Tristar
Pattern Altitude
I don't believe there is anything better yet so simple as the smell of a brand new sectional. As soon as you open it, it's like a Christmas present revealing airports of every size in every direction, each one with it's own adventure and character.
I was in charge of picking an airport for a 4 hour total trip in our Beech Duchess. It's a wonderful twin trainer that tends to take the best of us and keep going. I decided that today, my instructor and I would take it on a calm evening flight to Mountain Home, AR. I remember really loving the scenery from Gastons last year. So after some simple flight planning (KPBK is practically a straight shot) we jumped in the plane and headed out.
Reaching a comfortable 90 knots on climb out, the flight to Tulsa was nothing I hadn't seen before; aim for the lake then aim for the city. So I sat back and enjoyed the weather. It was beautiful; clear skies, light winds, and nothing but contrails from those before me. I really enjoyed flying by the city, the only high rise buildings we have in Stillwater is the University so it was neat to see the ground with more of a 3-D effect.
The rest of the flight was made via Razerback, Harrison, and Flippin VORs. IFR (I follow roads) came into use en route to Razerback, after that I employed one of the most useful tools, passes the time, and also fun challenges of flying; picking out cities and landmarks. You would think it would be a little bit of a challenge in between Razerback and Mountain Home but the cities are really easy to spot all containing airports along the way.
We arrived around dusk with a little bit of haze just settling on the hilltops. Deciding to do an ILS approach into runway 5, I aimed for the famous Flippin VOR and was very proud of my aircraft/engine management and localizer/glide slope intercept and track. My CFI complimented me "babying" the airplane. BTW, I did look for gastons, I believe I saw it but was unable to confirm because of my concentration on the ILS. I landed the twin just as easily as any cessna I had before, it had become natural. The airport seemed pretty empty except for a few cessnas and a king air sleeping on the ramp. Everyone had gone home for the night by the time we decided to give it a little action.
I pointed out the self serve by the round-about taxiway and pulled it into place. I laughed as my CFI comes back, "taxing like a pro now eh?" You bet! We topped off to 80 gal total, checked the oil, and made a good walk around the airplane before jumping back in. By this time it was dark.
Dim soothing lights illuminated the cockpit as I commenced a run up of the wind creators outside both windows. They both acted perfectly in tune with standards, no complaints, lets go. I lined up and asked her for full throttle, from there its a simple task of waiting until she is ready to fly. Airplanes are wonderful things that way, they'll tell you what they want, you just have to take the time to listen. The duchess seemed very happy as we began our way back. All the gauges were happily centered in the green, the props were synced, and the airplane seemed to sit effortlessly in the cool evening air. In between the radio changes from Memphis center and Razerback, I was entertained with stories of DC-3 flights from my CFI. He only teaches part time now in cessnas and the duchess but I believe he really misses that old airplane from his younger days.
After passing the Razerback area, the night was clear enough to see Tulsa in the distance. It seemed to light up the night sky almost like its own sunset. It was fun to listen to the airliners as I was passed off to Tulsa Approach. Out of all the professionalism and pressed white shirts, they are still always willing to ask questions. It's something that is good to note and pass on to the younger generation who may be timid about asking something they are unsure of. Before watching the MD-80 pass underneath my wings, the glow of the once again 3-D buildings seemed to give the city the needed dimension of personality even as it slept. The lakes to the west of the city disappeared in the darkness of night which gave an eerie sense of emptiness as we flew over the top.
Stillwater was just visible in the distance. You can usually tell the difference between it and the surrounding cities by the way it looks. The lights are in a row a few miles long but with no depth, almost like a string of orange Christmas lights while surrounding cities are more of a definable clump. It's sort of interesting when approaching it in search of the airport. There are so many blinking lights in the same general area, you have to pay attention to which one is green along with white. Once you do, it's home free. Although tonight wouldn't be a straight in, an engine out ILS was in order for some good practice. The 5 T's are great for keeping a good approach in check as I turned outbound from "Blaki," our NDB. On procedure turn inbound, my left engine was taken from me. Almost in instinct, I reacted with the "Identify, verify, and feather" as I had practiced countless times. I have to admit that although its tricky to keep rudder pressure in while managing engines and following a glideslope, engine out procedures have been the lesson objective I always look forward to. I'm not sure if it was the single-engine pilot aspect of seeing a shut down engine in flight or just the pure entertainment by learning something different. I came in and placed the duchess gently on the runway, no different than I had done at Mountain Home with both engines.
As I climbed out of the cockpit with all my gear, I couldn't believe how easy the flight was. My instructor didn't do anything the whole time airplane or navigation wise other than change frequencies when I just appreciated the extra hand. I really feel I have a good understanding of my training and how to treat the airplane. Despite a few bumps along the way, I really enjoyed the Multi rating. Tonight's flight was very enjoyable, relaxing, and confirmed some things I already knew.
My Checkride is Thursday
I was in charge of picking an airport for a 4 hour total trip in our Beech Duchess. It's a wonderful twin trainer that tends to take the best of us and keep going. I decided that today, my instructor and I would take it on a calm evening flight to Mountain Home, AR. I remember really loving the scenery from Gastons last year. So after some simple flight planning (KPBK is practically a straight shot) we jumped in the plane and headed out.
Reaching a comfortable 90 knots on climb out, the flight to Tulsa was nothing I hadn't seen before; aim for the lake then aim for the city. So I sat back and enjoyed the weather. It was beautiful; clear skies, light winds, and nothing but contrails from those before me. I really enjoyed flying by the city, the only high rise buildings we have in Stillwater is the University so it was neat to see the ground with more of a 3-D effect.
The rest of the flight was made via Razerback, Harrison, and Flippin VORs. IFR (I follow roads) came into use en route to Razerback, after that I employed one of the most useful tools, passes the time, and also fun challenges of flying; picking out cities and landmarks. You would think it would be a little bit of a challenge in between Razerback and Mountain Home but the cities are really easy to spot all containing airports along the way.
We arrived around dusk with a little bit of haze just settling on the hilltops. Deciding to do an ILS approach into runway 5, I aimed for the famous Flippin VOR and was very proud of my aircraft/engine management and localizer/glide slope intercept and track. My CFI complimented me "babying" the airplane. BTW, I did look for gastons, I believe I saw it but was unable to confirm because of my concentration on the ILS. I landed the twin just as easily as any cessna I had before, it had become natural. The airport seemed pretty empty except for a few cessnas and a king air sleeping on the ramp. Everyone had gone home for the night by the time we decided to give it a little action.
I pointed out the self serve by the round-about taxiway and pulled it into place. I laughed as my CFI comes back, "taxing like a pro now eh?" You bet! We topped off to 80 gal total, checked the oil, and made a good walk around the airplane before jumping back in. By this time it was dark.
Dim soothing lights illuminated the cockpit as I commenced a run up of the wind creators outside both windows. They both acted perfectly in tune with standards, no complaints, lets go. I lined up and asked her for full throttle, from there its a simple task of waiting until she is ready to fly. Airplanes are wonderful things that way, they'll tell you what they want, you just have to take the time to listen. The duchess seemed very happy as we began our way back. All the gauges were happily centered in the green, the props were synced, and the airplane seemed to sit effortlessly in the cool evening air. In between the radio changes from Memphis center and Razerback, I was entertained with stories of DC-3 flights from my CFI. He only teaches part time now in cessnas and the duchess but I believe he really misses that old airplane from his younger days.
After passing the Razerback area, the night was clear enough to see Tulsa in the distance. It seemed to light up the night sky almost like its own sunset. It was fun to listen to the airliners as I was passed off to Tulsa Approach. Out of all the professionalism and pressed white shirts, they are still always willing to ask questions. It's something that is good to note and pass on to the younger generation who may be timid about asking something they are unsure of. Before watching the MD-80 pass underneath my wings, the glow of the once again 3-D buildings seemed to give the city the needed dimension of personality even as it slept. The lakes to the west of the city disappeared in the darkness of night which gave an eerie sense of emptiness as we flew over the top.
Stillwater was just visible in the distance. You can usually tell the difference between it and the surrounding cities by the way it looks. The lights are in a row a few miles long but with no depth, almost like a string of orange Christmas lights while surrounding cities are more of a definable clump. It's sort of interesting when approaching it in search of the airport. There are so many blinking lights in the same general area, you have to pay attention to which one is green along with white. Once you do, it's home free. Although tonight wouldn't be a straight in, an engine out ILS was in order for some good practice. The 5 T's are great for keeping a good approach in check as I turned outbound from "Blaki," our NDB. On procedure turn inbound, my left engine was taken from me. Almost in instinct, I reacted with the "Identify, verify, and feather" as I had practiced countless times. I have to admit that although its tricky to keep rudder pressure in while managing engines and following a glideslope, engine out procedures have been the lesson objective I always look forward to. I'm not sure if it was the single-engine pilot aspect of seeing a shut down engine in flight or just the pure entertainment by learning something different. I came in and placed the duchess gently on the runway, no different than I had done at Mountain Home with both engines.
As I climbed out of the cockpit with all my gear, I couldn't believe how easy the flight was. My instructor didn't do anything the whole time airplane or navigation wise other than change frequencies when I just appreciated the extra hand. I really feel I have a good understanding of my training and how to treat the airplane. Despite a few bumps along the way, I really enjoyed the Multi rating. Tonight's flight was very enjoyable, relaxing, and confirmed some things I already knew.
My Checkride is Thursday
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