Meet LISA

Meet LISA

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Visibility: CAVOC, more than 10k
Temperature: 16°C
Wind: 250°, 6 knots
QNH: 1021hPa
Location: EDAZ (Schönhagen)
Equipment: N9920U Grumman AA-5A “Cheetah”

I read several magazines about aviation on a more or less regular basis. But there is one that I never miss an issue of: “Pilot und Flugzeug“. The magazine itself is in a small format and does not look as glossy as some. But the content is the best I have seen. A lot of it is over my head but I am inspired by it every month.

The other great thing about “Pilot und Flugzeug” is the fact that they operate three aircraft. Two are single engine four seaters and one is a pressurized turbine twin. And all of them are available for readers to use!

Today I will be checked out on “Lisa Berlin”. She is a Grumman AA-5A “Cheetah”. LISA is a light four seater, not unlike the Cessna 172 I have been flying. But her low wing configuration gives her a sleek look compared to the trusted but bulky Cessna. I have read the flight manual, passed a small online check-out, mailed copies of my license and the rental agreement to the publisher and today I get to meet LISA in person.

Meet LISA

LISA is stationed at Schönhagen. A busy and well organized airfield south of the big city. I am early and a friendly clerk hands me log book and the keys. I have time for a walk around on my own.

When the friendly instructor arrives, we start with some formalities and ground school. Then follows the briefing in the aircraft. LISA was born in the 70s but has been equipped with modern avionics, including a Bendix KFD 840 “Primary Flight Display”. This integrated flight instrument requires some training before it is mastered.

Off we go

I’m ready for some action and so is LISA. The steering on the ground is done by differential breaking which requires practice. We take off and fly out of the pattern to do air work. As a low wing aircraft, LISA has a higher roll rate than the high wing Cessna, the climb qualities are similar.

We do a few turns, stalls, slow flight with flaps and without, and a basic introduction to the auto pilot. I like the little cat right away. She feels lighter on the controls than the Cessna and is still more stable than the agile but nervous Light Sport class.

After about half an hour of air work, we turn back to the airport for some landings. On to the next challenge!

Ground effect

I have almost no experience with low wing aircraft. Close to the ground, the flow of air under the wings can build up so that the aircraft “floats” on this waive. This “ground effect” is a much bigger factor in low wing aircraft, as the wings are much closer to the ground.

The instructor has told me to not worry too much and just cut the power a bit earlyer that I usually would. So I bring the engine to idle, flare and grease her to the ground. The stall horn chimes (as it should) and LISA sits down in the middle of the touch down zone. Wow, that was easy!

Beginners luck – the next two approaches are a bit bumpier. But all in all LISA handles well on approach and lands easily.

After an hour the instructor has seen enough. He signs my log book and I am officially qualified to fly PIC in the Grumman AA-5A. EDAZ has a nice restaurant with a terrace overlooking the apron. This is where I conclude the flying day with a large beverage on the table in front of me. I can’t wait for the next time I see LISA!

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on May 8, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/meet-lisa/)

Pipeline flying

Pipeline flying

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Visibility: Clear in the north, less so in the south
Temperature: 15°C
Wind: 270°, 2 knots
QNH: 1015hPa
Location: Finow (EDAV)
Equipment: D-MAKT (FlightDesign CTLS)

My flying buddy has a day job. Part of that is aerial documentation of pipelines. On occasion I will go on a job with him. He gets to take better shots, I get to fly for free.

Todays construction site is more than two flight hours away. There is a mountain range about half way there and we are not sure if the weather on the other side is going to be good enough. So we make a quick stop for fuel and a weather update at one of the mountain airfields.

The spring sun has started to lift the clouds and burn-off the mist on the other side of the mountains. So we fuel-up and venture forward. The route of the pipeline plays with a highway, a train line and a river, all competing for space in the narrow valley.

We set flaps and trim the aircraft for slow speed. Then we sink to the legal limit into the valley. He opens the photo window and I follow the windy path of the pipeline as slowly as possible, always looking ahead for raising terrain. After a few moments I get used to the strange sensation and “Kilo Tango” almost feels like a helicopter.

After about half an hour we are done and the memory cards of the camera are full with the days work. We turn towards home and through a large hole, we climb above the clouds. The sun is bright and powerful up here and the air is smooth. On the way home we might even get a tan!

My friend has a long night of driving ahead of him. So he just jumps out and I take “Kilo Tango” to bed. She is stationed at an old military airfield now. The hangars were constructed as bunkers for the fighter jets of the cold war area. Now they are the safest space imaginable for a peace time photo ship.

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on April 30, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/pipeline-flying/)

We miss you, Captain Dave!

We miss you, Captain Dave!

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There are many blogs on aviation out there. My all time favorite, however, is Captain Dave’s “Flight Level 390″ blog.

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A while back it disappeared from blogspot and I did not find anybody who knew much about it. This is tragic and I miss Captain Dave’s view on the world from above a lot. After all he was an inportant inspiration and influence on me to start this blog!

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I hope you are well, Dave! And I hope to read from you again in the future. Happy Landings until then!

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on March 16, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/we-miss-you-captain-dave/)

High-tech and sunshine

High-tech and sunshine

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Visibility: CAVOC, more than 10k
Temperature: 2°C
Wind: 240°, 4 knots
QNH: 1022hPa
Location: Crussow
Equipment: D-MAKT (FlightDesign CTLS)

My flying buddy calls to tease me (“Just wanted you to know that the bird is out of the hangar”). The sky is blue and the sun is shining for the first time in weeks – and I have to work.

But there is flexibility in my job and I can swap with a colleague. The morning is mine, the roads are empty and the Bavarian straight six accommodates my eagerness to get to the airport.

I have not flown “Kilo Tango” since the fall. I am pretty rusty with her. So we plan to start the day with a bit of pattern work. After the first take-off however, she climbes out of the small pattern like a homesick angel*. So I reconsider and do some air work to loosen up.

After a bit of that, we approach the runway for a touch-and-go. The FlightDesign CT is aerodynamically very clean. She excelerates and climbes fast and it requires conciderable effort to slow her down. After pulling back the throttle, she keeps going for a long time. A big adjustment from the Cessnas I have been flying over the winter. Pulling the throttle on the 172 feels like throwing an anchor in comparison.

It takes six approaches before I have three decent touch-and-goes. I have to learn to be more ahead of the aircraft, plan the approch and fly very exact speeds and altitudes. There is not a lot of cheating possible.

Time for some flying

We climb to 4.000 feet and set course for an airfield we both have not been to. The sun warms our faces and the view is gorgeous. The snow on the fields has melted but most of the lakes are still frozen.

The air up here is smooth and I have time to get deeper into the glass cockpit. I read the manual of the Dynon D100 and D120 EFIS but it takes practice to make use of all the functions and information available.

What was science fiction 20 years ago can now be found in the cockpit of a light sport aircraft. On the main screen, I get attitude, altitude and speed at a glance together with the trends. Actual heading and planned course are displayed as well as the engine instruments. In addition to that I get wind direction and speed, angle of attack and outside air temperature. We live in great times.

On the way back we have kind of a quiet moment. A beautyful day, a great aircraft, a good friend and the freedom to just go and fly. What a sweet day!

To be continued…

*yet another term I borrowed from the greatly missed Captain Dave!

 

(originally posted on March 3, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/high-tech-and-sunshine/)

O Airport Where Art Thou?

O Airport Where Art Thou?

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Visibility: not great, about 3k
Temperature: -2°C
Wind: 070°, 7 knots
QNH: 1020hPa
Location: EDAZ (Schönhagen)
Equipment: D-EKKS (Cessna 172N)

My new license has arrived more than a week ago and is still unused. The sky has been gray for weeks and I am ground-sick. Today the clouds are slightly higher and there is only moderate snow in the forecast for the afternoon. So I am off to the airport to see what is possible.

The target for the day is EDAZ, Schönhagen. It is a nice airfield south of the big city and about 40 minutes away from the home base. I do a quick flight plan-gestimation and am off. The visibility is not great, the ceiling is at about 2500 feet. There are patches of blue visible every now and again.

The radio beacon in Fürstenwalde (FWE VOR) is my waypoint. I fly on its radial 250° towards Schönhagen. The ground is snow covered. Lakes are frozen, from above it is difficult to tell them from meadows. Navigation by ground reference is very limited.

I use radial 305° of the KLF VOR as cross reference. The airport should be at the intersection of the two radials. EDAZ is located north of a little village and surrounded by forrest. I watch the needle of the second VOR slowly move to the middle and start looking for the airport. I have drifted a bit to the south but how bad can it be, really.

When I think I should see the airfield any minute now, I call in and announce my location, altitude and intention. Runway 07 is in use, there is not much going on on the Schönhagen frequency.

A few more moments pass and I still don’t have the airport in sight. The KLF needle is in the center now and the FWE needle is about 2 degrees to the right. Not a big deal as I want to enter the traffic pattern from the south anyway. I look ahead and to the right and I can only see gray sky and white ground. I turn a bit to the north and keep looking. I don’t want to accidentally get too close to the traffic pattern. I watch for a runway and wrestle down a slight feeling of uneasiness.

A few more minutes pass. The needle of the KLF VOR has moved out of the center again. I start thinking about options. What if I don’t find the airport?

I have fuel for about three hours – no problem here
Engine instruments are looking good – no reason to worry
I can simply fly back to the FWE VOR and go back home from there – safe exit strategy
I don’t have to pee – no need to hurry

Aviate, navigate, communicate

My situation is annoying and a bit embarrassing but not dangerous. I am at a safe altitude and I have enough fuel. So I start checking my map for a good point of reference. I did not take the approach chart with me and I start regretting the hasty flight planning already, when I see a city in front of me. The only larger city close to the airport is Luckenwalde, about 5 miles south. Could I be off my course by so much?

Recovery

I decide to follow the town to an intersection directly south of the airport and try to shoot straight up from there. I keep looking and before long I see the black of the runway through the mist. What a relieve!

I am one of only two guests at the airport restaurant in Schönhagen. I order a big glass of juice – my mouth is just a bit dry…

Incident investigation

Back home at my desk I try to figure out what went wrong. I start with my map. I gestimated a course of 250° from the FWE VOR to Schönhagen. The actual course should have been 252°, so that is a error of 2°.

Next I check the GPS log on CloudAhoy. From the VOR I flew a pretty straight line at first. Then, there is a slight change of course, about half way between the VOR and Schönhagen. Not much, maybe another 3° or 4°.

I am surprised to see how far this little deviation brought me from my course. How many miles does 5° translate to?

The distance from the VOR to Schönhagen is about 38 nautical miles. Remembering high school geometry, 2\pi x 38 miles gives me a circle of 239 miles. Divide that by 360 degrees and the distance per degree deviation in Schönhagen was about .66 NM.

So 5 lousy degrees – clearly within the margin of error of the junior aviator – translates into a miss of more than 3 nautical miles (3.5 statute miles or 5.5 kilometers)! Well beyond the visibility of the day.

Add the inaccuracy of the VOR indicator (the scale is analog and pretty approximate) and it becomes clear what has happened.

My Instructor smiles knowingly when I tell him the story. “Feels pretty bad if you can’t find the airport, doesn’t it?”

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on February 26, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/o-airport-where-art-thou/)

CVFR – JAR-FCL

CVFR – JAR-FCL

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Visibility: more than 10k
Temperature: 2°C
Wind: 200°, 5 knots
QNH: 998hPa
Location: EDAY (Strausberg)
Equipment: D-EFNK (Cessna 172)

It is the nicest day in weeks. The clouds are orange with the morning sun against a blue sky. The instructor is very upbeat when I arrive at the flight school. The gray weather of the last couple of weeks demoralized not only his students.

Last night, I talked to the examiner on the phone. He gave me the route for today so that I can prepare the flight. I get busy on the flight planning sheet, fill in this mornings weather. It takes me a long time to complete the calculations. I am nervous.

The examiner arrives and is very relaxed. He is new and my instructor pays a lot of attention to the questions he asks and the things he checks. With a cup of coffee, we go through the papers. After I answered all of his questions about the registration and the radio certificate, he wants to go fly.

I’m after a mouth full of letters: PPL-A JAR-FCL. That is the “Private Pilots License for airplanes” (PPL-A) after Part “Flight Crew Licensing” (FCL) of the “Joined Aviation Requirements” (JAR) of the “Joined Aviation Authorities” (JAA) of Europe. One of the joined requirements is the rating for “Controlled Visual Flight Rule” (CVFR). I am scheduled for the check ride this morning.

Thorough pre-flight

This is my fourth check-ride. I start with a very thorough pre-flight check and talk about everything I do. The examiner has a lot of questions but I am prepared. Last time I did not know the alternator from the starter – this is not going to happen to me again!

Our route will take us into the controlled airspace of the big city today. We plan a low approach at the international airport before we leave to the south for navigation drills and air work. All in all the small triangle should not take us more than an hour.

The home base is very close to the class D airspace of the big city. So I need to check in with Air Traffic Control (ATC) quickly after take-off. Before I call the controller, the examiner tells me that I can announce that this is a check ride if I like. Some examiners will not let you do that as the controller might then treat you differently.

The frequency is not very busy. After I have announced our intentions, we are cleared for the controlled airspace right away. The examiner picks up the mike and talks to the controller again “we would like to do a low pass” he says. My mind is on high alert. Did I not just announce that to the controller? I thought I did. In fact I am almost certain that I did! The controller comes back after a perceivable pause “yes,…that is how I understood your intentions” she says. I am relieved!

The flight through the class D airspace is uneventful. I announce the compulsory reporting points and the controller acknowledges it. Except for these exchanges, there is no traffic on the VFR frequency. I have time to relax and to enjoy the flight.

The timing for our low pass is good. We are cleared for the approach and I turn from base to final. The perspective on the massive runway with its landing lights in front of us, is quite spectacular.

Trying to keep the time we block the approach sector as short as possible, I do not set flaps and fly in fast. A few feet above the ground, I round out, close the carburetor heat and push the throttle forward. The large Lycoming in front of us rumbles to life and pulls us out of the Airbus territory. The first part of the check ride is over.

VOR

I have come to like VORs very much. These “light houses” of aviation are a bit anachronistic but very reliable. We determine the course to the VOR on our route, then I determine the wind influence and follow the examiners instruction to approach the VOR on a different course. He asks and I answer. Only once he succeeds in confusing me a bit, but I manage to regroup.

Almost there

We are on course back to the home base. The last items on the protocol are steep turns. A full circle at 45 degree bank with holding altitude and speed is a difficult thing to do and I need three attempts before the right seat is happy.

The landing is the best I have done in weeks. Perfect approach and a smooth landing, my instructor will be proud.

After the engine is shut down, the instructor smiles. I have passed!

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on February 14, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/cvfr-jar-fcl/)

Beech Starship N8244L

Beech Starship N8244L

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Visibility: more than 10k
Temperature: 2°C
Wind: 200, 5 knots
QNH: 998hPa
Location: EDAY (Strausberg)
Equipment: Beech Starship 2000A, N8244L

I stumbles across a spectacular beauty in EDAY of all places today. After a great morning of flying, I went into the main hangar to hang out and maybe do some hangar flying with the tech guy from the flight school. My eyes almost popped out when I saw a Beech Starship way back in the corner.

At first I had a hard time believing it but there was no mistake. The gentle flow of the fuselage curving into the large wings with the pusher props mounted on top of them. The high legs, the canards and the long, elegant bow – a Starship 2000A, incredible!

So what is all the excitement?

The Beech company made a very bold move when they decided to develop the starship. The first prototype flew in 1980 and it was available for customers from 1989 on. The pusher configuration, the carbon fiber fuselage and the early version of a glass cockpit made it incredibly advanced. Developed by aviation legend Burt Rutan, the design has many admirers.

Unfortunately, the starship was not exactly a success story for Beechcraft. For a variation of reasons, only 53 were ever build. Beech eventually decided to stop supporting the fleet and bought back as many of the planes as they could in order to destroy them. Today, less than ten (!) remain airworthy.

I only once saw a starship before. It was in the Evergreen Aviation museum in Oregon in 2006. And now one came to me and made my day! I need to find out what it is doing here.

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on February 6, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/beech-starship-n8244l/)

landing

landing

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Visibility: almost unlimited
Temperature: 19°C
Wind: 330, 18 knots
QNH: 1017hPa
Location: EDAY (Strausberg)
Equipment: “Kilo Sierra” (Cessna 172)

Thunk. The main wheels make contact with the runway at 70 miles per hour. The rubber squeaks a bit but that is normal. I hold the nose up for a bit longer until the aircraft has slowed down so much that the lift disappears and the nose wheel gently settles down. We have transitioned from flight to taxi.

Learning how to land is probably the biggest challenge in learning to fly. The aircraft is designed to fly. It wants to fly. So taking off is relatively easy (throttle forward and off she goes). A good landing requires a smooth transition from flying to not flying and that can only be done with a lot of practice!

My first solo was after about 100 landings with the instructor. Now, after flying for about two years in five or six different aircraft types, I maintain a health respect for the process of landing. And every pilot will have the occasional bad landing, even after years of experience.

A good landing starts with a good approach

It all starts in the pattern. The traffic pattern is a set routing for the approach to any given airport. It enables the pilot to execute the phases of the approach and finally land the aircarft even if he has not been to one particular airport before.

The approach in a small, non-complex plane typically looks like this:

Enter the pattern in the downwind leg. Slow down and start setting flaps. Turn on carburetor heat, double-check traffic situation and turn into base (90 degrees off the landing direction).

Double-check the location of the runway, check wind, possibly check landing lights. Start loosing altitude, typically about 200 feet. Now you are ready for the final approach.

Turn one more 90 degree turn into final. The runway is in front of you now. Make sure not to loose too much speed and/or altitude during the turn. Check and adjust the glide path, align the aircraft with the center line of the runway.

As the wind is almost never coming from straight ahead, I usually drift away from the center line.

Cross or crab?

There are two possible ways to compensate for that. I can turn the nose into the wind and approach the runway at an angle. In this scenario I have to straighten the aircraft out shortly before I touch down. If I don’t do that, the landing gear gets pushed down the runway sideways and may break. The crabbed approach is how the big airliners do it.

My flight school prefers to teach the other method, however. In this I use the ailerons to lower the wing into the wind. So if the wind comes from the right, I lower the right wing tip. If I would only do that, the aircraft would start a right turn. To counter act that, I push the left rudder pedal which forces the nose to the left and counter acts the movement to the right.

Now I have to hold the balance of these counter acting steering impulses. As drag increases from the crossing of the rudders, I have to make sure we don’t get too slow. For this I keep the nose down a bit. Also I have to make sure we get to the touch down zone of the runway and I have to adjust the power setting of the engine accordingly. Sounds complicated? It is!

So why do I learn this complicated method as opposed to the straight forward angle of attack? Well, the significant advantage is that I am already aligned with the runway in the very last moment of the approach when I flare the aircraft out. I can concentrate on slowly reducing the energy of the movement of the plane before it touches down hopefully very softly. The aircraft can easily touch down on one wheel first and the settle down on the other one as the lift reduces and the aircraft “gets heavier”.

How high is a beer bottle?

If I would hold the attitude of the aircraft until it makes contact with the runway, the nose wheel would probably be the first thing to touch down. It would probably collapse and the prop would strike the tarmac. A very expensive landing.

That is why I pull the nose of the aircraft up shortly before the landing. Now the aircraft is supposed to float down the runway with this nose-up attitude. The engine is in idle and the attitude means a lot of resistance. So the aircraft is supposed to slow down, the lift decreases and eventually the main wheels make contact with the runway, cat like.

My first flight instructor always told me to flare and float at about the distance of a beer bottle from the runway. It took me a long time to figure out how high a bottle of beer is…

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on January 25, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/landing/)

Worlds busiest airports

Worlds busiest airports

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Within a little over a month I have been to the two busiest Airports (in passenger numbers) in the world:

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (KATL) had a total of 92,365,860 passengers traveling through its halls in 2011. Beijing Capital International Airport (ZBAA) had 77,403,668. Both are modern, vast and intimidating, but there are distinct differences.

PEK entered the top 30 list of the busiest airports of place 26 in the year 2002. 27,159,665 passengers walked its shiny floors that year.

Atlanta was the undisputed number 1 in all of these years and went from 76 million in 2002 to the afore mentioned 92 million in the same time it took Beijing to grow from 27 million to 77 million.

The difference in growth rate can be felt in the air of the airports. Atlanta has been hugh for 30 years. It was completely rebuilt in the 70s and designed for it’s current size.

The terminal with its individual annexes is located in the middle between two parallel runway sets. At the time, this design was groundbreaking. The ways in Atlanta are long but for the size of the complex, the traveling time within the airport is reasonable. The ways for the aircraft are efficient and it is easy for the passengers to navigate.

KATL is busy and at times crazy but it also feels like a well running machine. Nothing can bring it to a stop, everything has happened before, there is a routine in handling non routine situations, in handling large numbers of passengers and in dealing with the needs and whereabouts of travelers from all cultures and all time zones. It is one of the more cosmopolitan places in the United States.

Beijing is different. The predominant feeling is pace, development and growth. Everything is brand spanking new, almost not broken in yet.

The airport radiates national pride but there is also a clear need to demonstrate it. It is build to impress and it is a world of contrasts. Futuristic materials and sparkling surfaces that are being shined with bamboo brooms that have been used in China for a thousand years.

What would be confident routine in Atlanta is excited, almost playful pride in Beijing. Traveling through it is invigorating, a promise of am amazing future.

To be continued…

 

(originally posted on January 18, 2013 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/worlds-busiest-airports/)

aloft

aloft

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“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your Eyes Turned Skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” (Leonardo da Vinci is rumored to have coined this phrase)

 

(originally posted on December 22, 2012 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/aloft/)