Just wanted to check in and let everyone know, the blog is live at its new home:  http://leavingterrafirma.com.  I am still getting things situated, but the bulk of the site is up and running.  I just wanted to let everyone know that this will likely be the last post here and that they will find the new content and functionality at the new domain.

So what are you waiting for? Get on over to http://leavingterrafirma.com!

I filled out the flight log, plotted the course and did all the weather calculations before heading to my lesson a little early. It was easier and quicker than the others because I was able to recycle the partially complete log from before.  All I really had to do was redraw the course on the sectional and calculate the numbers.  This all took about 20 minutes and I was ready to go pending a sign off.

I left work and headed across the ramp to the flight school.  Nathan looked at my stuff, we discussed the long cross-country and the weather, and he signed me off.  I was good to go with the exception of fuel.  Nathan called the FBO and had them dispatch a fuel truck and I headed out to the plane to preflight and leave.  Just as I was finishing the in cabin preflight checks, the fuel truck pulled up.  I greeted the lineman and he fueled the plane.  I proceeded with the preflight, taking care to check the fuel.  I trust the guys, but it is better to be safe than dead.

Even though I enjoy every flight, the ones with a specific destination are always a little more interesting to me.  It gives a sense of purpose to the flight.  That sense of purpose carries over into other aspects, such as the radio work.  It may just be my opinion, but I think it sounds better when you can tell clearance delivery, “Cessna 21693 would like to go to Sierra Romeo Bravo [or any other identifier] VFR at 4500 feet.”  Anyway, that is exactly what I said and they cleared me for 23L and 270 after departure.  That was close to my planned heading, but expected.  I’m starting to expect certain things when departing and arriving at TYS.  There are certain recurring patterns to flying from a controlled field and it seems the sooner you figure them out and incorporate them into the plan, things will go smoother.

Just to clear the air, I want to assure everyone that with the exception of setting up the gps (as a fall back) I did all the navigation by referencing the charts, checkpoints, and time.  I vowed not to jump in a fire up the GPS and go and I stuck with it because, GPS is prone to failure and I don’t want to be reliant on one navigation method.  For the most part the flight was just me flying and listening to radio chatter on the departure frequency.  There were some traffic warnings, but they were all really no factor courtesy calls.  Two of my checkpoints that held the most interest were Rockwood (RKW) and Crossville (CSV).  There wasn’t much going on at either, but I tuned in the frequencies anyway.  Just before I left Knoxville, another aircraft set out for Rockwood and I reached Rockwood in time to see their final approach and landing.  I assure you, seeing planes landing from above will never get old too me.  It is just a surreal experience to me.

I quickly arrived at my destination, it’s only a 40 minute flight, and was set up to enter a downwind.  The airport was pretty easy to find and the runway is just over half the length of McGhee Tyson and is the same width.  I didn’t anticipate any issues, and I had no issues.  I called that I was on downwind and there was a reply.  The reply caught me a little off guard, because the other aircraft stated that they were on downwind as well.  I immediately began scanning assuming that I had completely missed an aircraft, but the tail end of their transmission explained why I hadn’t seen anything – they were at Virginia-Highlands (they were surprisingly clear). I elected to do a full-stop landing so that I could call my wife and to explore a little of the airport.   In total I would say I was on the ground for about 5 minutes and then it was back home.

I executed a short field take off for no other reason than because I could.  Then climbed to 5500 feet and set the plane up for cruise.  The weather couldn’t have been better for flying, the air was perfectly calm and clear and the flight there and back were a breeze.  I took a moment just to take in the exquisite view and I was instantly reminded why I love to fly.  After the halfway point of the trip, the only thing I would have changed about it happened.  I was flying along and all of a sudden I noticed another plane and I realized that they were at my same altitude and that, more importantly, our paths were converging.  We didn’t bust separation or anything and nobody was ever in any danger, but we came closer than I would like to have.  I might have felt better about it if he hadn’t continued turning toward me while I tried to turn away from him, but everything worked out alright.

After that little event, I opted to call Knoxville Approach (it was time anyway) and get started on my descent.  They set me up for a base to 23R and I performed what seemed to me to be an exceptional descent and landing.  It was a nice smooth descent of about 200 feet per minute that basically stopped when I greased the landing.  It was probably the best flight I’ve ever had.  It wasn’t without its learning experiences, but it was an exceptionally smooth flight.  I’m really pleased with myself (toot.toot.)

Once I got back, I checked the time and called Nathan.  He mentioned that he had to leave early and that I should just call him when I got back.  I turned the keys and clipboard in at TACAir (the FBO), which was my first time in the building since it was Cherokee Aviation (which was like 10 or 12 years ago).  Then I made the long walk to the car and began thinking about my next flight.  We’ll see how next week goes.  Hopefully the weather is good and I can get my long solo cross-country in.

I left the fall festival and headed out toward the airport, it wasn’t very busy.  Josh let me know that the intent was to knock the rust off, do whatever I thought I needed work on (which is ground reference maneuvers), and to head home.  He also let me know that he would be out-of-town, but accessible.  I preflighted the plane and we were quickly off to Walland Gap.

I did some turns around a point first, several each direction.  They were not perfect, but they were workable.  Josh reminded me of some helpful hints and we progressed to the s-turns.  I always do alright with s-turns, but they are never perfect.  Not that I am shooting for perfect, but I am looking for more uniform execution.   I want to be able to do them well enough all the time.  I do find it helpful when there is an objective viewer who can say, “Pretty good, but you’re banking to steeply on the upwind and it is throwing you off. “

We went up and down 321 and then headed back to the airport, for at least one landing.  The cool thing is that we overflew the fall festival.  It looked pretty interesting from the air.  I also found out later that my flight was seen.  I made a very good landing, and we put the plane to bed.  I plan to go to Upper Cumberland Regional (SRB) on my first solo cross-country.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my navigation log and stuff so Josh couldn’t sign off right then and there.  Instead, he let me know that Nathan would do it for each cross-country.  I set out for the return to the festival.

After passing the knowledge test, I vowed to get back on my Monday schedule.  This being a Monday, that meant it was flying day.  I reported to the flight school and met with Josh.  We discussed the test and what we would be doing today.  He mentioned that we’d head out to the practice area and work up the ground reference maneuvers and then come back in and he’d hop out.  After that what to do was at my discretion.

I preflighted the plane, started, got a clearance and we were ready to go.  It was a little busy, but not too bad.  ATC held us up and put us behind a Citation.  It was a really nice jet, but piston drivers are people too!  Josh and I discussed jets while we taxied.  I mentioned that if I had 2.4 million dollars, I would buy a Citation Mustang and  Josh furthered my jet lust by pointing me to the Embraer Phenom.  Now I need another million dollars to meet the 3 million price tag on that one.

We took off, after another delay for a jet to take off.  We turned out toward the practice area and I set the plane up for cruise.  After a brief cruise, we were ready to start ground reference maneuvers.  We started with turns around a point, which I performed decently.  My major issue is that I go along and do really well and then all of a sudden I bust my altitude or end up losing my ground track.  We did about 4 sets of turns (2 in each direction) and then moved on to s turns.

S turns are not exactly my best maneuver,  I usually don’t do that well with them.  I was hoping that Josh would be able to help me clear up some issues.   Unfortunately, I proceeded to perform a bunch of excellent s turns.  Either it has suddenly clicked or I just have no clue what a good s turn is.  Josh mentioned how good my s turns were and then told me to let ATC know we wanted to come back in.

I pointed the plane toward the airport and keyed the radio.  They immediately vectored us into a right base for 5R.  I had the speeds and altitudes pegged and I made an absolutely beautiful landing.  We taxied onto the ramp, Josh wrote his time down and sent me back out to the practice area for the rest of the lesson.  I performed a short field takeoff, for fun not out of necessity.  It is pretty funny to do short field stuff at McGhee Tyson with 9000 feet of runway at your disposal.  I was a couple of hundred feet up before I had reached the mid-point of the runway.

Something I wanted to do was look for my grandparents’ house, because I knew that I was all over the top of it.  I set up a little pattern that was basically a long oval with a 180 degree steep turn at either end and proceeded to look.  It took about 2 circuits of this pattern before I found their house.  The area looks a lot different from the air.

After seeing their house, I did a 720 degree steep in each direction, satisfied myself that I could maintain altitude and speed, and I set up for s-turns.  I did one pass up and down 321 and decided to call it a day.  Unfortunately, the radio chatter had picked up significantly since I had returned to the practice area.

The radio chatter was coming so quickly, that I was afraid I would never be able to break in and request to come back in for landing.  I just flew along the ridge and kept turning around to try and maintain a decent proximity to the airport and practice area.  I made about 3 circuits of this pseudo holding pattern before I got a chance to request permission to head back in.  ATC issued me a heading that was basically parallel to the ridge and I complied.  After about 5 minutes and upon noticing that I was nearly to Six Mile, the controller broke in and let me know that I didn’t have to stay on the heading and just to hold to the east of the field until further notice.   I entered another long oval holding pattern and just flew circles for at least 3 or 4 minutes before I received vectors back in.

I had panned to ask for some touch and goes, but I thought better of it.  Especially considering a lot of time had been eaten up waiting to get back in .  The put me in another right base for 5R and I set up for landing.  The landing was excellent right up to the part just after the mains touched down.  That’s when I accidentally bumped the throttle forward and lost the centerline in the initial freak out.  Thankfully, I pulled the throttle eased it back toward the centerline and let the nose wheel down gently.  I taxied back slightly embarrassed and quite mad at myself for messing up a really good landing.

After having a break to study for the knowledge test and to celebrate passing the knowledge test, I decided to go flying. I scheduled some plane time and planned to do some touch and goes. It had been a little winy over the last few days, but upon arriving at the flight school, I was greeted by pretty decent weather. There was some wind, but it was pretty much straight down the runway so I elected to go forward with the lesson. It was a little overcast also, but it was a good solid VFR day.

I checked the plane out and went out to do preflight. Everything seemed to be in order with the plane and I loaded up, locked the doors, buckled the seat belt, and noticed that I had left the chocks under the left main tire. So I had to undo all the stuff and climb out and remove them. I did everything for a second time and proceeded to start the engine and moved out to call clearance delivery. They gave me all the pertinent information, I wrote it down and read it back. Everything looked good so I decided to maneuver into a position where I could do the run-up. It was at this point that I looked over at the transponder with the intent of dialing in my given code and it appeared to be off. Then I looked at the knob and saw that it was in the standby position. I switched it off and on again a number of times and each time all I saw was a little tiny light reading “fail.” It was at this point that I came to realize that I didn’t know what to do now. It was obvious that I shouldn’t just take off and I knew that ATC had me in their queue so I just let logic prevail and called clearance back and canceled my clearance. I taxied back over to the front of the flight school and shut down, chocked the plane, and ran back up to let Nathan know what was happening. It was at this point that he let me know that everything was copacetic, but that the transponder has a little sensor and that sometimes when the light outside is just right it turns off the display back light. Apparently, the fix is to shine a light at it. He grabbed a light and came out and showed me.

I still had plenty of time, but I was mad that I had wasted my time and I couldn’t figure out what the point behind the sensor is. Nathan went back upstairs, I started the engine, and realized the chocks were still under the nose wheel. So I shut down, removed the chocks and started again. This was not a good start to the lesson. I called clearance let them know I had worked everything out and they let me know that my previous clearance was still good. This was great because it meant that I had the right code in the transponder. I did the run up and radioed for taxi. They cleared me to taxi to 23L via alpha, which I did, received a clearance for takeoff, and I was in the air.

I got up pretty quickly, which wasn’t hugely surprising given the wind. I turned a right crosswind and that’s when it hit me just how swift the wind was. I fought the wind and flew for what felt like forever and I could actually see the plane drifting. Finally it was time to turn downwind, I forced it around and it clicked onto downwind. I was conscious of the fact that I was really moving. The turn to base was another struggle and I turned well past 90 degrees to avoid drifting way out from the runway. The turn to final was a little alarming in that it was a little difficult to get the plane to line up with the runway. There was nothing wrong with the plane, but the wind was fighting me on the crosswind and base legs. The landing itself was pretty decent and I was headed around again.

Somewhere about midway through the downwind, the controller cleared me for the option and alerted me to the fact that the wind had increased. It was still straight down the runway and well within my personal safety minimums and this time I knew what to expect. I made a really good pattern this time. Another decent landing and I was off again.

This time however, when I was cleared for the option, there was a fair amount of turbulence. The plane was really rocking. Then, right at the tail end of the downwind leg, a gigantic gust of wind hit the plane and I immediately noticed a significant drop in altitude (maybe a hundred feet). To make a long story short, I hit my head twice on the ceiling. Just after the second gust, the controller called to let me know that the wind was now gusting at 27 knots and I responded the only way I knew how, “Roger that..I’d like to make this one a full stop.” They gave me a runway change and I put it down and taxied to the tie down.

Overall once I got up it was a good lesson. The very last little incident really got my heart beating and I was glad to be on the ground, but it was good practice for dealing with wind.

I left the airport and immediately started planning my next cross country, which would be to London-Corbin (LOZ) in Kentucky.  It was of vital importance that I get most of the planning done because, for the first time in my training, I would be flying with less than 24 hours separation between flights.  In fact, this would be my 2nd flight in 2 days and my 3rd flight in 4 days.  I wish I could afford to fly like this all the time, but I’m paying as I go and I refuse to take on any debt.  Josh told me that if I show up ready to preflight and takeoff, that we might have enough time to actually stop and eat at the restaurant on the field.  It meant doing the weather and associated calculations at the end of my workday, but I was willing to make that sacrifice.

The weather wasn’t quite as good as it was for the trip to Cleveland, but it was still a good day to fly.  The only issue that I could coming up was clouds on this side of the Cumberland mountains as the sky conditions were listed as few clouds at 4500 feet.  That would mean that we might have to keep the altitude a little low on the way back and just climb over the ridges.  Nothing risky, just not ideal.  I wrote up nav logs for both legs of the flight, and I was prepared to calculate ground speed, etc with the E6B.  Everything was perfect, except I forgot to fill in the radio frequencies on the forms, and I was ready for preflight when I walked into the flight school.  The entire process seemed much easier this time, even having to deal with two sectionals.

I was determined to make this flight as perfect as possible, but it seems I was destined for some sort of issue from the beginning.  That trouble was that I called clearance delivery, told them that we were headed VFR to London-Corbin, Lima Oscar Zulu, and they put us down as headed to Lima Zulu Uniform.  This is an issue because, LZU is down near Atlanta and it exactly 180 degrees the wrong direction.  We only became aware of this misunderstanding after we were handed off to departure and they gave us a heading that would take us way off our planned course.  Josh quickly called them to ask what the deal was and where they had us headed.  They had us stay on our current heading and await further instructions.  The end result was that we were something like 20 miles off course initially.  Josh let me use the GPS to get back on course and then it was up to me to find the visual checkpoints.  This was not an issue with the exception of one — Powell STOLport, which I could not locate until we were past it.   I did catch myself drifting a little right of course at the next checkpoint which was easy to see.  I corrected and everything else was smooth sailing.  I did notice that our current altitude, 4500 feet was about the highest one could fly and maintain cloud clearances.  This would be interesting on the way back.

After we crossed the Cumberlands, the sky was clear.  It is very interesting to go from dodging clouds to a completely clear sky in a matter of seconds.  Not long after crossing the mountains, we had the field in sight.   The wind was negligible and was reported as variable, which led us to select runway 6.  It would make for an easy landing and a quick turn around, but on listening to the CTAF, we discovered that there was traffic in the area and they intended to use 24.  We elected to follow suit and entered on the 45 for a left downwind for 24.  We didn’t have time to eat, which I knew before we left, but Josh let me know the particulars for getting to the restaurant in case I return on a solo cross country or any future flight (which I know I will).  Apparently they had quite a time trying to get into the restaurant.

On the return trip Josh elected to show me some particulars of VOR/GPS navigation.  He explained the button that switches between radio an GPS navigation and set it to GPS.  He mentioned that it would be easier to deal with tracking the GPS course back to McGhee Tyson.  He explained how to track the course on the HSI and how and when to correct.  He also showed me some GPS features that would be helpful when tracking a course.  It was very useful information.  He also had me do some more simulated instrument work.  In all I’ve got about half of the required 3 hours.  Truth be told, I really don’t mind instrument flying and I find that not having to watch outside makes it easier to fly specific headings, altitudes, and etc.  In order to avoid running into clouds, we kept the return leg pretty low and there wasn’t much excitement past crossing the mountains.  Once we were within about 20 miles, I called approach and they set us up to enter a left base for runway 5L.  For those unfamiliar with current airport projects, that runway is currently 2500 feet shorter and has non standard markings.  That said, I made a really good landing and completed a really good flight.

After we taxied back to parking, we secured the plane, Josh debriefed me and we discussed the next step.  He mentioned that he usually likes to get in a night cross country before he signs a student off for the solo cross countries.  He also mentioned that we would hopefully do some VOR stuff on the night cross country and that I should select a destination accordingly.   I mentioned that I was getting close to being ready for the knowledge test and inquired whether there was anything he needed to do.   He said to let him know when I scheduled it and that he would sign me off.

To make a long story short, I completed my first cross country.  We flew to Cleveland Hardwick.  It was a nice flight and it only takes about a half hour to get there.  I was a little nervous, but I knew that I had planned everything and that it was a good day to fly.  I don’t fly much on the weekends.  I find that I can usually schedule during the week with no problems.  Unfortunately, this week there had been a number of issues that prevented me from flying this cross country during the week.  It happened to work out so that I could get it done on Sunday.  The airport is different on the weekends.  I expected to see more people on the GA ramp, but that wasn’t the case.  I saw very few people, but there were noticeably fewer aircraft as well.

Just after arriving, I checked the weather and verified my planning.  Everything still checked out, although there was some weather moving into the western part of Tennessee that would be here later in the evening.  It was a good day to fly.  I went out for preflight, which involved making sure I had the correct sectional, nav log, and my e6b accessible in the cockpit.  As usual, everything checked out.  Hopefully every preflight will go this way.

After preflighting the plane we got in, strapped in, and started the engine.  I radioed for clearance, gave the destination and preferred heading and altitude, and was issued a clearance.  Everything was going according to plan.  Josh set up the GPS and dimmed it so that I couldn’t peek.  We took off and were cleared to our requested altitude (4500 ft) in short order.  Unfortunately, we were issued a heading that wasn’t directly on course, which meant that once ATC had cleared us to “resume own navigation” we were off course.  We were nearly to the lake before this happened, so I was well to the right of my intended course and nearly past the second checkpoint (it was a short flight).  This was exacerbated by my slight inability to detect my reference points.

I managed to get back on course by the time we reached the third checkpoint (Madisonville KMNV).   After that it was smooth sailing all the way to Cleveland.  With the exception of my initial issues, I spotted all my checkpoints.  Though to be fair, I didn’t select the best checkpoints to begin with.

Where the real issue came in was with the E6B and keeping track of everything while flying the plane.  While I am confident in my abilities to pilot the plane and perform maneuvers, until today, I did all this without anything that wasn’t mounted in the panel.  Now I was combating a giant sectional, that despite my refolding needed further condensing, an E6B, a nav log, seeing the checkpoints and flying the plane.  This new workload was quite taxing to say the least.

The next  issue came when I made an attempt to calculate my ground speed with the E6B.  As we overflew Madisonville, I started the clock and I noted the time at McMinnville (the next checkpoint).  I pulled out my E6B, looked at the nav log to determine the distance we had traveled, and dialed in what I thought were the appropriate numbers.  This yielded a result that was way off.   It looked as though all the practicing I’d done was in vain.  From what I understand, the much maligned analog E6B is the preferred device of the FAA examiner that will be administering my check ride.  Anyway, Josh ran me through two other ways to determine ground speed.  One was to simply call ATC and ask and the other was the GPS.  As we were discussing this, Knoxville Departure cut us loose just over McMinnville.   This was a first for me and I was surprised how far out we were.

We arrived at Cleveland shortly there after.  We entered on a 45 for the downwind to runway 3.  Josh mentioned that he didn’t recommend flying in and out of Cleveland if you were hungry because the base leg is basically directly over a strip of restaurants.  A quick glance down confirmed this.  The other end of the airport is surrounded by ridiculously huge houses.  One of which is on a hill straight in line with the runway.  It is crazy.

I was pretty high on final and I made a pretty bad landing.  We taxied back, I took off, and stayed in the pattern.  The second landing wasn’t spectacular but it was better.  I don’t know what the deal is.  We were going to taxi back, but there was a guy on downwind so we elected to use the taxiway.  When we reached the hold short line, he radioed that he was going to fly around town a little bit and reenter on a base leg for 3.  We elected to take the runway, which we stated on the radio, and we began taxiing out.  This was met with the other guy’s immediate call that he was on final for 3.  Josh told me to “turn and take off now”, which I did.  It was absolutely ridiculous and we’re pretty certain it was intentional.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful and we used the GPS on the way back.  We flew over the corn maze.  It was a Chikfila maze.  Once we were about 20 miles out I called approach and told them we were inbound for landing at McGhee Tyson.  After we were closer to the field they set us up for a straight in approach on 5L which is currently 2500′ shorter.  This would be my first landing on this runway since they started the Taxiway B project.  It made me a bit nervous because I didn’t want to drop it in too short.  Unlike my previous two landings, this one was actually good.  It was an excellent end to the lesson.   The next lesson would be my second cross country and it would be tomorrow.  We’ll be headed to London-Corbin (KLOV) and maybe eating at the restaurant there.