Sport Pilot Talk

Jon V · Joined: 21 Apr 2011 Posts: 156 Location: Dallas...

Warning: This is a long post without a real point. Read at your own risk.

A week ago Saturday I was scheduled for my 1st lesson in about 6 years.

Saturday. I had done my research. Instructor, plane, flight school, airport. I had a few reservations about the drive to the airport and just how busy the airport was with training traffic, but in balance I thought I had made the best possible choice. I was ready to go, and I arrived at the airport early just to soak up the ambiance. I met up with my instructor at the appointed time, and he led the conversation with, "I'm not going to be your instructor."

Okay.

"I won't be available for the month of June, and our schedules don't mesh well, but I've just finished checking out a new instructor in the Remos. He's a retired ATP with lots of experience flying everything from Beech 99s to CRJ-700s. You'll do great with him."

Okay.

"I'll go ahead and get you familiar with the plane and how we do things at the school today. Let's go check the weather...." We checked the weather online. We called the tower. Everyone agreed. Winds gusting to 26kts. The Remos lists a max landing headwind of 25Kts. "We aren't flying."

Okay.

As that instructor and I talked, it actually became pretty clear that he was a good instructor and had been a good choice. Now I was faced with an unknown.

Sunday. Back to the airport to meet my new instructor. Not 100% happy to have an unknown in the mix, but open-minded. I show up a little early to run the weather and meet the new guy.

The new instructor... has been flying for 40 years or more. Left instructing in the early '80s to fly for a regional airline, was retired by the airline at 60. After kicking around for a few years he recently decided to start instructing again, "to get out of the house." He did a quick renew of his CFI, hired on with the flight school, and had given his first lesson with a real student since 1983 just the day before I met him.

Honestly I didn't know what to think. Experienced pilot doesn't necessarily mean good instructor. Rusty instructor (and one not experienced with sport pilot rules at all) may not be a good combo. In this case, he was also self admittedly rusty in small planes.

Long story short... Sunday was no fly, first for ceiling then for wind. We scheduled a standing lesson for every day of the week.

Monday... we got started late, but we flew. First flight in about 6 years and honestly I was so busy getting used to everything again I could hardly say what we did. It was a quick flight, .7 on the hobbs. He did the takeoff and landing, I did some turns, climbs, and learning to read high school football fields (which is not something we ever did in California).

Tuesday. Scheduling SNAFU, no fly.

Wednesday. Thunderstorms. Rain. Winds above 25kts. No fly.

Thursday. More weather. No fly.

Friday. I started out Friday by looking up the local FSDO and calling for an appointment with an inspector to get a student pilot certificate. After being guided to IACRA and starting the process, I came to the question, "Do you have, or have you ever had, an airman certificate?" Well, does the student cert/medical I had before count? I call the inspector back, ask my question... and after a bit of searching he looks up my student cert and says, "You already have a student certificate, you don't to do anything else. Well, you should go to the airman services webpage and do a change of address if you need to, but other than that you are fine."

Umm...okay.

I thank him, get off the phone... and scratch my head. It doesn't seem right. I dig up my old scrap of paper. It says it expires according to a particular CFR reference, but no dates. I look up the code. 60 months. It was issued more than 60 months ago. I call the inspector back....

A few missteps aside, I ended the day with my new student certificate. That was good. Especially since, as I found in my preflight the plane, there was a significant nick in the trailing edge of the prop. No fly.

Saturday. I wake up to a message that my scheduled flight for the day was canceled for airplane maintenance. Kinda bummed, I went off and did other things. At about 2:30 PM I get a call - they have replaced the prop/spinner, done some things to the engine (spark plugs), and put the plane back in service. If I can be at the airport around 6:15 or 6:30 we should be able to fly before sunset.

Fast forward to about 6:45PM.

I made the ground call, and taxi the plane over to the run-up area. Run-up completed, we get our runway clearance and the CFI says, "you have your clearance, take off."

First takeoff in 6 years. Speed on the climb was a little fast but otherwise OK. We turn away, climb to 2500, and head for the practice area so CFI can reacquaint me with climbs, descents, slow flight, stalls/recovery (which were a shock to me...the Remos has the mildest stall of any plane in my limited experience), then it was back to the pattern for touch and goes. Instructor gave me some gentle reminders (flap degrees) at various points, and I worked the controls, half expecting him to take over at some point. I turned onto final, guided the Remos down, flared... and....

CFI says, "very nice."

I reconfigure, add power, rotate, and up we climb. Around the pattern for another touch and go... then a third time around for a full stop landing, and we taxi off and park, done for the day.

And then the inevitable question, "How much help did you give on the landings?"

"None. You were in control of the plane, weren't hesitating to use the controls and make adjustments, so I didn't interfere. Whoever taught you to fly did a good job."

So...a week of unexpected changes, and frustrations, with a couple of bright spots in the mix. I have another 1.9 hours in my logbook, a lot less than the 5 or so I had hoped to get but infinitely more than I accumulated in the preceding 5 years. I have forgotten a huge amount, and a lot of the flight was a mixture of learning as if it was new, and reconnecting things I had totally forgotten about... but some of the knowledge is still there, and either way I'm grinning. It's good to be back in the air.

The Big Problem now... whatever facility I had with the radio before (and it wasn't great then) seems to have totally vanished. Gotta figure out a way to practice that.

cerwindel · Joined: 01 May 2011 Posts: 13 Location: Tracy, Ca

So Jon,

I am at a similiar point in my training.. I have an old Student Pilot certificate from a long time ago.

Are you saying that I only need to update my address and Im good to solo?

C

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1390 Location: Lock Haven PA

Jon V wrote: Warning: This is a long post without a real point. Read at your own risk.

So, how does that differ from most posts on this forum? :wink:

Quote: A week ago Saturday I was scheduled for my 1st lesson in about 6 years.

Welcome back in the saddle.

Quote: "I won't be available for the month of June, and our schedules don't mesh well, but I've just finished checking out a new instructor in the Remos. He's a retired ATP with lots of experience flying everything from Beech 99s to CRJ-700s. You'll do great with him."

All that experience in 99s and CRJs is totally irrelevant to LSA instruction.

Quote: Winds gusting to 26kts. The Remos lists a max landing headwind of 25Kts. "We aren't flying."

Excellent call! I like this instructor already. Too many would have just gone ahead and flown with you. It wouldn't have been fun, or pretty.

Quote: Rusty instructor (and one not experienced with sport pilot rules at all) may not be a good combo. In this case, he was also self admittedly rusty in small planes.

To his credit, he admitted to being rusty. If you don't mind paying for him to come up to speed, he could do well for you.

Quote: I did some turns, climbs, and learning to read high school football fields (which is not something we ever did in California).

Sounds like an auspicious start. Was it fun?

Quote: does the student cert/medical I had before count?

Not unless it was issued within the previous 60 calendar months.

Quote: I found in my preflight the plane, there was a significant nick in the trailing edge of the prop. No fly.

Good catch! Pat yourself on the back.

Quote: First takeoff in 6 years. <snip> CFI says, "very nice."

Congrats! It's like riding a bicycle...

Quote: And then the inevitable question, "How much help did you give on the landings?"

"None. You were in control of the plane, weren't hesitating to use the controls and make adjustments, so I didn't interfere. Whoever taught you to fly did a good job."

That's great to hear. Be sure to feed that back to your previous instructor, if you can locate him or her.

Quote: The Big Problem now... whatever facility I had with the radio before (and it wasn't great then) seems to have totally vanished. Gotta figure out a way to practice that.

Go sit down in the pilot's lounge with an experienced pilot, and play ATC communications. Ask your newfound friend to play controller, and speak out all the radio calls as though you were doing pattern work. There's bound to be someone there who will be happy to play that game with you. Remember that every transmission has five elements:

Who you're calling
Who you are
Where you are
What you're doing
What you want

e.g, "Downtown Ground, Remos Nxxxx, west ramp, ready to taxi with Alpha, staying in the pattern."

Follow the recipe, and after a while you'll have baked yourself a cake.

Continue having fun! :)

Jon V · Joined: 21 Apr 2011 Posts: 156 Location: Dallas...

To cerwindel...

D'oh... shoulda been clearer on that. No. The FAA inspector gave me wrong info. Student pilot certificates expire in at most 60 months. If your cert was issued more than 60 months ago you need a new one. I wound up submitting a new app via IACRA and going to the FSDO to finish the application and get my new certificate.

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1390 Location: Lock Haven PA

cerwindel wrote: Are you saying that I only need to update my address and Im good to solo?

Sure, if you can find a CFI crazy enough to sign you off on the back of that long-expired student certificate! :lol:

cerwindel · Joined: 01 May 2011 Posts: 13 Location: Tracy, Ca

Jon V wrote: To cerwindel...

D'oh... shoulda been clearer on that. No. The FAA inspector gave me wrong info. Student pilot certificates expire in at most 60 months. If your cert was issued more than 60 months ago you need a new one. I wound up submitting a new app via IACRA and going to the FSDO to finish the application and get my new certificate.

Ah ok, thanks!

Jon V · Joined: 21 Apr 2011 Posts: 156 Location: Dallas...

drseti wrote: Jon V wrote: Warning: This is a long post without a real point. Read at your own risk.

So, how does that differ from most posts on this forum? :wink:

LOL...this was probably longer than most.

Quote:
To his credit, he admitted to being rusty. If you don't mind paying for him to come up to speed, he could do well for you.

Yup. I think if he hadn't been up front about this being his return to instructing I would've gone back to looking for someone else. I thought about it. As for paying for someone to come up to speed... I mind, but everyone needs to start, or re-start, somewhere and if I'm not willing to be part of that, who will be? Of course there is also the factor of his rust becoming my primary training...shrug. You pay your money and take your chances.

Quote:
Sounds like an auspicious start. Was it fun?

Honestly? I was caught up in a combination of remembering and learning. All too often I had a feeling of, "I know this, but I don't." It was fulfilling, positive, all sorts of good things, but I was too busy to notice fun. That changed with the first landing yesterday...that's where the fun started.

Quote:
Quote: does the student cert/medical I had before count?

Not unless it was issued within the previous 60 calendar months.

Well... what I was trying to ask is if they wanted me to list my previous student cert. on my application for the new one. I suppose it should've been obvious, but the way IACRA works, nothing is all that obvious. The answer to my question was, "Yes."

Unfortunately, the inspector didn't realize (really didn't) that student certs expire. He actually spent some time after printing out my new cert reading all the fine print, saying, "I hardly ever see these things and I guess I never looked at one that closely."

Quote: <snip>

Continue having fun! :)

Thanks! Fun and satisfaction.

Today, before the lesson, new CFI said we would be doing ground reference maneuvers, including turns on a point. He asked if I had any problem with them and I offered something lame about my last CFI saying I needed to practice them more, which earned me a funny look and a "well, we'll see how it goes."

My actual experience is that my turns on a point were an area that CFI #3 thought I was really bad at and drilled me on, a LOT, to the point that it was shaking my confidence back in the day.

New instructor had me do a turn around a point and, mid way through, said something about, "pylon turns."

See where this is going?

After we were back on the ground today, CFI observed that overall I did well, but I did my turns on a point way too close to the point.

Me. (Paraphrased) "The way I was drilled in turns on a point is that we went out over a local reservoir...lake...pond really with a little monitoring station on it, and the CFI had me hold one point on the ground in a fixed position relative to the wing as I circled around it, as though I was trying to point at it with the wing from all angles. He did use the term 'pylon turn'."

We did, too... I remember one lesson where we probably spent 30 minutes at about 700' AGL, circling that damn island or barge or whatever it was, with me struggling to keep one wing or the other pointed at it the whole time, and the CFI tut tutting every time the altitude was off by more than 50' or the reference point drifted relative to the wing.

This CFI: "That's a pylon turn. Pylon turns are a racing maneuver, not something a private pilot needs to get his license."

You just gotta laugh.