Valkaria Flyers–Week 2

Ever since I sold the Commander 114 back in July 2014, I have been away from aviation. This week marked my return to the pilot’s seat. Last week, I scheduled time with a flight instructor for two sessions. Our sessions were intended to get me current and comfortable again, complete my flight review, and satisfy the insurance company requirements.

Friday, August 18

On Friday, our flight session was scheduled for noon. Being summer in Florida, I was a little concerned that the afternoon thunderstorms may come in and shorten our flight. According to the aviation forecast, the storms were expected to start around 3:00 PM.

I arrived at the hangar about an hour early. I wanted to have the preflight complete so we could start the session as soon as possible. I completed the checks before noon, then waited for the instructor to arrive. At 12:05, I sent the text, “Hi. It’s David. I’m at hangar 76, chillin’”. A few moments later, my instructor called and told me that he was in Stuart with a Cessna 172 and a bad battery, but he was driving back to Valkaria and would be there in an hour. I was concerned about the weather, but what could I do? Things happen.

At 1:17, he texted that he was two exits away. During that time, I called Susan and walked back and forth along the row of hangars. To my surprise, I found a restroom in the south hangar that was open to tenants. That was good to know, because the alternative was a porta-potty located outside the gate.

Eventually, the instructor arrived, he parked, and after we said our hellos, he started the preflight brief. Considering that I didn’t know him, and he had just rushed up the interstate while thinking about his busted Cessna, I wanted to make sure that he was relaxed and ready to focus on me and our flight. He appreciated my concern, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and got down to business. I told him that I was hopeful that our first flight could be more like a Discovery Flight and less like a hard-core flight review, given the amount of time I had been away from the controls. He agreed and that’s exactly what he was planning.

With the brief complete and the weather checked one more time, we started the flight. I started the plane and taxied to the run-up area. After the run-up, I taxied to the hold short line of runway 10, made the final checks, and started taxiing onto the runway before I realized that, hey, I need to make a radio call before entering a runway! I stopped just before entering the runway and made my call, After the call, I realized that I said “Runway 10 (ten)” instead of “Runway 1-0”. The rust was pretty apparent already.

After takeoff, we climbed while flying south along the beach. For the next 30 minutes, I worked on climbs, descents, and turns while getting used to power settings and trimming. The Piper Cherokee is a very stable plane and flies very nicely, making me feel like I actually knew what I was doing.

Next up, we started doing simulated landing patterns by flying “downwind”, “base”, and “final” legs while several thousand feet above the river. The goal was to get comfortable with the pre-landing checklist and slowing the plane down to the proper speeds while descending. We practiced this maneuver three times, then decided to head back to the airport. The approach into the airport was just like we practiced, but he guarded the controls just to make sure I didn’t do anything that we might regret.

Back on the ground, I taxied to the fuel pump, feeling pretty good about how things went. I was beginning to feel like I could fly, but I wasn’t feeling like a pilot yet. Being a pilot is much more than just driving a plane in the sky. It is all about seeing the big picture, knowing what to expect next, and being prepared to handle any situation that may arise.

After topping off the tanks, I taxied back to the hangar. Now the real challenge began – getting the plane into the hangar without banging into anything. This sounds like an easy enough task, but the first time doing anything can be a challenge. We ended up getting it in, but it was about six inches off the line on the floor. The instructor debriefed me and went on his way, while I stayed behind and wiped down the plane. I was feeling pretty good about my first flight back after such a long time away. As for the weather, there was a shaft of rain just west of the airport throughout the flight, but it never got close enough to cause us any concern. It finally started raining on my drive home.

Saturday, August 19

Our flight on Saturday was scheduled for 11:00. I arrived at the hangar around 10:45 and started the preflight. The instructor showed up and we started briefing the upcoming flight. As we talked, I kept interrupting with questions and we kept going down rabbit holes. We must have talked for over an hour before we were ready to go fly. I walked down to the restroom and when I got back, my instructor looked concerned. He told me that we may have talked too long and that the weather over the beach was looking pretty bad. I looked and said, “We can always just stay in the pattern”. He agreed and we went flying.

After the run-up, we departed to the east, then turned south along the river. The plan for the day was to work on uncommon maneuvers, like steep turns, emergency descents, and simulated engine failures. We started by climbing to around 4,500 feet, passing near some semi-transparent floating objects. The horizon was mostly obscured, so we skipped the steep turns. I had brought along a seat cushion, so I worked on updating my sight picture given the new sitting position. The clouds along the beach were pretty thick, so we headed west to do an emergency descent. I chose a small pond with no houses nearby as my center point. I slowed the plane to flaps speed, pulled full flaps, then began a left turning steep turn over the pond. We descended beyond 2,000 feet per minute in a nice, tight spiral. Then I leveled the wings and we did a turn to the right, then to the left while continuing to descend rapidly.

Next, we climbed back up and practiced engine failures. The first thing you must do during an engine failure is slow to maximum glide speed. In the Cherokee, this is simple to achieve by setting the trim to full up. With the plane trimmed this way, you maximize the glide ratio, thus giving yourself more time to troubleshoot the problem and/or find a suitable place to land. During the first “failure” I was able to find the cause and we continued to fly. During the second “failure” we could not restart the engine, so we continued to a simulated emergency landing at Valkaria Airport. I was a little high, which is always better than the alternative, so I made an S-turn to lose a little bit of altitude before turning final.

After landing, I taxied back and took off again. This time, the instructor showed me an example of energy management and how to slow the plane down while in ground effect. He followed that with a go-around, then I flew the plane one more time around the pattern for a normal landing.

After topping the tanks, I returned to the hangar. This time, I was able to put it in right on the centerline. We debriefed the flight, then I wiped down the plane and went home. After this flight, I felt more like a pilot, but I still have a ways to go. Next up, we’ll do a day of pattern work, then a cross country flight. After that, I should get my flight review endorsement and be cleared to go explore the world.