Cloud Rapture

Last Sunday I flew a dual cross country to Beaumont. I was excited, this flight would involve jumping across Galveston Bay and talking to Beaumont tower. I got there at the crack of dawn, I almost slipped on dew as I hurried to do my preflight.
We set a course to fly down around Ellington airspace and then came across League City and Clear Lake. I could see my apartment! The air was a little unstable that morning so we could see large clouds building in the distance, especially out over the gulf. The view was amazing. As my head peered over the side I exclaimed over the mic, “this is why I’m learning to fly!”
And that was only the beginning. We got up to the bay and flew over the Kemah bridge at 1800 feet, just under Houston Hobby’s Class B airspace. The water and all the little toy boats slowly passed under us and the sun hit the bay making it glimmer and sparkle. The class B airspace above us higher at that point so we climbed up to 3500 feet. It took us around 13 minutes to cross the bay and it was over all too soon.
When we reached the opposite shore I could see lake anahuac off to my left so I knew were on course. There were a few scattered clouds below our altitude and my instructor pointed them out. It would be easy enough to avoid them and maintain VFR (visual flight rules) flight but they would continue to build. “in half an hour it’ll be worse?” I said. And he just told me to remember what it looks like right now.
At 20 miles out we called up Beautmont Approach and they told us to “squak” radio code 3457. This code is quickly dialed into our transponder so the controllers can identify our plane. We simply read back the number and that was it.
That is the trick when talking to tower, just say back what you the tower tells you. If they say maintain course and altitude of 2500 feet, parrot that back and go to that alititude. If anything it’s less workload because now they are taking care of you and vectoring you in to land. They also will point out other traffic to you as their workload permits. Awesome.
So we were cleared in for a right hand base turn into runway 12. The airport was pretty quiet and I landed no problem. One thing is there is a lot of “frequency” jumping. You talk to approach on the way in and then they hand you off to tower and once you are on the ground and off the runway you talk to ground control. This whole process is then reversed as you leave. Ground control hands you off to tower who then hands you off to departure.
As we left and climbed to 2500 feet I first noticed the clouds, they were everywhere! A layer was forming fast. I had to maneuver back and forth to get around them. I would fly over a few and under some, getting a sense of speed as they zipped by. It was what I always pictured flying to be. I looked back to the coast and what I saw is still burned in my mind. No wonder heaven is cloudy. There were clouds everywhere and building up to huge cloud cliffs out in the distance. They looked so crsip and clear with every bump and ripple reflecting the light and casting deep shadows. The sun was just above them pouring through the ethereal scene like a river of light. What really made it so breathe taking was the 3 dimensional quality the view had. It wasn’t the typical sky with clouds picture you see from the window. These clouds had dimension and depth. I was looking though dozens of miles in a giant cloud canyon.
And the canyon was floating. Below the streaky layers of the canyon floor was the patchwork farms of Texas. A water tower here and a few buildings there. Did those people realize how pretty it was up here?
In our everday lives the world gets abstracted away. The real world is not shopping centers and gas stations. It’s not even fake parks and golf courses. It was this, beautiful and sprawled out below me.

The Written

I've been studying for the FAA Written exam off and on for the past few weeks. The test is 60 questions multiple choice with a 2 and a half hour time limit. The questions cover a broad range of topics from flight rules and regulations to aerodyamic theory to flight planning. I know this is going to sound nerdy but I actually LIKE studying for it. Each time I look through some of the outlines I learn something new. I've taken the test 3 times and can now finish it well under at hour with a score in the high 80s. Of course, that's not good enough... I'm shooting for a perfect score :)
This just confirms what I've been feeling lately. I'm only really happy when I am learning. In fact, after earning two degrees I'm still taking classes in the local community college.
So for anyone who might stumble across this blog, teach yourself something new!

Day/Night Cross Country

Last Friday I had yet another chance to fly to Eagle Lake and then on to Brenham. I showed up at the airport at 6 pm ready to embark on my adventure. Is adventure too strong a word? Nope.. at least it certainly felt like one. My instructor and I were going to fly a small plane all over east Texas with most of the flying at night. It's more than your weekend movie that's for sure.

I did the pre flight and give him my flight plans. It was further evidence that pre-flights are vital to safety. Actually it was the first pre-flight where I found something significant, the pitot tube was clogged with dirt. The pitot tube is the small tube like thing sticking out into the oncoming wind. All planes have them, they can be seen near the nose of even the big commercial airliners. They measure the pressure of the oncoming wind to determine airspeed. Thus, the dirt in my pitot tube would have caused my airspeed to read wrong... very bad. The airspeed is one of the core instruments needed to fly a plane. In case you're curious the others are the altimeter, magnetic compass, fuel gauges, oil temp and pressure and engine tachometer. Pretty spartan huh? (thankfully even my Cessna 150 has more than that!)

So there are a number of things to do when you are leaving the vicinity of your airport. I made sure my flight plans were accurate with proper checkpoints, mileages, time of flight and fuel consumption. My instructor pointed out some of my checkpoints for the night legs would be hard to see at night. Duh! I don't know why I put rivers as checkpoints at night. I'll have to stick to major roads and cities off in the distance. I called the weather briefer to get the weather situation and he said it looked great for the night. Incidentally that is an awesome public surface, you call up this service and an actual person looks through radar plots and gives you a complete summary of expected weather in route. How convenient! Then you file a flight plan with the same guy. A flight plan is a quick summary of your flight with estimated time in route and fuel onboard. After you get airborne you call them and tell them to "activate it". They start a timer and if you don't close the plan upon arrival people start to get worried. Another great service, I am so glad this country has all of this aviation infastructure.

We didn't leave until 7:30 and headed towards Eagle Lake. Visibility was 8 miles and it was surprisingly hazy. 8 miles isn't much from 2500 feet. It was kind of spooky actually with the sun setting through the haze, it cast this orange glow all around us. We called the nearest Flight service station on the right frequency to open our flight plan and we were on our way. Wierd thing was they never answered us. We could hear the mic get keyed but no voice. We turned to other frequencies and could hear them. It must have been them with the problem. I hope Montgomery County radio fixes this soon.

The flight to Eagle Lake went pretty nominally. At 3 miles to the airport I began my decent and started looking for the airport. Based on my direction I would be coming on to it perpendicular.
I didn't see if for a while.... and was squinting and straining. Finally the instructor says, " look over your wing".
I was right on top of it. I was overflying it! I great big "ugh" comes over the radio. "Ok I'll bring it around in front and re-enter on the downwind leg"

A little while later I'm turning on final but i am WAY high. He says to add FULL flaps and bring the power to idle. I was high, if he wasn't there I'd have done a go around but there I was practically nose diving for the runway. It felt like it anyway. I pull up the flare and land. This is one small runway, the width is maybe half that of Pearlands. Maybe the width made me think I was farther spaced than I was on downwind leg thus resulting in my high approach.
Anyway there are no taxiways so we turn around and taxi back to the beginning of the runway and take off.
Taking off by the way is my absolute FAVORITE part of flying. It is such an incredible feeling to bring that plane off the ground and see the trees pass under you. It makes me happy just thinking about it again.

So now its practially dark and we are headed to Brenham, about 26 miles away. We get up to altitude and I look around to try and get my bearings. I notice crossing I-10, that is impossible to miss. Then a little while later I see the town of Brenham with the airport behind it. The strip has a pair of strong strobes at the end of it. At 14 miles out I can't miss it. This is a welcome relief because if I can't spot an airport in the day, I'm hopeless at night.

I enter the pattern for Brenham with traffic off to my right. We talked on the radio and he is going in after me. I turn on final and I'm high again. Not too high but high... Brenham actually has PAPI's. I forgot what it stands for but they are two lights that tell you where you are in the glideslope. Two while lights mean you are high. A red and white is right on slope and two reds mean you are low. I had two while lights for the entire approach.
I land a little long and we taxi off the runway. Two legs down!

The diner we were supposed to eat at was closed so we just talked about the trip, filed a new flight plan and we are off. The Brenham airport (code 11R) has sloped runway so our take off was slightly downhill. This resulted in the coolest take off ever. We we up to speed in no time ans we zoomed down.

The flight back to Pearland was an hour at night. Night flying is so peaceful. I didn't even have my hand on the yoke for most of it, steering with the rudders. It was an hour flight time so we just chatted and tried to identify landmarks. The air is calm and the view is beautiful. The bright orange glow of Houston was off to our left and the little cities were sprinkled down below us. We passed over Richmond at 2500 feet and it was gorgeous... then we turned and headed straight for Pearland. It was hard for me to figure out where I was through dead reckoning. We had a device called a Loran which is like ground GPS and so I knew where we were through that. My instructor was amazing at identifying every road and city in the distance. I don't feel so bad since he as flown here his whole life.

At 4 miles to pearland I keyed my mic 7 times and the runway lit up like a christmas tree. It was such a comforting site because I was getting worried about were it was. I circled in like a falling leaf and got lined up for approach. It was also high but not as high as the other two and I landed in the black void lined by lights. Well it wasn't that dramatic, our landing light is pretty powerful and lights up a good portion of the runway during landing. We were back.

Grand total was 2.9 hours of flying time with a good portion of that at night. I have one more dual cross country to a towered airport and then I'm on my own. I can't wait!

Fenway Franks

So I had a big fat post about my last flying experience doing short take off and landings...
It's on another computer though so I wanted to throw up a single picture from my latest trip to Boston. (which is the best city ever by the way)

This was taken while spending a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Fenway. Talk about a baseball experience!
One lady was taken away on a stretcher, the people behind us were the rowdiest bunch ever..
And the sound of the stadium singing "Sweet Caroline" was amazing.
Oh and then a vendor ran up the stairs and dumped his whole tub of franks right next to me.

I had to snap a picture, it makes me laugh every time I see it. Shortly after that he put the franks on one side of his little hotbox and kept selling them. I wish I had a picture of his face because he did not look happy. I've never such a clear likeliness to this:(

Tonight I'm studying for my FAA written exam. The days to getting my license are numbered!!

Why I fly

I forgot my Houston Sectional map at the airport and went to pick it up today. I stood there for maybe 15 minutes watching the planes come and go.
I swear, when I'm at the airport I feel like a lottery winner on acid.

My instructor said one question the FAA asks when you take your checkride is "why are you learning to fly?" Some people's reasons are for freedom to come and go without lines or hassle, others do it for the adventure and some just for the unique personal challenge. Sadly I even know many people who earned thier licsence and then never flew again.

As for me it is something I've wanted to do since I was maybe 4. Literally around the dawn of my own personality was when I started looking up and saying hey, those machines in the air aren't normal. They are little miracles. It's something more than a whirring clockwork of pistons and pushrods. It's a symbol.. a living and breathing symbol.

It was love at first sight but sadly I could never afford to learn. My only ticket to a halfway decent income was college and naturally I majored in aerospace engineering. The degree was easy.. it turns out when you are genuinely interested in something, it doesn't feel like work.
Even then I scraped by while in college and could only take a few introductory flights.

And now finally it is real. Being in the cockpit is real... landing in a crosswind with your heart in your throat is real... turning away with that storm in my face is real.

It reminds me of the Langston Hughes poem Dreams Deffered

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

-L. Hughes

Cross Country Hazards

Today was my first cross country flight and it definitley made an impression. I had planned a flight between my home airport and a place called Eagle Lake. It's a little airport smack in the middle of nowhere. I wonder if it was made solely as a destination for student pilots making their first cross country trips. My instructor tells me it was base for cropdusters at one time.
The airport is 50 miles or so away due west. I made up a flight plan counting up the mileage to various checkpoints along the away... It had distances to ground cues like road crossings and lakes or rivers in the area. I carefully planned everything taking into account winds that day, and resulting course corrections, resulting ground speeds and fuel burn. I say all this because I've done the whole flight planning exercise 3 times now. For reason or another I've had to cancel it resulting with replan. I can fly that route with my eyes closed now.

I showed up this morning and was called off due to weather. Dark clouds at 1400 feet and darker areas out to the west.

I came back later today (with a whole new set of calculations for the flight plan) and we called the weather briefer. He said there were storms to the south east of Eagle lake but they were moving slowly to the east and that we should be ok. We decided to go knowing that we might have to turn around due to that storm. I felt a little uneasy but I knew we had an out. There were substantial buildups of cumulus clouds out to the north of east and the ceiling was only at 4500 feet. It would be a fateful decision.

I got into the plane for the first time in a little less than a month and it felt good. It fits like a glove and I started it up ran through all the procedures like it was second nature. We got up into the air and I turned and set the course I had planned for. We called to activate our flight plan and started the egg timer. Our little adventure was about to begin.

As we flew along, the view was amazing. The visibility was only 7 miles and there was a haze making the horizon hard to make out so that made the whole thing a little unusual. The cloud buildups seemed to be all around us but they were well out of way. Except of course for the dark clouds out off to our left.

We proceeded to Eagle Lake and the checkpoints came into almost like clockwork according to my calculations... 7 minutes and there are those towers off to the right, 4 minutes and there is the lake off to the right. I was surprised at how well those predictions held out.

As all this happened that dark lines of clouds loomed ever closer. The clouds seemed to be at an altitude lower than ours and it looked VERY dark under them. I drank in the view. It was amazing to be up there around all that weather. Haze, towering clouds, and dark cloud fronts... beautiful but dangerous.

At 15 miles or so to Eagle Lake we decide to turn back. The storm is moving in our direction and although we probably could have made it in, the way back would have hairy. Ok, no big deal, I just initiate a 180 degree turn to the north and transition to the return flight plan. I felt pretty good about turning back. As we looked over our shoulder we could see lightning in the storm and we quickly decided we had made the right decision. As we came back our ground speed zoomed up to 102 knots. It was as if the storm was pushing us away.. I wasn't complaining.

We come back and we zip over my checkpoints like clockwork. I love it! My return plan had taken into acount a tailwind as well and so everything was fine despite the decision to return early. As we travel back to the airport the storms are chasing us. We find that at our home airport the weather advisory is reporting lightning distant in ALL quandrants! We hit a bit of rain and the cloud buildups were huge and EVERYWHERE. I circle into the pattern and set up for landing... and bit nervous about it. It has a good 10 cross wind and 45 degrees and this is the first landing I've done in a while. I turn a little early on final while still a little low but manage to save it by shallowing out my turn and bringing in some power. I land while kicking the rudder in a bit and though it was a little fast and my flare was a little late it worked pretty well.
We taxied quickly back to the hanger to talk about the whole thing.

First of all the storm had changed direction and speed within maybe 45 minutes. Not only that but a whole NEW set of much worse storms had popped up over our home airport. As we debriefed we heard the regular rumble of thunder to the west... the direction we came from. I could have spent the rest of my day at Eagle Lake if we hadn't have turned back. I then drove home in the heaviest storm I've been in down here. There was lighting bolts everywhere and I could barely see the car in front of me! A shiver went down my spine realizing how close we had cut it. With the information we had at take off we were go and IN ROUTE that all changed. In fact when we checked in told them our flight plan was closed due to turning back they said "wheew, thanks for checking back in, we were starting to get worried."

You were worried!!

Well this was all great learning experience and I'm glad I got to do it with an instructor and not just out there by myself. Besides, the view was tremendous. That is why I put myself through all this anway.

Here is a picture of the weather radar when I got home. We left from the area with all the red and were destined for that area with all the yellow. CRAZY.

Air Traffic

Last night was my first solo outing since April 19th. It was excited to say the least. I got to the airport at around 7.pm. and I could here engines buzzing all around me. I looked up and even saw a little helicopter flying low in the pattern. Everybody had the same idea I did and decided to go out the airport as the summer sun was beginning to set. I was nervous because I didn’t like the idea of flying around in the pattern with so many planes. As I preflighted the plane I could hear plane after plane take-off from the runway. I decided to go up at least once to see if I can handle it.
I taxied up and in the pattern to find one plane in a left hand pattern and a helicopter in the right hand pattern. Ok, no biggie I can work with this. I waited for the plane to touch and go in front of me and radioed for the helicopter position. He was holding for me ( I forget helicopters can just hold) and I was off. Right after I took off an idiot in a Grumman that I hope I never meet again pulled onto the runway. He could barely speak English and was making all kinds of weird calls that night. Furthermore I don’t think he knew where I was in the pattern the whole time. I knew that Grumman was faster than me and apparently he didn’t. Anyway I take off and make my first left hand turn. I hear him radio he was “leaving the runway” which I thought was some kind of abort to the taxiway but no, he meant he was taking off. Ok no biggie… he doesn’t even really know english.
Now it gets hairy.
He makes his call that he is turning base while I was about to turn base. I radio, “did you say base?!”
No Answer. I turn and look around… Fuck, where is he?
Now I’m at final and call final. A little while later I hear him say, “did you say you were on final? Where are you?”
OK, that is not something you want to hear when you are controlling the plane at low speed, low to the ground about to land. I radio back quickly. “yeah I’m about to cross the threshold”
No answer back.
My landing flare then proceeds to suck and I know I can’t spend too long trying to save this landing much less pull off the runway with this RETARD right on my ass.
I initiate a go-around and start a climbout.
As I’m climbing out he radios “ Cessna do you see me?”
This is too much, I don’t know how this guy flies a plane legally. I radio “Cessna 59 Julia is leaving the pattern to the southwest”.
Right after that I hear, “Grumman Alpha turning crosswind”
CROSSWIND!!!! He must have been right behind me, retard.
I climbout out and away from that madman. I go out 5 miles to clear my head.
I fly around and try to relax a bit. My heart was pounding but I looked outside I started to relax. The view was beautiful as always. This is the reason I put up with the headache of pattern traffic.
Then I hear a plane say he is departing and going to be orbiting the runway at 1400 feet. Oh well, he’ll be over my head when I get there.
He will be long gone out of the pattern airspace by the time I get there though.
Then I hear the Grumman retard say he has landed. Alright, I’m going back for some pattern work. I do a 180 and come back in to land. As I am positioning myself to enter on the downwind leg I hear he is taking off again.
SHIT, why does this guy haunt me so?
Ok, I’ll just get behind him. I do a turn for spacing and I hear another call.
“Be advised I’ll be using the grass below you cessna 59”.
I radio back “Copy at what altitude?”
“oh about 800 feet”
Ok, I see the guy above the horizon orbiting doing tricks at 1400 feet. I see the cub tacking off under me and I hear the retard making his base call. I’m at 1000 feet and radio I’m entering the downwind leg.
I hear the retard’s final call and I am comfortably midfield in the downwind leg.
The retard exits the runway as I am on turn from base and I land.
I came down like a ton of shit.
I pulled up way to hard and ballooned up. I gave it a little power which was the wrong thing to do. I cut power and come down again.
Wheels touch but I have too much speed and hop up again.
I’m flying a little and a second touchdown. This one is better and I’m down. I taxi off the runway.
No more touch and go’s. I’m burnt out for the day.
Grand total, 1 go around and 1 landing.
I worked hard for them though.