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.