The Future

What do I want to be when I grow up?

While home on Christmas break, I started to reevaluate my career as a Software Engineer working in Seattle. Do I really enjoy writing software? How much longer can I write code? If Cisco continues its strong growth, can I retire in my forties? If so, what will I do afterwards?

At this point in my life, my passion is flying, not writing software. If I were to decide to change careers right now, I could be working for a small airline in two or three years. I have enough money in stocks right now to move to Florida or Arizona and enroll in a full-time aviation program. ComAir, for example, has programs that teach you everything you need to know and guarantee an interview at the end of your training.

Changing careers is not an easy decision. There are a lot of financial issues to consider. I would be giving up a very generous salary. It would probably take two years of flying to earn what I make in one year as a software developer. That is not taking into account the money lost from not participating in a stock purchase plan and acquiring stock options. But there must be more to life than your yearly income.

Flight Lesson 5

Cross country

Unlike last week, Tuesday started off perfectly. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. I knew the weather would not be a factor for this flight. For this flight, it was just me and Christian. I usually invite someone to ride in the back, but I wanted to remove all distractions for this flight.

I arrived a Galvin Flying a half hour early and my plane was still out, so I bought an Operator’s Manual for the Cessna 172S. I already own one for the Cessna 172P, but there are enough differences to justify the cost of the book. Christian sat down and we started talking about the upcoming flight. I told him that he is the boss and makes the final decision, but I’d like some input into where we go and what we do. I told him that I prefer flights that involve complicated procedures separated by less complicated straight line segments. A flight full of complicated procedures leaves me feeling both physically and mentally exhausted and I don’t learn well in that environment. He agreed and let me file the flight plan I described.

My flight started at Boeing Field and headed north to Skagit Regional airport in Burlington; a 58 nautical mile journey. At Boeing Field, we were directed to runway 13R and told to hold short. There was a UPS Boeing 767 Heavy waiting to take off on the same runway. Big jets create wake turbulence that can topple small airplanes, so the tower made us wait for 3 minutes to let the turbulence subside. The time passed and we were cleared to the active runway. Shortly after leaving the ground, the tower told us to contact Seattle Departure and have a nice flight.

At this point, Christian told me to put on my “foggles”. When the weather is “nice”, instrument students wear vision limiting devices to simulate flying in instrument weather conditions. Some students use “the hood” whereas I prefer “foggles”. Foggles are basically safety glasses that are clear only along the bottom. They prevent me from looking out the window to get my bearings. Instrument pilots depend on the instruments to provide information about the attitude of the airplane.

Seattle Departure told us to turn east, then north towards Skagit Regional. There was slight turbulence in the area, but not too bad. Seattle Departure passed us to Seattle Center, who eventually passed us off to Whidbey Approach.

Whidbey Approach cleared us for the full procedure NDB (non-directional beacon) approach to runway 10. A full procedure approach requires the pilot to follow the procedure exactly as it is documented on the approach plates. The NDB 10 approach involves flying over the NDB, then flying away from the NDB on a heading that is opposite the runway heading, then turning around and flying back to the runway. The turn is achieved by doing a procedure turn, which is a 45° turn in one direction followed by a 225° turn in the opposite direction. After turning around, Whidbey Approach told us to change to the CTAF (common traffic advisory frequency) for Skagit and contact him again after departing Skagit.

Christian announced on CTAF that we were 7 miles out landing straight in to runway 10. There was another plane in the pattern and he graciously extended his downwind leg to let us land first. NDB approaches are referred to a non-precision approaches, which simply means there is no vertical guidance available. If no vertical guidance, the regulations allow the pilot to only descend to 700 feet above the runway. With vertical guidance, a pilot can descend to 200 feet above the runway.

I descended to the minimum altitude allowed for this approach and leveled off. In true instrument conditions, I could land only if I could see the airport from this altitude. If I was still in the clouds, I’d have to go to an alternate airport with better weather or a precision approach procedure. Weather was no factor, so I could easily see the runway off to my right. I slowed the plane and turned toward the runway for landing. On the ground safely, I exited the active runway and taxied back to the end to begin the next segment of my flight.

After departing Skagit, we contacted Whidbey Approach again and he gave me a vector to intercept the VOR (very-high frequency omnidirectional range) radial for the VOR 16R approach into Paine Field in Everett. Like the NDB approach, a VOR approach is also non-precision, but it is more precise than the NDB approach. Therefore, the vertical limit is 500 feet above the runway. Once I was established on the radial towards the runway, Whidbey Approach cleared me for the approach and told me to contact Paine Tower when passing the outer marker. I contacted Paine Tower at the outer marker, which is about 8 miles from the runway. The tower was having a conversation with another pilot about working overtime. Apparently, the tower, which normally closes at 9:00pm, was staying open until 5:00am to accomodate Northwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines maintenence flights into Paine Field. As we approached the runway, I heard tower tell a Northwest airplane to taxi onto the runway and hold for traffic flying over the field (that was us). When practicing approaches, students rarely land after the approach. Instead, we fly the missed approach procedure associated with the approach. This allows the student to practice the full procedure and doesn’t waste time landing and taking off again, which all private pilots already know how to do. As I neared the missed approach point, tower told me to turn right, but remain on his frequency. Once over the runway and heading away from the airport, tower cleared the Northwest jet to takeoff.

Tower told us to contact Seattle Center shortly after the Northwest jet was well separated from us. Seattle Center vectored us to intercept the localizer for runway 13R at Boeing field, then turned us over to Seattle Approach. Once on the localizer, Seattle Approach cleared us for the ILS (instrument landing system) approach to runway 13R. An ILS approach offers both horizontal (via the localizer) and vertical (via the glideslope) guidance, and is therefore a precision approach. All the pilot needs to do is keep the needles on the instrument centered.

But that would be too easy. At this point, Christian covered up the attitude indicator and twisted the knob on the directional heading indicator, just to make things interesting. On top of that, the light turbulence began to bounce the plane in three dimensions. I concentrated on the needles and made minor corrections when they moved from the center. At 300 feet, I reached my minimum descent altitude, but Christian told me to keep going all the way to 100 feet above the ground. At that point, I removed my foggles and my windshield was filled by the runway lights of runway 13R directly in front of me. Too bad all airports don’t have ILS approaches!

Flight Lesson 4

Cold Front approaching

Thursday started out like every other day that week; foggy and raining. By noon, the fog had lifted, but the clouds and rain remained. At lunch, I downloaded the area weather off the Internet. The outlook was perfect for IFR training. The ceiling was expected to be 2,500 feet with a freezing level of 6,000 feet; good experience in the clouds with little risk of icing conditions.

As the time for the flight approached, I could barely withhold my excitement to get in an airplane. Susan called when she arrived to pick me up. We drove to the airport and I did a check of the airplane’s weight and balance, then did a preflight check of the airplane; N174GF. Everything looked in order, so I went back inside to file a flight plan.

The Seattle Flight Service Station operator read me the same weather report that I had downloaded earlier. He also read a few pilot reports that had been logged. One report indicated winds from a heading of 260 at 40 knots at 1,600 feet over Bremerton. That’s a serious wind, and not very far from Seattle. He also reported a cold front moving into the area. Cold fronts normally bring severe weather from their initial arrival until three hours after passage. This caught my attention.

I finished filing my flight plan from Boeing Field to Paine Field and back, then we all went out to N174GF to prepare for flight. We pulled the plane onto the flight line with its towbar and started getting ready. I got my charts together, put my flashlight in a handy location, plugged in my headset, and adjusted the seat position. Once set, I pulled out my light and glanced at the instrument panel. I was surprised at what I saw. The attitude indicator was placarded with the following message: UNRELIABLE – Use in day VFR conditions only!

We could have changed planes and continued, but with the cold front on the horizon, I decided to listen to the big voice in my head that was saying, “DON’T GO!”

Flight Lesson 3

What should I say?

Unfortunately, I have no memory of this flight. I guess I'll have to look in my logbook to see what I did...

Flight Lesson 2

Jumping back in

After a very long absence, I started flying on instruments again. This time was unlike anything I’ve done before; this time I flew a simulator. The simulator is programmed to model a variety of general aviation training aircraft, including the Cessna 172. Unfortunately, it doesn’t model them all perfectly. Even so, it is very similar to the real thing.

I started my simulated flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, just like normal. Christian asked me to intercept and track navigation beacons, which I did. As I intercepted the heading, I initially turned the wrong way and tracked to the station instead of from the station. Christian threw me a curve, and I fell for it. Many students get this wrong the first time because they hear the heading, but ignore the to/from part.

Eventually, I arrived over the Paine VOR near Paine Field, in Everett. I entered the holding pattern and circled three times before being cleared for the ILS full procedure. The ILS procedure went well, until on my decent. I was descending through 1000 feet when the plane made contact with something. I was very confused, so I pressed the pause button and asked Christian what went wrong. It turned out that he had a setting wrong, so he reset me 10 miles back and I tried again. This time, everything went fine.

The final task was to get back to Boeing Field. I flew west until I intercepted the localizer, then turned inbound for the ILS approach. I broke out of the simulated clouds at 300 feet and saw the runway straight ahead. Luckily, I was out of quarters at this point because flying instruments is hard work, even in a simulator!

Flight Lesson 1

Getting to know you

A few months ago, I scheduled a visual flight to refresh my flying skills. I was feeling rusty and out of practice and wanted to regain my proficiency. Although not required by regulations, I scheduled an instructor to go along with me to help me through any rough spots and offer pointers.

Christian Becker was available and agreed to help me out. We spent a good half-hour discussing various emergency situations and procedures before heading out to the airplane. Once in the air, he asked me to demonstrate the full spectrum of flight maneuvers, including slow flight - climbing descending, and turning; stalls - power-on and power-off while turning; steep turns; emergency descents; and emergency landings. I was comfortable with his calm, safety-conscious attitude.

The day started well, but grew uglier by the hour. I checked the weather report at Boeing Field was disappointed to find that it was only going to get worse. By mid-afternoon, I could no longer see the antennae on the top of Queen Anne hill. I knew my first flight lesson was going to be cancelled.

Christian called to tell me that the airport was in Instrument Meteorological Conditions and therefore, our flight was cancelled. We decided to meet anyway to review my logbook and to work out a plan to complete my instruction. We met and talked for an hour and a half. I told him about all the areas in which I need more training. He concluded that I have all the basics covered and he knows first hand that I can fly, so we changed the schedule to include two simulator sessions. This suits me fine, since it removes the weather issue.

The simulator is basically a box with two seats, two computer monitors, and a bunch of aircraft instruments and accessories. The instructor sits off to one side and controls the flight from a separate workstation while the pilot “flies” the plane. I look forward to giving it a try next week.

Instrument Training - Introduction

How I got to this point

Last year, I started working towards my instrument rating. I signed up for Instrument Ground School at Galvin Flying Services in Seattle, Washington. While in ground school, a former Private Pilot Ground School classmate was hired as a flight instructor. Thus began my flight instruction with Erika Walker.

As winter yielded to spring, I grew tired from the strain of instrument training and longed for the freedom of visual flying. The weather was unusually nice; clear blue skies were the norm. As a result, it was increasingly difficult to schedule time with Erika. I also knew that I needed to accumulate 50 hours of cross-country flying before receiving my instrument rating. So, I stopped scheduling lessons and started flying cross-country flights with friends. I promised myself that I would continue my instrument training when the weather turned for the worse.

Fall turned to winter and my work responsibilities increased dramatically. There was just no time to commit to flying. But as the year wrapped up, so did my project at work.

This year, I’m dedicated to pursuing my personal interests and leaving work at work. I contacted Galvin Flying to schedule flight lessons. To my dismay, I discovered that Erika wrecked her knee while skiing at Lake Tahoe and will not be able to instruct for at least two months. With my primary instructor out of the picture, I scheduled four flights with Christian Becker instead.