nddons
Touchdown! Greaser!
I've come to really enjoy my night instrument lessons, as the air is smoother, the airspace is quieter, and my night landings are getting pretty good. I'm into the approach phase of my training, so it is very interesting and challenging. I fly out of Waukesha, WI (KUES).
What a difference a week makes in Wisconsin weather however. Last Monday I flew with short sleeves; last night it was about 28 degrees F during my preflight.
My daughter is a junior in college, and as such has a busy life. The last time we flew together was on the 4th of July, where we had a great afternoon XC to Oshkosh. Anyway, she was home on fall break, and so I asked if she would like to sit back seat in a 172 at night. She jumped at the chance and said yes.
I checked with my CFII who endorsed the idea, so my daughter drove to the airport and joined me on the flightline as I was conducting my preflight in the dark. (The line guys filled the tanks a little fuller than I wanted, but we were just at max gross. Phew.)
We went back in to warm up, and I introduced her to Dave. She sat through a little ground session and flight briefing, I self-briefed my approaches, and we headed out into the cold, calm night air.
Kate has always been moderately interested in my flying, but last night she was very interested in what the heck I did with that good looking "super hood" that she used to make fun of. I situated her behind my instructor, briefed her on egress, asked her to look for other traffic, and we were underway.
Dave gave me a "clearance", I read it back, taxied to runway 28, did my runup and other checks, donned the hood, spoke to the tower, and was off.
She knew to keep quiet, but I could hear her squeal as we took off into the night sky. You don't get that view from an airliner!
We headed outbound on the localizer for runway 10 using the VOR head and not the HSI in order to practice reverse sensing, passed through WAUCA, {time, turn, twist, throttle, talk}, did the procedure turn, returned inbound on the localizer (another reason to skip the HSI and just use the single needle VOR as we were doing the localizer approach instead of the ILS). At WAUCA, {time, tires, throttle, talk} we descended at 800 fpm for the MDA, and executed the missed approach, direct to the Badger VOR.
Kate did her job and identified other aircraft - just as I was going missed, hitting the throttle, confirming a positive rate of climb, retrimming, taking in the flaps, and talking to the tower. I guess that's the kind of distraction a designated examiner would love to use!
We headed to Badger, held for about 4 laps, and then received vectors from Dave for entering the VOR-A approach. Did the procedure turn, passed over the VOR {remembered my t, t, t, t}, a steep descent to the MDA, and then went missed. We did this one more time for circling practice to various runways, and then did it a last time for good. By this time the tower was closed, so I announced I was passing over the airport at 1,440 ft, entered the left downwind for runway 28, 5 clicks on the transmit button for medium intensity lights, and had the smoothest landing I had in a long time. I guess I was motivated by my prescious cargo in the back seat.
Kate was totally - TOTALLY - impressed that I did that whole thing looking only at the instruments. That's pretty tough endorsement to get from a 21 year old daughter. She said she could never multi-task like that, but as a very capable pre-med major, I think she just was being kind. She now understands how beneficial it would be to get my instrument rating, though I didn't need any encouragement there. And she didn't hesitate to tell me how much beauty I was missing out the window!
What a great way to spend the evening!
What a difference a week makes in Wisconsin weather however. Last Monday I flew with short sleeves; last night it was about 28 degrees F during my preflight.
My daughter is a junior in college, and as such has a busy life. The last time we flew together was on the 4th of July, where we had a great afternoon XC to Oshkosh. Anyway, she was home on fall break, and so I asked if she would like to sit back seat in a 172 at night. She jumped at the chance and said yes.
I checked with my CFII who endorsed the idea, so my daughter drove to the airport and joined me on the flightline as I was conducting my preflight in the dark. (The line guys filled the tanks a little fuller than I wanted, but we were just at max gross. Phew.)
We went back in to warm up, and I introduced her to Dave. She sat through a little ground session and flight briefing, I self-briefed my approaches, and we headed out into the cold, calm night air.
Kate has always been moderately interested in my flying, but last night she was very interested in what the heck I did with that good looking "super hood" that she used to make fun of. I situated her behind my instructor, briefed her on egress, asked her to look for other traffic, and we were underway.
Dave gave me a "clearance", I read it back, taxied to runway 28, did my runup and other checks, donned the hood, spoke to the tower, and was off.
She knew to keep quiet, but I could hear her squeal as we took off into the night sky. You don't get that view from an airliner!
We headed outbound on the localizer for runway 10 using the VOR head and not the HSI in order to practice reverse sensing, passed through WAUCA, {time, turn, twist, throttle, talk}, did the procedure turn, returned inbound on the localizer (another reason to skip the HSI and just use the single needle VOR as we were doing the localizer approach instead of the ILS). At WAUCA, {time, tires, throttle, talk} we descended at 800 fpm for the MDA, and executed the missed approach, direct to the Badger VOR.
Kate did her job and identified other aircraft - just as I was going missed, hitting the throttle, confirming a positive rate of climb, retrimming, taking in the flaps, and talking to the tower. I guess that's the kind of distraction a designated examiner would love to use!
We headed to Badger, held for about 4 laps, and then received vectors from Dave for entering the VOR-A approach. Did the procedure turn, passed over the VOR {remembered my t, t, t, t}, a steep descent to the MDA, and then went missed. We did this one more time for circling practice to various runways, and then did it a last time for good. By this time the tower was closed, so I announced I was passing over the airport at 1,440 ft, entered the left downwind for runway 28, 5 clicks on the transmit button for medium intensity lights, and had the smoothest landing I had in a long time. I guess I was motivated by my prescious cargo in the back seat.
Kate was totally - TOTALLY - impressed that I did that whole thing looking only at the instruments. That's pretty tough endorsement to get from a 21 year old daughter. She said she could never multi-task like that, but as a very capable pre-med major, I think she just was being kind. She now understands how beneficial it would be to get my instrument rating, though I didn't need any encouragement there. And she didn't hesitate to tell me how much beauty I was missing out the window!
What a great way to spend the evening!
