My flight school has a lot going on lately. First they got a new airplane. It is another Rider MD3 but with a stronger engine and a very nice build in GPS. So this will probably be my travelling machine in the future.
Then they brought back this yellow beauty. She is one of their old trainings machines. It is a “Wild Thing”. It has many qualities but “wild” is not one of them.
The “Wild Thing” is relatively large for a Ultra Light, it is full metal and quite rugged. And it has a tail wheel configuration!
This may look like a little thing but actually it makes for very different handling on the ground. According to the flight instructor, learning to fly a tail wheel aircraft requires quite some practice. The aircraft tickles me and I think I am going to give it a try!
I have started a post in a forum, asking for advice. You can find that here (in German…). I will keep you posted how it goes!
To be continued…
(originally posted on July 30, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/tail-wheel-endorsement/)
It’s official, stamp and all – I can carry passengers now. My last flight to Eisenhüttenstadt was good enough for the lady at the aviation administration and she mailed an updated licese to me.
So if you don’t want to come fly with me, now would be a good time to come up with excuses!
To be continued…
(originally posted on July 15, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/passenger-rating-this-time-for-real/)
Visibility: about 50 km
Temperature: 27°C
QNH: 1011hPa
Location: EDAE (Eisenhüttenstadt)
Equipment: MD3 Rider (D-MALJ)
I took a quick trip to Eisenhüttenstadt today. It turns out that the lady at the aviation administration disagrees with my flight instructor over the requirements for my passenger rating. She is asking for one more trip of more than 50 km.
Eisenhüttenstadt is 62 kilometres according to my flight plan. Also it is an airport I had not been to and today was a gorgeous day for flying after a week of rain!
The city of Eisenhüttenstadt was founded in 1950 as a socialist model city around a steel mill. Today, former “Stalinstadt” is a strange melting pot of socialistic glorification of heavy industry and modern high tech. (wikipedia.org/Eisenhüttenstadt)
To be continued…
(originally posted on July 6, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/steel-bread-peace/)
In July of 2012, the new airport “Berlin Brandenburg International” (BER) will open. Before that, there will be a series of tests for the new terminals.
Yours truly signed up as a volunteer for the test programm and I was accepted. So next February (!) I will spend a day at the new airport pretending to travel.
(originally posted on July 3, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/airport-test/)
Visibility: about 20 km
Temperature: 26°C
QNH: 1013hPa
Location: EDAY (Strausberg)
Equipment: MD3 Rider (D-MALJ)
I did the first addition to my pilot’s license – the passenger rating. With the sports pilots license, I can only fly on my own or with another pilot. Before I can take passengers, I have to fly solo to three different airports and I have to fly two trips of more than 200 km and a stop over each with a flight instructor.
We have decided to fly up to the coast today. The island of Rügen is the right distance from Strausberg and it is a nice trip. It is a warm day, the fuel tanks are full and with the flight instructor and myself on board, Lima Juliet is working hard as she climbs out of Strausberg.
The passenger rating is a great idea. It gives a new pilot like myself the possibility to get used to handling the aircraft without the reassuring presence of a flight instructor. After each of my solo flights, I came back with home work. I read the rules for the air spaces again and brushed-up on my radio communication. I learned how to fuel the aircraft and how to check the other engine fluids.
The weather is calm and although we don’t have great visibility, flying is pleasant. The instructor and I are chatting about the weather conditions and he confirms my navigation and gives me helpful tips.
The airport at Rügen is very proper and not very busy. We have fish for lunch and watch a tired Cessna take off with a group of tourists.
After the break we take the long way home. Out onto the sea and along the coast of the island. First along Prora, the Nazi vaccation home which at one point was the largest building in he world. Then further up to the tip of Rügen with its white cliffs like in Dover. Over to the western side and back along the neighboring island of Hiddensee – a glorified sand bank, really.
In the distance the city of Stralsund appears with the Rügendamm bridge to the island, its historic port and and the post-war industrial complex that is the Volkswerft ship yard. The size of the container vessels build there has increased
inversely proportional to the number of workers needed to build them or sailors to sail them.
From Stralsund on we follow the A20 highway back to our course line home. There is a pretty boring stretch ahead of us with not a lot of visual reference to navigate by except for the curvy concrete band of the interstate. As I look over to the flight instructor, I can’t help but smile. He is asleep in his seat. It does not look like he is fearing for his life.
To be continued…
(originally posted on June 22, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/passenger-rating/)
It was map day at the flight school a few days ago. Every year the new aviation maps come out. After they are released, the old ones become void. The flight school usually has an order sheet for the new maps out and orders them collectively.
There are eight different maps for Germany. I ordered three – Berlin, Rostock (north of Berlin to the Baltic sea coast) and Hamburg (north west of Berlin with the North sea coast). So this is the area I’m planning to take on for this season.
To be continued…
(originally posted on June 9, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/map-day/)
Today my licence arrived in the mail. The stamp makes it official, what a great feeling!
Last week I went to the flight school to complete the paper work with the instructor. He was not there the day I took the test, so we had a cup of coffee together last week and got the application for the licence ready.
And since I was there anyway, I took my new powers for a spin. Without the physical licence, the instructor had to write a flight plan for me and sign that he was sending me.
I went on the short hop over to Eggersdorf. I had done that trip numerous times before and it was a good first trip as a new pilot.
(originally posted on May 6, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/paper-work/)
I’m up early. I did not sleep well, woke up several times. I’m nervous. Yesterday I spent three hours at the flight school drinking coffee and listening to the rain. It should have been my practice run but we stayed on the ground. “I’m sure it’s gonna be okay” says the teacher. I don’t feel well prepared.
My wife tries to calm me down over breakfast. I look at the sky. It is completely over cast but it looks light. Without a reference it is very difficult to tell how high the clouds are. I need 2,000 feet, more would be better.
On the way to the airport I watch an airliner turn into the final approach of the near by commercial airport. I know that it is flying in the controlled airspace “charly” which is above 2,500 feet here. The large jet is not even close to the clouds. One less thing to worry about.
I’m at the airport very early. Watching as an early pilot gets his Cessna ready, I look at the sky. The sun is dyeing the clouds orange. It looks pretty together with the light blue patches in between.
The secretary of the flight school arrives and the office smells of coffee. I fire up the computer to start with my flight preparations. At least this I practiced yesterday. The weather data of the GAFOR system looks promising. Except for the wind direction. ‘VRB’ (variable) means that I have no direction to put into the flight plan. So I can not compensate for the wind. 10 knots is not too bad, though.
The examiner arrives just as I’m getting the flight plan ready. I like him. He was also the examiner for the theory class last year. He is very experienced and very calm. He radiates calm – just what I need now!
Three out of five
We chat for a few moments until the mechanic comes in to tell us that the aircraft is ready. The first part of the test is precision landings. I have five tries to get three right. I tell the examiner that I did not practice yesterday because of the weather and that I would like to fly two patterns before we get startet. He smiles in a friendly way and says I should not bother but start with the precision landings right away.
I do a slow and thorough pre flight check. The examiner is watching me and I comment on every check item as the flight instructor has taught me to do. We taxi out to the runway. The examiner gets out to watch my landings from the side of the runway. I am cleared for take-off and bring the aircraft in position on the center line. 1,200 meters of runway in front of me with a slight slope. My hand is shaking when I let go of the yoke. Come on, get a grip, you can do this!
A precision landing is an emergency landing exercise. You fly over the threshold of the runway at 2,000 feet. Then you pull the engine to idle and fly a full circle in order to arrive at the threshold and touch-down within a 150 meter area. I begin the first one and come in too high. My circle was not wide enough and I am still at a comfortable altitude over the landing area. I push the throttle forward and go around. One out of five.
On the second attempt I talk to myself loudly. I call out altitudes and way points. I come in too high again. I can safely get the aircraft on the ground now but I am way out of the 150 meter area. So I go around again. Strike two, now it has to work.
The talking to myself helps. I remember my altitudes from the last round and fly a wider circle. At 700 feet I set the flaps to 15° and slip a few moments to loose more altitude. During the flare, shortly before touch-down, I cross the middle marker of the landing area. I force Lima Juliet to sit down and turn the left over kinetic energy into squeaking rubber. Not cat like but within the landing area. I’m getting calmer.
Turn number four, I am actually a bit low. The flight instructor told me before, that I can cheat a little by giving the engine just a half a turn of power to slow down the descent. As long as I don’t gain altitude again, the examiner would not be able to tell from the tower. My examiner is not on the tower but right next to the runway. So much for cheating. I set the flaps late and actually make a respectable landing.
Number five is actually good. I break and stop the aircraft on the runway. I close my eyes for a second and take a deep breath. On to the second part.
The examiner gets on board and we take-off for the second part of the test. Now I go on course 121 on the first leg of my prepared rout. On the way the examiner asks me to perform several maneuvers. A “flat 8″ were I do two circles and should arrive back at the staring point. Rolling the aircraft from one side to the other around the center line.
“Keep in mind, the nearest exit might be behind you…”
Just after crossing a near by airport, he pulls the engine to idle to simulate an engine failure. I push the nose down to control the speed and then turn back to the airport behind us. Examiners love to I see whether the examinees are looking for an empty field ahead or if they remember the safety of a nice and plane runway just behind them. I was prepared for this, he can not fool me. A few minutes later we simulate landing on a field. I set full flaps in order to be as slow as possible on touch-down. It feels as if someone is holding the aircraft by the tail. Just before I am able to identify what is growing below us, he tells me to go. We scare a few cows as the engine screams to life.
A moment later he does catch me off guard by asking which air space is above us and at what altitude. I blank and fight with the map for a bit before I can give the answer.
I keep talking as I was told by my instructor. I volunteer possible emergency landing areas, tell were the wind is coming from and comment on the engine readings. The examiner does not say much. I know it is the way he is and it actually calms me down.
“Please stay seated until the aircraft has come to a complete stop”
The trip is meant to take just over 30 minutes but by the time we are approaching Strausberg again, almost one hour has elapsed. All the drills and emergency landings take time.
The landing is acceptable and we taxi back to the apron. I carefully follow the shut-down check list. Then I fill in the log book. “So, what do you think?” asks the examiner. I decide to take the bull by the horns and say “I thought it was okay.” He smiles and shakes my hand “I though so too. Congratulations.”
To be continued…
(originally posted on April 16, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/big-day/)
My first solo flight was on October first and it lasted for 21 minutes.
On that day I was flying with Klaus. He used to be a fighter pilot in the East German army. Klaus has been flying for 50 years and has probably been teaching for a good part of that. Long retired from the cockpit of his Russian MiG fighter jet, he is teaching a very different crowd nowadays.
That morning, Klaus and I had gone from Strausberg (EDAY) over to Egersdorf (EDCE). The two air fields are about 10 minutes apart from each other and since there is less traffic and a very long grass runway at EDCE, we go there a lot. The day was clear and moderate winds were coming from the east. Klaus and I did pattern work for about an hour. After warming up a bit, we started with emergency drills. Simulated engine failures on take-off and emergency landings.
During our seventh round, Klaus asked me if I had flown solo before. I said no and he did not say much. After the eighth landing, he pulled the break and told me to get off the runway and taxi over to the tower. On the way he told me to do three more touch and go’s on my own now and then come back to pick him up. I was thrilled!
He double checked with me if I felt comfortable going solo. He told me to take it easy. He would be watching from the tower and would be in touch with me by radio.
Everybody told me that the first time alone in the plane is a very special feeling and boy were they right! I did what I had done before but the absence of the instructors watchful eyes made all the difference!
I knew that the aircraft was very light. But I was still surprised how clearly I could notice the absence of the second person. When I pushed the throttle forward for take-off, I was airborne almost immediately and I reached the pattern altitude before the first turn.
The three rounds I did went well. On the second one I came in a bit too high but all in all it went well. But the significance of the first solo was not so much the technical aspect of flying but the emotional aspect of doing it alone.
No second pair of eyes in the cockpit with me, no one to ask if the approach looked okay. Now it was me and what I had learned so far. This sudden independence was exhilarating. I was now able to bring an airplane to fly and I could safely land it again – I could fly!
When I picked Klaus back up at the tower, I could not get the smile out of my face.
To be continued…
(originally posted on April 4, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/first-solo/)
