Post #27 - Where to start?

It's been a little while since my last post and so much has happened! Where should I start? Lets see... Finals are over, took my commercial FAA pilot written test, have had several flights, including first solo in a complex aircraft, and a crash not far from here.

Lets start with the crash and go from there. In writing this I mean no disrespect to the family and friends of the pilot. My condolences go out to them.

On December 3rd, a private pilot with an instrument rating was attempting to land at the Ogden airport on an instrument approach. He crashed short of the runway knocking out power to hundreds of homes and damaging 2 homes. Read the news report HERE.
Also, a preliminary NTSB report can be read HERE.

Looking at the report and and reviewing what happened we can make a few guesses and conclusions. The two arrows shown in the first picture show Ogden Airport and the approximate spot and direction of the crash.

The next diagram is the approach that was used by the pilot.  The report stated that visibility was 1/2 mile and the ceiling was 100ft. It also stated that it was worse on the ground. The ATIS information had a ceiling at 400 ft. Near the bottom of this approach is a minimums section. It states for a straight in approach on runway 3 that you need AT LEAST 3/4 mile visibility and a 200 ft ceiling, the conditions this day ,at the time of his approach,were close to or even below minimums.

Last I have heard the pilot was in the hospital with burns over most of his body, but is expected to recover. ___________________________________________

To change the subject now, Finals are completed and this semester is over! It feels great to be done with this one and another step closer to my degree and career! I also took my FAA Commercial Pilot written test and I PASSED! It was 100 questions long and took me a little over 1 hr. If you would like to take a 10 question practice test on the commercial pilot questions, go HERE.

I have also had several flights in the Arrow. I have been practicing the same commercial maneuvers and feel more proficient in them. I am feeling much more comfortable in the arrow and am able to nail a spot on the runway within about 20 feet. I am really starting to enjoy flying the arrow, it feels more like flying an airplane than the Diamond DA40 did, don't get me wrong, I enjoy both for different reasons.

One of my flights I completed recently was my first solo in the Arrow. When transitioning to complex aircraft a major problem that can arise is not putting the landing gear down when landing. I was a little nervous that something like this could happen. But I stuck to my checklists and the entire flight went great. A few days before this flight I read an article in AOPAs Flight Training Magazine. The article told a story of a pilot who had gone up with an experienced instructor to freshen up on his skills. The instructor had him fly low. 700 feet above a river he flew overhead and followed the river in its twists and turns. The student said this experience felt more like flying than the usual straight and level flight and the doldrums of checking instruments. Motivated by this article, I decided to take advantage of my time alone in the aircraft and do something that I wanted to do. So after practicing a few maneuvers, I took the plane down to 700 feet AGL and followed a little river along all its twists and turns, some of which were very tight. I enjoyed the feeling of handling the aircraft and making my inputs to get the desired outcome. The feeling of changing G forces kept me aware of how tight the plane was turning. It was a great feeling completing that and being able to maintain my altitude.

Picture below shows river area I followed.

Amazing Airplane Maintenance

Slow times...

Weather and time haven't been cooperating, so I haven't had a lot of flights lately. However, that doesn't mean I can't post another video. Enjoy!

Don't try this at home!

Post #26 - Intro to Commercial Maneuvers

Today was the day that I was introduced to several of the new commercial maneuvers. Mainly Chandelles, Lazy Eights, Eights on Pylons, and Steep Spirals. I also practiced some more soft field landings and short field. My soft fields are looking a lot better, and today was the first day for short field in the Arrow, I still need some practice on that. The commercial maneuvers were harder than I expected them to be, I guess that is why they save them for commercial training. Total flight time today was 1.9 hrs and I finished just before dark.

Here is a video on steep spirals.

Post #25 - Complex Endorsement

Today/tonight was my fifth flight in the Arrow. Justin and I departed Logan at about 6:30pm and it quickly became dark. Most of the lesson today was night time, but it was fun! It had been a while since I landed in the dark so I got caught up on my night recency. Today I practiced some more slow flight, stalls (including cross-controlled stalls), soft field landings, and emergency procedures. I totaled 5 takeoffs and landings and 1.2 hrs of total flight time today. And after the flight I received my Complex Aircraft endorsement! Woo hoo! One more notch in my belt. Tonight was a great flight and I am starting to enjoy flying the Arrow. Before I thought it was a brick, and a beast to handle, but now I am learning how it can be used for precise inputs and performance.

In commercial ground school we are learning about some of the commercial maneuvers we will be tested on for the Commercial Pilot Check Ride. One maneuver, called the Chandelle, is a maximum performance climbing turn taught to improve planning and handling of the aircraft. In the first 90 degrees of the turn, you must maintain 30 degrees of bank angle while slowly increasing your pitch attitude to climb, at 90 degrees you should be at your maximum pitch and begin to slowly decrease your bank angle while maintaining a constant pitch attitude. Upon your rollout at 180 degrees your airspeed should have slowed to just above stall speed, this will be about 55 mph in the Arrow. If planned improperly, the aircraft will stall or will be too fast. This is a moderate difficulty maneuver and I look forward to start learning it. In the next lesson, I will discuss the steep spiral.

LUAW & Insurance

For those aviators who don't already know, the phrase "Position and Hold" will no longer be used in any tower controlled airport. This phraseology will be changed to "Line Up and Wait". This is being done in accordance with ICAO standards. Additional information can be found at FAA.gov and a video about it from the FAA Safety Team can be seen HERE.

Also, I learned of a great insurance policy that AOPA offers to provide you with legal services in the event that the FAA suspends or revokes you license. It is only $33/yr and is well worth it, or at least looking into. More information on it can be found HERE.

Water Assisted Landing

The Piper Arrow

• Engine - 200 HP Lycoming
• Max Takeoff Weight - 2750 lbs
• Fuel Capacity - 50 gals
• Max speed - 183 kts
• Cruise speed - 135 kts
• Max altitude - 16,200 ft
• Landing distance - Approx - 650ft
• Takeoff distance - Approx - 1200ft
• 4 - Passenger

Post #24 - More Flights in the Arrow

This Monday and Tuesday I flew again in the Arrow. These flights in the Arrow are so I can get my complex endorsement. You need this type of endorsement in your logbook so you can be a PIC of an aircraft that has a retractable landing, variable pitch propellor, and adjustable flaps. Just about any type of aircraft that is used in commercial flying is a complex rated aircraft. The flights were a little over an hour each and the weather was beautiful this time. I practiced slow flight, stalls, take offs/landing (both normal and soft field), emergency procedures (including engine failure, fires, stuck landing gear,etc), ascents/descents, and just getting used to how the new airplane feels. It is a heavy beast and my left shoulder is still sore from having to yank back on the control for landing flares. Guess I need to start lifting weights and muscle up. Overall, they were two good flights and I am looking forward to next week when I will fly again.

I am also enrolled in commercial ground school. As the semester progresses I will write about topics that I feel are important to commercial pilots or those who have an interest in becoming a commercial pilot. I will review some of the FAA commercial pilot test questions and have some small quizes. Hopefully this will help you to get an idea of what is expected of a commercial pilot.
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On a different note, I am adding a donation section, which can be found below or on the side column. Any donation will go to my flight account to help pay for the expense of my training. This will allow for me to continue flying, write about my experiences on this blog, and to help further interests in aviation. Please help contribute, even if it is a little, to help make this all worth while. (I am not trying to make money, and this will be the only post about it, all posts after this will continue to be 100% aviation. Review my previous posts too if you haven't already). The shirt is an original design with detail from an aviation sectional chart, seen below.

Any donation $15 or more will receive a FREE Flyin Aggie T-shirt!

Post #23 - First flight in the Arrow! aka - Windy day

Well, I finally got some more money to go flying again. This was my first flight in the Piper Arrow. I will be gaining experience in it to receive my complex endorsement. I went up in the Arrow on Monday with Justin. It was a beautiful day outside and the weather forecast was looking good, except for the small storm that was supposed to come in around 5pm. I was meeting Justin at 1:30pm so it shouldn't of been a factor. I met with him and we went over the new preflight information. We hopped into the plane and began the engine start-up checklist. It is interesting going from a plane that was built a few years ago into one that is older than I am. Most of the Arrows USU has were built in the early 70's. It was hard to find the correct switches because the lettering is worn off on most of them. One of the features I liked was the flap lever. It looks just like an emergency brake lever in a car, and is positioned in the same spot too. It's a little more fun to be able to bring the flaps in immediately, than it is to push a button and wait 3 seconds for them to engage. After fumbling through the new checklist and finding my way around the vintage instruments, we taxied over to the self-serve gas pump.

Justin helped one of his other students with gas. He was a private pilot student who was going on a solo cross-country flight about the same time we were leaving. The other student filled up on gas and went to the run up area. As we were filling up on gas, I looked to the West and saw some dark clouds peaking over the mountain tops. There was the storm starting to come in. It was coming way early though. It shouldn't have come for about another 2 hours or so. We discussed it and decided that we would still go and land before it got too bad. We would listen to the weather on Logan's ASOS (Automated Surface Observing System) frequency during our flight. While we were performing the run-up the dark clouds seemed to be getting closer. Justin was worried about his solo student and got a hold of him on the radio. He mentioned the clouds to the West and they discussed it briefly. The student, already airborne, decided to cancel his long cross-country flight. I don't blame him because he would have had a long flight in some unfavorable weather.

Justin and I talked about our options and decided that our short flight would be alright to continue, and if the weather got too bad over Logan we could land in Preston, ID about 20 miles north of Logan. We departed LGU to the North and entered a practice area for some maneuvering. I practiced normal turns, ascents, descent, and slow flight. It was a totally different feel than the diamonds. It's glide ratio is more like a brick than a plane, but it can turn really well.

After about 40 minutes into our flight we noticed that the weather system was predominately over Logan and we listened to the weather frequency. The winds were recorded gusting to 45 knots. That's over 50 mph! Needless to say we didn't want to land in Logan, so we diverted to Preston and landed on their short little runway. It was still a little windy but not as bad. Probably gusting around 20-30 knots. I didn't feel comfortable landing the Arrow in Preston, the runway is narrow and short, so I had Justin land it there. We went into the scrappy pilot lounge and check the weather radar on Justin's phone. Man, I wish I had a fancy phone! They really do come in handy sometimes (not just for showing off what your phone can do). The TAF reported that weather would lighten up in the next hour. After waiting out the storm for 45 minutes, we left the little shack and departed Preston Airport. Winds were reporting 5 knots now in Logan, so we went straight home. I performed my first landing in the Piper Arrow and as Lindsay said in a text message, I got my feet on the ground. So I sent her a text back to let her know I was OK.

And so continues my adventure into Commercial Piloting!

A little bit of fun!

This next Saturday, the 31, I am taking my boss and his wife and also another friend from work up in the DA40. All 3 are helping to pay for it, so I am going to take them around Logan for a little sight seeing. I might also do some steep turns and stalls for a little extra fun!

Post #22 - CAP training mission

This Friday I was scheduled for scanner training for the the Civil Air Patrol. I went up on 3 flights with two other pilots and practiced scanning techniques while the pilots practiced homing in on an emergency beacon signal. There was a ground team of cadets with the practice beacon and our objective was to locate and take aerial photographs of them. I was able to spot them both times (it wasn't easy).

I was able to spot them in the shadow just before they were completely hidden behind the tree. (if you zoom in on the pic, you can see their orange vests in the middle.)

The second time was a little easier to find them.

Reservoir from 1000 ft above

The two pilots, Denny and LR.

On our way back to the Ogden airport we spotted a little fire. Not sure how it started, but decided to take a quick pic of it.

A corn maze for this Halloween. It says "Field of Fear"

Another corn maze, not sure what it is though. Hmm??? Any guesses?

Overall, I was gone for 10 hours, 4 of which were spent flying. Got some experience scanning, which I am now a qualified scanner for CAP, and had a fun day spending time with some seasoned pilots.

These pilots where in an actual mission last week. It was a big deal for us because our squadron has just recently been building up our emergency aircrew. It was our squadrons first air mission in 20 years I believe. There was a glider pilot who was overdue and rescue services where sent out to find him. Unfortunately he was later found dead. His glider crashed onto a mountain side. It was a sad ending and our hearts go out to his family and friends.

Little bit of humor

Well summer is here and I don't have the money to fly, so thought I would put up a little bit of aviation humor. Here you go!

ATC Mother-in-Law

Post # 21 - Instrument Check Ride Flight

On Friday, June 25th, I was able to meet with the FAA Check Ride Examiner to do the flight portion on my Instrument Check Ride. This test would determine if I would get my instrument rating. I did the necessary flight planning and flew solo down to Ogden to meet him there. I got there about 20 minutes early and went over some approaches to make sure I understood them completely before going up. However, that morning when I called the flight briefer to get weather and NOTAMS (Notices to Airmen) I found out that Ogden was doing some repairs and their ILS would be out of service. This was going to change things a little because I would need to fly an ILS approach for the test. When Clair got there I told him about this so we decided that we would do the ILS approach at Hill Airforce Base. We started our flight with vectors for the GPS approach and then did a hold 10 miles north of the Ogden VOR. About 5 seconds after Clair gave me directions for the hold ATC asked me over the radio what and where we wanted to go, after telling them I needed to climb to a different altitude and do this while planning my entry into the hold. After that was situated with ATC I had 0.2 miles to find out what the holding side was and my decision for the holding entry. This left me about 10 seconds to make the decision, and from what I have heard from other pilots that have failed the checkride, that they failed it because of a wrong entry or wrong turn on a hold. This made me a little nervous for a moment because I had a few seconds to make sure I did it right the first time. Usually for the holds I like to draw it on scrap paper and double check it with how it correlates with my instruments, but this time I had to do it purely in my head. Well, needless to say, I performed the hold correctly, because I PASSED MY CHECKRIDE! I am now instrument rated and am going to start working on my commercial license.

I am excited to start flying the Piper Arrow. It will get me my complex aircraft rating and I will then start flying the DA-42 a multi-engine aircraft. Below are pictures of each.

Piper Arrow

Diamondstar DA-42, left and below

Post #20 - Instrument Rating Checkride

Today was a fairly stressful day. I woke up early to finish the last minute touches to my flight plan. I needed to make an IFR flight plan to Missoula, MO and show the check airman that I was capable of doing so. So anyway, I woke up early to get weather information and make all the corrections on my plan as need for wind, etc. Then I started some last minute studying for things such as holding speed/altitude maximums, types/distance/heights of navaids, maximum safe distance for circling minimums, etc. All things that require tedious memorization of altitudes and distances for the ground interview. Well, the time came for me to leave and Justin, my flight instructor, called me and said that the check airman was going to be a little late, maybe 45 minutes. Well it turned out to be about 2 hours. Then I needed to fill out some information on the FAA website before we could begin. I had to work at 6pm that day and it was getting later and later. We decided to only do the ground and to finish the flight another day. The ground was intense. We talked about types of clouds, precipitation, and weather associated with different fronts. We also talked about different types of scenarios that he had been in. This ground was way more intense than the stage checks I had previously been in. It was a big change from having a CFI saying I really know my stuff, to being quizzed by a check airman with 40+ years of experience. Although I didn't feel as good about this ground, I did pass. He said I knew everything that he expected me to, so that made me feel better. I am going to contact him later this week and we will finish the flying portion of the check ride.

On a different subject - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all you fathers and fathers to be. I called my dad today and wished him a special Father's Day. Was good talking to him and my mom. I sure do love those two. Here is video from Youtube for the fathers out there.

Post # 19 - Stage III Instrument Check

Stage III is passed. The stages keep getting increasingly difficult. It was on Monday the 14th and started off with 2 hours of ground testing and then the flight. The ground went great, he said I really knew my stuff and was impressed. The flight consisted of holds, ILS approaches, Navaid tracking, and a GPS approach. Pretty basic stuff for instrument flying. The flight went good too. It ended with a hold on the GPS 35 approach on the North side of the OBNUE Fix. That is pretty basic too (as long as you now what direction North is). I passed stage III and now it is on to the Check Ride! A $350 test, so better not fail! Will be expensive to retake it. It's scheduled for Friday the 18th.

Post # 18 - CAP Activity & Flight

Last Wednesday, the 9th, the Civil Air Patrol helped the Wyoming National Guard with an emergency exercise. The scenario was that Denver, Colorado had a devastating earthquake and evacuees were flown into Salt Lake. We posed as evacuees who were distraught and had to go through the process of registering with Red Cross, etc. It was a fun experience and later we got a tour of a C-130. Here are some pics.

It was fun seeing some of the "injured people".

The unlucky few casualties that didn't make it.

Also, yesterday the 14th, I flew to Tooele Valley, just south of the Great Salt Lake, then flew into Ogden for a few more practice approaches. My friend Jake from work came with me and he was really excited. I guess that day at work when he went in it was the first thing he talked about. Now my manager is hitting me up for some flights. Guess I am going to have to start charging. Tomorrow is my stage III check for instrument flying, then after that is the check ride for my Instrument Rating! Wish me luck!

Post #17 - 250 mile IFR Cross country & some extra fun

Today I had an IFR cross country flight to Rock Springs, WY and also to Fort Bridger, WY. The total flight was 3.5 hrs. I was in contact with Salt Lake Center for the duration and flew 1 ILS, 1 GPS, and 1 VOR approach. I got a little bit of actual instrument time, here is a short clip of me flying into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC).



The winds were stronger than forcasted when landing at the two airports in Wyoming. There were sustained winds of 30 knots (about 34 mph) with some gusts. Landing in strong winds, especially crosswinds can be difficult. However, I successfully performed a touch-n-go in Rock Springs and Fort Bridger. Needless to say, the ride was fairly bumpy today.

After my cross-country flight, Justin, my flight instructor, spoke to his other student. The other student was going to fly that day but decided not to. So Justin invited me to go up in his airplane. Justin has a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. It has a kit on the wings that allows for slower flight during landing and take off. We wondered how many feet it would take to take off and land today, during the strong winds. Here is the result.



I went on google maps and approximated that it landed and came to a stop in about 200 feet. Normally it could take about 600-1000 feet.

A fun day of flying!

Post #16 - Airshow and CAP security

On Friday June 4th Lindsay and I went to an airshow that the Logan-Cache Airport was hosting. The main attraction was the WWII B-17 Bomber. Since Lindsay only had a little over an hour for her work break, we toured the B-17 and didn't look at much else. Would have been fun to fly around town in it, but it was $400 a person for a 25 minute flight. It was fun looking at it, inside and out, and being able to walk across the catwalk in the Bomb Bay. Here are a few pictures of it, and also a video of the flight that took off later that day.

Here are two videos I took from the airshow of it starting and taking off.






Also, a T-28 Trojan flew in that day. The T-28 was mainly a training aircraft used just after WWII. It was built by the same company that made the P-51 Mustang. It saw some action in Vietnam later. More info on it can be seen HERE.

This is the pic I took of it at the airshow.

Later that day, I went back to the airport for some volunteer work. The Civil Air Patrol was presenting the colors and helping with security. I was put in charge of two groups of cadets on ground security. We were responsible for making sure that no one wandered onto the active taxiway.


Overall, it was a fun day with some good historic aircraft.

Post # 15 - Weekend plans and CAP activity

It's been a couple of weeks since I have gone up for a lesson, but I should be able to go sometime next week. Lindsay and I were out of town for a little while. We went up to Boise to meet Lindsay's brother who came home from a 2 year mission in Costa Rica. We spent a few days on the Oregon Coast and a few days in La Grande.
This weekend I will be helping out at the airport for an airshow/open house with the civil air patrol. The civil air patrol is going to be helping with parking, marshaling aircraft, and security. Also, the USU program will be promoting. There will be a band, food, games, and I heard that a WWII plane will be coming in. If so, it would be a B-17 bomber. Also, next week, the Civil Air Patrol is helping Life Flight with training exercises. The CAP members will be acting as injured people from an accident and will be rescued. There's a chance that I could ride in a life flight helicopter. I will try to take pictures at both of these events and get them posted. I'll let you know how it all goes.

Post #13 & 14 - Actual IMC

In case you are wondering, those are foggles on my forehead. They're used to limit my vision.

#13
It's been almost a month since I flew last. I've been busy with studying for finals and projects. But was able to get two flights in recently. Yesterday was my first actual IFR flight plan. I filed the plan online through duats.com and activated/received my clearance while in the air. We took off out of Logan in VFR conditions and started flying the plan. After reaching the Brigham City VOR I turned North to head towards my destination of Pocatello, ID. On the radio I called up the Salt Lake City Center and received my IFR clearance to go to Pocatello. On the way there, there were a few cumulus clouds that we were able to fly through. This was special to me because it was my first time in the clouds. On VFR flights you have to avoid the clouds, but since I was on an IFR plan I was able to go right into the heart of the cloud. We were in the clouds off and on for about 10 minutes. When in the clouds you need to turn on the carburetor heat because the excess moisture and cold temperature can form ice in the carburetor, but we didn't have any issues with it. Structural ice is common in clouds too and we did pick up trace amounts of mixed structural ice. It melted shortly after we exited the cloud and wasn't a problem. Here is another picture of me flying in the clouds. It was a great experience, notice how you can't see anything outside when you are actually in it. And yes, it really was that bright in the cloud.

Those pictures were from yesterday to Pocatello (KPIH). I was in the clouds for about 10 minutes on the way up, and 15 minutes on the way back after performing an ILS approach and touch-n-go in PIH. What a great flight for experience. I got to see actual IMC, freezing rain, and mixed ice. Loved it!


#14
Today, I went on another Cross-country IFR flight with 30 minutes of actual IMC. I Filed on Duats.com again and began by flying West of SLC. I was vectored around the airspace of Salt Lake City International to get to Provo (KPVU). The approach I requested was the VOR 13 into Provo with a circle to land on runway 13. Did a touch-n-go on 13 and then flew the PROVO FOUR DEPARTURE. While climbing to the Fairfield Vortac I contacted Cedar City Radio and filed a new IFR plan to get home. After filing, I then contacted Salt Lake Center to pick up my clearance. I was later vectored on the East of SLC and performed a visual approach back home in Logan. Another great day. 30 minutes in the clouds and a great flight!

Post # 12 - Summer plans and artwork

Hello everyone! Spring Semester 2010 is over and the grades are beginning to be posted. So far 2 A's. I really enjoyed the semester but am still excited that I am getting that much closer to being done. This summer my plans are to work and fly as much as possible. I am hoping to get enough flying done so that I can be completed with my commercial license by the end of Fall semester. The weather should be good and I should have enough money, so nothing should stand in my way!

The other day I got a little bored so I decided to sketch an airplane. I have never really been very artistic, and have been limited to drawing stick figures, and those weren't even that good. So I was amazed with what I ended up with. I was so proud of myself that I framed it and added a little card of the specs. Here are some pics of two sketches I did. The F-22 was the first sketch and the Mustang was the second.

I really enjoyed drawing them so I went out and bought some sketching pencils and pads.

I have a flight scheduled for wednesday. I will let you know how it goes. It is my first IFR cross-country flight. I hope everyone gets to do everything they want this summer, Lindsay and I have some fun plans.

Post #11 - Instrument Stage II Check!

I passed! Stage II is behind me. I am excited to be done with stage II. It is supposed to be one of the harder ones. Now I get to move on to cross country IFR flights.

The Stage check was composed of a written test, oral questions, and a flight. The oral portion usually take 2 hours, but we whipped through it in a little under an hour and a half. The questions went great, I knew almost all the answers and was able to work my way through most the ones that I didn't know. The flight went great too. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day here in Utah; close to 80 degrees and hardly any clouds in the sky. Only slight turbulence at some altitudes. On the departure from LGU-Logan airport, I was climbing out at 73 Knots, aprx 80 mph, and was under the hood, then the instructor said "I have the airplane" and he started to maneuver the airplane in short, sharp movements. I saw out of the corner of my eye, to the left and under the plane, a flock of medium sized birds. I'm glad he saw them because the hood restricts all the view outside in front of the plane.

We then continued on with the flight. The instructor had me perform 2 holding patterns west of the Brigham City VOR, and then I performed some compass turns and timed turns. We then went southward to Ogden. I flew the VOR 7 and ILS 3 approach with partial panel and then came back to Ogden for the GPS 35 approach. The whole flight portion took 1.6 hours.

Post # 10 - Welcome back Justin

Justin recently got back from a Multi Engine hour building course. We went flying on Wednesday to iron out any kinks. The flight went great and I feel comfortable doing instrument approaches in Ogden while communicating with Approach and Tower. I now have my stage II instrument check scheduled for Monday! It is going to be a busy week. I have the stage check, a report due, and a talk I have to prepare. I can't wait for summer to get here. However, it will probably feel just like any other time because I am going to be taking a few classes, but will get to fly about 3 times a week! Im excited to get some more cross country time in. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

On a side note, we had a 4.9 earthquake yesterday afternoon around 6pm. I was working when it happened and Lindsay was at home. Neither one of us felt it. No damage reported. Hopefully, that was the "BIG" one we have been expecting. It was the largest earthquake Utah has had in 18 years.

New High Score

A big SORRY to Lindsay. I beat her high score on the game "helicopter"
High Scores
We need more participants. Come on! Show us what you're made of! Play the game HERE and post your score in my high score section or send it to me. Good luck!

Post # 8 & 9 - Finally! Another flight!

This post is going to compress my two flights from this week. My normal flight instructor Justin was out of town, so I flew these two flights with Jamie. He has been an instructor at USU for about 2 years now. He challenged me in new ways and made me do some critical thinking. I really enjoyed the two flights. I was just glad to finally get back into the air for another flight. It had been around a month since the last time I believe. Both flights were the same, practice instrument approaches in Ogden with myself handling the radios. I had been planning these flights for a while, but the weather didn't seem to agree with me often.

The second flight was at night and was used to perfect the skills that weren't perfect from the first flight. The interesting thing about a night practice IFR flight is that there is NO outside reference. I couldn't see anything and had to rely completely on my instruments. There was one time where it felt like I was in a left turn, but the plane was level. That is disorientation for you, if you don't rely on your instruments and rely only on how your body feels, it can be a VERY DANGEROUS situation. This is why instrument training is an important step in a flying career. I look forward to finishing this stage and moving on to the IFR flight planning! Will let you all know how it goes.

Post # 7 - Back from break: Time to start flying again!

Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather that is finally arriving. I am planning on going out for 9 holes of golf tomorrow, but there is a chance of rain. Go figure. I haven't had a post for a while because I haven't been flying for the past two weeks. Had a great Spring Break though. If you haven't seen or heard about what we did, go over to our family blog at http://millers-at-the-speed-of-light.blogspot.com/

I feel like we have been extremely busy for the past 2 weeks, and I have a test in all of my classes this week. Had 2 tests today and I feel like I did well. One was in Aviation Weather and the other was Human Factors in Aviation Safety. Both are fun classes and I am learning a lot in them.

I have a flight planned this Saturday at 12:30. My normal instructor is gone for another week so I will be flying with a different instructor. I will finally be handling the radios in Ogden; have had to reschedule that flight several times due to weather and other conflicts. Just a few flights away from my stage 2 check, but it seems like it is getting drawn out for some time. Will let you know how it goes!

Post #6 - CAP and Clouded In

It's official! I am now currently a member of the Cache Valley Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. I am in the process of getting my certifications done to become a 2nd lieutenant and a mission observer. I am looking forward to training and being able to help with search and rescue missions and other emergencies. After I accumulate 200 hours of PIC time and complete training, I will be able to become a mission pilot. Until then, I will be a mission observer. I can't wait!

Today I had a flight scheduled to go to Ogden again, however, the weather kept us in our little valley. We flew over the cloud layer for a bit and it was beautiful. We were about 1000 ft above the clouds but it seemed like we were right on top of a layer of pillows and sheets. Wish I had a camera with me today! A few more days before our new one arrives. We practiced some holds and approaches. Justin found a fun approach from Baltimore, MD and we adapted it to work for Logan. It was a fun approach. It consisted of 2 arcs at different distances and a hold. Was good practice because it would throw a heavy workload at you fast. I have about 2 or 3 more flights before my stage 2 check. Then I will be moving on to full IFR flights. It'll be fun!

I hope everyone had a good weekend.

Post #5 - Alternate: Logan

I must have spoken too soon about the good weather. It looked great this morning! Blue sunny sky with a few clouds...but the TAF said there were clouds rolling in with some snow. Justin and I sent texts to each other laughing that the TAF was inaccurate today. But after we got up in the air we saw that the clouds were starting to form south of town over the mountains. We decided not to go to Ogden today and practice a few approaches in Logan. First approach was GPS 35 for Logan. Had a strong headwind aloft while trying to gain altitude to get up to the holding pattern. After holding we began the approach. Had a little bit of turbulence today, and a good jolt that shook the plane suddenly. It felt like I would have hit my head on the top of the plane if I didn't have a seat belt on. After the approach I initiated a missed and then went up again for the ILS 17. I have 3 more flights before my stage 2 check. Will keep you posted!

Post #4 - Alternate: Simulator

Well, I got a text message from Justin about 2 hours before our scheduled flight saying that all the planes were already scheduled. Must be because the weather is turning nice finally. But he said we could practice on the flight simulator. I was bummed that we couldn't fly, but was kind of excited to try the simulator. The simulator is about $100 cheaper per hour and also takes less time than an actual flight. I was happy about that. However, I found out why it was so much cheaper. The computer display seemed like what they would have used in Houston for the rocket launch in the 1960's. Also, the controls were touchy and weird, and I had to get used to using the 6 pack instead of the glass panel cockpit I'm used to. But it was good practice for the old style instruments, I guess I am spoiled by using nice updated equipment. I practiced 2 VOR approaches and an ILS. I think I prefer the real thing though.

Post #3 - Thats more like it!

Flew to Ogden again today. I invited my friend Trevor to go with me. I feel kind of bad though because we flew a GPS approach and it took us way out west of ogden over The Great Salt Lake, and there isn't very much to see out there. It wasn't a very scenic flight for him. But I think he had fun, none the less. We first flew the GPS then the ILS. Both were partial panel. I feel more comfortable flying approaches partial panel now, but there is definitely room for improvement. Every now and then I slightly omit a certain instrument and get slightly off course or may be 80-100 ft off altitude, but I catch the mistake and correct for it. There is a lot remember and a lot going on during instrument flights. I can imagine how difficult it would be during actual IMC and rough weather. After the two approaches in Ogden we went back to Logan on the GPS 35 approach and landed with no problems. This flight was more normal than the last one, no near mid-air collisions and no close calls with birds. It's nice when flying, but not as interesting to write about. Sorry.

Recent Additions

1. I've recently added an "Aviation Terms &; Abbreviations" page. It is to help readers understand terms they are unfamiliar with.
2. I have added a "Suggestions" page where you can make comments and suggestions of what I should add/change/write about.
3. Also, I am in the process of completing my electronic "Flight Time logbook" that will have all of my flights recorded from my actual logbook. Page will be completed and added shortly. 

Hope this helps everyone to have an enjoyable blog experience.
~Daniel

Post #2 - KOGD instrument practice approaches

A few close calls, but overall good flight.

Today I flew down to Ogden to practice some IFR approaches. It was my first time going to OGD and I was excited. Justin and I started our flight southbound climbing to 10000 ft. We flew over sardine canyon and intercepted the 331 degree radial of the Ogden VOR and flew inbound. Once we were 10.5 miles away I made a right turn to fly a 10 nautical mile arc around the VOR. After flying the arc for a few minutes I got to the 281 radial and flew inbound to the VOR. This was the beginning of the VOR instrument approach. I continued toward the runway until we reached our minimum altitude and took my hood off. I was able to see runway 7, but we executed a missed approach procedure and performed a climbing left turn back to the VOR. It was a great approach and didn't have any problems.

We were then vectored for an ILS approach. We picked up the localizer and vertical guidance and proceeded inbound without any problem. We then performed another missed approach with a climbing left turn. However, after gaining about 1500 feet of altitude Justin said "Bird!" I looked up from foggles and saw a blackbird about 200 yards in front of us circling, and it was directly in our path! It looked like some kind of hawk.Suddenly it swooped down and I lost sight of it beneath the engine compartment. A short burst of excitement. Then, a few minutes later as we were continuing our climb and I was under the hood (meaning I can't see anything outside, only instruments), Justin said "descend", It turned out that there was a C-130 on a collision course with us. It was slightly above us and to the side, as we were climbing. Justin told me to look up after we descended and I saw the plane pass about 1000ft above us. We were wondering why Air Traffic Control didn't notify us of the plane, because that is part of their job. So that was close call #2.

We then flew the 10 DME arc again and Justin pulled one of the circuit breakers to practice partial panel approaches. He pulled the AHRS, which is the Attitude Heading Reference System. This blacked out my artificial horizon, Heading Situation Indicator, and a few other instruments. I then proceeded on the arc and descended to the runway for another great approach. We then told ATC that we were going home to KLGU (Logan-Cache Airport). However, ATC notified us that there was traffic 2 miles 1 o'clock. He was about 1000 ft above us and climbing to 8000 ft, as we were climbing to 10,000ft. We started looking for him but the mountain covered in snow, rocks, and trees made it hard to see him. Both of us were about to go through the canyon and we were close to the same altitude. Well, we never saw him, but as we were climbing through 8000 and continued climbing, we knew we were safe. We then went home and flew the GPS 35 approach for Logan.

A few close calls, but overall good flight.

Post #1 - Welcome

This is my first post on my Flight Adventures blog that will help my friends and family know how and what I am doing in my flying. I currently have about 120 hours of total flying time, and about 80 of which are Pilot in Command (PIC). I received my Private Pilot License on Feb. 2, 2009 and am currently working on my instrument rating while attending Utah State University for a dual Bachelor's in Aviation and Business.

Make sure to become familiar with my blog. I have added a "pictures page" "upcoming flights" and "games", that can be seen on the top right. I will be adding more features later and will keep you posted. Also, after I add more posts, the blog archive can be used to view newer or older posts. Hope you enjoy!