. He suggested that I fly to my house and back, and I thought that would be pretty fun.
My neighborhood from about 1100 AGL
I departed runway 26 on my own and exited the pattern on the left downwind towards Caesar's Creek for a little sight seeing. I then continued down I-71 until I hit the Little Miami River, which I followed to my house. I did a few turns around a point(my house) until my family noticed and came outside. They even shot me a quick text telling me that they could see me. Eventually, I returned to the airport by following familiar roads and flew over a couple other familiar landmarks I could see from the air. After about 45 minutes, I decided to return back to Stewart and land once again on 26.
If you live in Ohio or anywhere else in the Midwest, you know just how much snow we had received prior to this flight. Therefore, the ground was still rather wet which made it very difficult to push the plane back onto its concrete pads to tie it down. It's difficult enough when it's dry, let alone when you are trying to push it through mud! This is yet another flight that I think I will always remember. Being able to just go out and explore was very liberating. The fact that it was during sunset made it just that much better.
On 2/5/13, I had the chance to fly in the snow for the first time. It was a chilly day at just 19 degrees and a couple of inches of snow were on the ground covering the grass runway. I got to the airport and went inside to get the keys and book, then promptly went outside to the plane. Quickly but thoroughly, I preflighted N3718J, a Cessna 150, then went back inside to warm and meet my instructor that afternoon.
As quickly as possible, my instructor and I went out to the plane and hopped inside. Once inside, I got the chance to plug in my never yet used David Clark H10-13.4 headset. After another quick refresher since I hadn't flown a Cessna 150 since the Summer, I got the engine started. When I tried to start taxiing, I could barely move out of the snow without using a ton of throttle. This was definitely a new feeling. Next, I completed the short CIGAR checklist and found everything to be working properly before taking off.
Finally, it was time to take flight in the light snow flurries that were falling. With the cold air, the engine roared and provided plenty of power for us to climb quite rapidly into the strong headwind. Because many airports nearby did not have their runways plowed, we decided to just stick in the pattern at Stewart. I performed many normal landings that I must say, were quite good. Then, my instructor Joe switched it up a bit. On downwind one pattern, he suddenly pulled out the throttle and I had to do a simulated engine out procedure. After a safe landing, Joe told me to take back off and do one more before we finished for the day. The next engine out simulation was again uneventful and I made a nice landing. I taxied back to our spot and quickly tied up the aircraft and ran inside through the cold.
Today was really a great flight. I couldn't figure out if it was the strong headwind or the snow on the ground, but every landing seemed very soft. Nonetheless, it felt good to make some good landings after not flying the plane in such a long time. Joe gave me the pre-solo exam for the Cessna 150, so I might be soloing in that plane next lesson or the one after that. Look forward to it and see my video below of this flight filmed with a GoPro HD Hero 2.
Video from today's flight
This Flight: .9 Dual, .9 Total, N3718J, 40I-40I Total hours to date: 21.1
With it having been almost 3 weeks since I have flown last, I thought I would go flying. I tried to book the Cessna 150, but it was taken for a Cross Country flight. So, I went up in the Cub. I'll start off by mentioning that the winds were pretty strong this day. When I got to the airport, Wright Brothers was reporting winds 2709G21KT.
Joe and I started off by covering a few ground school topics before heading out to fly. When we finally did, we didn't have too much time because I only had Joe for an hour that day. I took us around the pattern 2 times using runway 26, obviously. I was definitely getting blown around a lot on my takeoffs and landings. So, it proved to be quite difficult and my landings were not exactly beautiful. But, the winds were not helping me. Nonetheless, Joe decided to hop out and let me solo again(usually students don't solo with wind over 10kts here).
Video with the GoPro
When I started taxiing, the wind of pushing the little, light Cub really fast so I had to rely on the brakes the entire taxi. My first time around wasn't too bad, but the winds were definitely affecting my landings. On the second takeoff, a HUGE gust of win struck me and I banked pretty sharp to the right. I tried my best to correct for it and after that the winds seemed to die down at least a little bit. During that gust, my dad and instructor had to run after a runaway Citabria about to hit a hangar. I made another landing with a subtle bounce. After that, I went around the pattern 2 more time with little difficulty. Although, I had to really concentrate with the winds. After 4 patterns, I took the Cub to get fueled up and called it a day.
One thing I learned today was to never fly when even a little uncomfortable with it. Honestly, I was not 100% confident this time. The wind situation made me a little uneasy. But, I still flew despite my fear. This may not have been the right decision at the time because I wasn't really having fun. I was a little too nervous about just getting the bird on the ground. I advise that you tell your instructor if you are not comfortable.
This Flight: .3 hours dual, .4 hours solo, .7 hours total, N77500, 40I-40I Total hours to date: 19.2
My birthday had finally come. It was September 4th 2012, and I was extremely anxious to do my first solo flight. It was on a Tuesday, so I had to impatiently sit through school all day before I could fly. Throughout the day, there very low clouds and a 30% chance of thunderstorms.
After school, I went straight to Red Stewart Airfield. Joe walked in the building after he was up with another student, and he saw my Medical Certificate sitting on the table. He said that today was the big day! We didn't waste anytime on the ground because the weather was looking good for the time being. We walked out to the Cub, N77500, and taxied out to runway 26. All during this time, my parents were taking tons of pictures and videos...
My first video of two from my First Solo - GoPro HD Hero 2
I went through the basic CIGAR checklist and took to the skies with Joe in the plane. My first landing that day was just about perfect with just a little crosswind from the left. We took off again and Joe said to me that he would "land" this time and try to scare my parents and grandma a little bit. He purposely made a bad, bouncy landing, then lifted back off again. I made another decent landing after going around the pattern and pulled off of the runway.
Joe stepped on the brakes as I was taxiing back and turned around to talk to me. He asked me if I was ready. I said "yes" of course, but I must have looked nervous because he asked me if I was okay. I was fine and he stepped out of the airplane. Joe told me to do 3 landings then park the plane next to the glider. I started to taxi to the runway again, but this time I was completely alone. No one was there to help me if I needed it. Everything was completely under my own control and I was responsible. I taxied by my parents who were next to the runway filming with a big smile across my face. Before I pushed the throttle forward when I was lined up on the runway, I took a deep breath. The engine then roared and I picked up speed. The plane lifted off very quickly and I took to the skies--alone.
My second video of two from my First Solo with outside footage
The first thing I noticed was how fast the little Cub climbed with only one, light person in it. I looked in front of me and saw a huge cloud that I could see was pouring down rain. Thankfully, this cloud broke up right in front of the airport and I got through my whole solo without weather issues. Before I knew it, I was also up to 1,500ft(550ft AGL) and could start my crosswind. I reached pattern altitude once I was turning downwind. On my first landing, I seemed to float forever and I made a decent landing.
I was really having fun at this point. I took off again, went around the pattern, and made another successful landing. The winds picked up at this point and switched from the left to the right while I was on final. Oddly enough, this was my best landing during my solo. One last time that night, I took off and went around the pattern. I saw another airplane on downwind while I was on crosswind. It was much too close for my liking, so I did a right 360 while I was on downwind to give us space. I floated for a while on this landing, and finally just let it settle down gently.
I survived my First Solo!!! I put the plane where Joe told me to, shut down, and hopped out of the plane. After some pictures in front of the plane, my shirt tail was cut off by tradition. We invited my instructor out to dinner and ice cream, so he with us to celebrate.
I will never forget my First Solo Flight. Now, it's back to the Cessna 150!
This Flight: .3 hours dual, .3 hours solo, .6 hours total, N77500, 40I-40I Total hours to date: 18.5
With my 16th birthday being less than a month away, it was time to start preparing to solo. We took the Cessna 150 up once more to practice as many takeoffs and landings as we could do. After a normal preflight of N3718J, we took to the skies.
First, Joe told me to go around the pattern a few times at Red Stewart before we went to Dayton Wright Brothers. I went around the pattern two or three times. The first approach was extremely high, but instead of going around we just landed long. The landing wasn't too bad though. Each approach after my first one kept getting better and better. After the last landing at Red Stewart, we went over to Dayton Wright Brothers for a bit. We did a few normal landings there and did one exercise that I found to be a bit more challenging than what I expected. I also got to do my first go around. When we were about to turn base for runway 20, another Cessna came barreling below us to land on the same runway. He just cut right in front of us and took forever to get off the runway, forcing us to go around.
Video from my flight lesson on 8-6-12
For the exercise, I just had to keep enough power in to stay 1-2ft off the ground and fly down the center line of the entire runway. When I did it, I let the aircraft touch down for a moment by accident. I don't know why it was so hard for me...
We finally decided to head over to Middletown Regional Airport(Hook Field) to do a few more takeoffs and landings there. I entered a straight in approach for runway 23 from about 5 miles out to. It was nice to have a long stabilized approach. I carried in power in all of my approaches there and my landings seemed to have improved when I did that. On our first pattern there, there we skydivers coming down right above us so I opted to widen our pattern because they were landing midfield. When we taxied by them on the ground, they all gave me a wave which felt pretty cool. We realized how long we had been gone when we looked at the hobbs meter so we went back to Red Stewart.
The next two lessons before my birthday will be back in the cub so that I can get used to the plane again before I solo. This was definitely one of my more interesting flight lessons!
This Flight: 1.8 hours N3718J, 40I-KMGY-KWO-40I Total hours to date: 16.2
On the 16th of July, I made my second flight in the Cessna 150. Once again, this was N3718J. Today was a pretty simple lesson. This time, we didn't do any ground school stuff. Joe and I just went straight out to the plane.
I pre-flighted the Cessna 150 and mounted my GoPro on the windshield while Joe talked to another pilot at the airport who was getting his glider ready for a short flight. The plane had more than half of its 26gal combined tanks, plenty of oil, and everything was looking good. We were good to go! Instead of borrowing a headset from my flight school, I used a David Clark H10-13.4 headset that I borrowed from my dad's friend who owns a Bonanza. It was very comfortable and worked great. Hopefully I'll be getting a pair for my Birthday in September. Moving along, I started it up and we had a short taxi to runway 26 after the run-up.
Because the president was in town at CVG, there was a TFR set up just south of Waynesville. So, we decided to head up northwest to Dayton Wright Brothers(MGY). Once we got close, we looked at the windsocks on the ground, and each one was pointing in a different direction. Moments later, the winds calmed down and favored runway 20. I entered the left downwind on the 45 degree entry. I came in a bit low on my first approach, and having not been used to the C150, made a pretty ugly landing. This wasn't the pay to start off! I improved on each landing and after a while, a slight crosswind started to form. I made 3 full stop landings and 1 touch and go at MGY. After the touch and go, we were closely followed by an Aero Commander departing right after us. Then, it was time to head back to Waynesville.
YouTube video of the flight with the GoPro HD Hero 2
As we neared Waynesville from the north, I decided to cross over the field and enter the left downwind for runway 26. After a normal, but high, approach I made a smooth landing. It was nice to be back on grass, it's very forgiving! On the way back to the parking spot, my camera battery died with pretty good timing.
We shut down, tied the plane down, and wrapped up the flight. Joe and I talked about getting my Student Pilot Certificate soon so that I can reach my goal of soloing on my 16th birthday. I'm not sure if you have to be 16 when you get it. Overall it was a great flight. I learned a lot and got much more comfortable with the Cessna 150. This flight was also my first time talking on radio which was really easy. Next lesson will be in the Cessna 150 again, so look forward to it!
P.S. Next time, I'll try to mount the camera lower. I'll master the GoPro eventually!
This Flight: 1.0 hours, 5 landings, 5 takeoffs, N3718J, 40I-MGY-40I Total hours to date: 14.4
On the 5th of July, I took another flight lesson. This time, I flew a 1966 Cessna 150, N3718J. When I met with Joe before my lesson, we went over some of the basics of the plane and he told me what we were going to be doing that day. Since I didn't have my own headset yet, I borrowed one from my flight school and it worked fine. I have to say, I was pumped to fly something besides the Piper Cub!
Me taxiing back to our spot
We walked out to the plane and I learned how to measure and check the fuel for contaminants(one of the fuel gauges wasn't working). After a normal preflight, I learned the start up procedure quite quick, and we taxied to runway 8. It was nice that we didn't have to do S-turns while taxiing like in the cub! Since this was my first time flying the plane, Joe did the first takeoff and I took control in the climb.
I took us up to 3,000ft so that we could practice some normal turns and steep turns. All went well, so we continued to do a few stall sequences. Then, Joe acted as a controller, and I basically just followed his instructions and practiced what I would have to say over the radio. After some time in the air to get used the controls, I entered the left downwind for runway 8 and did my first landing. Let's just say that ground came up a little faster than I thought I was. It was a bit firm. I did my first takeoff in the plane and re-entered the pattern. My second landing was much better, but not perfect.
Overall, it was an extremely fun flight! I got a feel for the new controls and extra instruments, and got a good taste of tricycle-gear airplanes. The next lesson will be in the same plane since the other C150 that Stewart has was damaged(flipped over during the storm last week when it was parked). I'm very excited, so look forward to my next post!
P.S. I forgot to turn my camera on again, I'll try to remember to next time. Sorry guys, no video.
This Flight: .8 hours, 2 landings, 2 takeoffs, N3718J, 40I-40I Total hours to date: 13.4
