Flying Blind

Imagine: you're driving your car down the highway going 90+ MPH and there's nothing but you and the open road. Sounds fun, right? Now imagine this situation, and you happen to drive straight into a fog cloud and you can no longer see what's going on down the road, let alone 10 ft in front of you. How would you react? What would you do? In a car, the safest option would easily be to slow down to maybe 25 MPH as you wind your way along the road. However, if this situation were to happen while flying a plane, it would hardly be this easy.

When you're hundreds of feet in the air travelling 100+ MPH, slowing down isn't exactly an option...if one were to slow down to 25 MPH in the air, they would more than likely stall the plane and basically fall out of the sky. When weather conditions like flying into a cloud arise in flight, there are a few options for private pilots, as they aren't allowed to fly into clouds (which requires an instrument rating), the simplest option being a 180 degree turn to get out of the weather or clouds that you just flew into.

In order to prepare to fly into these conditions if a situation like that ever arises, the FAA requires that three or more hours of simulated instrument time must be completed. The one object that makes this training possible is what's called "the Hood."

Not me pictured here, but this is the same sort of Hood that I used during training

The Hood is a half cone-shaped piece of plastic that fits around your head with an elastic band and forces you to fly while only looking at your instruments, as it blocks all outside views.

All you'll really see while flying under the Hood

When your only way of gathering information about what's going on outside is your instruments, you need to maintain a vigilant scan of those instruments to make sure that your plane is staying on the heading you want and at the altitude and airspeed that you want. If any adjustments need to be made in terms of heading, altitude or airspeed, they need to be subtle and carefully executed for a couple of reasons. Most important of these reasons is: you want to make sure that while performing any maneuvers (turns, climbs) you maintain a scan - any movements that are too fast would prevent you from maintaining your scan of the instruments and making any proper, timely adjustments

While some may find the aspect of flying under the hood a bit of a hassle because of the possibility of vertigo, I actually found it pretty fun. When you fly without any outside views and it feels like only you and your plane flying along, you feel much more a part of the plane than if you were to fly with a view. The fact that you have to explicitly trust in what your instruments are telling you compared to what your body is telling you is an incredible feeling and something that I can't wait to have again if I ever start my instrument rating training. 

Another big part of instrument flying is VOR navigation as discussed in my previous post. GPS has also become a major player when it comes to instrument flying as it's become more and more precise, with many approach procedures now using GPS as a primary source of navigation. Both of these navigation methods are essential when flying blind, as there is no way of navigating using any visual checkpoints that private pilots normally use. 

While flying blind may not sound fun to some of you, chances are that you've been on a commercial flight where your friendly Captain and First Officer (copilot) have been descending through thick clouds to land when they only have their instruments available to them for reference. A quick YouTube video can be seen below with the pilots using what's called an ILS or Instrument Landing System. Don't worry though, chances are that you'll most likely never be on a commercial flight where the visibility is that bad...

ILS LANDING VIDEO HERE

Diagram of an ILS - the plane more or less follows the crosshairs down to the runway, usually on a glideslope of approximately 3 degrees

Frankly, the thought of basically flying a final approach without being able to see anything at all would definitely give me an incredible adrenaline rush, and it's absolutely something that I'd like to do some day as a pilot. Those that know me know that I'm not really a huge risk taker or "adrenaline junkie," but this is something that I would no doubt love to do.

While I'm not able to shoot any approaches like this in real life (for now...), I am able to practice them to some extent on the Flight Simulator that I have on my computer...more on that in my next post!

Q and A

As mentioned in my last post, I said I would be fielding some questions that anyone had in today's post. Without further ado, here they are...

--What are COMM and NAV radios? VOR receivers? What does all that mean...

COMM is short for COMMunication - COMM radios are what we use to talk to air traffic control, or on "walkie talkie" sort of communication frequencies called UNICOM at airports without control towers.

NAV is short for NAVigation - NAV radios are tuned to certain frequencies of navigation aids, like VOR's. These frequencies are typically used by pilots who fly on instruments only, but they are also helpful for private pilots as well.

VOR stands for Very high frequency Omnidirectional Radio range - they are stations located all over the world and are used by tuning the NAV radio to their corresponding frequencies. To use a VOR for navigation, first tune to it's frequency and then turn the receiver to the radial that it corresponds with. It's pretty hard to explain on here just in writing so if anyone's interested in actually finding out more about how it's done, just click on this link HERE

--What kind of planes can you fly with your license?

Well...even though I don't have my license quite yet (5 hours to go...), I am currently limited to piston single-engine planes that weigh less than 12,500 lbs. In addition, I can only operate planes with fixed propellers, an engine less than 200 hp, but I can also technically carry as many people as I want in my plane.

--How high can your Cessna 172 go?

As far as I know, the "ceiling" in the C172R that I rent is 13,500 ft, while the ceiling in the C172SP that I also occasionally rent is 14,000 ft - if anyone finds anything different please let me know. This is convenient because if you're in a C172 above 12,500 ft for more than 30 minutes, than the crew needs supplemental oxygen on board. Also, if you're above 14,000 ft for any duration, it's mandatory that the crew have supplemental oxygen. Thankfully, I don't plan on going above 12.5 or 14 any time soon so I won't have to drop any more $$$ than I already spend on flying as it is, which leads me to the next question...

--How much does it cost to get a private pilots license?

To answer simply? A lot... The flight school that I fly out of has a price which I think is pretty standard for most flight schools around the country - it's in the neighborhood of $6-7 thousand, depending on the type of plane that you rent. For example, I could have rented a smaller, two-seat Cessna 152 for about $30 less per hour, but it would have been incredibly cramped with an instructor next to me. Also, a good amount of our weight would be taken up with human weight instead of fuel, which would severely limit our time actually up in the air. 

One must keep in mind that the $6-7 thousand figure is usually for the minimum 40 hours required by the FAA. For example, those that don't grasp flying right away may take up to 60, 70 or more hours to become fully licensed and will be paying for those extra 20 or 30 hours as a result. So not only can staying on top of your training can help you get your license quicker, but it can also save you some serious $$$ too.

 --How far along are you in your training?

As of today, I currently have: 35.3 hours, 96 day landings, 11 night landings, and 7.3 hours solo. The FAA has certain minimums set, which I will outline below, for obtaining the 40 minimum hours. I will also include the number of hours I have for each category. 

• 20 hours of flight training with an instructor which includes
• 3 hours at night (I have 3.2)
• One night cross-country with total distance of 100 miles flown (Done)
• 10 takeoffs/landings (11)
• 3 hours of cross-country time (flight to an airport of more than 50 miles away) (5.4)
• 3 hours of simulated instrument time (more on this in a later post) (3.0)
• 3 hours of training within 60 days of taking the practical (in-flight) test (N/A)
• 10 hours solo (7.3)
• 5 hours of solo cross country (Only part I haven't accomplished yet, despite being signed off for solo cross-country flights)
• One solo cross-country over 150 miles in length with 3 stops along the way (Nope)
• 3 takeoffs/landings to a full stop at an airport with a control tower (3)

As you can hopefully see here, I really only have to accomplish the 5 hours of solo cross-country time before I'm able to be signed off for my practical test. I tried to get those hours out of the way during winter break before coming back to school, but unfortunately lost about two weeks worth of time due to some awful Chicago weather and scheduling issues. 

--Do you take a parachute when you go up with you?

Nope - and frankly, I don't expect to take one up with me for as long as I fly. I have faith in the planes that I fly and I know that if anything is to happen to my single engine that my plane is actually a decent glider as well. Trusting in your plane is key, because who else is a pilot supposed to trust besides himself when he's up hundreds or thousands of feet in the air?

--Do you need 20/20 vision to fly?

No you do not! FAA medical certificates only specify that your vision be 20/20 correctable for distant vision, and 20/40 or better (with or without correction) for near and intermediate vision. Color blindness is also a factor, as the FAA states that pilots must be able "to perceive those colors necessary for safe performance of airmen duties."

--What has been the hardest part of training so far?

While I haven't gotten too much into it yet, I know that the hardest part will definitely be prepping for my practical test. I need to know the electrical, fuel, engine, and avionics (instrument) systems for the C172 like the back of my hand, in addition to knowing everything else not having to do with the plane like airspace regulations, weather, minimum weather requirements, communications, etc. or else I will fail my test and have to take it again - costing some serious $$$ and putting a "black mark" of sorts on my instructor's record.

--Dream plane and place to fly in to?

My dream plane would either have to be the Cessna 206 Skywagon or the Pilatus PC-12. The Skywagon is the newer, bigger brother of the C172 - able to carry twice the amount of passengers in addition to an engine that's twice as powerful. The Pilatus is also a single-engine plane as well, with incredible performance characteristics that all pilots would surely love - incredibly reliable, powerful engine, ability to get in and out of small runways, and great payload capabilities.

Both cost a pretty penny, so I guess I should start saving now...right?

C206 Skywagon

Pilatus PC-12

As far as a dream place to fly in to, I have long dreamed of flying into Chicago Midway (MDW), which I was able to accomplish (more on that in another post). I wouldn't necessarily say that I have a dream place to fly to, but I do have dream places that I'd like to fly over/around: my house/neighborhood, along the Chicago lakefront, along the dunes in Southwest Michigan, down the Hudson river corridor to NYC, over my college campus - the list goes on.

--What have your parents thought about the process? Are they nervous?

They have been very supportive! Not financially, however - that burden falls on me. I have talked about it with my mom before and she says that she's nervous sometimes, but that the more she thinks about it the more nervous it makes her, which I totally understand. I feel like my dad has the same sort of feeling, but I just haven't gotten it out of him yet.


Hope these questions helped you understand the nature of my training and flying as a whole better than you did before! My next post will be on what it's like flying only on instruments without being able to see out the windows - better known as flying "under the hood."

The Bird

Like every driver and their affection for a first car, the same can easily be said of a pilot and their first plane. For me, the first (and only, at the moment) plane I have flown thus far has been the venerable, mass-produced Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

With over 43,000 constructed since production started in 1956, it's safe to say that the 172 is a mainstay in the general aviation (GA) world. Loved by pilots across the globe, the 172's relative simplicity, four-seat capacity, and respectable performance make it popular whether you're a student or a seasoned pilot.

With a four or six cylinder engine ranging anywhere from 145 hp to 180 hp depending on the model, it can cruise up to 140 MPH and fly approximately 700-750 miles on a single tank of gas.

Personally, my time in the 172 has been great - the high-wing design allows for unobstructed views of the ground, allowing for great photography chances but also prohibits you of viewing anything in the air above you. It's relatively low stalling speed ( ~40 knots/45 MPH) also enables it to land on some short grass or paved runways, allowing you to get in and out of some unfurnished airports with ease.

The cockpit itself is about as simple as it gets for a small single engine plane. There are your standard engine/oil gauges, the standard "six-pack" (artificial horizon, altimeter, directional gyro (compass), vertical speed indicator, turn coordinator, and airspeed indicator), radio stack with different COMM and NAV frequencies and the transponder (basically allows your plane to be seen by air traffic control), along with the non-mandatory VOR (navigation aid) receivers and a very basic GPS and autopilot.

While it may not sound that simple on the surface, it only takes a flight or two to get used to the layout of the cockpit.

The view from the left seat of a Cessna 172

Full view of the panel - large orange/black stack in the middle houses the radios

On the outer portion of each yoke (control wheel), there is a push-to-talk button that, when pressed and held down, enables you to speak to controllers without having your hand leave the controls. Thankfully, most, if not all, planes have this feature, making aviating and communicating at the same time a breeze, especially for student pilots.

I planned on having this be a short informational post, but in my next post, I'd like to answer any questions that any of you may have so far on anything having to do with flying. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments box below or shoot me an email (jkrecek3@gmail.com) and I'd love to answer them.

Flaps up!