LauraE51
Pre-takeoff checklist
This is a rather long post about how i came back to flying after 42 years.
I earned my PPL in July 1969, a few months before my 18th birthday. I had begun lessons the prior year, choosing the Cessna FBO at KCCR, about a 30 minute drive from my home.It’s a bit ironic that while i got my driver’s license at 16, my terrific grandfather would drive me each week to the field for my lesson, wait around, and drive me home afterwards. No surprise that he and my grandmother were my first passengers.
I learned in a Cessna 150, only checking out the C172 after getting my license. I only flew the 172 a few times partially because it was more expensive to rent. I spent my college time flying the 150 and later traveling to a now defunct airport in Vacaville to fly taildraggers. by the time i quit flying airplanes in 1972, the majority of my 130 hours were in 150s and the Champ. The most fun i had, though, was flying sailplanes out of a now defunct sail port in Fremont, CA. There’s nothing like the feeling of sailing in updrafts and being followed by seagulls. It’s pure flight and a great joy.
In the end, i quit flying to focus on my college work and begin my teaching career. Through 38 years in education, my logbook remained in the closet.
Then, last fall, with retirement nine months away, i began yearning for a return to the skies. I knew my PPL was permanent, but i quickly learned that nearly everything had changed in the previous four decades. In the 1970’s, few planes had transponders, emergency beacons, and strobe lights. Class Bravo airspace was in the wind, but hadn’t been implemented yet.
So, it was a surprise, and a disappointment, that i’d have to stop using my tattered paper license (which i had held onto) and get a shiny new plastic one (without the 1969 license date). Here’s how i prepared before i began my BFR. i’m fortunate to have found PoA early on, because this site has become for me, and i suspect for all of you, a required part of our personalized learning network.
While i suspected that many of my pilot skills would return with practice, i had no idea how long it would take. Searches on PoA helped me understand that everyone is different, but that my BFR could take between five and 10 lessons. I set a goal go do what was necessary, to not worry about a specific number, and to monitor my own progress. I felt optimistic that many pilots who took 20+ years off were able to become proficient in a short amount of time. The past year, reading PoA has been a daily habit where i’m always learning new things and i’m thankful to have a group i can turn to with my own questions.
Yes, i bought many of the FAA publications like the Airplane Flying Handbook, the FAR/AIM, and the weather publications. These helped me remember those things lost to time. Here i also learned just how different life in the air is today from Class Charlie and Bravo and Mode C to the differences in communication skills. ASA’s Say Again Please taught me the proper phrasing when moving around controlled and uncontrolled airspace. However, it’s the plethora of technology resources that have helped me the most.
Foreflight! Oh, what a joy to leave my E6B behind. I planned so many flights on Foreflight before beginning my BFR. For Christmas, i bought an iPad Mini for my wife (oh, am i sneaky) and a Dual 150A for myself. I also love SkyVector http://skyvector.com/, which provided some of the same, web based, practice. This explosion of great web sites led me to create my own page so i could easily access them. https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/dU8Cx2Cx1gzAUw/flying-resources
YouTube, and the many pilots filming their flights with GoPro cameras reminded me of a variety of skills. The most useful video site, though, was Jason Shappert’s MzeroA http://www.m0a.com/ which is full of short but helpful flying advice. I also found Gleim’s BFR course quite helpful.
Headsets. oh, my goodness. No one used headsets in the 60’s and early 70’s. We just put up with the noise. After much research, i bought a used Bose a20 on eBay and would buy a second one for my wife after my BFR.
I had originally planned to begin my BFR during spring break. However, when i called the school at our local field, KMOD, no one answered the phone or returned my messages. only later did i learn that the flight school had just just gone out of business. The nearest school was at KTCY, a 40 minute drive from my house which is why i delayed calling them until my wife and i returned from vacation in mid-July. I had really wanted to learn at a controlled airfield, since i had earned my license at one. However, the need to fly was greater than my patience for a new school to open at KMOD, so i bit the bullet and scheduled my first lessons.
Here’s where some anxiety entered the picture. While the majority of my flying time had been in C150s and taildraggers, flight schools, including KTCY, mainly have C172s. Fortunately, SkyView Aviation had three of the same model, the 172P. I found the PoH online, read through it, and created a cheat sheet of the V speeds. I also printed out the various checklists that i could carry with me.
Beginning from the first lessons, most things felt fairly comfortable. Yes, i was quite rusty, but my preparations helped more than i had anticipated. Most maneuver skills were fairly easy to return and each lesson’s tasks were both work and joy. My greatest challenge, though, were my landings. while pattern work has never been a problem, i found i was landing a bit on the fast side although within the PoH recommended speeds. Apparently, the lighter the aircraft, the lower the stall speed. I found that after round out, i could float much longer than comfortable and my “touch” was not quite ready to create a soft touchdown. I knew, though, that practice would make perfect. Even now, six weeks after my BFR sign-off, i practice touch and goes in hopes my landings will become picture perfect. it’s a journey though.
During the five lessons (eight hours) of my BFR, i felt increasingly confident in my radio skills, my planning, and my flying skills. It wasn’t a completely smooth journey, but i was a little surprised when my CFI signed off on my BFR after lesson five, which was a short XC into Mode C territory.
One thing all good teachers know is that you have to be a life-long learner. The second you stop learning is the second you’re outdated. Teaching and learning skills are a moving target. The same can be said for flying. I found the past year that even though i had studied for my return, my knowledge would begin to slide as time went by, so sometime this spring, i returned to all the resources i had reviewed last fall to catch up. Flying is like that. You have to be a life-long learner to stay proficient. As my CFI said to me after the BFR sign-off, a PPL is a license to learn.
Thank you all at PoA.
I earned my PPL in July 1969, a few months before my 18th birthday. I had begun lessons the prior year, choosing the Cessna FBO at KCCR, about a 30 minute drive from my home.It’s a bit ironic that while i got my driver’s license at 16, my terrific grandfather would drive me each week to the field for my lesson, wait around, and drive me home afterwards. No surprise that he and my grandmother were my first passengers.
I learned in a Cessna 150, only checking out the C172 after getting my license. I only flew the 172 a few times partially because it was more expensive to rent. I spent my college time flying the 150 and later traveling to a now defunct airport in Vacaville to fly taildraggers. by the time i quit flying airplanes in 1972, the majority of my 130 hours were in 150s and the Champ. The most fun i had, though, was flying sailplanes out of a now defunct sail port in Fremont, CA. There’s nothing like the feeling of sailing in updrafts and being followed by seagulls. It’s pure flight and a great joy.
In the end, i quit flying to focus on my college work and begin my teaching career. Through 38 years in education, my logbook remained in the closet.
Then, last fall, with retirement nine months away, i began yearning for a return to the skies. I knew my PPL was permanent, but i quickly learned that nearly everything had changed in the previous four decades. In the 1970’s, few planes had transponders, emergency beacons, and strobe lights. Class Bravo airspace was in the wind, but hadn’t been implemented yet.
So, it was a surprise, and a disappointment, that i’d have to stop using my tattered paper license (which i had held onto) and get a shiny new plastic one (without the 1969 license date). Here’s how i prepared before i began my BFR. i’m fortunate to have found PoA early on, because this site has become for me, and i suspect for all of you, a required part of our personalized learning network.
While i suspected that many of my pilot skills would return with practice, i had no idea how long it would take. Searches on PoA helped me understand that everyone is different, but that my BFR could take between five and 10 lessons. I set a goal go do what was necessary, to not worry about a specific number, and to monitor my own progress. I felt optimistic that many pilots who took 20+ years off were able to become proficient in a short amount of time. The past year, reading PoA has been a daily habit where i’m always learning new things and i’m thankful to have a group i can turn to with my own questions.
Yes, i bought many of the FAA publications like the Airplane Flying Handbook, the FAR/AIM, and the weather publications. These helped me remember those things lost to time. Here i also learned just how different life in the air is today from Class Charlie and Bravo and Mode C to the differences in communication skills. ASA’s Say Again Please taught me the proper phrasing when moving around controlled and uncontrolled airspace. However, it’s the plethora of technology resources that have helped me the most.
Foreflight! Oh, what a joy to leave my E6B behind. I planned so many flights on Foreflight before beginning my BFR. For Christmas, i bought an iPad Mini for my wife (oh, am i sneaky) and a Dual 150A for myself. I also love SkyVector http://skyvector.com/, which provided some of the same, web based, practice. This explosion of great web sites led me to create my own page so i could easily access them. https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/dU8Cx2Cx1gzAUw/flying-resources
YouTube, and the many pilots filming their flights with GoPro cameras reminded me of a variety of skills. The most useful video site, though, was Jason Shappert’s MzeroA http://www.m0a.com/ which is full of short but helpful flying advice. I also found Gleim’s BFR course quite helpful.
Headsets. oh, my goodness. No one used headsets in the 60’s and early 70’s. We just put up with the noise. After much research, i bought a used Bose a20 on eBay and would buy a second one for my wife after my BFR.
I had originally planned to begin my BFR during spring break. However, when i called the school at our local field, KMOD, no one answered the phone or returned my messages. only later did i learn that the flight school had just just gone out of business. The nearest school was at KTCY, a 40 minute drive from my house which is why i delayed calling them until my wife and i returned from vacation in mid-July. I had really wanted to learn at a controlled airfield, since i had earned my license at one. However, the need to fly was greater than my patience for a new school to open at KMOD, so i bit the bullet and scheduled my first lessons.
Here’s where some anxiety entered the picture. While the majority of my flying time had been in C150s and taildraggers, flight schools, including KTCY, mainly have C172s. Fortunately, SkyView Aviation had three of the same model, the 172P. I found the PoH online, read through it, and created a cheat sheet of the V speeds. I also printed out the various checklists that i could carry with me.
Beginning from the first lessons, most things felt fairly comfortable. Yes, i was quite rusty, but my preparations helped more than i had anticipated. Most maneuver skills were fairly easy to return and each lesson’s tasks were both work and joy. My greatest challenge, though, were my landings. while pattern work has never been a problem, i found i was landing a bit on the fast side although within the PoH recommended speeds. Apparently, the lighter the aircraft, the lower the stall speed. I found that after round out, i could float much longer than comfortable and my “touch” was not quite ready to create a soft touchdown. I knew, though, that practice would make perfect. Even now, six weeks after my BFR sign-off, i practice touch and goes in hopes my landings will become picture perfect. it’s a journey though.
During the five lessons (eight hours) of my BFR, i felt increasingly confident in my radio skills, my planning, and my flying skills. It wasn’t a completely smooth journey, but i was a little surprised when my CFI signed off on my BFR after lesson five, which was a short XC into Mode C territory.
One thing all good teachers know is that you have to be a life-long learner. The second you stop learning is the second you’re outdated. Teaching and learning skills are a moving target. The same can be said for flying. I found the past year that even though i had studied for my return, my knowledge would begin to slide as time went by, so sometime this spring, i returned to all the resources i had reviewed last fall to catch up. Flying is like that. You have to be a life-long learner to stay proficient. As my CFI said to me after the BFR sign-off, a PPL is a license to learn.
Thank you all at PoA.
![brian]](/community/data/avatars/m/21/21096.jpg?1456258959){kind=avatar}
