Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GQQV
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 52.1
Solo Time: 2.6 Total: 18.0
CYRO -> CYGK 1.1 Hours
CYGK -> CNL3 0.7 Hours
CNL3 -> CYRO 0.8 Hours
IT IS DONE! I write this with the utmost feeling of accomplishment. I feel even better than I did the day I passed my flight test. Mostly because I have actually achieved something. Short of some bureaucracy and a few signatures I am Canada’s Newest Private Pilot!!!
Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GBRI
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 49.7
Solo Time: 1.7 Total: 15.5
Mark the calendar! It happened today. I got my first real “PIC” flight with my first official passenger! All I can say is wooo hoooooo!
The weather was calm, light winds, sky clear. I had taken the entire week off as the wedding is coming up on Saturday. I was in the middle of moving drinks to the caterer and setting up to have the tent arrive on site but all of this would have to wait for me to pass my test. I drove to the airport knowing that this would be the make or break. I wasn’t overly confident but Simon did make me feel good during our last flight and therefore what did I have to lose?
Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GBRI
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 46.9
Solo Time: 0.7 Total: 13.8
I have been booking all my flights in one of the three “Top” aircraft at the RFC. My favorite C-GYWN is full of electronics including a GPS and is smooth on the flaps. The trusty C-GQUO has taken me on a few X/C flights has a smooth throttle and logical standard layout. The third N model is C-GQQV which is the twin sister to QUO but has a couple of differences. I find that QQV idles far too high and regardless what the instructors say, floats longer because of it! That is 3 of the 4 November models at the club. The last and wildest bird is GBRI. BRI is a former float plane that has been converted back to wheels. She still has the cross members that block some forward vision. BRI is special in that she has NO navigation equipment at all. A simple and decent VHF comm and a transponder. That’s it! You can’t even call it a stack, more like a “short stack”. This is great because there is less to break but is not great if you get lost and need a GPS… (Who would NEED that?!!)
Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GQUO
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 42.4
Solo Time: 0.8 Total: 13.1
I was excited, damn excited if I had to describe it. I had my plan in hand, and the aircraft was ready! I went over my flight planning with Ryan, my first encounter with him and that went well. I had already filed the flight plan with WX Brief and walked out of the clubhouse with a smile. During pre flight I noticed that I could not see any oil on the dipstick at all. Hmmm. I KNOW how to read a dipstick but of course I did the typical thing, put it in, pull it out, look, scratch head. Repeat. I then obtained a cloth and dried that stick bone dry, then put it in again. There was but a fine drop on the very end of the dipstick.
Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GYWN
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 39.6
Solo Time: 0.7 Total: 12.3
My flight Sunday was simple in nature. I wanted to go out to the practice area and practice forced approaches. In Canada (and elsewhere I’m sure!) this is one of the many emergency procedures that we practice. Out of all the things that can be “hard to do” this one should be simple yet seems to cause me the most difficulty.
Saturday was a waste for flying, the air was smooth but the visibility was only 4 miles. Instead of spending money I did some dry run “procedure training” whereby I sat in the cockpit of a C172 and went over the drills. Passenger briefings, emergency flow checks. Checklist usage. It was a great 60 minute reinforcement and it cost $0! Saturday afternoon I returned to the airport with Rica in tow for her to fly in GYWN for her “Co-Pilot’s Course lesson #1″. Since the rear seat was empty, Simon invited me along so I was grateful and got some cool video. This was also the first time I ever flew with Simon!
Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GQQV
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 36.9
Solo Time: 1.6 Total: 11.6
This morning I awoke with a bit of a start, I knew that the flight was early and I needed to be ready. The sky was solid with overcast at 22,000 feet and therefore bode well for good smooth air. There was very little wind to deal with as I ordered my Timmies and made my way over to the airport.
A small curveball was thrown to me as they let me know upon my arrival that QUO would be out of service in controlled airspace and therefore I would be taking QQV. I have an interesting relationship with QQV in that at one time I swore never to fly her due to the engine sputter on takeoff. I have of course gone ahead and done so but always found that she landed long. Quite long in fact and I’m sure it’s because at full “pulled to the back of the aircraft” idle, and carb heat it still turns a good solid 850 RPM. It’s bad, I even wondered if by pulling that throttle back so hard to try to get her to settle down, can damage be done? I guess it’s a matter of when it hits the stop, stop pulling on the throttle and pull on the yoke instead!
Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GQQV
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 34.0
Solo Time: 0.5 Total: 9.0
Today was a lot like yesterday, CAVU and with only a slight wind from the East. This wind necessitated the use of runway zero niner. I arrived at the club early but BRI was grounded and my new booking in QQV was very late. I noticed that the lady flying it landed really long on her way in but was glad to see that I would get going albeit 25 minutes late. While signing me out, Steven suggested that I go back to the practice area. I assured him tat I was making solo flights out there but my time was short so I’d just do some patterns here and over at Gatineau. I also noticed an entry in my PTR suggesting that I obtain a transponder code from Ottawa Terminal by calling 1-866-VFR-CODE (Do not try 1-888-VFR-CODE as this is an adult line, don’t ask how I found that out!!!) I will be sure to try this before my next flight.
Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GBRI
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 34.0
Solo Time: 0.8 Total: 8.5
Today was gorgeous with CAVU skies and temperatures in the pluses. I arrived at RFC with only a few butterflies in my stomach. Pre flight went well with me noticing that fractured brake pad again. Today there was a man and his young child watching as I did my pre flight. I noticed that they went away as I performed my pre start check list. As I looked around before yelling clear, I noticed they were very close to my aircraft again. I opened the window and said “Hi!”, then “Would you mind i’m about to start my engine, you should be back a ways”. They stepped back a few feet. I was not super comfortable with this but did not want to press the issue and I could tell they were very clear of my prop and wash. I turned over the key and away we went. During the taxi I could tell this would be a busy day!
Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GBRI
Dual Time: 0.0 Total: 33.1
Solo Time: 0.4 Total: 6.4
After my great start to the day I felt quite ready to take on some solo practice. Matt suggested that I head back out to the practice area and go back to basiscs. Slow Flight, Stalls you name it. I said “sure” then signed out for my solo in GBRI. I knew that weird wind shear was still out there but did not think about it as I pre flighted the already warmed up aircraft. I was slightly worred about my fuel situation. I had 7 gallons in the left wing and 11 in the right. Matt walked by and confirmed that I should be okay for my 1 hour of flying. I had enough fuel for at least 2 at full power. I then taxiied over to backtrack runway zero niner. I performed all of my checklists and began the take off roll. Woo hoo I always love that part. The aircaft sprung into the air then immediately began bucking and rolling. There was something up here with me!!
