Very quick post today...
It's about that time! Spring break is finally here - definitely something that I've been looking forward to for these past few weeks. Not only does spring break mean getting to spend time with family or friends, but it also means (at least for me) that I get the chance to fly again, which I'm really pumped about!
A few days ago, the weather was looking promising for the weekend back home in Chicago so I decided to schedule some time to get back into the groove (and hopefully get my license while I'm at it!). As of now, I'm scheduled to go up with my instructor tomorrow from 10-12 and solo from 2-4. The reasoning behind flying with the instructor is that I can only go so long between flights before I need to be checked again. This means that tomorrow, I'll have to go through most, if not all, of the training points with him before I'm certified to do solo training flights again. If all goes according to plan from 10-12, I plan on getting some solo cross-country hours out of the way (5 needed for my license) in the afternoon block from 2-4. Very exciting!
Until then, I'll be sitting in the Albany, NY airport (where I'm currently typing this) waiting for my flight home and then spending time with my family later tonight before flying in the morning tomorrow. The weather frankly isn't looking promising for Monday, Tuesday, OR Wednesday of this upcoming week...so hopefully the forecasters are wrong and I'm able to get all of the flying I need to get this license! Keeping my spirits up about it - at the very least, I'll have a nice relaxing break spending time with my family.
Look for another post in a few days (hopefully) on the progress of my flying! Here's to hoping everything goes according to plan this week.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Coming Home, Coming Home
Growing up and traveling with family and/or friends, we've all had that one commercial airport we somewhat identify with, as it's where many of our journeys have started - a gateway to good times if you will. For me, that gateway is Chicago's Midway Airport (MDW). Yes, many of you in the Chicago area know that MDW is a Southwest Airlines haven, whisking people all over the country in their shiny blue 737's. However, many of you may have not seen any small planes like mine ever flying into MDW, yet it happens on a daily basis.
...In fact, I flew in there myself! During part of my training back in January, I had to complete a night 'cross-country' flight (greater than 100 miles round trip) with my instructor. We also had to make the flight about 2.2 hours in length in order to fulfill my time requirement as well. The flight was planned from Clow Airport, Bolingbrook, IL (1C5) to Starke County Airport, Knox, IN (OXI). Along our route, there were winds that pushed us there at about 150 MPH - about 40 MPH faster than usual. As a result, we got there earlier than normal.
While at OXI, we performed a 3-4 takeoffs and landings, again to meet the requirements for training. Something pretty interesting that I got to experience at OXI was the "Black Hole Effect." Around the airport, there is nothing but farmland, and at night, the only lights for a mile or so around are the relatively bright runway and approach lights. As you can see below, a Black Hole approach could result in landing below the glidepath and possibly crashing, which thankfully didn't happen in my case. Definitely glad that I got to experience this phenomena with an instructor before experiencing it myself.
On the way back to 1C5, those same winds that gave us a 40 MPH boost on the way there were slowing us down by 40 MPH on the way back. While on the way back, my instructor and I calculated our estimated time of arrival back to 1C5, which would put me short of the hours that I needed to complete my night training. It was then that we decided to have a little fun and see if we could stop at MDW on our way back. Even though it would be a small detour, it would not only be a lot of fun, but give us the sufficient amount of hours as well.
En route to MDW, we needed to tune the radio to the ATIS, or Automated Terminal Information System - basically a robotic voice that played the current weather and different runways in use, After that, when approximately 15 miles away from the airport, I called up the control tower. When calling, I had to state the registration number of my aircraft (N72662), the aircraft type (Cessna 172), our location and altitude (15 miles SE, 3000 ft), the current weather information that we had (information India), and our intentions (the option to either land or perform a touch-and-go). From there, he told me to stay at or below 2000 ft and assigned me what's called a squawk. A squawk is a 4 number code that we have to enter into our transponder on the plane so that we are visible to the controller on his radar.
As we continued on our way, getting lower and lower over the city, we were able to see all of the Southwest jets and other private jets taking off and seemingly heading straight for us before climbing up thousands of feet above us. As we got within about 5 miles of MDW, the controller told us to follow the approach path to fly straight over the airport at 1,500 ft. My instructor and I were excited to say the least, because we would be given a view of the airport that you don't regularly get. It was also when we got within 5 miles that the air began to get pretty turbulent. We were low enough where the winds that were deflecting off of the houses and buildings right below us were buffeting our plane around a decent, but very manageable, amount.
Believe it or not, it was incredibly hard to spot the airport from a couple miles out - I was actually very surprised...not sure how commercial pilots do it on a daily (or nightly??) basis. Personally, I blame the orange street lights used by the City of Chicago, but that's a rant for another day...
After flying over the field at 1,500 I made a relatively tight right turn to set myself up for final. We were assigned a touch-and-go on the runway parallel to what the big jets were using, so I had to be careful not to swing my turn out too close to their path. A private jet actually took off on the runway parallel to mine maybe 30 seconds before I landed, so the controller warned me of the wake turbulence as a result. Wake turbulence is what happens when vortices come off of plane's wings when they create lift - they actually have the power to flip smaller planes like mine and essentially drive them into the ground. After the touch-and-go, we headed directly back to 1C5 flying down I-55, literally and figuratively flying by the cars on the highway below.
Night flying, especially night flying into a busy commercial airport like MDW, is definitely something special, and something that can provide incredible views that not many other people get to experience. I can't wait until the day that I'm fully licensed so I can take my family and friends around at night, and hopefully into MDW and along the Chicago shoreline! I'd love to take any of you...
Hope you all enjoyed this post! Next week (3/21 - 3/28), I plan on (weather permitting) finishing my license while I'm on my spring break. More to come in the following days on the progress of that!
Happy flying!
...In fact, I flew in there myself! During part of my training back in January, I had to complete a night 'cross-country' flight (greater than 100 miles round trip) with my instructor. We also had to make the flight about 2.2 hours in length in order to fulfill my time requirement as well. The flight was planned from Clow Airport, Bolingbrook, IL (1C5) to Starke County Airport, Knox, IN (OXI). Along our route, there were winds that pushed us there at about 150 MPH - about 40 MPH faster than usual. As a result, we got there earlier than normal.
While at OXI, we performed a 3-4 takeoffs and landings, again to meet the requirements for training. Something pretty interesting that I got to experience at OXI was the "Black Hole Effect." Around the airport, there is nothing but farmland, and at night, the only lights for a mile or so around are the relatively bright runway and approach lights. As you can see below, a Black Hole approach could result in landing below the glidepath and possibly crashing, which thankfully didn't happen in my case. Definitely glad that I got to experience this phenomena with an instructor before experiencing it myself.
On the way back to 1C5, those same winds that gave us a 40 MPH boost on the way there were slowing us down by 40 MPH on the way back. While on the way back, my instructor and I calculated our estimated time of arrival back to 1C5, which would put me short of the hours that I needed to complete my night training. It was then that we decided to have a little fun and see if we could stop at MDW on our way back. Even though it would be a small detour, it would not only be a lot of fun, but give us the sufficient amount of hours as well.
En route to MDW, we needed to tune the radio to the ATIS, or Automated Terminal Information System - basically a robotic voice that played the current weather and different runways in use, After that, when approximately 15 miles away from the airport, I called up the control tower. When calling, I had to state the registration number of my aircraft (N72662), the aircraft type (Cessna 172), our location and altitude (15 miles SE, 3000 ft), the current weather information that we had (information India), and our intentions (the option to either land or perform a touch-and-go). From there, he told me to stay at or below 2000 ft and assigned me what's called a squawk. A squawk is a 4 number code that we have to enter into our transponder on the plane so that we are visible to the controller on his radar.
As we continued on our way, getting lower and lower over the city, we were able to see all of the Southwest jets and other private jets taking off and seemingly heading straight for us before climbing up thousands of feet above us. As we got within about 5 miles of MDW, the controller told us to follow the approach path to fly straight over the airport at 1,500 ft. My instructor and I were excited to say the least, because we would be given a view of the airport that you don't regularly get. It was also when we got within 5 miles that the air began to get pretty turbulent. We were low enough where the winds that were deflecting off of the houses and buildings right below us were buffeting our plane around a decent, but very manageable, amount.
Believe it or not, it was incredibly hard to spot the airport from a couple miles out - I was actually very surprised...not sure how commercial pilots do it on a daily (or nightly??) basis. Personally, I blame the orange street lights used by the City of Chicago, but that's a rant for another day...
 |
| Picture of the gate concourse area at MDW taken by my instructor. The two bright white lights above the two green lines are the wings of a taxiing Southwest 737 |
Night flying, especially night flying into a busy commercial airport like MDW, is definitely something special, and something that can provide incredible views that not many other people get to experience. I can't wait until the day that I'm fully licensed so I can take my family and friends around at night, and hopefully into MDW and along the Chicago shoreline! I'd love to take any of you...
 |
| Route of the Above Flight |
Hope you all enjoyed this post! Next week (3/21 - 3/28), I plan on (weather permitting) finishing my license while I'm on my spring break. More to come in the following days on the progress of that!
Happy flying!
Sunday, March 1, 2015
FSX
Video games - when I say the word, I'm sure many of you who are college-aged immediately think Xbox and PlayStation. Personally, I've never really gotten into either system, other than the occasional game of NCAA Football or Madden. During high school, when my desire for flying was arguably at it's lowest point, the only times I played video games were occasionally on the weekends. In the times before and after high school, however, I have played primarily with a flight simulator on my computer.
The particular flight sims I have had experience with are a few in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series: 2002, 2004, and FSX(released in 2006). I used FS2002 sparingly in grade school, playing more with FS2004 in that period of time. In the post-high school period, I've played with FSX almost exclusively on the PC that's part of my college's laptop program.
While FSX came out in 2006, there have been several third-party add-ons that are available online for purchase. There are some out there who have easily dropped thousands of dollars on add-on planes, scenery enhancements, etc. for the game. Myself? I've spent maybe a measly $100 (including the cost of the game and my joystick!).
The best part of FSX for me is that I'm able to familiarize myself with a lot of the systems of an aircraft that I may or may not fly someday. Almost all of the planes in the game are system-for-system, button-for-button, sound-for-sound, etc. which, in my opinion, makes the game extremely fun and realistic. More or less, FSX and its realism allow me to live out my aviation dreams in a virtual world. There's something about flying, even the virtual kind, that is just encapsulating and makes me want to come back for more each and every time.
Another neat feature about FSX is that I am able to simulate going in and out of real world airports in planes that may not be suitable for those airports. I'm also able to simulate extreme weather conditions and fly into them, whereas in real life that would never be possible. Below, I've uploaded a screen-capture video of one of my landings to showcase this. In the video, I am flying into Chicago Midway Airport in a Boeing 757-200 series aircraft. While 757's have been in and out of MDW before, the weather that I am landing in would result in a total ground stop at MDW - no planes in or out, no questions asked. In my opinion, that's what makes it so fun! Of course, this wouldn't be possible in the real world because it's too dangerous, but it also makes it extremely challenging, which is something that I definitely look for when I play FSX these days.
In addition to these weather simulations, there is also an Air Traffic Control (ATC) feature that is added in to FSX, which allows you to basically talk to robots using a series of preset commands programmed into the game. This system, while helpful at first, is not as similar to the real world as I would like.
Looking for a real-world ATC add-on one day, I came across something called VATSIM. VATSIM, or Virtual Air Traffic SIMulation, is a free online network which provides the realistic ATC I was looking for. On the network, people who want to fly their planes log on as pilots, and people who want to be air traffic controllers log on as controllers. Communications work by way of a chat box, or by voice. On my joystick, there's actually a push-to-talk button that I use whenever I want to speak on the network.
In using VATSIM, I have greatly improved my voice communications in the real world as well. VATSIM combined with FSX have provided a practice ground of sorts for my real world flying. In FSX I also fly a Cessna 172 that is almost button-for-button like the one that I fly in real life. While the feeling of flying it in the game is far different than the feeling of flying in real life, for obvious reasons, to say that it is incredibly helpful and a great training resource would be a huge understatement.
I hope this provided some insight in to the flight sim that I use and have come to really enjoy flying with over the years. In my next post, I'll talk about what it was like to actually land at Midway Airport in real life!
The particular flight sims I have had experience with are a few in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series: 2002, 2004, and FSX(released in 2006). I used FS2002 sparingly in grade school, playing more with FS2004 in that period of time. In the post-high school period, I've played with FSX almost exclusively on the PC that's part of my college's laptop program.
While FSX came out in 2006, there have been several third-party add-ons that are available online for purchase. There are some out there who have easily dropped thousands of dollars on add-on planes, scenery enhancements, etc. for the game. Myself? I've spent maybe a measly $100 (including the cost of the game and my joystick!).
CLICK HERE to see a YouTube video of just how realistic FSX can get...
The best part of FSX for me is that I'm able to familiarize myself with a lot of the systems of an aircraft that I may or may not fly someday. Almost all of the planes in the game are system-for-system, button-for-button, sound-for-sound, etc. which, in my opinion, makes the game extremely fun and realistic. More or less, FSX and its realism allow me to live out my aviation dreams in a virtual world. There's something about flying, even the virtual kind, that is just encapsulating and makes me want to come back for more each and every time.
Another neat feature about FSX is that I am able to simulate going in and out of real world airports in planes that may not be suitable for those airports. I'm also able to simulate extreme weather conditions and fly into them, whereas in real life that would never be possible. Below, I've uploaded a screen-capture video of one of my landings to showcase this. In the video, I am flying into Chicago Midway Airport in a Boeing 757-200 series aircraft. While 757's have been in and out of MDW before, the weather that I am landing in would result in a total ground stop at MDW - no planes in or out, no questions asked. In my opinion, that's what makes it so fun! Of course, this wouldn't be possible in the real world because it's too dangerous, but it also makes it extremely challenging, which is something that I definitely look for when I play FSX these days.
To give you an idea of the weather that I'm flying in here, the visibility is 1/16 of a mile, or 330 ft - basically the length of a football field - and I'm traveling at ~145 MPH (speed can be seen on the top display and dial to the left). At that speed, 330 ft is traveled in about 1.5 seconds - pretty dangerous.
In addition to these weather simulations, there is also an Air Traffic Control (ATC) feature that is added in to FSX, which allows you to basically talk to robots using a series of preset commands programmed into the game. This system, while helpful at first, is not as similar to the real world as I would like.
Looking for a real-world ATC add-on one day, I came across something called VATSIM. VATSIM, or Virtual Air Traffic SIMulation, is a free online network which provides the realistic ATC I was looking for. On the network, people who want to fly their planes log on as pilots, and people who want to be air traffic controllers log on as controllers. Communications work by way of a chat box, or by voice. On my joystick, there's actually a push-to-talk button that I use whenever I want to speak on the network.
In using VATSIM, I have greatly improved my voice communications in the real world as well. VATSIM combined with FSX have provided a practice ground of sorts for my real world flying. In FSX I also fly a Cessna 172 that is almost button-for-button like the one that I fly in real life. While the feeling of flying it in the game is far different than the feeling of flying in real life, for obvious reasons, to say that it is incredibly helpful and a great training resource would be a huge understatement.
I hope this provided some insight in to the flight sim that I use and have come to really enjoy flying with over the years. In my next post, I'll talk about what it was like to actually land at Midway Airport in real life!
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