The PilotEdge CAT-04 Rating

Yesterday I did the fourth PilotEdge Communication and Airspace Training rating flight, which is a Class D towered field (KSBP) to a Class D towered field (KSMX) with no ATC services in between:

CAT4Route

Here’s the description from the PE briefing page, but the short story is that you:

  • Get the weather at San Luis via the ATIS
  • Contact ground to tell them our position and let them know we want to depart to the South
  • Taxi to the runway as directed by ground
  • Contact tower at the end of the runway to let them know we are ready to go
  • Depart via their directions
  • Contact Santa Maria tower about 10 miles out and let them know our position and that we’re inbound for landing
  • Follow their directions for entering the pattern and contacting them when there
  • Land
  • Contact tower when clear of the runway to tell them our position and request taxi
  • Follow their directions, including whether or not to contact ground

Note that each time we talk to a new controller we tell them our position and our intentions. This is a solid rule for any initial ATC contact: “Here is who I am, where I am, and what I wish to do.”

Also, this “inside / out, outside /in” pattern of communication was a good way for me to think about the handoffs in ATC service when I was learning the airspace system (originally I found the rules of who to contact when and where a bit confusing). When departing you start with the controller closest to where you are – ground – and then progressively work your way out as your position changes (tower, then departure, then center). Coming in to a region or to land, you then work your way IN as your position changes (approach, then tower, then ground). One exception is clearance delivery, whom you contact before you start with ground if you’re filing an IFR clearance, or if you’re at a field that has a local clearance delivery (that will be on the chart). The CAT-04 flight is a good, simple example of these outside / in, inside / out handoffs: ground, tower, tower, ground. We don’t talk to a departure, center, or approach because we don’t have “radar services” (also called “flight following”), which is asking ATC to track you between towered fields as a safety measure, which is something they only do for VFR aircraft on request and if workload allows. “Picking up” flight following en route is the subject of the next CAT rating.

So here’s the flight. It goes right according to plan until the very last second – and then the technology fates intervene! We do this flight in the Carenado C177 Cardinal over ORBX SoCal/Vector scenery and AS16 weather with REX textures. Thanks for watching.

The Benefits Of Having A Flight Simulator In Your Basement

And I don’t just mean the powerful effect it has on women.

Today my real-world flight lessons cancelled for low ceilings. I used to stress about that, but now I know it’s just part of the process. But my routine for flight training is solid enough now that I just went down to the basement, fired up the sim, and flew what I would have likely flown today: departure with a downwind leg, fly out to the practice area, go into slow flight, maneuver, practice a power-off stall, practice a power-on stall, fly an engine-out procedure, do some steep turns, and then head back to the barn, enter the pattern, and land. I flew it all by the book from ramp to ramp, using the same checklist I’m using in the real bird. And because I ran with real-world weather, some of the flight was in the clouds so I got some instrument work as well. All told it felt like great practice, and like I was at least keeping current if in a virtual way.

PA-28-FSX-07
Virtual …

One thing I learned today was about the flight model in the A2A Piper 28-180 Cherokee. I fly a PA 28-161 Cherokee Warrior II in the real world, and while the A2A is quite close, it is a bird with slightly different aerodynamics and 19 more horsepower. In slow flight in the real bird I cut the throttle to 1,500 RPM, put out all the flaps, pitch up to keep the bird at current altitude, and plug along around 53-55 knots.

The real thing ...
The real thing …

Today in the sim I needed to run about 1,900 RPM to do the same thing. On my pattern work in the sim bird I’ve been cutting the throttle to 1,500 RPM, and I’ve often felt like the sink was too rapid. Today’s work pretty much confirms that, even though the Pilot’s Operating Handbook for the real 180 says the RPM should be 1,300-1,500, too. So there’s a bit of a variation in the flight model, but that’s fine. I’ll keep a bit more foot on the pedal on approach from now on in the sim.

So, in the end, I was disappointed not to get into the sky today, but not terribly so. And I felt like I still made progress on the process, which is a great thing in itself.

Today’s Real World Lesson: Pattern Work And Some Words That Were Great To Hear

Today’s Real World Lesson: Pattern Work And Some Words That Were Great To Hear

Today was flight lesson #18, and we used it to do more pattern work, spiced up with no-flaps landings (2), no-power landings (2), a short-field take off, and a soft-field take off. All of this was interesting and fun to fly, and I flew well. Well enough that when taxing back to the ramp at the end of the day my CFI said, “If you had your medical I’d solo you today.” I’m awaiting word on my medical, and may need an exemption, so I’m not allowed to fly solo until it comes through. While this has taken off the pressure of the “when will I solo” thing, it was great to hear today that my CFI believes I’m ready. So we’ll await word from the FAA, and in the meantime, keep plowing ahead on our curriculum.

Here’s today’s lesson in CloudAhoy in case you want to follow along in a virtual debrief. (Note that at this field we turn NW on takeoff for noise abatement.)

The South Bend GA Freight Train

The South Bend GA Freight Train

I’m lucky enough to be in South Bend Indiana this weekend to see the Notre Dame Stanford game with one of my very best friends. One of the amazing things that happens here on game day is watching South Bend Regional Airport turn into one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country. I went to FlightAware and counted the number of GA arrivals since Friday morning through game time, and came to 115. And these are all aircraft that filed IFR flight plans – there are probably more VFR. Standing on campus on game day one can watch a freight train of private jets and high-performance turboprops flying on final over the golden dome for arrival to the strip. It’s very cool plane spotting. 

You can watch the arrival map real time here.

Las Vegas, Baby

A viewer request flight from North Las Vegas to Hoover Dam, with a buzz of the Las Vegas Strip at night. Not by the regs by any means, but fun. Thanks for watching!

Details:

– Prepar3D v 3.4.9
– ORBX OpenLC NA, SoCal, Vector, Trees
– Taburet NA night lighting
– A2A Cessna 182

The PilotEdge CAT-03 Rating

The PilotEdge Communication and Airspace Training ratings continue, this time with the CAT-03, which is three laps of the pattern at San Luis Obispo. I actually flew this twice. I forgot to hook up the mic to the GoPro in the first iteration, so I flew it again the next day to re-record the video. That flight involved its own set of interesting factors, not least of which was a hot mic on PilotEdge, which means I regaled the network with my narration for five or 10 minutes. Things happen, and I’m getting the stuck push-to-talk button on the Yoke fixed as a result. Nonetheless, here’s the flight video. I think it will be helpful to new PilotEdge flyers because it involves small variations on a standard pattern in each of the three laps (line up and wait, expedited landing, and an extended downwind). Thanks for watching.

Today’s Real-World Lesson: More Pattern Work

A really great lesson today in my real-world flight training. We had wonderful weather, cool and clear and sunny with winds around six knots, and we used it to do more pattern work. This included normal landings, two no-flap landings, and two power-off landings (which are the truncated approaches in the below image), as well as the normal landing back at my home field. Today felt great, and I think I flew well. The pattern work felt comfortable, and it included a fair amount of inbound traffic that involved radio work and one safety turn in the pattern. All told, I had a lot of fun. Click here to see the debrief on the flight via CloudAhoy.

CloudAhoy

A2A PA28 Cherokee FIP Gauges

Topa28_s-tec_30_resizem Tsui’s excellent set of Saitek FIP gauges continues to grow, now with a set for the A2A PA28-180 Cherokee. This is the sim aircraft I use when I’m practicing for my real-world flight training, which I do in a PA 28-161 (and the 180 is plenty close for me). While I most of Tom’s new gauges are for the six pack (for which I use generic general aviation gauges in RemoteFlight on the iPad) it’s great to have an accurate RPM gauge, and I know the engine gauges are soon to follow, as is the turn coordinator with autopilot. Thanks again, Tom!

a2a_pa28_gaugess