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.