Flying. . . Finally!

It's been about 6 weeks since I last flew a helicopter. So, needless to say, I was a bit nervous when I took the right hand seat.

All kinds of thoughts were going through my mind and I was double checking the pre-flight checklist and the startup checks because I was sure that I was going to miss something or do something boneheaded.

My double checking must have paid off though because I got it started with no major oversights. :)

My first pick-up was pretty good and I was a bit wonky as I hovered out to the taxi-way, but I got that stabilized pretty quickly.

I made my radio call and was on the go. Now, I hate to admit it, but my first take-off wasn't that great. I completely didn't anticipate the little roll as I got through ETL and into transverse flow effect. So, I blew a bit left before I caught up to it and I'm sure any casual onlookers were snickering at the new student pilot. . .

After a turn through the pattern and a not-so-perfect normal approach, I settled down and was back to my old self. I was happy, surprised, and a bit shocked at how well I did overall. I need to keep my skills fresh so, I'm going to try to go for at least 30 minutes every other week until I can start up with my commercial lessons again. Hopefully, if I'm going a bit more frequently, for future flights  I'll be able to skip the nerves and initial "break-in" that I had today.

I had a buddy along today for moral support as well (a fellow pilot who is a bit further along that I am) and he didn't run screaming from the helicopter when I finally set it down in front of the hangar so, I suppose that's a good sign too :D

Anyway, it felt good to get back up in the air in something that you actually have to fly (sorry you fixed wingers, it's just not the same in a plane).

For my next post, I'll try to add some pictures of the Remos and a few helicopter pics I have too.

Fly safe,
Kelly

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Flying tomorrow!! (Fingers crossed. . .)

Just a brief update that, if all goes as planned, I'll get a bit of flying in tomorrow.

I hope to get in an hour or so of helicopter time and maybe another hour of time in the Remos GX.

It's been a busy week at the real job but my mind has definitely been on flying. Hopefully, I can feed my addiction a bit this weekend :D

It's a short blog post and I need to move some more of the older posts over from the old site so, I'll try to do that and post about the flight this weekend.

Safe Flying,
Kelly

FIrst Flight in a Fixed-Wing: Remos GX

Well, it's not a helicopter, I'll say that.

This afternoon I took my first flight as a student in an airplane. I had a little heads up on what to expect based on information gleaned from a fellow helicopter pilot who also had his first fixed-wing experience. However, it was still quite surprising how little there is to do once you're in the air.

But before I talk too much about the boring part :) let's talk pre-flight. . .

Pre-Flight

The pre-flight on a plane is nowhere near as involved and complex as the pre-flight for a helicopter.

On a helicopter you're looking at everything. Check the warning lights, check the engine surfaces, check for fretting, is that hose loose?  On a plane?? It's oil, flight surfaces and fuel (maybe a bit more than that, but not a whole lot more really).

Note: This is a theme you will see repeated: Helicopter complex, plane simple.

I'll skip the boring startup stuff (although, the Dynon(sp?) instruments are very snazzy) and go straight to the taxi.

Taxi

Taxing was a bit odd. I'm used to hovering out to the taxiway and there's really no significant transition to flight since you're flying right from the pickup. In the plane, you push in the throttle a bit  and you're rolling. You don't use the joystick/yoke to steer. It's all pedals. It feels a bit uncontrolled because, though you have brakes, they don't feel like they could stop you on a dime. The idea is to really look ahead and start reducing throttle before you need to.

So. . . we taxi out to the stop/hold short line and do the run up (brake set - increase RPMs). You do some more checks and then make the call and take the runway.

On the go!!

Once you take the runway, it's a very quick transition to flight. Essentially, you push in the throttle all the way (very quick acceleration) and a little right rudder to hold the center. Once you reach 55kts you pull back just a tad on the stick and you're climbing. Very simple (remember the theme?).

Flying

As a helicopter pilot, you've got a lot going on all the time. If you're not flying, you're crashing. In a plane, you climb to your altitude (very little input needed) and then reduce power (actually start reducing about 100' before your altitude) to level out at your desired speed. After that, you can set the trim and take your hands off the stick (Note to all helicopter pilots - Yes, I said hands off!!).

The biggest challenge initially is not to overfly. You can really relax a bit and let the plane fly.

Landing

So, you want to land. . . I won't say that this is the exact procedure but I think I have the major points. Line up with the runway, reduce power (how quickly depends on how fast you want to descend), keep about 75kts. The throttle controls altitude/descent and the stick controls speed. As you get close to the ground, bring the nose up a bit and level off, then flare just a little and the extra drag will be enough to drop the plane out of flight and onto the ground (it's less drastic than it sounds).

That's it. Taxi back, shut down, get out. No waiting for the clutch to disengage, no waiting for the blades to slow/stop. You turn the key off, it's off. Period.

Say it with me: Helicopter complex, plane simple.

Hopefully, I'll be flying something of the rotorwing variety tomorrow afternoon. However, I can't wait to get back up in a plane again too. It was a ton of fun.

Safe flying,
Kelly

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Initial Entry - Beginning through 8 hours (the highlights).

NOTE: This blog entry was first posted February 28, 2008 and was my first entry blogging my student pilot experiences. I'm reposting here as I start to consolidate my previous entries onto this site. There are 25 entries in all and I'll post 1 to 2 a day. I'll also include some current entries interspersed and will try to be very clear about which entries are reposts and which are current.

This blog will track my flight and ground school experiences through my PPL rating. Hopefully, I'll look back on this during my commercial and CFI training and regain any lost perspective. If other student pilots (current and future) are able to learn anything (or just amuse themselves at my bumbling) then; bonus.

I'm currently at around 8 hours of flight time and 5 weeks into the ground school.

To date my challenges have been:

Hover: Duh! Of course this was a challenge. From what I gather, it is for most student pilots (except those gifted few who are born hovering from the womb :huh: ).

I could hover for 5-10secs during my second lesson (2nd hour and 2nd time in an actual helicopter). I did about an hour in the FlyIt sim which seemed to help a bit. However, the next lesson I had pretty much lost it (or at least that's what it seemed like to me).

After some constructive criticism about keeping the grip in my hand (not fingertips) to keep the larger muscles engaged, I got quite a bit better. Relaxing help a LOT too. Now, hover is coming along nicely with the instructor rarely touching the controls during hovers and pickups. It's improving without my really noticing. I'll be working on another skill and just realize that "Hey! I'm hovering pretty good without even thinking about it". Then I immediately do my best imitation of a bobber with a fish on it since I started actually thinking about hovering :D .

Clearing Turns: This was BIG challenge. I would either whip around way too fast or I would completely loose altitude consistency. This was worst when trying in a right crosswind. The interaction between the extra power required by the TR (due to my stopping left pedal pressure early in the turn instead of following through until I was clear of the crosswind) and then the subsequent loss of altitude and need to raise collective, etc, etc. . . was really frustrating. However, I got better during the lesson and the next time, in light wind, it was much, much easier.

Set-downs: This is still a bit of a hang-up for me. I tend to tense up as I approach the ground and raise the collective too much. The increase in power torques me around and I compensate, but then have to lower collective to get lower again and it starts the rabid wobble. (Yes, that's rabid not rapid. If you saw it you'd understand). I'm working on this though and hope to have it worked out in the next hour or so.

My take-offs and approaches (normal) are coming along and I'll be working on steep approaches next lesson. I'm really starting to feel like I can actually fly helicopters :D Just not well. Yet. B)

I'll post again after my lesson on Wednesday.

Kelly

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The Start of my new blog

A little about me. . .

I've previously hosted a blog on my personal web site but, due to the time required to update the install and other reasons (including inability to integrate with Flock), I've decided to move my existing blog.

Over the next few days, I'll be moving and consolidating my existing posts to this site and then will begin posting current articles on my continuing journey from student pilot to aviation professional.

What the blog is about. . .

I began my journey from a ground-bound gravity slave to helicopter pilot January of 2008. It took me until September of 2008 to earn my private pilot's license. This blog will track my journey and the challenges I've personally faced in my efforts to transition from zero air-time towards my goal of becoming a full-blown commercial pilot flying for a living instead of working behind a desk.

Hopefully, my experiences and posts will entertain and possibly inform others who are on the same path.

Comments Welcome!

I am always looking to hear from others who are pursuing their own aviation dream. No matter where you are in the journey (or even if you're just interested and not actually pursuing your own rating . . . yet), please leave your comments or questions. I'm not above taking requests for posting topics and I'll definitely respond as best I can to any specific questions.

Safe Flying,
Kelly