Juxtapilot’s Blog

This past weekend I had my first cross country flight over 250 nm. What an adventure! I flew from Grand Forks ND, to Ashland WI. I had an unplanned overnight in Wisconson due to frost on the wings, but that was fine and I returned safely to Grand Forks the following evening. It was a fun 6 hours!

Pictures:

Last night I finally completed my dual night cross country flight that I have been waiting so long to do. The weather was great; the sky was clear and the air was very smooth. I planned out a flight from Grand Forks (KGFK) to Fergus Falls (KFFM), then to Fargo (KFAR) and back to Grand Forks. I had done this flight during the day and was excited to see what it would look like at night. I arrived at the airport at 6:30 for the 7:30 flight. I brought a friend with me to observe the flight. I arrived with performance/weight and balance done and ready to go. I met with my instructor and we flight the flight plans and discussed the flight objectives (something we had discussed 6 times already) then ran out to the plane. The plane was in a hanger so I got to stay warm during the preflight. That only lasted for a few minutes though. Line service needed to tow our plane to the ramp, so the preflight stopped a little over halfway through. Being that I was preflighting inside a warm hanger, I left my gloves inside the airplane. We walked from the hanger and met the airplane on the ramp. It was -20 degrees outside and my hands were freezing. By the time I finished the preflight my hands were completely numb. I jumped into the airplane and simultaneously warmed up my hands while completing the before engine start checklist. The plane actually started this time! With all the checks done we taxied out and took off. The flight was pretty uneventful. It was a lot of fun though. The approach into Fargo was one of the coolest I have ever flown. The airport it pretty much surrounded by city lights, it’s really beautiful, and it reminded me why I love flying so much. After arriving back at Grand Forks I did a few landings in the traffic pattern. The landings were fine, with the exception of the last one. My instructor insisted that I didn’t flare soon enough. He actually pulled the yoke back while we were approaching the runway. We ballooned up quite a few feet then settled down smoothly. I didn’t agree with my instructor at the time. I figured that he was a little over protective but, now I think he’s probably right. I suppose he knows what he’s doing—he’s got quite a few more hours than me.

I’ve got quite a few solo flights coming up so hopefully I can start taking some pictures!!!

I haven’t been in an airplane since January 25th. The reason is mainly that the weather has been too bad to go flying. It hasn’t even been the weather as much as the weather forecasts (TAFs). I think the forecasters are having a real tough time with the North Dakota weather. Up until yesterday I had weathered 6 flights. The weather wasn’t too great, but it was good enough to get a night cross country flight out of the way. Finally a glimpse of the sun, well the moon actually, shining in North Dakota! I had been waiting so long for a break in the bad weather.

I arrived at the airport at 19:00 for a 20:00 flight. I had the flight planned out and all the performance/weight and balance done. I met with my instructor and discussed the plan with him. We were going to climb to 5500 feet to stay 500 feet under the clouds. On the way back 4500 feet was perfect as the winds would be most favorable. At 20:15 we turned in a slip for a plane. It was a quiet night so they gave us the book for our plane 15 minutes early. I filed our flight plans which put us back in Grand Forks in 2 hour 20 minutes.

We arrived at the plane and I did the outside preflight while my instructor did the inside. The temperature was 11 degrees! Very warm considering the weather during the past week. The preflight went well, and we hoped inside. So far so good. There was frost on the wings so we requested a spray down from line service. I remember telling my instructor while they were spraying down the plane that “this is going to be a fun flight.” With the Before Start checklist done I pulled up the Engine Start-Cold checklist.

Throttle………1/4 Inch Open
Fuel Pump………On
Mixture………Rich
Prop Area………Clear
Starter………Engage

Well, that’s as far as I got in the Engine Start checklist. My instructor got on the radio and requested an EPU start from line service. They brought the EPU cart out to the plane and hooked into we ran through the EPU start procedures, engaged the starter, cranked it 3 or 4 times and the engine never came to life. At this point I realized the flight wasn’t going to happen. Line service called maintenance to come out and help use get our engine started. They came out and took a look at the engine and had us do a “Flooded engine” start. There are 4 engine start procedures for this aircraft. We tried 3 of them and didn’t have any luck getting the engine to start. Unfortunately we had to cancel the flight. I guess it was just too cold. Thank you North Dakota!

Even though we didn’t get to go, I think the line and maintenance guys are awesome for trying to get help us get going! Oh well. I am scheduled for this flight next week. Hopefully it will happen. I guess if my bad luck continues it won’t though. Even though we didn’t get to go, I think the line and maintenance guys are awesome for trying to get help us get going!

I’ve settled into college life once again, and have started flying. This semester I have decided to fly the glass cockpit Piper warrior instead of the 6 pack. I have mixed feelings about this. Since I am not returning to UND after this semester I wanted to experience an aircraft that is more technologically advanced than the 6 pack I will be flying wherever I decide to go. I had my first flight in the glass last week, and I did enjoy it. The glass cockpit is so intuitive and easy to use. It’s amazing what we can do with it. I think flight simulator was quite helpful in the transition to glass. My instructor said that a lot of students coming from the 6 pack tend to stare at the standby gauges. I guess the hours I have played flight simulator really paid off during that flight, as I had no issues reading the information on the screen.

I have only flown once, but have been scheduled to fly two additional times. The first flight I canceled because I was sick. The last flight I canceled due to weather. I planned out a really nice route from Grand Forks to Fergus Falls then to Fargo and back to Grand Forks. I arrived at the airport an hour and a half early for the night flight with my navlogs filled out and ready to go. The weather in Fergus had been nice all day however there was a Low pressure system just below the airport. The METARs 40 miles away had been indicating lower ceilings and reduced visibilities , though Fergus Falls was relatively low as well, reporting Broken at 5000. My thoughts on this were that since the low pressure system was moving south, away from Fergus Falls, we would be okay and the airport would stay VFR. About an hour before departure, the new TAFs came out. Both Alexandria and Fargo were forecasting low visibilities (5sm) and low ceilings (overcast at 4000.) I pulled out my Personal Minimums checklist and after seeing that the flight would be conducted below my personal minimums I decided to weather it. The decision didn’t come easy. There have been so many times that I have been flying and the TAFs couldn’t have been more wrong. I still couldn’t discredit them as if they were right, I would have to return to Grand Forks. Looking at a bunch of charts I concluded that the TAFs would be wrong and that there was no way the bad weather would move (or develop) north of AXN. With the low pressure system and the weather moving around it, it just couldn’t happen. It turns out that the TAFs were very wrong. The METAR at KFFM for my time of arrival: KFFM 220055Z AUTO 32004KT 10SM CLR M19/M22 A3032 RMK A02. I guess as pilots we can’t expect the forecasts to be right, but we must trust them nonetheless. This wasn’t a difficult flight to cancel. My personal minimums checklist did its job and made the decision easy for me.

I have been home from school for a little over 2 weeks and still haven’t gone flying. I have canceled 2 flights because of weather, and whenver the weather is good, it seems the airplane I want to take up is either booked, or broken. The airplane is pretty nice, but at 136/hr isn’t very nice to my wallet. Paying 136/hr for a 172 just isn’t cool. I seriously want to go flying. If I went flying I would probably have some cool stories to tell, but for now I just have some lame complaining to do!

I currently am attending the University of North Dakota, and am majoring in Commercial Aviation. I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately and probably will end up leaving UND. It makes me feel kind of sad to be leaving that University, but I also feel better about my new plans. I will be using this next semester to iron out my plans for the short-term future. In the long run I will probably end up in the same place, but I want to enjoy the Journey along the way. I have enjoyed the time with the friends I have made at UND and will make sure to make the best of the time I will have left in ND with them. It always stinks to leave good friends behind, but aviation is a very handy career choice… I can visit for free I suppose… eventually.

This past July I toured the Alaska Airlines facilites, Alteon Training–Seattle, and the Boeing Customer Experience Center. It was truly an awesome experience. I learned a ton about airline operations, flight training, and maintinence. While I was there I also toured the Seattle Airport baggage handling area. It was quite a sight. There were conveyor belts going everywhere. The Alteon Training center was a lot of fun. They let me fly the B737NG simulator, which I must say is very cool. I wish I had some pictures of that–or a video. I have attached some pictures from the tours, many are of the Boeing CEC, Dreamliner cabin mock-up, but there are a few of ASA and SeaTac.

 Outside Seatac on the ramp / ASA MX Building

 

ASA Dispatch Center / Baggage area under the terminal

Another Baggage area picture

 

787 Display Model in the Boeing CEC /

Dreamliner Cabin

 First Class / Lav with weird wallpaper that makes the wall look like it has bumps… But it’s actually smooth!

I completed my final stage check last week. I am now finished with the PPL up to speed course UND requires of incoming students who already have their PPL. The course cost quite a bit more than I was expecting, but I also aquired quite a few more hours than I was expecting–24.5 to be exact. I think I am well prepared for the next course.  The stage check didn’t go as well as I was hoping. As is common on checkrides, I learned a ton during the stage check. I had a fantastic stage pilot, he was down to earth and kept track of my mistakes and the few things I did right. The debrief went well, and he brought up some very valid points, about things I can and should fix. We talked about my approach into Warren, ND (D37). There was one aircraft in the pattern, and I called up to overfly at 2200 feet (500 feet above the TPA.) I over flew looking for the windsock, couldn’t find it, turned around and flew over again. This time I found it. I think I flew directly over it. After seeing the windsock I began to DECEND into the pattern. This is a big no-no as doing so could cause me to run into another aircraft. I can’t see below me so I could decend into an airplane. That would not be cool. I ended up deciding to turn outbound from the downwind and did a tear drop manuver to re enter. This was much more effective and led to a nice standard pattern for a Grass field landing. My first grass landing EVER! It was pretty uneventful, I tried using breaks for a few seconds and remembered I’m not allowed to do that. We did one more takeoff and landing which ended up being a power off 180, and returned to Grand Forks. There I did a normal landing, which I’m not going to lie, sucked. It was nearly a 3-point landing. Funny how we only care about the last 5 seconds of a flight… Now I am done flying until January, and I already miss it. It’s funny to think that I was actually beginning to become burned out from flying so much. I’ll probably go get checked out at the local FBO and rent an aircraft there to fly every week or two.

I’ve always worried that I am rushing through life. I regret not choosing to enjoy high school as much as I could have. I was so focused on getting out of there and going to UND to fly, that I often forgot to have fun. I think many aspiring pilots get caught up in this kind of a mind set. They live in the future so much that they forget that “now” is only going to happen once. I would love to go back and live my high school years again. It was a ton of fun. The best advice I can give anyone is to have fun in live and don’t be rushed to become a pilot, or whatever they want to be. The job will always be there waiting for them. 

 I have been at UND for only 3 months and can’t say that is has been as exciting as high school. Living in the dorms here is quite different from my old boarding school. It’s easier to live here, but not quite as much fun. My mind was always kept busy thoughout high school, and once I got to college, the fun kind of went away. It’s probably just that college fun and high school fun are not the same thing. I’m kind of going against my own advice now–I have chosen to do summer school to get out of here sooner. I think I should be ok this time though, because I am more aware of “experience” now.

I’ve been doing UND’s Private pilot review course and tomorrow I have my last lesson. Well actually I’m finishing up my stage check, which I started on Sunday. We had a late launch and didn’t have enough time to finish. The stage check is basically the same as the PPL check ride, pass or fail. I think if I failed it I would feel pretty goofy. I have had my private license for over a year, and while it’s been good to review the manuvers I think that the amount of flying they have made us (Test Course students) do has been a little excessive. My skills haven’t improved that much, but I guess I have some more experience under my belt which is always good. Anyway, the “review” course has cost me over 4500 dollars, which I guess is actually average, or maybe slightly above average for people doing that course. I’m pretty glad I will be done with the course soon, but it will be a bummer to not be flying all the time! I will have to wait until January. When I get back home in December I will go up a few times I think.