I am conducting a research project on Common Frequency Areas such as but not limited to 122.9, 123.02, 122.92. I am mostly doing the study for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The study is about the hazards that could be associated with Common Frequency Areas. Such hazards in uncontrolled airspace can be extended to operation within uncontrolled aerodromes.
I have put out a short 10 question survey which would take less than 5 minutes. I would appreciate it if you were to take a short period of your time to help with this research project. My goal for this research is to identify and confirm the hazards and to help increase safety by making an awareness of such hazards.
The survey can be found here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PY6673Q
Any information given is de-identified and will be used solely for the purpose of the research and nothing else.
Any questions and/or comments can be directed to ramzel14@gmail.com.
Thank you for your time.
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, November 19, 2010
Airplane Fatal Crash
It's hard to think let alone write about the event that transpired last night.
One of our airplanes were involved in a fatal crash/accident killing all 3 occupants on board when they were returning back to Buttonville from Kingston.
The news article and video footage of the wreckage can be found here
When I say one of our airplanes, its one of the Bonanzas that I've always loved to fly, and have flown many times.
And when I say occupants, it's 3 good friends of mine, 2 of which I have flown with on the exact same flight two days prior (on Tuesday).
I'm not an accident expert so my opinions aren't much for anything, but looking at the footage of the devastating wreckage, it seemed that the impact was quite hard.
Only time will tell if time can tell what happened here, I sure hope it does, so we can learn from it...and perhaps save another family from getting that phone call or doorbell.
RIP to the comrades that were killed and God Bless to their friends, and most especially their families for this loss.
ps. i have so much more to say about this, but i will leave it til later
One of our airplanes were involved in a fatal crash/accident killing all 3 occupants on board when they were returning back to Buttonville from Kingston.
The news article and video footage of the wreckage can be found here
When I say one of our airplanes, its one of the Bonanzas that I've always loved to fly, and have flown many times.
And when I say occupants, it's 3 good friends of mine, 2 of which I have flown with on the exact same flight two days prior (on Tuesday).
I'm not an accident expert so my opinions aren't much for anything, but looking at the footage of the devastating wreckage, it seemed that the impact was quite hard.
Only time will tell if time can tell what happened here, I sure hope it does, so we can learn from it...and perhaps save another family from getting that phone call or doorbell.
RIP to the comrades that were killed and God Bless to their friends, and most especially their families for this loss.
ps. i have so much more to say about this, but i will leave it til later
Friday, November 12, 2010
Be your own hero
A hero is defined as someone of distinguished courage ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
Some or most of us have heroes we look up to. It could be someone who has done significant things that affected history of mankind or history of ourselves, our families, or a group of people. It could be someone notable and have books written about, or it could be as simple as our own mothers or grandparents.
It is not wrong to have these people to look up to, in fact it is almost encouraged but its quite possible that its hard NOT to have a hero. Almost all of us have someone or something to look up to, and it keeps us going and it makes us want to do great things for others and the lives that have been given to us. However this shouldn't be a limit. This should be a start of something great.
There's a reason we do things the way we do, and there's a reason why we keep doing things over and over. It is almost like we're in training and we train ourselves to situations and feelings and the kind of thinking and acting that we do. So why do we train? Why do we bother with falling in love when we know we would probably get hurt, or why do we rise when we know we're prone to fall at any moment of our life. Is it because we want to be heroes ourselves? Maybe.
But I think it's for something greater, it's for the unexpected. When what we don't see or know come up and tests our abilities. When these things finally do happen, there's a saying that we should keep in mind.
We do not rise to the level of our expectations (occasion). We fall to the level of our training.
- Archilochus, Greek Soldier, Poet, c. 650 BC
Some things happen to us that catch us off guard, or so it seems. We may think we're not ready for something, but in reality, we have been trained for this. All those days that we wake up and get through 24 hours of a day, its not uneventful...its training.
So there's no need to rise to the occasion and feel like we need to be heroic, we just need to fall back to the level of our training and keep our composure. In our own little ways, thats what makes the heroes, heroes...its not something they wake up to one day and reaches for...thinking I want to be a hero... It's how they keep their composure and keep doing what they're doing when things change is what makes them heroic.
Some or most of us have heroes we look up to. It could be someone who has done significant things that affected history of mankind or history of ourselves, our families, or a group of people. It could be someone notable and have books written about, or it could be as simple as our own mothers or grandparents.
It is not wrong to have these people to look up to, in fact it is almost encouraged but its quite possible that its hard NOT to have a hero. Almost all of us have someone or something to look up to, and it keeps us going and it makes us want to do great things for others and the lives that have been given to us. However this shouldn't be a limit. This should be a start of something great.
There's a reason we do things the way we do, and there's a reason why we keep doing things over and over. It is almost like we're in training and we train ourselves to situations and feelings and the kind of thinking and acting that we do. So why do we train? Why do we bother with falling in love when we know we would probably get hurt, or why do we rise when we know we're prone to fall at any moment of our life. Is it because we want to be heroes ourselves? Maybe.
But I think it's for something greater, it's for the unexpected. When what we don't see or know come up and tests our abilities. When these things finally do happen, there's a saying that we should keep in mind.
We do not rise to the level of our expectations (occasion). We fall to the level of our training.
- Archilochus, Greek Soldier, Poet, c. 650 BC
Some things happen to us that catch us off guard, or so it seems. We may think we're not ready for something, but in reality, we have been trained for this. All those days that we wake up and get through 24 hours of a day, its not uneventful...its training.
So there's no need to rise to the occasion and feel like we need to be heroic, we just need to fall back to the level of our training and keep our composure. In our own little ways, thats what makes the heroes, heroes...its not something they wake up to one day and reaches for...thinking I want to be a hero... It's how they keep their composure and keep doing what they're doing when things change is what makes them heroic.
Monday, November 8, 2010
SMS and TC
A week ago we had a Transport Canada Civil Aviation Safety Inspector Aviation Enforcement come in to talk to us in class.
She talked about how they go about their business and that "voluntary compliance" are the keywords.
They don't go out looking for people who don't abide by the regulations but if they see something during their cyclic inspections, or due to a report of an incident and accident and you get caught, she spoke to us how they go about it as well. How many hours we are given to report an accident and all the penalties that we can face and the steps we can take.
She also mentioned that they are there to protect us and the paying passengers that use Aviation. Talked to us about the complaints that they get from people about noise, some were reasonable and they looked into it. But some were just weird because at one time, a person complained about airplanes flying too low over their house and after searching on google map, it was found that her house is right under a short final for one of the runways so they couldn't really do anything.
She used the words "we're not out to get you" but...there are still laws to follow.
Its amazing how much (in some how little) influence Transport Canada has on air carriers/operators. I recently found out that a float plane association has been created over to the west for British Columbia float plane operators.
The news article can be found here
This somewhat ties in to Safety Management Systems (SMS) that are still continually being phased in for almost all operators. The ultimate goal is for each carrier to assess their own operations and have a system in place to catch threats and errors and be proactive and generative instead of just reactive (do something only when an accident occurs).
I have taken a course in SMS however, there are still a wide range of standards and all the little details to be learned. I believe that it is a great tool to have especially when you're out looking for a job. It's that one extra boost for you above the rest who may not have a background in SMS.
She talked about how they go about their business and that "voluntary compliance" are the keywords.
They don't go out looking for people who don't abide by the regulations but if they see something during their cyclic inspections, or due to a report of an incident and accident and you get caught, she spoke to us how they go about it as well. How many hours we are given to report an accident and all the penalties that we can face and the steps we can take.
She also mentioned that they are there to protect us and the paying passengers that use Aviation. Talked to us about the complaints that they get from people about noise, some were reasonable and they looked into it. But some were just weird because at one time, a person complained about airplanes flying too low over their house and after searching on google map, it was found that her house is right under a short final for one of the runways so they couldn't really do anything.
She used the words "we're not out to get you" but...there are still laws to follow.
Its amazing how much (in some how little) influence Transport Canada has on air carriers/operators. I recently found out that a float plane association has been created over to the west for British Columbia float plane operators.
The news article can be found here
This somewhat ties in to Safety Management Systems (SMS) that are still continually being phased in for almost all operators. The ultimate goal is for each carrier to assess their own operations and have a system in place to catch threats and errors and be proactive and generative instead of just reactive (do something only when an accident occurs).
I have taken a course in SMS however, there are still a wide range of standards and all the little details to be learned. I believe that it is a great tool to have especially when you're out looking for a job. It's that one extra boost for you above the rest who may not have a background in SMS.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Situational Awareness requires some thinking
Today in Human Factors class, we further discussed Tony Kerns Airmanship model. How discipline, skill and proficiency are the foundation of good airmanship. Along with the pillars of knowledge of our self, our team, our aircraft, our environment and the risks involved create situational awareness for ourselves and therefore gives us good judgment and decision making.
When talking about situational awareness, it was discussed that the definition of SA is
the accurate perception of what is going on with you, your aircraft, and your surrounding in the past and in the future.
Situational awareness is where the understanding of what has happened, what is happening and what might happen overlap.
Now with the video attached below which I've seen awhile ago...it kind of ties into this kind of thinking and how we can keep situational awareness.
Since situational awareness involves thinking of the past, present, and the possible future, I could say that we have to be thinking in the 5th or even 6th dimension in order to keep situational awareness.
4th dimension is time and thinking in this dimension allows us to see things as a line. What has happened and what is happening is connected by the series of decisions, luck/fate, and actions of others.
5th dimension takes this further and says that thinking in this dimension is almost projecting ahead to the possibility of different options in the future. It is in a way some form or step of a decision making process. If we see or think in the 5th dimension which is a split, it allows us to choose the best possible outcome that we want.
However thinking in the 6th dimension is possibly the best way to maintain situational awareness as it allows us to continually assess the past, present and our intended future/outcome. For example, we get ourselves into a situation we don't necessarily like and want to turn the situation into a more suitable one. We can think in the 6th dimension, a fold, and see what our actions, decisions in the past could have been in order to project into the desired outcome that we want to happen now. After that, we can see where we actually are and where that desired outcome is, and how it connect and how we can move ourselves from here to there.
I got confused after the 6th dimension but I can still show the second part of the video.
When talking about situational awareness, it was discussed that the definition of SA is
the accurate perception of what is going on with you, your aircraft, and your surrounding in the past and in the future.
Situational awareness is where the understanding of what has happened, what is happening and what might happen overlap.
Now with the video attached below which I've seen awhile ago...it kind of ties into this kind of thinking and how we can keep situational awareness.
Since situational awareness involves thinking of the past, present, and the possible future, I could say that we have to be thinking in the 5th or even 6th dimension in order to keep situational awareness.
4th dimension is time and thinking in this dimension allows us to see things as a line. What has happened and what is happening is connected by the series of decisions, luck/fate, and actions of others.
5th dimension takes this further and says that thinking in this dimension is almost projecting ahead to the possibility of different options in the future. It is in a way some form or step of a decision making process. If we see or think in the 5th dimension which is a split, it allows us to choose the best possible outcome that we want.
However thinking in the 6th dimension is possibly the best way to maintain situational awareness as it allows us to continually assess the past, present and our intended future/outcome. For example, we get ourselves into a situation we don't necessarily like and want to turn the situation into a more suitable one. We can think in the 6th dimension, a fold, and see what our actions, decisions in the past could have been in order to project into the desired outcome that we want to happen now. After that, we can see where we actually are and where that desired outcome is, and how it connect and how we can move ourselves from here to there.
I got confused after the 6th dimension but I can still show the second part of the video.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
One year anniversary
SEE POST ON ENGINE FAILURE A YEAR AGO
One year anniversary since our airplane C-GSCZ a Beechcraft Bonanza (BE36) has had an engine failure and landed on a new york highway while enroute to Burlington, VT.
I personally have done this flight and I must say, there were a lot of trees, and lakes around...not a lot of good fields. Still amazed by their performance that day..
I've also flown the exact same airplane C-GSCZ today enroute to Montreal and well, supersitious or not, ever since that incident, I've paid more close attention to engine and all of its components.
In march actually, another similar type of engine failure occured on another one of our airplanes but was safely and fortunately high enough to land at Billy Bishop Airport near Owen Sound.
This goes to show, your training goes a long way!!
One year anniversary since our airplane C-GSCZ a Beechcraft Bonanza (BE36) has had an engine failure and landed on a new york highway while enroute to Burlington, VT.
I personally have done this flight and I must say, there were a lot of trees, and lakes around...not a lot of good fields. Still amazed by their performance that day..
I've also flown the exact same airplane C-GSCZ today enroute to Montreal and well, supersitious or not, ever since that incident, I've paid more close attention to engine and all of its components.
In march actually, another similar type of engine failure occured on another one of our airplanes but was safely and fortunately high enough to land at Billy Bishop Airport near Owen Sound.
This goes to show, your training goes a long way!!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Checked out and licence in
So today I finally finished my Bonanza Checkout and so I'm good to go for circuits and then cross countries. The adrenaline that goes with flying with an engine that you don't fully trust due to the engine failures in the past is amazing. It's good in a way that, now I am more watchful and careful with engine management than before...and keep me on my toes with those forced approach practices.
In a way, the past engine failures has helped SOME people become better pilots.
Anyways yesterday I finally received the long awaited blue "aviation document" from Transport Canada after waiting for almost two months when I first submitted it. I like it because the medical and licence/ratings are all in one package. Plus it's harder to lose it because the blue just stands out very easily.
I also have fallen into the temptation of getting a BlackBerry. But it was a good move on my part because my old phone is like a C150 while this BlackBerry is like a PC-12....relative comparison of course...I've got nothing against 150s ..but absolutely loves PC-12s!
In a way, the past engine failures has helped SOME people become better pilots.
Anyways yesterday I finally received the long awaited blue "aviation document" from Transport Canada after waiting for almost two months when I first submitted it. I like it because the medical and licence/ratings are all in one package. Plus it's harder to lose it because the blue just stands out very easily.
I also have fallen into the temptation of getting a BlackBerry. But it was a good move on my part because my old phone is like a C150 while this BlackBerry is like a PC-12....relative comparison of course...I've got nothing against 150s ..but absolutely loves PC-12s!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Eventful June
It's been a good month since the last post so there's bound to be something to write about and its about to start now.
The month of June was filled with events and flying for the most part. I have gone to a conference, camping, and an "art and film festival" by my youth group that donated all profits to a charity. It was pretty good, I wish I had printed and brought some of my photos to just showcase like everyone else.
I have also been flying quite a lot for the past few weeks. I was at the airport everyday and each day lasting almost as least 8-12 hours each for the past couple of weeks. It was good because I had finished all my flights and instrument simulator lessons before the Bonanza checkout. Had cross countries to Goderich, almost North Bay, and St. Catharines...some parts of it were uneventful but i'd rather call it relaxing but there were few times where it build some experience and taught me some lessons that for sure I'd carry on with me.
This past Monday was my first flight in the Beechcraft Bonanza airplanes that we have. We currently have 3 out of the 5 on line and it's being fairly shuffled between 2nd, 3rd and some 4th years. One that's in maintenance already has a new engine strapped on and should come online very soon. And they are currently working on another engine to be put in the second one in maintenance.
The Bonanza is quite a beast compare to a C172. It flies faster, I thought it was easier to control because it was a little bit more heavy. It has a constant speed prop and a retractable landing gear and so it is a little bit more complex than the Cessna.
First flight was almost like re-learning how to fly all over again; attitudes and movements, climbs and descents, turns and steep turns. We spent the last 30 minutes in the circuit...trying to get accustomed to new circuit configurations and speeds and how the landing is a little bit different.
I actually liked the landings I made on the first flight because again the controls felt heavier and so when its time to flare..its a good pull of the controls and there's less chance of ballooning because I can feel how much pull I need more than the Cessna.
My next flight should be tomorrow since all of Ontario has been under a Quasistationary Low the whole week which created pop-up and isolated to scattered thunderstorm cells...sometimes low ceilings as well.
The flight is all about the airwork and getting used to flying a constant speed prop plane with a landing gear...during the airwork. After that a couple of more checkout flights to go before I can be fully checked out on the airplane and start flying mutual circuits and then on to the cross countries.
The month of June was filled with events and flying for the most part. I have gone to a conference, camping, and an "art and film festival" by my youth group that donated all profits to a charity. It was pretty good, I wish I had printed and brought some of my photos to just showcase like everyone else.
I have also been flying quite a lot for the past few weeks. I was at the airport everyday and each day lasting almost as least 8-12 hours each for the past couple of weeks. It was good because I had finished all my flights and instrument simulator lessons before the Bonanza checkout. Had cross countries to Goderich, almost North Bay, and St. Catharines...some parts of it were uneventful but i'd rather call it relaxing but there were few times where it build some experience and taught me some lessons that for sure I'd carry on with me.
This past Monday was my first flight in the Beechcraft Bonanza airplanes that we have. We currently have 3 out of the 5 on line and it's being fairly shuffled between 2nd, 3rd and some 4th years. One that's in maintenance already has a new engine strapped on and should come online very soon. And they are currently working on another engine to be put in the second one in maintenance.
The Bonanza is quite a beast compare to a C172. It flies faster, I thought it was easier to control because it was a little bit more heavy. It has a constant speed prop and a retractable landing gear and so it is a little bit more complex than the Cessna.
First flight was almost like re-learning how to fly all over again; attitudes and movements, climbs and descents, turns and steep turns. We spent the last 30 minutes in the circuit...trying to get accustomed to new circuit configurations and speeds and how the landing is a little bit different.
I actually liked the landings I made on the first flight because again the controls felt heavier and so when its time to flare..its a good pull of the controls and there's less chance of ballooning because I can feel how much pull I need more than the Cessna.
My next flight should be tomorrow since all of Ontario has been under a Quasistationary Low the whole week which created pop-up and isolated to scattered thunderstorm cells...sometimes low ceilings as well.
The flight is all about the airwork and getting used to flying a constant speed prop plane with a landing gear...during the airwork. After that a couple of more checkout flights to go before I can be fully checked out on the airplane and start flying mutual circuits and then on to the cross countries.
Monday, April 6, 2009
The only one scheduled
Winter weather yet again!
Today was all about low ceilings, pretty low visibility, ice pellets, snow pellets mixed with snow?, a little bit of rain, and gusty winds...it's quite a nasty mix even on the ground.
Just went through the usual routine of checking our schools scheduling system, weather, email..etc right after class. It was a very long day, but as a pilot I know I would have to get used to unusual day/night, work/rest patterns. I usually do this routine to check if I am scheduled for tomorrow, and if so, if the weather will actually be good enough. Or the opposite of checking if the weather is good enough to fly tomorrow to maybe go to the airport and get a flight in. Either way, it's some sort of uneventful, almost automatic series of actions that I take everyday.
Tomorrow I saw that I was on the schedule. Today's weather was bad, no doubt...tomorrow seems better but still not good enough (or so it forecasts). But the easiest way that I knew that I probably won't be flying the scheduled flight tomorrow is the fact that I am the only person on the schedule in the morning. There's a long ground briefing associated with the flight so it's probably the only reason why I am not taken off the schedule, otherwise I would have been in cheerful joy, filled with happiness that I would have been able to take a rest tonight (or do less than usual). But nope, I have to do a whole lot of planning, and I just can't wait to do that.
On that note, it's time for the second routine...upon which I double, sometimes triple check the weather in all possible charts, forecasts, and websites that offer them...looking for a possible way that I may end up actually flying, and so actually be prepared for it.
Today was all about low ceilings, pretty low visibility, ice pellets, snow pellets mixed with snow?, a little bit of rain, and gusty winds...it's quite a nasty mix even on the ground.
Just went through the usual routine of checking our schools scheduling system, weather, email..etc right after class. It was a very long day, but as a pilot I know I would have to get used to unusual day/night, work/rest patterns. I usually do this routine to check if I am scheduled for tomorrow, and if so, if the weather will actually be good enough. Or the opposite of checking if the weather is good enough to fly tomorrow to maybe go to the airport and get a flight in. Either way, it's some sort of uneventful, almost automatic series of actions that I take everyday.
Tomorrow I saw that I was on the schedule. Today's weather was bad, no doubt...tomorrow seems better but still not good enough (or so it forecasts). But the easiest way that I knew that I probably won't be flying the scheduled flight tomorrow is the fact that I am the only person on the schedule in the morning. There's a long ground briefing associated with the flight so it's probably the only reason why I am not taken off the schedule, otherwise I would have been in cheerful joy, filled with happiness that I would have been able to take a rest tonight (or do less than usual). But nope, I have to do a whole lot of planning, and I just can't wait to do that.
On that note, it's time for the second routine...upon which I double, sometimes triple check the weather in all possible charts, forecasts, and websites that offer them...looking for a possible way that I may end up actually flying, and so actually be prepared for it.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Diversions
So today's flight was all about diversions!
We departed local north and went up to the town of Sharon, just north of the top of HWY 404.
My instructor helped me fly the airplane while I did my rough planning.
There are a few things you need to do in a diversion, and some should be in a certain order.
Draw your freehand trackline.
Estimate your heading using either the lines of longitude and latitude or a nearby VOR. This is critical you get this first because you want to be circling your landmark in a way that when you finish your planning you should already be around the heading you estimated.
Next is the distance to destination and time elapse. So the rule of thumb is 90kts = 1.5 NM/min and 120 kts = 2NM/min.
Next up is pick a halfway point and do the same things, distance and time. When you reach this halfway point, you will check if you arrive early or late, on track or drifted. This would give you your groundspeed and revised ETA and if necessary revised heading.
You should do all of these planning while flying the airplane, constantly looking out and in, out and in.
Then when your approximately over the landmark you started your trackline over. You should do these in order. (You also need to make sure your heading is set, because no point of doing any planning if you have the wrong heading)
TIME - write down the time you were over landmark
TURN - turn to your heading (use heading bug as well)
TRACK - see if you're actually on track using navigation (big picture -> small picture)
THROTTLE - adjust Throttle to cruise if you're not already in it.
ETA (to destination and halfway point)
TALK - contact london FSS or your company to let them know about the diversion
There were a couple of great tips my instructor gave me.
1. Always think ahead, always question yourself "whats next?"
It could be planning for arrival, checking the CFS, or completing a checklist
2. WATCH, MAP, OUTSIDE
a. Check time, see your ETA and what you should be looking for and where at certain times,
b. look at your map and look for Big picture-small picture of what you should be looking for outside.
c. Look outside and orient where you are from what you see.
Anyways my next flight is another diversion, but all by myself. So I have to fly the airplane while planning. I would probably be asked to divert to an uncontrolled airport and do uncontrolled procedures there.
The flight after that is a solo practice of diversion and uncontrolled procedures.
AND THEN! I should be doing my dual cross country after that.
I can't wait!
We departed local north and went up to the town of Sharon, just north of the top of HWY 404.
My instructor helped me fly the airplane while I did my rough planning.
There are a few things you need to do in a diversion, and some should be in a certain order.
Draw your freehand trackline.
Estimate your heading using either the lines of longitude and latitude or a nearby VOR. This is critical you get this first because you want to be circling your landmark in a way that when you finish your planning you should already be around the heading you estimated.
Next is the distance to destination and time elapse. So the rule of thumb is 90kts = 1.5 NM/min and 120 kts = 2NM/min.
Next up is pick a halfway point and do the same things, distance and time. When you reach this halfway point, you will check if you arrive early or late, on track or drifted. This would give you your groundspeed and revised ETA and if necessary revised heading.
You should do all of these planning while flying the airplane, constantly looking out and in, out and in.
Then when your approximately over the landmark you started your trackline over. You should do these in order. (You also need to make sure your heading is set, because no point of doing any planning if you have the wrong heading)
TIME - write down the time you were over landmark
TURN - turn to your heading (use heading bug as well)
TRACK - see if you're actually on track using navigation (big picture -> small picture)
THROTTLE - adjust Throttle to cruise if you're not already in it.
ETA (to destination and halfway point)
TALK - contact london FSS or your company to let them know about the diversion
There were a couple of great tips my instructor gave me.
1. Always think ahead, always question yourself "whats next?"
It could be planning for arrival, checking the CFS, or completing a checklist
2. WATCH, MAP, OUTSIDE
a. Check time, see your ETA and what you should be looking for and where at certain times,
b. look at your map and look for Big picture-small picture of what you should be looking for outside.
c. Look outside and orient where you are from what you see.
Anyways my next flight is another diversion, but all by myself. So I have to fly the airplane while planning. I would probably be asked to divert to an uncontrolled airport and do uncontrolled procedures there.
The flight after that is a solo practice of diversion and uncontrolled procedures.
AND THEN! I should be doing my dual cross country after that.
I can't wait!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
First Solo
It took a long time but I made it. I've finally gone for my first solo. Now all those incomplete (cause of weather) and unsat flight of I.14 (pre-solo) don't even matter.
So of course I gotta tell the stories in those 8 little minutes I was alone in the air.
With a slight crosswind from the right took off from Buttonville Runway 33, following C-FRFI a Cessna 150. Now I had my eye on him because he was the traffic to follow. I somewhat caught up to him so I had to extend a bit before turning crosswind. As I was about to turn crosswind, I see raindrops on the windshield, I was like oh yEAH! but it didn't matter. On downwind, I did all my checks and did the before landing briefing as I would with an instructor. I heard over the radio about Media 1 coming in for RWY 03, but tower didn't tell me anything so I was good.
Abeam the threshold of RWY 33, I slowly decreased power for base, and trimmed it. Then as I was about to turn base, tower told me to extend downwind for another 10 seconds for spacing, I guess for Media 1 landing RWY 03. So as I turned back to downwind, I had to pull up a little bit. And as I did, my airspeed dropped just below 60 and I heard the stall horn, I got scared for that tiny second but quickly added power up to 2000 RPM. Counting in my head I turned base after 10 seconds. Told tower I was on base and I was number 1.
Final approach was the best I've had. The piano keys or the numbers of the threshold didn't move from the windscreen and my airspeed steady at 65. Tower cleared me for a touch and go and I said, uhh FULL STOP for Sierra Charlie Romeo.
On the round out, slowly reducing power, looking beyond the end of the runway, started my flare and ...that's right no BOOM! on landing. My landing was so smooth, I just smiled after touchdown. Almost to get on the brakes..exited Bravo1 and taxiied back.
I must say this was my best landing so far.
Then after I shutdown and got a bunch of my "colleagues" congratulating me. It was awesome, they then soaked me in water.
After my soaking, mandatory picture with airplane
So of course I gotta tell the stories in those 8 little minutes I was alone in the air.
With a slight crosswind from the right took off from Buttonville Runway 33, following C-FRFI a Cessna 150. Now I had my eye on him because he was the traffic to follow. I somewhat caught up to him so I had to extend a bit before turning crosswind. As I was about to turn crosswind, I see raindrops on the windshield, I was like oh yEAH! but it didn't matter. On downwind, I did all my checks and did the before landing briefing as I would with an instructor. I heard over the radio about Media 1 coming in for RWY 03, but tower didn't tell me anything so I was good.
Abeam the threshold of RWY 33, I slowly decreased power for base, and trimmed it. Then as I was about to turn base, tower told me to extend downwind for another 10 seconds for spacing, I guess for Media 1 landing RWY 03. So as I turned back to downwind, I had to pull up a little bit. And as I did, my airspeed dropped just below 60 and I heard the stall horn, I got scared for that tiny second but quickly added power up to 2000 RPM. Counting in my head I turned base after 10 seconds. Told tower I was on base and I was number 1.
Final approach was the best I've had. The piano keys or the numbers of the threshold didn't move from the windscreen and my airspeed steady at 65. Tower cleared me for a touch and go and I said, uhh FULL STOP for Sierra Charlie Romeo.
On the round out, slowly reducing power, looking beyond the end of the runway, started my flare and ...that's right no BOOM! on landing. My landing was so smooth, I just smiled after touchdown. Almost to get on the brakes..exited Bravo1 and taxiied back.
I must say this was my best landing so far.
Then after I shutdown and got a bunch of my "colleagues" congratulating me. It was awesome, they then soaked me in water.
After my soaking, mandatory picture with airplaneTuesday, July 22, 2008
Almost there...
So my internet has been down for a few days and I felt so helpless because nowadays it's so vital in most of the things we do. But now I have it back and all is well again.
Today was my second last lesson that I have to do before going for my first solo (which is the lesson before the solo and then the instructor steps out and all of that). The other is the emergency procedures lesson in the simulator. That shouldn't be a problem because I've got most of the main emergencies down.
The only thing holding me off, are the hold offs (round outs) and flares... mostly the stronger crosswind types.
My approach is getting better: crabbing to eliminate drift and getting set up early (just the minor adjustments there) and then sideslipping when short final.
Sideslip is when rudder is used to align the nose to flight path which should be the centreline for landings and ailerons into the wind to eliminate the drift. All of these are pretty straight forward and again just minor adjustments and improvements needed for those.
As soon as I start to level out for the round out - looking for the cruise attitude and at the end of the runway - my nose starts to go all over the place, mostly go left when I had left rudder input in the sideslip. So then I guess I'd have to put in more right rudder. I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I guess it's because I've slowed down and I'd have to put less rudder input?
Anyways, the other thing is I would either flare too early/too high or too late/too low. So then I would sometimes balloon (so i add a bit of power) but still land hard, or I land flat.
These things I need to work on a little bit more and I'm not pressured by other people solo-ing before me because I'd rather feel comfortable to do these things all by myself before solo-ing than just getting it over with.
In other news, about 7 people from my class have already gotten their PPL, and 6+ more are waiting to get flight tested. Contrast this to a few people who are still in the simulator phase of the training. That seems like a big spread but it's actually better than some years in the past.
My friend was showing me his logbook and I saw that his first two flights were almost back to back and all of the sudden, his third flight was 3 months later. That's pretty long for in between flights. The reason was they grouped his class into 2 groups and they wanted everyone from the first group to solo first before they started the second group, which is pretty weird but I guess now they've improved it quite a bit.
Also, the first airplane (and the 2nd and 3rd) C-GSEQ just finished getting it's new engine. Now I'm not sure why they had to put a new engine on the airplane but I shall find out soon. It took them about three weeks and today it had its first run-up. So that's pretty exciting.
Today was my second last lesson that I have to do before going for my first solo (which is the lesson before the solo and then the instructor steps out and all of that). The other is the emergency procedures lesson in the simulator. That shouldn't be a problem because I've got most of the main emergencies down.
The only thing holding me off, are the hold offs (round outs) and flares... mostly the stronger crosswind types.
My approach is getting better: crabbing to eliminate drift and getting set up early (just the minor adjustments there) and then sideslipping when short final.
Sideslip is when rudder is used to align the nose to flight path which should be the centreline for landings and ailerons into the wind to eliminate the drift. All of these are pretty straight forward and again just minor adjustments and improvements needed for those.
As soon as I start to level out for the round out - looking for the cruise attitude and at the end of the runway - my nose starts to go all over the place, mostly go left when I had left rudder input in the sideslip. So then I guess I'd have to put in more right rudder. I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I guess it's because I've slowed down and I'd have to put less rudder input?
Anyways, the other thing is I would either flare too early/too high or too late/too low. So then I would sometimes balloon (so i add a bit of power) but still land hard, or I land flat.
These things I need to work on a little bit more and I'm not pressured by other people solo-ing before me because I'd rather feel comfortable to do these things all by myself before solo-ing than just getting it over with.
In other news, about 7 people from my class have already gotten their PPL, and 6+ more are waiting to get flight tested. Contrast this to a few people who are still in the simulator phase of the training. That seems like a big spread but it's actually better than some years in the past.
My friend was showing me his logbook and I saw that his first two flights were almost back to back and all of the sudden, his third flight was 3 months later. That's pretty long for in between flights. The reason was they grouped his class into 2 groups and they wanted everyone from the first group to solo first before they started the second group, which is pretty weird but I guess now they've improved it quite a bit.
Also, the first airplane (and the 2nd and 3rd) C-GSEQ just finished getting it's new engine. Now I'm not sure why they had to put a new engine on the airplane but I shall find out soon. It took them about three weeks and today it had its first run-up. So that's pretty exciting.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Take her for a spin...
"round and round she goes, where she lands nobody knows?"
well technically you should have recovered a spin at 2000' AGL, but for Seneca and a lot more others they make it 4000' AGL.
So today's flight was awesome, got to do spins and steep turns, was also going to do Spiral Dives but that would just push me to my limits.
I even had to have some straight and level flight in between spins so yeah.
Unfortunately, Seneca College doesn't allow photopgraphic devices in the airplane so I couldn't capture it, but here is a video that is similar, except that I wasn't in formation with anyone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX4lK-ud1fI
On another note:
Yesterday, a captain of a Boeing 747 that graduated from Seneca in 1980 randomly dropped by the hangar today just to visit and talk to students. He said he was lucky that he made it as far as he did and the key was to become a HUMBLE FIGHTER. Fight enough that you make it out alive and remain humble once you get out because we, pilots, never ever stop learning.
I think that was the greatest thing he said that day, anyways he also talked about the bad rep that Seneca pilots have because of past and/or present graduates.
I think it's more of the past graduates that come out thinking they know everything and that they're Multi-IFR rated with their CPLs. It's sad that I have to agree to that because I know SOME, not ALL, graduates come out with an attitude and unfortunately it has given the whole school and the whole program a bad reputation (for some at least)
I'd like to think that bad rep or not, what he said about being a humble fighter is key to being succesful in this industry, whatever school you are from.
Anyways just a few more lessons before my first solo. Still gotta cover: spiral dives, overshoots, runway changes, comm failures, engine failures in the cct. And I think I need more practice in normal circuits.
well technically you should have recovered a spin at 2000' AGL, but for Seneca and a lot more others they make it 4000' AGL.
So today's flight was awesome, got to do spins and steep turns, was also going to do Spiral Dives but that would just push me to my limits.
I even had to have some straight and level flight in between spins so yeah.
Unfortunately, Seneca College doesn't allow photopgraphic devices in the airplane so I couldn't capture it, but here is a video that is similar, except that I wasn't in formation with anyone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX4lK-ud1fI
On another note:
Yesterday, a captain of a Boeing 747 that graduated from Seneca in 1980 randomly dropped by the hangar today just to visit and talk to students. He said he was lucky that he made it as far as he did and the key was to become a HUMBLE FIGHTER. Fight enough that you make it out alive and remain humble once you get out because we, pilots, never ever stop learning.
I think that was the greatest thing he said that day, anyways he also talked about the bad rep that Seneca pilots have because of past and/or present graduates.
I think it's more of the past graduates that come out thinking they know everything and that they're Multi-IFR rated with their CPLs. It's sad that I have to agree to that because I know SOME, not ALL, graduates come out with an attitude and unfortunately it has given the whole school and the whole program a bad reputation (for some at least)
I'd like to think that bad rep or not, what he said about being a humble fighter is key to being succesful in this industry, whatever school you are from.
Anyways just a few more lessons before my first solo. Still gotta cover: spiral dives, overshoots, runway changes, comm failures, engine failures in the cct. And I think I need more practice in normal circuits.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
With the traffic...
So ever since my first flight, I haven't gone up as much as I wanted, but that's okay I guess. My last flight I believe was my best one so far, I felt mostly in control of the aircraft and the situation. I think this is my situational awareness building :)
This flight was all about stalls and steep turns and man, you could really feel the G's in those steep turns. My instructor said I did it as well as he did and it was good enough because we had limited horizon.
What I was really proud of though, was spotting traffic. On all my previous flights, it took me forever to find traffic around me. This time I even spotted them before my instructor did, without any assistance from ATC. hehe.
On the way back to buttonville, I was calling up from the area of Preston Lake, and with just my initial call, tower told me to report over Victoria Square right away, I guess it wasn't busy yet! I love mornings.
So after that I was told to join the right base for RWY 21 and to follow a C150 just turning left base. I thought, okay traffic spotted and it shouldn't be hard to follow, but once I was close to my final, it was still mid left base, so my instructor asked tower if S turns were allowed. So we planned to extend our base and somewhat make a 180 to rejoin the left base behind the 150. I thought okay, things are good, focusing on the traffic to follow, then BAM! Instructor said, uh AIRSPEED. And I was like oh shoot, I was at 48 kts, and I had full flaps down. So close to the stall. I was focusing TOO much on the traffic that I forgot to maintain management inside the airplane. So I corrected that, and went to final and landed, it wasn't great because I tried to round out and flare to early but in time I will learn to hold off the flare.
And that has been my most interesting flight so far, other than the one before that in which I spotted a hangglider to my right which was pretty cool.
This flight was all about stalls and steep turns and man, you could really feel the G's in those steep turns. My instructor said I did it as well as he did and it was good enough because we had limited horizon.
What I was really proud of though, was spotting traffic. On all my previous flights, it took me forever to find traffic around me. This time I even spotted them before my instructor did, without any assistance from ATC. hehe.
On the way back to buttonville, I was calling up from the area of Preston Lake, and with just my initial call, tower told me to report over Victoria Square right away, I guess it wasn't busy yet! I love mornings.
So after that I was told to join the right base for RWY 21 and to follow a C150 just turning left base. I thought, okay traffic spotted and it shouldn't be hard to follow, but once I was close to my final, it was still mid left base, so my instructor asked tower if S turns were allowed. So we planned to extend our base and somewhat make a 180 to rejoin the left base behind the 150. I thought okay, things are good, focusing on the traffic to follow, then BAM! Instructor said, uh AIRSPEED. And I was like oh shoot, I was at 48 kts, and I had full flaps down. So close to the stall. I was focusing TOO much on the traffic that I forgot to maintain management inside the airplane. So I corrected that, and went to final and landed, it wasn't great because I tried to round out and flare to early but in time I will learn to hold off the flare.
And that has been my most interesting flight so far, other than the one before that in which I spotted a hangglider to my right which was pretty cool.
Friday, June 13, 2008
First Flight Finally
YES!
I finally went up for my first flight ever in a small airplane. It was awesome. Believe me, I'm still kind of in shock up to now that I have been UP there. And to just sum up, it was a completely different experience. More bumpy than the sim, hahaha!
I handled the aircraft pretty much most of the time. From engine start, taxiing, take off, enroute to practice area. We then proceeded with straight and level flight, climbs, descents and turns. My flight instructor also demonstrated steep turns which made me feel really gooey inside, but it was all good. He also showed the visual landmarks going in and out and around buttonville which was good because you don't really see anything on the sim. Couldn't do the landing though because the crosswind was too much, but it was good.
Even though we were in the air for around an hour, it felt like it went by so quickly. And also, I wasn't as situationally aware, and often times getting behind the airplane maybe because it WAS my first flight and I was kinda still like "wow" inside my head.
But yes, I enjoyed it very much, can't wait to go up again.
I didn't get to take a picture of me with the airplane but i did manage to take a picture of the airplane I flew in right after.
I finally went up for my first flight ever in a small airplane. It was awesome. Believe me, I'm still kind of in shock up to now that I have been UP there. And to just sum up, it was a completely different experience. More bumpy than the sim, hahaha!
I handled the aircraft pretty much most of the time. From engine start, taxiing, take off, enroute to practice area. We then proceeded with straight and level flight, climbs, descents and turns. My flight instructor also demonstrated steep turns which made me feel really gooey inside, but it was all good. He also showed the visual landmarks going in and out and around buttonville which was good because you don't really see anything on the sim. Couldn't do the landing though because the crosswind was too much, but it was good.
Even though we were in the air for around an hour, it felt like it went by so quickly. And also, I wasn't as situationally aware, and often times getting behind the airplane maybe because it WAS my first flight and I was kinda still like "wow" inside my head.
But yes, I enjoyed it very much, can't wait to go up again.
I didn't get to take a picture of me with the airplane but i did manage to take a picture of the airplane I flew in right after.
C-GSEQ
Logged first flight 1.0 hrs.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Waiting...
So I finished the monotonous phase zero of cessna 172 simulator training. I have been validated and is ready to start flying. Unfortunately, some of the people in my group have had cancelled sim lessons and so are a lesson or two behind and according to my FI, I have to wait for at least half of the group to actually start flying.
I've been bumming around my house for the past 3 days with nothing to do, patiently (actually impatiently) waiting to get started on flying. I know someone in the same class but in Group A, is almost close to his Private Flight Test. He is ahead of everyone, and is moving pretty quickly too.
Hopefully, I'll move on the flight line pretty fast as well, probably be at the airport for extra hours try to get an extra flight in or something. But for now, I'm here sitting at home, watching videos and doing some extra reading, ready to go, and waiting.
I have written my PSTAR and radio exam. I got 13/15 on the radio exam on the first try so I had to rewrite it. Second time I got 15/15 so great.
Also got 49/50 on my PSTAR. I forget which one I got wrong I think it's the one with the taxi clearance to a runway and to get there you have to cross another runway. I put taxiing there but needs a clearance to cross the other runway (because that's what I saw in the study guides) but actually, you're allowed to taxi all the way without holding short of anything.
I guess it's the same thing as taxiing down Bravo, crossing RWY 21 to get to RWY 33. Sometimes they say "cross 21", sometimes they just say taxi "Bravo all the way down". Other than that I'm good. Got my Student Pilot Permit and Radio Operators certificate so see, I'm good to go!
In the meantime, I'm reading up on emergency procedures for C172. Trying to commit most of them to memory, because eventually we're gonna have to anyways. Hopefully I'll start flying by this weekend. As for now, here's a clip of a jet departing buttonville I captured a week ago.
I've been bumming around my house for the past 3 days with nothing to do, patiently (actually impatiently) waiting to get started on flying. I know someone in the same class but in Group A, is almost close to his Private Flight Test. He is ahead of everyone, and is moving pretty quickly too.
Hopefully, I'll move on the flight line pretty fast as well, probably be at the airport for extra hours try to get an extra flight in or something. But for now, I'm here sitting at home, watching videos and doing some extra reading, ready to go, and waiting.
I have written my PSTAR and radio exam. I got 13/15 on the radio exam on the first try so I had to rewrite it. Second time I got 15/15 so great.
Also got 49/50 on my PSTAR. I forget which one I got wrong I think it's the one with the taxi clearance to a runway and to get there you have to cross another runway. I put taxiing there but needs a clearance to cross the other runway (because that's what I saw in the study guides) but actually, you're allowed to taxi all the way without holding short of anything.
I guess it's the same thing as taxiing down Bravo, crossing RWY 21 to get to RWY 33. Sometimes they say "cross 21", sometimes they just say taxi "Bravo all the way down". Other than that I'm good. Got my Student Pilot Permit and Radio Operators certificate so see, I'm good to go!
In the meantime, I'm reading up on emergency procedures for C172. Trying to commit most of them to memory, because eventually we're gonna have to anyways. Hopefully I'll start flying by this weekend. As for now, here's a clip of a jet departing buttonville I captured a week ago.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Duty Student
So summer is finally here. During the briefing at Markham Campus, the tentative schedules for each groups have been set and my group is scheduled to start on May 5th!
Group A is already in Phase 1 which is flying already up to first solo. B group is in their Phase Zero. And some people in group C get stuck with having to be trained as a duty student.
Duty students, as they say, are very important in running the flight program as they are "in charge" of operations.
The main duties of a duty student (haha) are:
Group A is already in Phase 1 which is flying already up to first solo. B group is in their Phase Zero. And some people in group C get stuck with having to be trained as a duty student.
Duty students, as they say, are very important in running the flight program as they are "in charge" of operations.
The main duties of a duty student (haha) are:
- Lead mass weather briefing at beginning of each shift (which is going to change soon)
- Answer phone calls!
- Maintain listening watch of current ATIS and Seneca Ground, for up and down times of Seneca airplanes. These are very important as they say because we always want to keep track of where our planes are. After 5 minutes of ETA/down time and if we still haven't heard from them, we have to try to call/radio em in, and if still no contact we inform the Duty Instructor and certain procedures are done.
- In charge of calling services like refuelling the airplanes when need be.
- And logging in trip slips and log numbers of each plane on the computer.
In other words, we are everyone's "secretaries" for that shift.
Right now there are two duty students for each of the two shifts of the day. But since we are going to extend operating hours from 6 to 23, that would mean splitting up the day into possibly 3 shifts.
Most of the students from my group that were duty "trained" is going to do it all by ourselves starting saturday because the senior students still have their exams on the following week. It should be a combination of scary and fun at the same time.
I guess I need to get on the good side of our scheduling flight instructor so that I would be scheduled for less duty shifts in the upcoming months or so.
Can't wait to actually fly! So much reading, starting ahead or getting familiar with the AOMs and SOPs is exciting!
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