TheFlyingToga.com

Playground Equipment

Evan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:21:26 +0000

Today, I worked at Montessori Pathways, the private preschool and Kindergarden mother teaches at. I helped the owner’s husband Val take care of some stuff around the school. Things like sweep the play area and refill the sandbox. Your probably wondering how this relates to aviation (besides making money to. Well, my task today was to build an airplane teeter-totter. It was the coolest thing ever! I wanted to take it home. It took a little bit to build though. The fuselage was 8 feet long and had a wingspan of 8 feet. It was pretty big. I hope the preschoolers and kindergardeners like it. Thanks for reading!

Evan Krueger

Private Pilot Requirements

Evan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:23:40 +0000

Most people know that it takes a minimum of 40 hours to receive your pilots license. However, you can’t just fly for 40 random hours and go for your checkride. You are required to by law to spend some hours doing performing certain tasks. There are other requirements that must be fulfilled in order to obtain you private pilots license. NOTE: These requirements are specifically for the single engine airplane. Some requirements are different for other machines (balloons, gliders, etc.).Part 61 specifies the requirements and certification for pilots, flight instructors, and ground instructors. More specifically, Subpart E of Part 61 outlines the requirements for the private pilot rating. To keep things simple, we’ll break down the requirements into sections; Eligibility, Knowledge, proficiency, and experiance.

Eligibility (§61.103):

There are some prerequisites that must be met foremost. These are probably the simplest of all the requirements to becoming a pilot. You must be 17 and be able to read, write, and understand English. You are also required to complete the knowledge test, receive a logbook endorsement (from a certified instructor) that you are prepared to be a private pilot, and demonstrate to an FAA designated examiner that you are proficient in aviating, navigating, and communicating.

Knowledge (§61.105):

You must pass the knowledge test on the following topics. The test is 60 questions and covers an array of topics. You have a total of 2 hours to complete the test. You must know the Federal Aviation Regulations (airplane law), how to report aviation accidents to the NTSB, how to use the aeronautical information manual, how to use aviation charts, radio protocol, critical weather situations, effective collision avoidance, aircraft performance, weight and balance calculations, basic aerodynamics, stall, spin, and spiral awareness, aeronautical decision making, and proper preflight procedure. You must be able to also explain this to the examiner during an oral examination (this is part of the checkride).

Proficiency (§61.107):

In order to take you checkride, your instructor will have to certify that you are proficient in the operation of an aircraft. The FAA requires you to know how to preflight your aircraft, airport operations, how to takeoff, land, and go-around, performance maneuvers, ground reference maneuvers (S-turns), navigation, slow flight and stalls, basic instrument flying, emergency operations, night operations (in most cases), and postflight procedures. Again, you will be tested on the above during your checkride.

Experiance (§61.109):

Before you take your checkride, you must have the necessary hours required by the FAA. As I mentioned before, you can’t just go up for 40 hours and be eligible. You are required to spend your hours doing certain tasks. 20 hours of your training must be with a certified instructor. The other 20 hours must be solo flight. The instruction hours must include 3 hours of cross-country training, 3 hours of basic instrument training, 3 hours of checkride preparation, and 3 hours of night training with 10 takeoffs and landings as well as a cross-country flight of over 100 miles. The solo flight must consist of 5 hours of solo cross-country flight, a cross-country of over 150 miles (3 full stop landing points with a 50 gap between two airports), and three takeoff and landings at a controlled airport.

Evan Krueger

Gusty but Allright

Evan — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:19:38 +0000

I had a blast today. The winds were gusting a little bit but luckily, they were heading straight down the runway. That was a relief. Finally I got to go flying after almost 3 months sitting on the ground. Today worked a little different than most days. Instead of reviewing for an hour before, we took care of some small business before the lesson. I told him that I would be flying about once a month until December. After December, there is a possibility that I could fly twice a month. We then went over what Jim and I talked about last lesson. This only took 10 or so minutes. I liked this idea because now we had more time to fly. I went up to the desk, got the keys and dispatch sheet, and we headed out to the ramp. Preflight went pretty normal except I almost forgot to take the chocks out. That would have been pretty embarrassing had I tried to taxi while they were still in. After run up, we took off and headed west for some review. I did straight and level, steep turns, 360’s, and slow flight. We also covered some slow flight turns. I was a tad rusty at first but after doing each maneuver a few times, I was able to compleate most of them within tolerances with a couple almost in tolerance. By this time we reached Hampshire so we started to turn back. On the way back to the airport, we worked on slow flight and some stalls. The hardest part about slow flight is for sure keeping the airspeed inbetween stall speed and stall warning speed. I also got to preform slow flight turns. The bank needed to turn without stalling the airplane was shallower than I’d thought it’d be. We also did stalls on the way back to the airport. Power off stalls were the main focus but we also did departure stalls. They were the most fun. The amount of back pressure needed to stall the plane in this configuration is insane! I love the feeling of recovery; you can feel it in your stomach. It feels really cool. We set up in the pattern for a landing. I didn’t do horrible but I didn’t do good either. We landed and flared around the right spot. Either way it was better than my landings in March. We taxied back to the beginning of the runway to shoot another one. This time wasn’t so hot. I had problems keeping my airspeed and I was making turns with banks in excess of 30 degrees. I lined up to the left of the runway on final like the past time also. The next time I was determined to do better. My third time at it, I did a lot better at keeping the airspeed between 75 and 80 miles an hour. This made everything a bit easier. Everything was looking good until final. Again, I was having problems lining up with the runway. We tried one last time and I’m glad we did. I did a pretty good job at keeping my airspeed in the specified range so that was good, the banks were kept under 30 degrees, and I was able to successfully line the plane up almost centerline. Overall, it wasn’t that bad of a landing. We returned the aircraft to its hangar and debriefed on the way back to Blue Skies. Johnny said that he was very impressed how sharp i was considering I haven’t been up in a while. That made me grin a bit :). When arriving, I turned in the dispatch sheet and keys and also bought a checklist for the plane. Now that the school doesn’t provide them, we have to purchase our own. I prefer it this way so now I can study the checklist at home. Today I received .2 hours of instruction and put 1.3 flight hours in for a grand total of 6.3 flight hours. I can’t wait to go flying next month. Thanks so much for reading!!!

Evan Krueger

Tuesday

Evan — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:14:45 +0000

I rescheduled my last lesson for Tuesday. It was the only opening for the next two weeks (at least for Johnny). It’s from 4 to 6. I booked N43020 from 5 to 6. I’m excited to finally go flying. It seems like its been forever. Thanks for reading!!!

Evan Krueger

Today’s Adventure

Evan — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 03:46:12 +0000

Today my dad and I drove up to Wonder Lake to visit Galt Airport. It was a nice experience. We talked to a man about the history and flight training program they had to offer. He explained the rates and other such things also. We were referred to the school’s Cheif CFI if we had anymore questions. After our quick chat, he offered to take us to the hangar to show us the Cessna 172 they rent to students. On the way, he explained that the 172 was currently undergoing an installation of a new avionics package. This ment that the school hasn’t had a lesson in a few weeks. Luckily, it is scheduled to be back up in a week or so. When I got home, I sat down and looked at the prices between both Blue Skies and Galt. Galt was a tad cheaper, but gas money would have broke the bank. So its Blue Skies for me. I’m going to call them tomorrow to reschedule yesterday’s rained out lesson. I hope this one won’t be. Thanks for reading!!!

Evan Krueger

No Go

Evan — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:26:11 +0000

As you probably guessed, my lesson was canceled today due to the tornadoes, storms, and winds. While sitting at home, I was thinking about flying related things.I had been looking at my past receipts and flying account statements. I noticed they were a little high. That’s been the main setback from flying; money. So this prompted me to do a little online research. I found a few airports around my area and checked their rates and reputations. I found a nice little airport named Galt Field [10C]. They looked to have a nice field and attractive prices. I don’t want to get ahead of myself though. My father and I are going up tomorrow morning to pay the field a visit. If we like what we see, we might end up transferring flight schools. They half an hour commute would justify the cost. I’ll post tomorrow on my experience. Thanks for reading!!

Evan Krueger

ASF’s Know Before you Go

Evan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:06:04 +0000

Now that school is finally over (hooray!), I’ve finally had some time to catch up on some aviation things. Today, I decided to visit AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation’s web site to see their new courses. Their Know Before You Go: Navigating Today’s Airspace course looked pretty cool. Long story short, it was. It covered the types, shapes, and requirements (both weather and communication) for each type of airspace. It even covered special airspaces like prohibited and restricted. It even covered TFR’s like the the blanket stadium TFR. Overall, the course was easy to follow and jammed packed with information. I would highly recomend checking it out. It takes about an hour to compleate, but allows the user to take breaks while saving their progress. Thanks for reading!!!

Evan Krueger

P.S. Can’t wait for tomorrows lesson. It should be a lot of fun

Another Change of Plans

Evan — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:46:06 +0000

Unfortunately, I have to push back my next lesson ever further. I have a big game on that Thursday that I will not be able to skip. So I decided to reschedule my lesson for Friday, June 6th from 12:00 to 15:00. That way, I won’t have to worry about school or finals; they will finally be over. Thanks for reading everyone!!!

Evan Krueger

World’s Best Paper Airplane

Evan — Sun, 18 May 2008 05:32:36 +0000

I’ve been looking around on the internet for good paper airplane designs. That’s what I spend most of my study hall’s doing: flying paper airplanes. I finally came across a site with a really cool design. I tried it out today in my backyard. Long story short, I had to make another one because it had flow up to the roof. It is like a normal paper airplane, only a little more complex. The nose section has quite the detail put into it and it even has a tail. Building the airplane takes some practice, as its not the easiest thing to make. Luckily, the creator breaks the building process down into 35 fairly easy steps. While constructing the nose, there is a particularly hard part to build. If you run into to trouble (like I did), there is a link to a Google Video on how to make the plane. The link to the main page is below. I think its a great design and it flies great. Thanks for reading!!!

http://www.zurqui.com/crinfocus/paper/print/bld6.html

Evan Krueger

New Lesson

Evan — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:00:44 +0000

Finally! I’ve found a day that is expected to be sunny! I am super psyched to fly! I’ve been grounded for a while now and am not liking it one bit. On the 22^nd I am scheduled to meet with Johnny from 16:00 to 19:00. I have my favorite plane, N43020, from 17:00 to 19:00. I’m not sure what we will be working on but it really doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’ll be flying!!! Thanks for reading everyone.

Evan Krueger