In the couple weeks since I've been home, I've been able to fly three times - mainly due to scheduling issues related to work, but everything has worked itself out.
Since I had last flown a couple months back in March, I had to go up with an instructor again to make sure that my flying was still sound. In those couple months, the airport that I usually fly out of (Clow Int'l - 1C5) has been temporarily closed for the summer. Clow is getting a huge facelift with a brand new, wider, better-lit runway which will definitely make landing amongst houses and a shopping center a bit easier.
With the runway closed at Clow, all operations have since been moved to the Lewis Univ. Airport (KLOT) 5 miles to the south. Lewis, unlike Clow, has two crossing runways - a NNE/SSW runway and an E/W runway - which make landing in crosswinds much easier than the one N/S runway at Clow.
My first flight with the instructor was very uneventful. Frankly, I thought that the high winds (12-18 knots, or 14-21 MPH) would make things a little more turbulent than normal, but there were hardly any bumps at all. We took off from Lewis and headed towards DuPage Airport (KDPA) for a touch-and-go. DuPage had a tower, which helped me brush up on my communication skills, and it was on the way to our next destination, DeKalb Municipal Airport (KDKB). While at DeKalb, we did another touch-and-go, and headed back to Lewis.
On the way back to Lewis, my instructor had me navigate direct to the Joliet VOR (JOT) to make sure that I could still track a VOR radial (more info on that from my earlier post HERE), which went well. He also had me practice an engine failure, where he pulled back on the throttle suddenly and I had to run through my "engine out procedures," shown below:
- Pitch for best glide speed (68 knots)
- Fuel Shutoff Valve - ON (with the valve ON, fuel flows to the engine - interesting logic...)
- Fuel Tank Selector Valve - BOTH (fuel comes from both left and right tanks)
- Auxiliary Fuel Pump - ON
- Mixture - FULL RICH (makes sure that as much fuel is entering the engine as possible)
- Ignition Switch - BOTH (or START if propeller has stopped)
From there, there are different checklists based upon whether or not the engine starts back up or not, which I'll save you the reading of for now.
...In our case here, the engine obviously "restarted," since all my instructor did was cut back the power and not shut off the engine, and we carried on our way towards Lewis.
Landing at Lewis went well, like the others, and the flight as a whole was uneventful.
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| Just about level at 2,500 ft, cruising a little less than 120 knots over rural Illinois |
Once I have my license (knock on wood), I plan on taking some of my passengers in the Chicago area to see the lakefront and fly over the city. In order to know the ropes of flying the lakefront, I flew up the next day with an instructor to practice whats called a "lakefront transition."
From Lewis, we flew East-Northeast, being sure to stay south of Midway Airport and their traffic. In order to complete this transition, constant contact with Midway Tower is necessary, as you are flying through their airspace for most of the flight. Once we flew past Midway, we reached the lakefront at about 55th St, flew over the University of Chicago, and turned North along the lake. Just to give you an idea of how high up we were, we were flying at 1,700 ft above sea level, or about 1,000 ft above the ground - this meant that the Sears (Willis) Tower soared more than 700 ft above our plane.
After flying by downtown and seeing Soldier Field, Millenium Park, and Navy Pier from above, we continued North along the shore until we came to Northwestern University and the Bahai Temple in Evanston. If one was to drive from Lewis Univ. To Northwestern, it would take about an hour and a half. Flying, it took us a mere 23 minutes to travel between the two points.
After we reached Northwestern, we turned around and headed southbound along the lake back towards the city. This time, we weren't able to fly within 5 miles of the White Sox game (TFR, or temporary flight restriction) and had to head South about out a mile or two over the lake before heading West toward Midway again.
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| View through the propeller of Downtown Chicago from the North Side with Montrose Harbor to our immediate left |
On our way back West, we made a low approach over Midway (basically buzzing the field). We were about 150-200 ft above the field going 130 knots (150 MPH) with the field and the houses below us. Personally, I can't decide what was cooler though...landing at Midway at night, or buzzing the field Top Gun style (kinda).
After that, we headed back to Lewis and concluded the flight. From this experience, I definitely learned a valuable skill that will come in handy when taking passengers up in the future, and I took in beautiful views as well.
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The next flight involved getting certified by my primary instructor (who happened to be on vacation while I was flying the two previous times) for solo flight. Although I had done it before and accumulated approximately 9 hours worth of solo time, his endorsement for me to fly solo expires after 90 days, and that's just what happened to my last endorsement.
Before going up, he had me plan a cross-country flight from Lewis, which transitioned through the Chicago/Aurora (KARR) airspace, flew over DeKalb (KDKB), and into Chicago/Rockford Int'l (KRFD). Even though flights both ways were relatively smooth, we could see the forecasted puffy, white thunderclouds forming all around us. We knew that we would make it back to Lewis in time to beat out the storm, but at the same time it was spectacular to watch the storm grow around us. At the conclusion of the flight, I was finally certified to fly solo again.
As far as my training goes, I am almost at the end of the road. I hope to have my license by the end of the month, but we'll see how the weather and my work schedule hold up as the weather gets warmer and the days longer. Looking forward to when I can share more of my flying with you next time! Stay tuned...
