Well I finally got a chance to fly after nearly a month of not flying. A friend of mine (who is also training to get his PPL) and myself flew over to Camarillo for lunch. We took some video of the take off and landing at Van Nuys which is posted below. It was a bit haze but the weather conditions were pretty calm. I am hoping to fly again in the next week or so and will post again when I do. Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already and I hope the many that are subscribed are enjoying it.

Just a couple of quick updates. Since my last post, the podcast has picked up in traffic! It has been a couple of weeks since I published one so if you subscribe, be patient because I will be keeping it up. I also received my permanent certificate in the mail. Since I filed the paperwork on actual paper instead of the online method, it took quite  a while but my days of being disappointed when checking the mail are over.

Also, I flew with a friend and my CFI to get checked out to Catalina Island. I have to admit, flying through the LAX class bravo was not as exciting as I thought it was going to be but Catalina was one of the most unique places to fly so far. For those that don’t know, it is basically a runway on top of a mountain. If you are short in your landing, you can hit the side of the mountain, if you are long on your take off, you can fall off. Below is a video for the check out to Catalina. The landing is at the end and the glare may make it difficult to see. Also, you can get a great view of LAX from our passing through the bravo.

And just for the fun of it, while the fires were nearing an end out here in Southern California, I took a couple of friends to Camarillo and upon our arrival back at VNY, we saw the “Super Scoopers” departing. Below is some video of that. I was also fortunate enough to go with my father to Camarillo for lunch who was my first family member to fly with my since I became a private pilot.

So just a quick update with what I have been doing with my time lately. I recently started a general aviation podcast that goes over the week’s GA news. I have had a steady increase in subscribers so hopefully I can develop it some and keep it going. As of now there are 2…not so good episodes but as this is my first time doing a podcast please bare with me while I develop the feeling for it.

I will be reading emails on the show so if you have any good stories, passed a checkride recently or have any seggestions, please send them to daniel@angryweb.net. Thanks and I hope you support it!

You can access it HERE through iTunes.

So I finally went on my first flight as a Private Pilot! One of my buddies called and wanted to have lunch so I suggested we do that then go on a short flight since he had never been on a small aircraft before and seemed interested in doing so.

After work, I met him at the 94th Aero Squadron for lunch (a great place to eat off the runway regardless if you are into planes or not). After that we went over to my FBO and I prepped the plane for a trip to Oxnard. Oxnard is only about a 25 minute flight but it was about 20 degrees cooler than Van Nuys was.

I was concerned about the visibility due to the fires but our trip to the west was hardly affected. We took off with a right crosswind departure  and followed the 101 straight to Oxnard. The whole trip I warned my friend that we might have a rough landing since it’s been about 3 weeks since I last flew. On a long final approach, the tower told me I was a bit high and offered me a go-around which I kindly declined. I was used to coming in high and knew I had more than enough runway. Not only was it a good landing but it was a greased landing. The plane didn’t even feel like it made contact with the ground.

After a short break and a drink, we took off towards Simi Valley and went direct to Van Nuys. I am embedded a video of the landing at Oxnard. Sorry for the music but there was so profanity being tossed around and I would like to keep the videos classy.

Just a quick update. I have yet to fly as a certified private pilot, however, I will be going up soon. I have quite a few people that want to go but I want to make sure my first flight with a passenger will be something special.

I also decided to take a step up in headsets and designate my ASA headset for passengers. The ASA headset is great and I really have no complaints about it but I went ahead and purchased the H10-13.4 from David Clark. I’ll update the blog after I’ve tested it for anyone else who may be in the market for a new headset.

There are many people that I need to thank for helping me achieve my dream. Obtaining my certificate was a very time consuming and expensive process and now that it is done, I want to praise the people who have contributed.

I would like to start by thanking my grandfather who, as a pilot, sparked my love for aviation at a young age. Hearing stories my whole life instilled a sense of wonder that I carried with me to this day. If it wasn’t for him, this might have never happened.

Next I would like to thank my girlfriend, Erica, and my family for their support. Erica has supported me from day 1 while I spent a lot of my time training and studying and has been nothing but patient. She also bought me my first few hours as a graduation gift and without that I don’t know when I would have actually begun my training. My family has also been patient throughout the last year and I can’t thank them enough for their support.

My CFI, John Mowatt, was a HUGE help in making me a private pilot. His instruction really pushed me to do things I didn’t know I was capable of. I got a long with him both inside and outside the plane and without him, I don’t think I would be the pilot I am today. You’re a good man Johna and a damn good pilot.

Jeffrey, for all the pilot chit chat we have had over the past few months. It was always nice to have another pilot to talk to and I learned a lot from his knowledge of aviation.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone at Continental. I tried other FBOs but it was never the same. The staff there has always supported me and provided me with a great experience. Ami (my original instructor) was always there to help me when I needed it, Mike kept the planes flying great, Simon always helped me out when I needed it and always welcomed me when I came in, and all the other regulars there who I ended up talking to when I was either there for a lesson or just to hang out. You guys were great!

Well today was the day. A long day at that…

I set my alarm for 7:30 in the morning to make sure I had everything together. My stomach was turning upside down from the butterflies. I had to get current weather information for the flight that I planned a cross country for (Van Nuys to Imperial).

I went over all my paper work, my weight and balance and FAA application (8710 form). When I had everything together, I got dressed and made my way to Van Nuys for a meeting with my instructor. When we met, we went over all of the papers, log books and maintenance records to make sure there would be no snags when we met with the DPE.

At 11:00, we took the plane for a couple of spins around the pattern to warm up. We only flew for 0.4 hours but it was enough since I would have to be doing more flying later on. Once we landed, we decided it would be a good idea to get a quick bite to eat then make way to meet with the DPE.

We arrived at about 12:00 and began to go over the aircraft documents to make sure they were all in order. The DPE verified that the plane was up to date on the annual and 100-hour inspection and all other inspections were made (transponder, pitot/static, ELT). Once he was satisfied that the plane was airworthy and that all paperwork was complete, my CFI left and we began the oral portion of the exam.

The first few questions he had asked me we pretty simple and straight forward and I began to feel at ease. I felt all my worries melt away as far as the PTS oral exam was concerned. As the exam went on, I began to draw blanks for certain questions. The nervousness came back and questions I knew the answers to were coming up empty. My mouth was dry and my lack of words earned me some weird looks from the DPE. With the answers to easy questions not coming out right, I thought for sure it was going to cost me some points.

After a brief break, I was to show the DPE the cross country trip I planned to Imperial. I took out my sectional chart and explained the route I chose to fly. He was satisfied with my plan and weather to support the trip and began to ask me questions regarding the chart and various airspace. For the most part, I knew much of the sectional and all of the symbols but did have my occasional “huh?” moment.

By the time the oral exam was done, I though for sure I could have done better. I was a bit disappointed that even after all my hard work, I still managed to forget very simple things. In the end, the DPE said I did a pretty good job overall and that we would be going over to Continental to do the flight portion. I was excited to know that I passed.

We drove to the base of the tower where the FBO is located and I began my thorough check of the plane. I always do a pretty good job on the preflight but I made sure I went through my list twice. After I knew I had checked the plane to the best of my abilities, we got inside and taxied for a left closed traffic departure.

The first thing we did was a normal takeoff and landing. My takeoff was fine but the landing could have been much better. We taxied back and I was asked to make a short field takeoff and landing. The takeoff was simple and my landing was much better than I was used to. I had a great approach speed and touched down right on the numbers. I didn’t break to hard and I pitched back to slow the plane.

We taxied back again for a soft field takeoff then made a right crosswind departure. We flew a steady heading until we cleared the class C airspace then started with some steep turns. Aside from the soft filed takeoffs and landings, the steep turns scared me. I was afraid that I would sink too much due to a loss of lift and lose too much altitude to be satisfactory…I was spot on.

When a plane went by rather closely to us, the DPE grabbed the yoke and maneuvered the plane in an effort to keep an eye on the traffic. It was a bit scary but eventually he gave me the plane and we did slow flight and stalls on the way to Simi Valley.

Once those were completed, he had me track the Fillmore VOR. I set the heading and flew directly to it without a problem but when I got closer, he told me not to touch the VOR and intercept the radial and fly a heading toward Agua Dolce and explain how long it would take to get there. I got a bit confused at that moment and he took notice. Again the nervousness took over.

I did my best which seemed to be enough and we continued to do some hood work with unusual attitudes, turns around a point and S-turns over a road. He corrected some minor errors that I had as far as technique went but mentioned my overall understanding of them was satisfactory.

Right before heading back to Van Nuys, he pulled the throttle and had me simulate an emergency landing. I picked my spot but didn’t get the best glide speed fast enough or go through a proper emergency checklist. I thought I botched it but still made a decent descent and explained the pattern I was flying. At that point, he told me to fly back to Van Nuys.

I didn’t know what to think at that moment. Had I done something so wrong that the checkride was over? I flew back to Van Nuys and made all the appropriate calls. We were put on a long downwind due to traffic. We were told to switch to 16L and we were clear to land. The DPE told me to make it a soft field landing. This was my moment of truth.

A long final approach. I made sure I had proper airspeed and used 30 degrees of flaps for a nice and easy touch down. I flared slowly and hovered above the runway. I touched down softly and kept the nose up. The nose slowly lowered onto the runway and we turned off. I contacted ground and got clearance to taxi back to Continental.

After going through my shut down checklist, the DPE went over that simulated engine out. He asked what checklist I would go through to try and restart the engine. I drew a blank. I was sitting in the plane, getting questioned on things not knowing if I had passed or not. He gave me a bit of a lecture as to what would have been the perfect emergency procedure in that situation and the whole time the unknown outcome was swimming in my mind. Once he finished explaining things to me, he made sure I understood then shook my hand and said “congratulations, you are now a private pilot”. All of the energy I had lost through the day due to flying twice and going through a difficult line of questioning had returned to me. The DPE said I actually flew very well and that I have a good feel for the plane. That made me happier than anything in the world.

When I got out of the plane, a few instructors, the mechanic, the owner of the FBO, and even my mother and girlfriend came out to congratulate me. It was so nice to have that waiting for me on the ground! I had accomplished my dream.

The DPE and myself went back to his office to go over a couple of missed points on the oral and he typed out my temporary certificate. My long journey had come to an end today. I had spent over a year training for this and everything finally came to a happy ending. The intimidating DPE turned out to be a great guy when the testing was over and told me what I needed to brush up on and what I was good on. He was extremely knowledgeable and taught me a lot that day. Though I have obtained my certificate, the learning process for me is just beginning and I look forward to continuing on my journey as a new pilot.

More checkride prep today. We flew direct to the Fillmore VOR and tracked the radial east toward Santa Paula where we did a few landings. It was pretty busy in the pattern which can be a mess since it’s a non-towered airport. After a few landings, we made our way back to Van Nuys and did some maneuvers over Simi Vally before calling our landing.

I logged another 1.9 hours of practice time. I feel pretty good about everything and hope that I will be able to get everything satisfactory the first time around. I can’t believe my checkride is already tomorrow! I would be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely nervous and scrambling to make sure I know as much as I can. I almost feel like I’m cramming for my college finals.

Well today was completely devoted to nailing all of the maneuvers and requirements for the checkride. Since I started flying over a year ago now, there is still a lot of rust to shake off. We spent just over 2 hours working on short field and soft field takeoffs and landings, steep turns, stalls, slow flight and unusual attitudes under the hood. It was nothing short of a well needed practice session. I know I can do all the maneuvers but but I want to make sure when I have one chance to do it on the checkride, I’ll do it the first time.

I logged 2.1 hours of pure practice and have more confidence in my abilities to perform the maneuvers when I need to.

Today I just spent some time in the pattern practicing normal landings. I got 6 landings in, 4 of which were good and 2 had a bit of ballooning with some adequate saves. I didn’t do anything that would advance my training that much but any bit of practice before my checkride helps.

I logged 0.8 hours.