Skies clear. Wind at 6 knots from 320°. Altimeter at 29.95”. Temperature is 14°C/ 58°F. Pretty much a perfect day to fly. I got to the flight center 30 minutes early to give myself enough time to get the weather, ATIS, figure out landing and takeoff distance, and determine the weight and balance for the airplane. Today’s lesson was going to be a fun one. We would start by taking off runway 32, and travel north to the north practice grounds. After doing a few stall recoveries, I was going to go up to Bridgeport Airport to practice touch and goes there. I had never been to Bridgeport and was excited to visit a new place. After all, that’s what flying is all about, traveling. However, I never made it to Bridgeport. I didn’t make it to the practice field. I didn’t even make it off the ground.

After I got all the information I went out to the plane to inspect the plane and make sure everything was good. As I went through the checklists, I made sure every item was correct, as I usually do. First the cockpit checklist, then the right wing followed by the forward fuselage. Next was the left wing and finally rear fuselage. After all that I did a complete 360° walk around and was confident the plane was all set. I went back into the cockpit and got ready for the flight. As I waited for my instructor to come out, I opened the aviation map to the places I would be at, and got the frequencies I would need for the new airport I was going to.

My instructor finally came out checked the airplane himself to make sure I didn’t forget anything and he hopped in the plane as well. I diligently went through the pre engine start checklist:
Seats/seatbelts-                                on
Fuel selector-                                    switch
Flaps-                                              set 0
Circuit breakers-                                set in
Electrical switches-                            off
Mixture-                                            full forward
Throttle-                                            open 1/4th
Panel lights-                                      as required
Checklist complete

Time to start the engine:
Battery master switch-                       on
Alternator-                                         on
Fuel pump-                                        on
Prime-                                               3 seconds
Prop area-                                         cleared
Starter-                                             engage
As the engine roared alive, I finished the first few checklists and got ready to taxi. I collected the weather, checked my brakes, and turned on all the lights. I radioed to the company’s frequency that I was outbound and made my way for the runway. After calling up ground control, I got a clearance to taxi to runway 32 via alpha, cross runway 1, to alpha run up area.

In the run-up area, I pulled the plane into the box, set the parking brake and went through the before takeoff checklist
Flight controls-                                 free correct
Directional gyro-                               set to magnetic compass
Stabilator trim-                                  neutral
Flaps-                                              set 0
Windows/doors-                                locked
Seatbelt-                                          on
Set throttle to 2000 rpm-                    set
Check magnetos-                              FAILED

As I was doing the before takeoff checklist, I went to check the magnetos. As I turned the key to the left magneto, I read a 150 rpm drop. Normal. I turned it back to both then to the right magneto. As I did so, the engine’s rpm started fluctuating uncontrollably. Magnetos are supposed to make the engine rpms drop no more than 175, but in this case, the rpms dropped well over 500 rpms. A problem. My instructor didn’t expect me to be able to fix the problem or know what to do so he helped me out. We idled in the run-up area and waited a few minutes to try it again. After trying it again, the same thing happened. The rpms dropped about 600 this time. My instructor called state ops and told them we were inbound in an aircraft with a faulty left magneto. My day was over.

A magneto is a device inside the engine cowling which is responsible for starting the aircraft’s engine. The planes I use have two magnetos. This is for system redundancy, as well as for increased performance. With one magneto, the engine could get up to 2500 rpms, for example. However with 2, the rpms could go up to 2700 rpms. However, each one can produce 2500 rpms. So with 2, there’s added power, but not double power. A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce alternating current. This means that no power is needed to fire the magnetos because they operate on magnetism. So if there were to be an electrical failure in flight, the engine would still be able to run. The magnetos send an electric current to the spark plugs, in the cylinders, which ignite the fuel/air mixture which burns, turns the crankshaft, which turns the propeller. The turning propeller produces thrust and the plane moves through the air. So when I did the right magneto check earlier today, it dropped more than 175 rpms. This means that the right magneto wasn’t functioning properly and needed to be looked at.

A good lesson, but at the cost of a flight lesson. Luckily I didn’t get charged for the time I was in the airplane.

This video was posted only a few weeks ago. It has some great, nail biting, crosswind landings and takeoffs. The airport is Dusseldorf Airport, located in Germany.

Finally! Today was the first day of classes for the spring semester. Along with classes which meet on the campus, I’ll be flying on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays at 12:15 pm to 2:30 pm (1215 to 1530 or 1715 to 1930 zulu time). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fly today. The weather was below the VFR minimums for student pilots (3 SM visibility and 1000 feet ceiling) so I had the chance to brush up on flying. I haven’t flown in about 5 weeks and some of the information has slipped my mind. I ended the last semester by doing two solo flights and leaving it at that since my flight debit account ran out of money.

This semester, I have a new flight instructor, whom I met with today, and went over key aeronautical points. Because he is a new instructor, he cannot just let me go out on a solos. He has to endorse me that I’m ready to solo because, previously, my old instructor endorsed me. Since the new guy hasn’t seen me fly yet he’ll have to make sure, himself, that I’m ready to go. To do this, we went over the written test I took for the Stage I check ride. I had gotten a 95% on the test, but we still went over each answer to make sure I knew what was on it. I did well, only needing help on one or two questions, and my new instructor, Drew, said that all we need to do now is fly so I can show him my skill level. I want to fly twice before soloing again, but if all goes well without first flight, I’ll solo after that.

After we went over the test, and reviewed a few more things, I had to update the documents which expired while I wasn’t flying. One of the things I needed was the new FAR-AIM (federal Aviation Regulations – Aeronautical Information Manual). This book comes out every year on New Year ’s Day and is updated with changes from the past year’s edition. Generally, only a few changes are made, and the ‘meat’ of the information contained in the book stays the same. More information HERE about the FAR-AIM. Another thing I had to get was the new aeronautical charts. These come out every few months for the same reason as a new FAR-AIM. Changes are made to the charts from the old ones. Changes could include the demolition of a building, or a new building, changes to airspace, or airport information. It’s illegal to fly with outdated charts so getting the newest ones is something all pilots must be on top of. Another document which I could have gotten was the Airport/ Facility Directory, or the A/FD. This book contains information about all the airports in the specific region. For me, it would be the northeast region of the United States; with a total of 8 regions. I decided not to get this yet since I won’t be needed it until later in the semester.

Hopefully Wednesday will come with better weather and I’ll be set to take to the skies once again. 

I saw an awesome presentation today during my ground school class. it isn’t anything that has to do with the course but it was a presentation on the future of airspace and navigation. Today, pilots use VORs to travel from one area to another. This means that there can be heavy traffic surrounding one of these VORs. However, NextGen is the future of airspace. It explains how satellites instead of radars will control airplanes. This will eventually allows for more planes to fly over the USA with safer conditions. NexGen has started to be incorporated into a few large airports include JFK in New York and the major airport in Philadelphia. The accompanying video explains the future of aviation navigation much better than me.

Today was supposed to be the day I did my first solo. However, the winds were too strong with gusts as strong as 23 knots. So instead my instructor taught me how to do short field take offs, landings, as well as soft field takeoff and landings. They’re very similar to regular takeoffs and landings; however the plane is configured a little differently for each. For example, for a short field takeoff, 25 degrees of flaps are used. In addition, once I got onto the runway, I pressed the brakes, applied full power and waited for the rpm’s to reach maximums. Once they did, I released the brakes and the plane shot forward. It was an awesome sensation to accelerate so quickly.

However, the interesting part of the flight was when I was in the downwind leg for one of the landings. On the radio I heard “Blue Angel 7 requesting to land on the active runway.” A blue angel form the Navy’s elite pilot corp came to the airport! He shot past me, making himself look like a blue blur. Once I landed and was done with the day’s lesson, I went and got a few pics of the F-18 while it was parked on the ramp.