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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2004
Take off BFI, meet Deane in Bremmerton, fly to Hoquiam, Elma, and return
to BFI
Cessna 150, 5 landings, 2.7 hours
I saw this good weather in the forecast and reserved
the plane for a cross country flight. I've been trying to get another
cross country in so that I can practice with the ATC services again. And
I've been trying to fly out to the coast. Today it all worked out. As
a different way of writing about the flight, here's my report to Deane:
From: Tom Unger <unger@tumtum.com>
To: Deane Page <deanepage@juno.com>
Date: 02 Mar 2004 19:43:00 -0800
Deane,
Made it back to Seattle with out incident. This time
I actually made it
back very close to when my flight plan said I was to make it back to
BFI.
I used several ATC services, including FSS to file, open,
AND CLOSE the
flight plan, Seattle Center for flight following out to Hoquiam, and
Flight Watch to file and PIREP on the way back.
I missed the runway at Elma. I was high and had to go
around. This is
the 3rd time I've missed out of 136 landings. It is easy to recognize
when I'm high and easy to go around. Maybe I could have gotten down.
After going around I got properly positioned and was able land using
only half of the 2,700 ft runway (the first half that is). It does not
take that much runway to land these 150s. But as long as my engine is
running there is no reason to push it.
I still don't believe in dead reckoning. The course I calculated did
not seem to be the course I should fly, both on the way there and on the
way back. I have my GPS with me but I'm not looking at it because I
know the only way to learn to trust dead reckoning is to use it
successfully. I'm looking at the landmarks the line on my chart says I
should be crossing over. There are two reasons that I suspect dead
reckoning is not working for me. 1. the winds are not as forecast.
With all the terrain deflecting winds around here I'm very willing to
believe this. 2. the compass does not point the way it is supposed to.
I'm less willing to doubt the compass, but would not rule it out. Of
course there is also: 3. I'm doing it wrong.
Since running out of gas is one of the leading causes
of accidents I've
become more interested in knowing exactly how much gas I have on board.
To this end I have made a dip stick. I have one mark on it for FULL and
another for EMPTY. In between is an area of uncertainty. I'm assuming
the scale is not linear. How can I calibrate it?
BTW, I'm completely willing to supply a piece of wood
for each plane to
be calibrated and left with the airplane. Other pilots may benefit from
knowing how much fuel they have. Plus I'll feel better not driving
around town with a fuel saturated stick in my bag.
--Tom
In addition I also noticed several interesting things at each landing:
- At Bremmerton I was able to keep the plane from sinking by pulling
up on the nose more. This slowed the plane and made for a fairly soft
landing. Also, I noticed myself pulling back and checking forward, constantly
testing the control input I was giving. I felt good about this.
- At Hoquiam I bobbled a little before touch down. I'm not sure exactly
what happened, but know I was not in complete control the whole time.
So, after a break, I did a touch and go and made a fine landing.
- At Elma, after going around once, I was so focused on landing ON the
very narrow runway that I let the plane sink and land a little hard.
Important to continue to pay attention to everything.
- At Boeing field I came in on a moderate glide slope with power. With
full flaps it required a fair amount of power to keep speed up to 60
mph. As I fl aired I kept the power on because I think if I took it
off the plane would have quickly slowed and then dropped. The result
was that I continued flying just a couple feet above the runway. I wanted
to be down there, but could not quite figure out how to coordinate power
and attitude to arrive at a gentle touchdown. This went on long enough
that I think people on the ground may have wondered what I was doing.
I think it involves a gentle reduction in power along with a gentle
flair, really close to the ground.
Thursday, March 4th, 2004
Take off BFI, fly to Chehalis, Olympia, return to BFI
Cessna 172, 3 Landings, 1.9 hours
Marie is coming along on this flight. It will be
her first flight. She's a little nervous so chooses a night flight on
which she might not see the ground as well.
The forecast is for fairly good weather, 3,500ft
ceilings,. When we meet at Boeing there is a rain shower overhead and
the sky looks thick and dark to the south. Of course, it is
night. Still, if I came down for a day time flight and saw a sky as dark
as this one appears to be I wouldn't go. To check, I call up FSS and get
the current conditions at Olympia and Tacoma. Still good, in fact clear
sky in places and the forecast remains good. So I say that we should at
least fly down to Tacoma.
Well, once we are out from under the clouds over
Boeing it is a beautiful night. The air is clear and we can see the lights
of the cities all around us. Above are scattered clouds through which
we occasionally see the moon or stars.
At both Chehalis and at Olympia I remotely turn
on runway lighting by clicking my microphone PTT button. The lights surrounding
the runway slowly come on - it is a beautiful thing. First, it is cool
that I can operate the runway lighting from the airplanes but more, the
way the lighting fades from black, making a runway appear where there
was nothing, is somehow beautiful.
Back in Boeing field Marie says that she had a lot
of fun and thought it was very beautiful
Here are some things that I learned:
- If you are uncertain if an airport control tower is open call the
tower: "Tacoma Tower, Cessna 738JV". If they reply then you
know they are open.
- If you have two radios you can use one to monitor enroute ATC services
(Flight Following) and the other to communicate to local towers and
airspaces.
Night landings.
- Don't expect the landing to be as smooth as daytime.
- If you have uncertainty about terrain or other obstructions fly the
pattern a little higher.
- It is difficult to judge your height above the runway.
- Don't get fixated on the glow of the runway numbers in your landing
lights.
- Look to the far end of the runway and use the outline to help gauge
position.
- Because judging height is difficult be careful to not fly the nose
wheel into the runway.
- Flare conservatively, set a nose up attitude, use power to control
descent, fly to the runway.
I found the runway came up faster than I expected.
Clouds:
- City lights make it easier to see clouds.
- It is easily to fly above a layer of clouds with out realizing it.
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