IFR training - getting the polish on

This weekend I flew two IFR sorties. On Friday I flew to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands, then to PAE for a unconventional circling approach and back to Renton. On Saturday I flew to Port Angeles and back. Both times I was flying the Cessna 172S's. I flew 97PD with the altitude hold 2-axis autopilot on Friday and 435SP with the 1-axis (heading hold only) autopilot on Saturday.

I have decided to use these aircraft for my instrument check ride. Even though they differ in the capabilities of their autopilots, the rest of the instrument panel and other controls are identical. Having that kind of consistency is important, so that lessons I learned one day transfer over to the next day.

We decided to go to Friday Harbor, the main airport in the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound. Friday Harbor is a popular destination for a lot of VFR flyers, being a great scenic spot within reach of the mainland. On a good VFR day the traffic congestion there has to be seen to be believed.

We did the RNAV (GPS) RWY 34 approach at Friday Harbor. I was doing ok with holding my height and track, but was missing the checks and the GPS manipulation cues. I had to be prompted by Howard to do the checks. Also I had some missteps in using the autopilot. I had to remember that it went into both roll (wings level) and vertical speed mode as soon as I put it on. So if I wanted it to hold wings level and an altitude I had to have it trimmed with zero vertical speed, or failing that immediately hit the ALT button to get it out of VS mode. Otherwise the autopilot keeps the airplane climbing/descending at whatever rate it had when the autopilot was first switched on.

Then Howard had me fly to Paine and do the VOR RWY 16R approach, with a circle to land. The circle to land is a little different because the VOR is between the two runways. At PAE there are two main runways - 16R/34L and 16L/34R. As can be seen from this airport diagram there is a significant difference between the two runways - 16R/34L is 11000 ft long and 16L/34R is 3000 ft long.

I tracked to the runway ok - and on reaching minimums (which for circling is 1100 ft) 1 mile out Howard let me go visual. The tower could give us any runway to land on at that point. The aircraft is only 500 ft above the ground at that point and one needs to be level flight. The tower gave us 34R and we had to set up really quickly and land.

In the other aircraft I have been flying (the retracts), BEFA and I have a policy of never doing touch-and-gos. I usually do "stop-and-gos" so that I have time to set the prop, flaps, cowl flaps, fuel, trim, carb heat and throttle (in a "U" flow in the 182RG) to go. With the 172S there are only the flaps and throttle to set to do a quick touch and go. I was reverting to old habits and trying to stop rather than do a touch and go. I was quickly cured of this by Howard emphasising that the runaway was short!

On Saturday I went to Port Angeles (KCLM). Before we left I had Howard walk me through the phases of an approach and what I had to get done where. The approach was broken down into the pre-initial approach fix, post-initial approach fix and then final approach fix. The pre-initial approach fix essentially got us ready for the approach with the avionics set, the comm radios set. On the post-initial approach fix the aircraft got its approach clearance and slowed down to its approach speed with the landing checklist done and on the final approach fix the emphasis was on getting the missed approach prepared for. Each segment had a descent and the height to descend needed to be accounted for.

We flew the RNAV (GPS) 8 approach into Port Angeles. The air was pretty turbulent with significant wind. I was able to maintain height and track pretty consistently. I learned the one needed to be trimmed to a certain pressure to keep the aircraft at an altitude, and in turbulence once the "center point" was found small pressures on the yoke kept the aircraft at the altitude. One could not expect to trim the aircraft at the altitude due to the updrafts and downdrafts, while at the same time the trim needed to be somewhere near what it should be so that an excessive force didn't need to be held.

Howard was happy with my performance and said that we needed to find time for my long cross country. For the first time he indicated that I might be able to take the checkride in June!

More Eagle landings

I hadn't flown the Eagle for a couple of weeks now. And the Eagle isn't the kind of aircraft you fly once in a while. Both from the fun aspect and the challenge aspect of flying it!

As I had recounted in my previous report - I had been behind the aircraft the last time. I was determined to focus on flying and relaxing this time. So I left work a little earlier than normal for the flight, so that I would arrive with a ten minutes or so to clear my mind of all the everyday detritus and to visualize how I was going to fly.

As I drove up on I-40 , I saw Rochelle flying the Eagle for an entry into the pattern for 33 landing. I could only see her for part of the downwind - but the Eagle looked great. For some reason it looked bigger than the Cessnas in the pattern. I think the paint scheme does something to make it stand out. I took this as a good omen!

Dave and Rochelle were in the hangar by the time I arrived. I told Dave I was not going to fly for 10 minutes but I would call the fuel truck. I walked down to the edge of the row of hangars and back, clearing my mind and focusing on the flight. By the time I walked back I was ready to go.

Just seeing the Eagle and its' cockpit gets me excited about flying it. I used the checklist the I had copied as a backup to my checks - making sure I didn't miss the g-meter and altimeter setting this time.

In the meantime Adam Tibbits had arrived. Adam is the newbie in the group, taking the baton from me. This fills up the last slot left in our group. Adam now works for Bombardier, but he used to be a Cirrus demo pilot and CFI before. He has way more hours than I do, including some in a Skybolt he used to be a partner in.

I managed to not miss any items in the checklist this time. I did have some trouble with the ratchet mechanism but was able to fix it without having Dave lean over or get back out of the seat. Since Rochelle had flown the aircraft right before, we used a hot start procedure. In this the mixture is left at idle cut-off, and as the engine is started, the throttle is pumped. As soon as it catches, the mixture is pushed in to full rich. I managed to do this ok.

We had a long taxi to runaway 33 at Renton, this gave me a chance to get the feel of the aircraft again. On takeoff I was able to keep it heading in the correct direction without the swing and was able to liftoff nicely. We took it out of the pattern to do some manuevers.

Dave showed me a real neat way of moving the Eagles nose in an continuous S-turn while flying, which gave us greater visibility and ability to see other aircraft around us. This turn is a slow sweeping of the nose from straight ahead to 30-40 degrees either side. This allowed one to move to an area that had been already cleared and clear an area to the other side to where the nose is moving.

We came back into the pattern pretty quickly and I handled the radios this time. I was flying much more positively and this showed in my flying. I entered the 45 for 33 at the white water tower at the correct height, and flew the pattern at a consistent speed. The landing was pretty good. I am also now in the habit of pulling the stick all the way back to keep the Eagle firmly planted. My rudder inputs are getting much finer than before and I was able to keep the Eagle pretty much on the centerline.

We did 4 more landings - and they were all decent except for one which I'll talk about below. I was aggressively keeping height but having some difficulty find the right amount of throttle and attitude to fly the downwind in. This effected the speed flown and the altitude a little bit.

On the second to last landing I landed a little fast and pulled back on the stick too rapidly. The aircraft went in a very nose high attitude and gained air beneath its wings. Dave was suprised by my action and took some time to react. But I had done the right thing by then, I gave it full throttle and took off again. Adam, who was watching, later said that it was beautiful to watch - it seemed to him the aircraft just briefly touched the ground lightly, rebounded and took off again.

I was able to overtake a Cessna that was out in front because of this go-around. There were a lot of spam cans around, and I had to slow down and weave to keep them in sight.

On the next and last landing I promised Dave I would do a good one. This one was good, I landed nicely had the stick back and slowed down to a full stop without Dave having to get on the controls at all.

Its always a blast flying the Eagle.

Flying the Beechcraft Bonanza

This weekend I flew in the Beechcraft Bonanza twice. On Friday I did a local area familiarization flight from Renton and on Saturday we went to the Tri-Cities area in Eastern Washington (to Pasco airport). It was Mother's Day weekend, and Amy's mother lives in Kennewick which is one of the Tri-Cities. Pasco airport is the largest airport near where she lives. There is an airport that is closer to her home but it was shorter, and for my first flights in a Bonanza I wanted a long runaway.

I had been preparing to fly the Bo by reading John Eckalbar's book "Flying the Beech Bonanza". I had also been given a manual for the V-35, V-35A and V-35B versions of the Bonanza and a checklist that Kent had prepared.

My first flight (as PIC, I have flown in the right seat of Bonanzas twice before - once about 3 years ago and then when I was considering the partnership) involved the usual pre-flight things. There isn't that much unusual about the pre-flight -except that the cowlings completely open using a screwdriver to turn the quarter turn locking screws. There is a lot more visible this way than in the Cessna's and Pipers I am used to. Another useful thing that Kent advised me of to lower the flaps after switching the battery master on. The Bonanza has two different switches, one is the battery master and the other is the alternator master. They are proper flip switches and not piano keys like in the Cessnas (some Cessnas have split piano keys that serve the same function as the two different switches in the Bonanza).

The start process was the same as most fuel injected engine. The throttle is fully open, mixture is rich and the auxiliary fuel pump switch is flipped on till fuel pressure peaks. Then its master and mags on and the engine is started.

This is when I encountered the vernier throttles. The Bonanzas power controls (throttle, prop & mixture) are operated by rotating them in a vernier action. There is a button on each control that can be depressed for quick action in the conventional way but that is used only a few times in a typical sortie. I used this button when I first started the engine and over-revved the engine. I had to hurriedly pull back on it to make sure we didn't head for the hangars!

The impression from the pilot's seat is one of solidness. The seating position felt very comfortable, and I didn't have to fidget with up/down rotating handles or seatback rotating handles like I have to in the Cessnas. The seat slides back and forth but otherwise the default position fit me like a glove. The rudder pedals feel solid and comfortable as well.

Taxiing was easy and the visibility on the ground was much better than I am used to than even the low wing Piper Arrow. There is lots of window area and the visibility is great. There is nosewheel steering available much like the Cessnas. This was missing in the T-34B that I flew in the Navy Flying Club in Atlanta and taxiing using differential braking was required for the T-34B. The T-34 is based on the Bonanza wing and gear but the lack of nosewheel steering is an interesting difference between the T-34B and the Bonanza.

The runup has all the usual items and I just had to get used to using the vernier on the throttle and mixture. The instrument panel is laid out more logically than the Cessnas in my opinion. One issue is that the circuit breakers and light switches were on the bottom of the panel and the big two pilot yoke hid them. Till I get used to it and know where the switches are, I will have to duck around and look for those breakers and switches.

Takeoff was normal, acceleration pretty brisk with the 285 hp IO-520. One thing I noticed was the tendency of the right wing to lift. I am not sure whether that is a result of the rudder-aileron interconnect and my corrections on line up with the rudder or it was just a cross wind that sprang up.

The Bonanza pilot's handbook calls for liftoff at 71 kts and has a speed which I had not seen in any other handbook. It is a "speed at 50 ft" which is 77kts and is equal to the Vx (best angle of climb) speed. Vy is 96 kts and cruise climb is 107 kts. Kent tends to use mph and I prefer to use knots. The airspeed indicator indicates knots on the inside scale and mph on the outside and the handbook lists speeds in both so it works for both of us.

The climbout looked to be shallow from the cockpit, but even at cruise climb we were climbing at 700 ft/min. The climb is made at 25 in of MP and 2500 rpm. Cruise is at 23 inches and 2300 rpm. The mixture is leaned till we see 15 gph of fuel flow, which reaches the EGT figure for cruise. This is how the partnership runs it engine and since the engine is running strong way past TBO, I am not going to mess with it!

We went out the practice area close to Lake Sammamish. The view out is fantastic. Even though there is less glass area than the Eagle, there isn't the upper wing to block the view. You don't realize what you are missing in a Cessna! Even the view downwards for the pilots (sitting ahead of the wing) is fabulous.

The aircraft handling is superb with light ailerons and elevator (though trim is definitely needed). There is very little rudder pressure needed, though one needs to hold some rudder in climb. I like the ball presentation on the turn and bank indicator. Overall the instruments come nicely to hand.

We tried standard rate turns to the left and right, steep turns for 360 degrees to the left and right. These presented no problems and the lightness of the control forces and the view made them easier to do than in a Cessna in my opinion. We then transitioned to slow flight.

In slow flight the aircraft got skittish at about 65 kts without flaps. Putting any flaps down at all increased the feeling of solidity and the stall occured at about 50 kts indicated. We didn't go into the break but into the stall warning. I don't remember any buffeting or any looseness in the controls with the flaps down, but that may be just me. We did turns in slow flight and the aircraft responded solidly without any signs of sloppy handling.

Once we were done, we set course back to Renton for a few landings. I still have to get used to the speed of the Bonanza which is about 10-15 kts faster than the 182RG. It was showing a 145 kt cruise at 23 square, which with the wind was giving us a 155 kt groundspeed.

I kept my usual 2000 ft on approach, but was having a hard time slowing down. We then dropped the gear and it slowed right down! But I will have to manage the energy much further out than in the draggy Cessnas and the square winged Piper Arrow.

The landings in the Bonanza are much easier than in the Eagle! It basically flys into ground effect and cushions out any flare errors. We did a couple of more landings. I got a little slow on the second one but instead of thumping in like the 182 it landed just fine. I have to still figure out the standard speeds to fly on downwind and when to let down the gear etc, but landings didn't present any problems.

The weekend was Mother's Day weekend and in the interest of flying off my insurance hours and making Amy happy - we decided to fly on Saturday from Renton to Pasco. Amy got a large fresh bouquet of flowers from the Redmond Farmer's market. Kent very kindly consented to fly with us. Our plan was to start from Renton at 1-2pm fly to Pasco (about 150 NM) in a total time of an hour and half, have late lunch/early dinner and then fly back.

The weather was a concern initially. Kent is rated IFR but there was icing forecast and the MEA is 9500 ft to cross the Cascades. The ceilings were 4500 or so. We planned to fly VFR across the Cascades and once over there was no concern as the eastern part of the state was severe clear. We took the safe VFR route over Stampede Pass rather than follow I-90 across Snoqualmie Pass. The valley leading to Stampede Pass is wide, allowing for a quick turnaround at any point. Also there are landing options along the valley. Snoqualmie on the other hand is pretty narrow and there aren't as many landing possibilities. Stampede Pass also has an automated weather station which allows us to get weather AT the pass.

We flew through the pass fine with plenty of visibility and ceilings and turned towards Ellensburg. I had to navigate to waypoint FEBUS which is on V-187 and avoids the Yakima firing range restricted area. The range was hot on the day. Then it was a turn south direct to Pasco. I did have some turbulence and had some Bonanza waggle which was easily damped out by putting pressure on the rudder pedals.

On the approach to Pasco, which was straight in, I again had to have a giant descent rate because I didn't descend and slow down early enough. This airplane is slippery!

But the landing went really well. We went on to Bergstorm Aircraft which is the FBO and flight school at Pasco (which is officially "Tri-cities" airport). Bergstorm rents out a Bonanza S35. We didn't need any fuel since we had only flown an hour and a half.

After a nice dinner we headed back to Renton. The reports were not encouraging, though Stampede Pass was showing a 1500 ft ceiling. The takeoff from Pasco was very nice, the scenery there is very different from the Puget Sound area with a lot more open space and not that many trees.

On the way back I practised using the wing leveler. It is a handy autopilot and will be very useful for holding wings level especially when looking at charts during IFR flight. It also does turns upto standard rate and I practised flying 5931S using just the wing leveler and pressure on the yoke bar (rather than the yoke itself). This way the wing leveller does its' thing without my hands interfering while I corrected any small altitude deviations for a well trimmed aircraft. I love the fact that the aircraft has aileron trim, one of the things I found really annoying was holding the yoke turned to one side or other especially in the Cessna 182RG to hold level flight. In the Bonanza, of course, you can change tanks so that there is approximately equal fuel in each tank, which you couldn't do in the Cessna.

We learned a good lesson about not making assumptions about weather and what it can do. Kent had said that in his experience if the pass is clear then valley beyond almost always has better weather. When we tuned into the ASOS at Stampede it was indicating 7000 ft ceilings with 10 mile visibility. But as we crested the pass, an ominous wall of clouds could be seen which obviously had reduced visibility and extended all the way to the valley floor. We made the right decision to turn around and land at Ellensburg. Again I was way high and fast and had to set up a high descent rate to get into the downwind but the landing was good.

We took a rental car (which is a story in itself) and drove home. That is a first for me! But I don't think this will be the last time this happens.

Bonanza (part) Owner!

I did it. Forked over the check to become part owner of a 1966 Beechcraft Bonanza V35!

I guess the Bonanza has been the ultimate single engine private airplane in my mind for a long time. It all began in my childhood, I was all of 10 years old. My father was Flight Commander of 6 Squadron IAF in Poona (now Pune) India. 6 Squadron flew Lockheed Super Constellations modified as MR (Maritime Recon) aircraft and English Electric Canberra bombers tasked with an anti-shipping role. There a number of hangars at Pune, which were pretty large. The Super Connie's didn't fit in those hangars though the Canberras did.

In one corner of the hangar was a small dark blue single engine airplane, which my father told me was a "Beechcraft Bonanza". One Dr Bhave (pronounce "Bhaa-way") owned the aircraft and the IAF allowed him to store it in their hangars. Dr Bhave was a famous surgeon and used to fly the aircraft between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Poona. That journey would take 5 hours through the Western Ghats (a mountain chain) by road but was only an hour by the Bonanza. I heard from my father and his colleagues that Dr Bhave was an accomplished pilot and flew the Bonanza far and wide in all kinds of weather. I checked up on the Internet and found that it was an A-35 Bonanza. (For an explanation of the Bonanza models check out this Wikipedia article). It was registered "VT-CZE" in 1971. Dr Bhave had a number of Bonanzas, all of them A models. Private flying in India was very rare, and the handful of private citizens who flew their own aircraft were looked upon with awe. I remember my father telling me that I could own my own aircraft if I wanted. That seemed like a distant dream at the time!

The Bonanza I am a partner in is based in Renton. There are a total of six members - all of them long time part owners. Their partnership has had a number of airplanes. Most of the members have been associated with Boeing. In fact the member who was retiring was a well known aerodynamicist who had worked on the YC-14 (and even co-written a book on it). It has been hangared since it was bought - and this shows part of the gang in the hangar for the new member induction ceremony. Jay was fashionably late!

The members are all aviation enthusiasts, which is very important to me. They haven't been flying the aircraft as much as they would like but keep it in very good shape.

I saw the ad for the open membership at this years North West Aviation Conference and Trade Show. I wasn't going to pay it much attention but Amy pointed it out to me and I pocketed the number.

I am glad I called. I did my due diligence - joined the American Bonanza Society(ABS) and posted questions on the Beech Owners e-mail list. They gave me very sound advice. Avstar, a very well known Beech Bonanza specialist in the Puget Sound area, gave the aircraft a thumbs up. I also had the privilege of talking to Phyllis Baer, who used to be their CFI. Phyllis is a grand dame of aviation, still has her medical and flight instructors license at 83! I think I will fly with her as a thank you for her advice.

One of the selling points of the partnership was that Kent Curtis, the president, didn't try to sell the aircraft to me. In fact he was pointing out all the minor flaws rather than the more obvious assets of the Bonanza!

I met the entire partnership (except for Jerry who I met later) and they charmed both Amy and me. (Jay, the Mariners tickets helped but the humor did more!). They are obviously careful flyers and have a genuine affection for the airplane.

I am going to have to do an insurance checkout and I am looking forward to it. Heres to hours and hours of happy flying!

I hope to use the Bonanza to get more proficient in my flying. I will fly more (due to availability), fly it further (taking trips much further afield than I have) and use it for maintaining and enhancing my IFR skills. I will use the ABS's resources to get Bonanza specific in depth training including the highly regarded Bonanza Pilot Proficiency Program (BPPP).

>Thanks Dr Bhave and dad, for letting me dream. Living the dream is a great thing!

Flying on autopilot ain't automatic!

Today I flew N97PD, a Cessna 172SP in BEFA's fleet, for the first time. I had originally started my IFR rating on N435SP, 97PD's sister ship in 2004. This time around I have flown most of my IFR sorties on the Cessna 182RG - but decided to go back to using the 172 SPs. This was mostly because of scheduling reasons - the 182RG is going to get a new set of avionics including a Garmin 480, which is significantly different from the KLN 94 I had been flying it with. I would have used the Cessna 182 straight leg for the rest of my training, but there is only one of those in the club. I needed something that had the proper avionics and of which there were at least two in the club - and that narrowed the choices down to the Cessna 172SP or the Piper Warriors. The 172SPs have a 180 hp engine and have better climb performance compared to the Warriors. Besides I was already checked out on the 172SPs. I had flown and checked out on the Piper Arrow, but not the Piper Warriors.

However 97PD has the King KAP 140 autopilot with heading and altitude hold. So, I needed to get familiar with it in IFR conditions. 435 SP has the same autopilot but without altitude hold. The KAP 140 is a very capable autopilot but has its' idiosyncracies. In an IFR environment an autopilot can reduce workload significantly, but if the pilot doesn't know how exactly the autopilot works it can increase workload at critical junctures.

I have used the KAP 140 before, in the Garmin 1000 suite equipped Cessna 182T for the Civil Air Patrol. However I haven't flown the 182T for a while and it was good to get a refresher. Howard has a presentation that he had prepared for the KAP 140 when 97PD was first acquired. It was also a refresher for the heading only autopilot in 435SP. I won't go into too much detail about the autopilot operation, but I will point you to a very nice succint description of it. This description is from the Flightgear wiki. Flightgear is an excellent open source flight simulator.

This is what I gathered from the briefing

1. The trim and autopilot need to be tested thoroughly - this is part of the procedure whether or not one intends to use the autopilot. There is a special trim switch and disconnect button. The trim switch is split and for the trim to move both switches have to moved. This is so that a short in one switch will not cause trim runaway.

2. There were a number of audio alerts for the autopilot. These included the following

1. TRIM IN MOTION, TRIM IN MOTION… (pitch trim running for more than 5 sec)


2. CHECK PITCH TRIM (out of trim condition for more than 15 seconds)


3. ALTITUDE (1,000’ before)


4. LEAVING ALTITUDE (200’ away)


5. AUTOPILOT (AP has disengaged)

3. Both the HDG (heading) and the ALT (altitude) buttons are toggles. The HDG buttons toggles between ROLL (maintain zero rate of turn) and HDG (maintain the heading dialed on DG with the heading bug). The ALT button toggles between Altitude Hold (ALT) and Vertical Speed (VS) mode.

4. The ALT mode is confusing. Even if the altitude is armed (shown by an ARM indication) if there is no vertical speed up or down towards the altitude the autopilot will not hold that altitude. Once it reaches the altitude (after going up or down towards it) it will hold that altitude but the initial VS component has to be present.

5. The APR mode has a "standard entry" mode, which is a 45 degree intercept of any published leg that is dialed in on the DG and the CDI for NAV1. In order to do a standard entry one has to go from HDG mode to APR mode. An "all aspect entry" goes from your current position to intercepting any published leg that is dialed in on the DG and the CDI for NAV1 (at any angle). In order to do this kind of entry one has to go from ROL mode to APR mode. The procedure to do any kind of approach is to dial in the heading on the DG and then dial in the course on the CDI for NAV1. Then go from HDG to APR mode (if standard 45 intercept) or go to ROL mode then to APR mode (for any other type of intercept). The autopilot will not follow a procedure (as there is no GPSS steering) but will wait for you to dial in the heading and course in the DG and the CDI respectively for the next leg.

6. For any barometric pressure change the process is to change the pressure in 3 different places - altimeter, GPS and autopilot. The BARO key allows one to input the current altimeter setting into the autopilot

7. The autopilot holds altitude by using elevator and elevator trim. The power and yaw of the airplane need to be managed by the pilot. So if you are at idle power and have armed an altitude hold at an altitude, the autopilot will hold it for you - into the stall!

8. VS is the same way, power and yaw have to be managed by the pilot. When the autopilot is first put on, typically in the climb on takeoff, the default mode for it is ROL and VS. The VS is to whatever rate the aircraft is climbing when the autopilot is put on. So if you have a 1000 ft / min rate of climb, that rate will try to be held to whatever holding altitude you set on the ground. I don't know about you but my Cessna 172 doesn't hold that kind of rate of climb for very long - and it is possible that the autopilot will take it into the stall, unless rate of climb is adjusted using the up or down keys.

9. The big knob on the autopilot changes altitudes by a 1000 ft up or down and the small knob by a 100 ft increment. Just changing that value has no effect as explained in 4 above. The UP and DOWN buttons when in ALT hold will increase/decrease the altitude held by 20 ft increments and is useful when temporary pressure altitude changes need to be fixed.

10. On the ILS, once in APR mode, on capturing the glideslope a GS indication will come on and the autopilot will track the GS down to whatever altitude. The approach speed has to be maintained using power by the human pilot!

We carried out the entire flight from Renton to Paine Field and back on the autopilot. It certainly flys the airplane a lot better than me! We did the VOR/DME 16R into KPAE, a missed approach and then the ILS 16R into KPAE another missed and onto KRNT for the RNAV/GPS 15 for a circle to land 33.

One thing I learned is that the pilot has to be scanning continuosly and maintaining situtational awareness. The autopilot has so many modes and transitions that it is easy to get confused. One has to be able to take over control at any time and fly safely and correctly immediately. Fixation on the autopilot can be dangerous.

Flying the Eagle again

I had planned to fly the Eagle this past Tuesday but the weather forecast was not conducive to me learning much. The winds at Renton are usually mild and one has to fly wide and far to find significant crosswinds sometimes. But not on Tuesday - clouds and ceilings were OK, but the winds were not. Renton is aligned pretty much North-South and the runs are 15-33 (variation is about 20 degrees in Pacific Northwest so 16-34 magnetic is the true north-south line). The winds were 070 at 11 kts, gusting to 16 kts! Pretty much a direct crosswind. Of course we called the flight off. Dave said with his characteristic understatement," You won't learn much (in these conditions)!"

So we rescheduled for Sunday. Both Rochelle and John were flying 16EE that day, because they are preparing to take the aircraft for aerobatic training camp to Ephrata. Another reason to squeeze a flight in, because if I didn't do it today I wouldn't be able to fly till May 5th.

I arrived to see Dave and John already there. I took a photograph with my phone camera. No, I didn't forget my Canon SureShot this time but Amy had the memory card out to transfer pictures!

That shows Dave and John making sure the Eagle is in fine fettle!

I was "behind the aircraft" this time. I made small mistakes like not taking the key before buckling in, and before that in the pre-flight I missed the altimeter and the g-meter. I also didn't check the fuel first, instead doing it just during the pre-flight. We already had fuel so there wasn't much of delay, but if we didn't we could have stood around waiting for the fuel truck to arrive.

I had some difficulty starting too, having to do two tries. Dave was letting me make mistakes and was not prompting me very much.

Taxiing wasn't bad - I was getting the feel for the "flat spot" at around 1000-1100 rpm that all IO-360s have due to a throttle linkage issue (according to Dave). If you blip the throttle too fast it will sputter at that RPM. It so happens that to get around turns or move from a stationary position you need exactly that RPM. Slow throttle movement around that point cures it but it takes some getting used to.

The first takeoff wasn't bad directionally, but I must have misread the speed because I thumped the tailwheel on the rotate. I also didn't keep situational awareness and turned towards the preceding traffic without sighting it. Dave wasn't too happy about that. We went towards Lake Sammamish, and I was asking Dave how high I should go. His reply was," How high do you think you should go?". We went to 3000 ft and were soon heading to the traffic pattern. The first landing was a straight in - and I didn't slow the aircraft down enough. I was behind the airplane again, and landed "hot". I usually know I did that because the mains touch down before I have had the stick fully back. We did a couple of bounces but I was able to pull the stick back fully and smooth them out. Directional control wasn't too bad though I could feel Dave's input through the rudder pedals. We taxiied back to the runaway and went again.

At takeoff this time I got caught by the crosswind and the airplane veered to the left just as we rotated, but I was able to bring it back and then bank to keep runway direction. Dave commented - "Looks like the crosswind got you, but you corrected it". Of course as soon as he said that I shot through the traffic pattern altitude. Dave, being from the old Air Force school of thought, is very strict about sticking altitudes. I had to guesstimate the attitude to fly, because the aircraft doesn't have a rate of climb indicator to show when it wasn't climbing or descending. I was also guessing at the power setting. This time we had to follow a Bonanza on a long final. I turned in behind the Bonanza and made a straight in approach. My speed control was not the greatest but I made it over the fence at the right speed - this landing was also with some bounce but not as bad as before.

I decided to ask Dave to do the entire next traffic pattern to see how he handled the aircraft. I kept an eye on the speeds and the power settings he used. He was much more close in and used steeper banks around the pattern. He bounced the next landing too! The thing one I saw him do was not put the stick back fully immediately but wait for the aircraft to slow before he brought it back. He mentioned that he had landed hot and waited to bring the stick back so that it didn't balloon the aircraft. More about this later!

The next pattern was undisturbed, and I kept it close in. I was more a less on speed and this was the best landing I did so far. I did bounce a little, but put the stick right back at the right rate. I managed to avoid the swerves. Dave later told me I had done the landing all by myself without any help from him!

We decided to do one more. This time we were told to do a short approach by the tower. Dave said he could feel me get stiff on the rudder, because I was concerned about the other aircraft on final. The speed control was awry, I flared a little too fast and ballooned. I did the correct action for the balloon and let it settle again. When it did, we bounced and we were still fast. I pulled back on the stick bringing it to the back stop but did it too fast. Because of the excess energy, the aircraft got airborne again. After a couple of bounces it settled down. There was also some swerving involved.

We decided to call it quits after that landing!

The lessons I learned from this session were

1. Get your head in the game, this aircraft requires one's full attention since the workload goes sky high immediately. I now intend to arrive 10-15 minutes early, and just think about the flight. I will also be better prepared with speeds, power settings and check lists. I got 16EE's check list to copy and study today.

2. The aircraft is a pretty forgiving aircraft, it isn't the squirrelly beast of legend. I did some basic mistakes while landing and the aircraft didn't turn around and bite.

3. Basic airmanship wins. Keep your speeds and heights, don't get sloppy and the results are very good. I need to keep my focus on doing that.

4. I was getting better at the pressures required on the rudder. Practice does help.

5. Relax and have fun - when I get stiff on the controls, it doesn't turn out well!

IFR flying on 25th April and 26th April

On Friday I had the Cessna 182 straight leg. I had flown my first IFR cross country almost two weeks before. Weather and aircraft/instructor scheduling had conspired to keep me from training anytime before that. On Fridays I fly before work that is 8 am - 11 am. To top it off I had come back the previous night from the Bay Area after a trip.

Howard wants to keep me planning and doing IFR X-countries but decided I needed to brush up on my skills after the two week hiatus. We decided to do some NDB practice, since we hadn't done that for a while. Howard filed us to Shelton, WA (which is Sanderson field KSHN). He wanted me to do the NDB / GPS -A approach in to SHN from CARRO, with a hold, missed approach and then a full procedure NDB approach. Then we would come back into Renton using the NDB approach to 15 instead of the GPS approach that we usually fly back into Renton.

It was a nice warm day, with lots of puffy cumulus clouds at about 3000 - 4000 ft. That meant I was going to get actual time because the MEAs were in that region. It also meant lots of turbulence with the updrafts and downdrafts around the cumulus clouds.

I find using the ADF quite intuitive, more so than the VOR. The needle just points to the beacon and you have to turn to where the needle points! No TOs or FROMs there!

The procedure at SHN is an NDB-A approach, which means that it has a pretty steep descent profile. Howard warned me about this. The approach path is 4.62 degrees, and one has to descend from 2300 ft at CARRO to 1400 ft on the beacon which is the Final Approach Fix (FAF). Then the MDA is 900 ft for the Cessna 182. From the FAF to the airport is 2.2 nm which at the 100 kt approach speed means that to land one has lose 800 ft in a minute and 15 seconds.

I was not doing very well holding altitude in the turbulence. I was not looking at the attitude indicator enough, so that I couldn't fix the little diversions immediately. When I concentrated on altitude I lost direction and when I concentrated on direction I lost altitude. The corrections were coming in fast. I hadn't flown in turbulence for a while and 735LH trims right out in stable air. I was getting lazy!

I was able to land nicely from minimums tracking the NDB all the way in. Using the GPS to see the ground track is very helpful too. I was rusty on making corrections, and was focusing on just using the NDB. Howard pointed out that I should use ALL the help available to me, and advised me to use the GPS ground track all the time. Of course I forgot to start my timer, so if I hadn't landed I wouldn't have known when I hit the missed approach point, which was the airport threshold in this case.

This picture was taken by Howard on the landing from the approach.

I was good with the hold too - and didn't have too much trouble doing the hold. Howard pointed out how to use the 45 degree marks on the DG to visualize intercept angles - and this time I think it stuck. Those marks make it easy to see where I have to head for the outbound turn on the procedure turn based on the final course and also the inbound turn so that the final course intercept angle was correct.

I went missed on this approach. I was late in remembering to start the timer, but I subtracted the estimated 10 seconds that I was late from the 1:15 approach time for my ground speed and went missed at the right point. We then went to Renton for the NDB approach into 15.

Renton has an interesting NDB approach. The initial approach fix is NUGUE and it is a radar based waypoint. The waypoint does appear in the GPS, but only radar can legally fix your position on NUGUE. This meant that you essentially have to be vectored on to the course. HAKIM intersection is also radar fixed.

I was concentrating harder on my attitude keeping, starting to use the AI more. So my flight was more a less on course and altitude. Fighting turbulence for so long is fatiguing, and I think an autopilot is de riguer for flying any distance in weather. We tried the heading mode on 735 LHs autopilot. However the updrafts and downdrafts were frequent enough to not make it much use to follow a heading. Looking at the AI and flying it carefully was the best way to fly the correct heading and altitude.

This shows the cumulus I was going through - I got some actual instrument time.

I monitored the GPS and the needle and it all seemed to come together. The compass was off on 735 LH, however I was using the needles for navigation and adjusting the headings on the DG to whatever made sense. This seemed to work well.

Coming down to a landing, I got a little slow and did the famous 182 hop - need to keep sharp for the landing, the flight isn't done till the aircraft is tied down!

On Saturday afternoon, Howard decided that I should do a quick cross country to Hoquiam. Hoquiam (KHQM) is on the coast about 80 nm from Renton. I had the 182 RG this time, since someone had taken the straight leg 182 (735 LH) for an extended cross country. It is getting increasingly difficult to schedule airplanes at the time I want, since the weather is getting better and the fair weather flyers are coming out in droves. We had to make sure we got back in time since there was another person who had the airplane after us.

Howard wanted me to do the ILS or LOC/DME RWY 24 at HQM. This is kind of weird approach - the LOC minimums are lower than the ILS minimums. This is because the LOC keeps the airplane above an obstruction that protudes into the protected airspace for the ILS glideslope and the can subsequently keep the aircraft safely above terrain to a lower height. The ILS approach has to keep you above the obstacle to be safe and is hence higher.

I was flying a lot better but still not looking at the AI enough. I flew the ILS perfectly though, since the decision height was 750 ft and my ILS goes to hell in a handbasket only close to the ground! We did a circle to land and did a good landing at HQM to a stop and go. Climbing out of HQM we opened our flight plan back to Renton. We asked for the visual approach and I hand flew the aircraft to get some practice flying the right headings and courses.

I found that the 182RG burns fuel from the left tank first and gets progressively right wing heavy as the flight goes on. This requires a constant left pressure on the yoke that messes up precise flying - I cheated a bit by holding a little left rudder (which Howard said was OK to do).

I did well on the way back and had a good long landing at Renton.

Circuits and Bumps in the Eagle

Yesterday (Wednesday 16th April), I drove to Renton airport after work. Dave was already at the aircraft hangar. He had replaced the fuel drains and done some other work with the airplane. I am reading Alan Cassidy's book "Better Aerobatics" which is supposed to be THE seminal book on flying aerobatics. He stated that one should be grateful to find small snags because this is a chance to fix them before they become big ones! Dave certainly follows that philosophy. That means the Eagle will always be in top shape.

This time I did the pre-flight unaided. It is simple really. We do have a checklist, but I think I was encouraged to memorize the checks and use the checklist as a guide for study and for backup.

One thing I messed up was on the ratchet belt. I didn't do the "two handed spring loaded catch hold" to lengthen the belt. The consequence was that I had to strap in, then get back out and do it under Dave's supervision. Here is a picture of the mechanism taken with my cellphone camera.

This time the start was easy - we had forgotten to have the mixture full in when operating the wobble pump to get a fuel flow indication last time. Another thing I learned was that when the engine is cold, the mixture can be full rich for the start. This is different from every other fuel injected engine I've started (including other IO-360s such as on the Cessna 172 SP and the IO-320 on the Citabria 7KCAB). There the standard procedure was to keep the mixture at idle cut-off and push it in quickly when the engine catches.

Dave said that we would go out to the practice area, do some turns to get the feel again the aircraft and then would head back to Renton for some landings. This seemed like a fine plan for me.

Taxiing was the usual S-turns. I was doing too much of the "S-ing" and Dave told me to "lazy out" the S-turns. More about this later.

The first takeoff wasn't too bad. I realized I could lift off at a much lower speed than I am used to in other aircraft. Rotate speed for a Cessna 182 is around 55 kts, whereas stall speed is 44 kts. The stall speed for the Eagle is 60 kts and one can start the rotate at that speed. With its' light weight and lots of power it is accelerating and gets to climb speed even when rotated at around its stall speed.

I was a little stiff on the controls and wasn't letting the aircraft fly itself. On Dave's prompting I released my death grip on the controls and started flying with a light touch. My turns and coordination became so much better! One reason for the grip on the controls was that I had climbed so quickly I almost busted into class B on the extended upwind (its at 3000 ft).

After steep turns, slow flight and a stall we headed back to Renton. This thing can book. At 24 square it was doing 165 kts easily.

The story on the landings was quite consistent. Doing the downwind at 120 kts, base at 100 and final at 90 kts (slowing to 85 kts over the threshold) mades my approaches look good to Dave. The round out and flare were at the right height. Somehow I had good height judgement without the forward view I am used to. I wasn't turning my head like Dave but I was looking from side to side to do that.

What I was also consistently doing was overcontrolling on the rudder. I needed to just think about the rudder. So even after a nice landing I was swerving all over the place. Dave asked me to slow down on my S-turns on taxiing so that I used the kinds of pressures I would use on the rollout. This would fix the forces in my mind and I wouldn't have the tendency to overcontrol. I need to develop some fast twitch muscles on my legs so that I can have fine motor control to the level desired!

Another thing I needed to correct was to get the stick back all the way. I was hitting the buckle of my seat belt with my wrist due to the way I was holding the stick, I had to do a "grip change" and have my wrist rotated to get the stick the last 2-3 inches back.

On takeoffs I was not putting the "stick all the way forward against the tach" like Dave wanted. I need to get a feel for the tail lifting and how to balance the rearward movement of the stick till the liftoff can begin.

On the last landing the sink rate was high and I didn't have the stick all the way back, so instead of landing slightly tail low as before I landed on the mains. I compounded the error by not having the stick fully back after touchdown. We did a nice couple of porpoises! Stick fully back cured it.

All in all a pretty exhilarating ride. I felt for the first time that in a pinch I could land the aircraft without major damage to it if I needed. Of course I need a lot more refinement before I am able to handle the landings with even normal finesse!

This week's IFR training (11 and 12 April 2008)

I hadn't flown an IFR training sortie for close to a month (as stated in my previous blog) and was due for my first IFR X-country. I didn't want to do the planned cross country to Ellensburg (KELN) right off the bat without some practice on scanning and navigation under the hood first.

So on Friday, 11th April Howard suggested that we fly to Bellingham (KBLI) which is up near the Canadian border. He wanted me to do the ILS 16 approach there. He had already filed us to fly direct to the Paine VOR (PAE). I had done a lot of my training at KPAE where PAE is located, so it would be a gentle re-entry into under the hood single pilot IFR. He then had me flying ZAGIC-BEZOV-EGRET-ACORD-HUH (which is V-23) to BLI.

The first thing I learned was that the KLN-94 GPS does not have an airways routing option, you have to individually enter the waypoints. That took me a while! We launched off RWY 33, and since it took me so long to set up the GPS (and because we had to hold for the first flight of a Shanghai Airlines Boeing 737-800), the DG had precessed. I didn't check the DG as the last check before takeoff so the usual "turn right 350, climb to 3000 ft" departure procedure became a guessing game. Howard suggested I use the track on the GPS as a guide since the wind was calm and Seattle Approach would give me the right heading to follow (which I could estimate what heading I needed to show on the DG). This bothered my scan a little, but I managed to get the climb right. We had to climb to 6000 ft. MEAs around the Puget Sound are pretty high, this one was probably so that we could avoid the mountains south and east of KBLI.

The tracking on the airway wasn't bad though I didn't go exactly over PAE as Howard would have liked. I started preparing for the approach way ahead of time and was able to go over the checklist properly. This has usually been a problem - I really need to memorize what is required when and use the written checklist only as a backup. Not having all the checks done usually has me scrambling to set up things up while on the ILS or before intercepting the course inbound.

The ILS itself was easy - we were handed off to Victoria Terminal in Canada. The Canadian controllers sound pretty much the same as the US ones. No "ehs" and "aboots" here!

They do use different (more ICAO-ish?) terminology - "132 decimal 7" instead of "132 point 7" and "do not descend below 3000 ft" instead of "at or above 3000 ft".

My ILS approach was fine, I had to go to lower power than I am used to do 100 kts and 600 ft/min of descent to stay on the glideslope. This was because we had a slight tailwind. However close to the ground my direction control was wanting and I started making some big turns to stay on course. MUST REMEMBER TO DO SMALL CORRECTIONS. Minimums were 363 ft and Howard allowed me to take of my hood and land. We had to go to idle and full flaps to make the landing but we did make it!

I am sure a lot of people are aware of "Flightaware" which is a site that tracks airplanes on IFR flight plans and displays where they are live. It even stores the information and you can track your history by airplane tail number. My flight to KBLI was tracked and here is a graphic of it. Nice turn and intercept on to the ILS , if I say so myself!

We then did the KIENO TWO DEPARTURE PENN COVE TRANSITION from RWY 16 at KBLI. This involved climbing to 600 ft straight ahead and intercepting the 160 radial on the WHATCOM VOR (HUH) then from the KIENO intersection and on to CVV (Penn Cove VOR). This was my first DP (Departure Procedure) and the lesson I learned was to make sure all the avionics were set up and I had visualized what had to be done before even thinking about taking off. I had to monitor two VORs (for HUH and CVV) and the intersection on the GPS. How did people do this with just one VOR and an ADF in the old days?

To cut a long story short we did the RNAV GPS 16R approach into KPAE (Paine Field or Everett/Snonomish County airfield) and then did the RNAV (GPS) 15 approach back to Renton. (Everett is where the Boeing 747s and 777s are made) I did the checks and all right but again started making big corrections directionally. I went missed and on to Renton. This time I was anticipating the turns coming up on the GPS course and was able to do them a lot better than before, though I did not start down as early as I should have. We did a circle to land from 900 ft on Renton.

Howard said that I had an "encouraging" flight and what I needed to concentrate on was being disciplined in completing the check lists and being prepared at the right time on the approach. This would prevent distractions and would lessen the multi-tasking overload at critical moments.

I resolved to do just that for the X-country the next day. I had to go look at a Bonanza that I am planning to get a share in, so I did the planning early in the morning. The MEA going to KELN is 9000 ft! I hadn't been up to that height in a while. The course is pretty direct V2-298. Since the weather was CAVU, I didn't have to plan an alternate but I planned one anyway to KMWH.

The most interesting thing about KELN is that it is in a bowl in the mountains. The DP is critical for obstacle avoidance and is pretty interesting. DPs from airports like KELN should be read by VFR pilots as well, since they can be used to ensure good obstacle clerance in VFR conditions as well. Howard wanted to fly the VOR B approach into KELN.

Amy hadn't been on a flight with me for a while. Flying around in the soup while I had my hood on wasn't something that would be much fun! But this trip was perfect since the weather was awesome and she could get views of the mountains that are spectacular. She came along for the ride.

The things I learned this flight

1. To shortcut IFR procedures you can say that you can maintain terrain clearance on your own and not have to climb in a hold. We were supposed to be at 9000 ft before crossing but were cleared to go direct to BANDR intersection (about 35 nm from Seattle) given 4000, 5000, 7000 and then 9000. The terminology the control used was "7000 maintain 9000".


2. The aircraft power settings are very different at 9000 ft, even in a 230 hp Cessna 182, than they are at 3000 ft. I had reached "full throttle height" by 9000 and wasn't able to maintain top of the green on the manifold pressure above 8000. So we ran the prop at the top of the green to get some speed. Of course this causes the fuel consumption to go up, but we had plenty of fuel.


3. You have to pay attention to beginning your descents and keeping within the confines of the approach. For the VOR B approach we had to complete the procedure turn within 7 nm of the VOR and had to descend from 9000 ft to 5700 ft in that time and then descend to 4300 ft before the Final Approach Fix for a minimums of 3260 ft.


4. Circling in a hold after takeoff to an 8000 ft MEA (from a 1763 runway height) cannot be fun in a Cessna 172, we had to do 3 turns even in the 182.

This time my checklist discipline was better but I need to really go do stuff faster. I was also waiting for coaching from Howard - and he said that he is now going to stop talking to me (I hope he meant in the air!).

Amy took a picture of us "working". Howard is probably prompting me to set up the avionics right!

I did not see anything but the instruments and a glimpse of the runway on the VOR approach. The runway was off to the left and I did a circle to land. However here are the specatular views that Amy and Howard saw. Thats Mt Rainier off to my right. IFR flying is all well and good but missing these kinds of sights is not on!

Flying IFR after a month

Today I flew my first IFR sorties since March 15th. Thats almost a month after I had flown my last one.

It wasn't for lack of trying - I had tried on at least 3 different occasions to get in a flight. But cold days with ceilings at 2000-3000 ft had put paid to my flight ambitions.

Why couldn't you fly in the clouds you ask? What do you need for icing I reply!

Visible moisture and temperatures below freezing. Clouds fit the bill for visible moisture. And as for the temperature - it was 4 degrees Centigrade at the surface which is about 40F. But the temperature drops 2 degrees C for every 1000 ft. Do the math and at 2000 ft you'd hit the freezing level.

Why not below the clouds? After all 2000 ft is a decently high ceiling. Well the MEAs around this area are 4000 ft - which means the IFR system will put you at or above 4000 ft in the Puget Sound area. Some areas like Olympia and Tacoma Narrows may have lower IFR routes but the weather usually comes in from the South, and the ceilings there were around 1500 ft.

So I had to wait it out.

But today was a great day - clear no fog skies, only scattered patches of clouds and 60 F temperatures.

I was flying a Cessna 182Q Skylane N735LH from BEFA. I didn't have my camera with me so I took a photo of the airplane with my phone. My instructor is Howard Wolvington, one of the senior instructors (and a retired Boeing employee) who also owns a Comanche 250. A year or two back he got the award for making the furthest flight to the AOPA convention down somewhere in Florida and was featured in AOPA magazine. I really do need the best instructors I can get!

735 Lima Hotel is pretty well equipped. It has two NAV/COMs both with glideslope. It has a KLN94 approach certified GPS and a MFD that gives ground proximity alerts and is also a TIS (Traffic Information System). The autopilot is old and only the heading hold is working.

My usual airplane is N7568T - a Cessna 182RG. I did a lot of my IFR training on it with some notion of doing it in a more complex airplane. I have since decided that I want to have a simpler time on my checkride! It is amazing how much complexity just that one gear knob can add to your flight - otherwise the RG and Q are remarkably similar.

There's two of everything to remember - gear down climb speed, gear up climb speed, gear up approach configuration, gear down approach configuration. Having just one approach speed to worry about (we don't use flaps in the Cessna 182s in the approach configuration) is so much simpler! Not having to cope with trim changes when the gear is down versus when it is up simplifies life a little.

In my next blog, I'll write about the trip itself.

First "PIC" flight in the Christen Eagle N16EE

Today was my first flight from the back seat of a Christen Eagle. This Christen Eagle (N16EE) was built by a bunch of Boeing engineers in 1981 (in about 18 months time). It has always been a group owned aircraft and I was lucky enough to get a share in the group.

The aircraft is hangared in Renton and is in pristine shape. The wings were recovered last year and in general the aircraft is looked after rather well. The group consists of about 10 people of which only 4-5 are active. One of the more active members is Rochelle Oslick, who is an instructor at BEFA (Boeing Employee Flying Association). BEFA is my club as well - and it was nice to have Rochelle guide me through the process of looking at the aircraft and introducing me to the group. Rochelle and John Smutny compete in aerobatic competition in the aircraft. John is the racketball partner of my BEFA Citabria instructor, Will Allen. Will must have said something good about me - because my acceptance in the group was relatively easy, even though I didn't have the requisite 500 hrs for insurance. (The insurance company just required me to do 10 hours of instruction in the airplane, which I would need anyway!).

I first flew the Eagle (from the front seat) with Dave Womeldorff who is the check pilot for the group. This was a familiarization flight to see if I had the "right stuff" to be a member of the group. Dave is one of the original builders of the Eagle and wasn't going to allow just anyone to fly his baby!

I guess I was having too much fun to feel nervous, because Dave seemed to think I was alright as a pilot. That flight was a blast - Dave did two 4 G loops, a roll and a half cuban eight. He allowed me to do some steep turns, a loop, slow flight and stalls. Wow! This airplane was way easier to do aerobatics in than a Citabria. No need to dive to get speed, coordinate stick and rudder to make sure rolls don't dish out. Everything happens so slowly in a Citabria - you have to know what you're doing to do good aerobatics!

We flew in the evening at about 5 pm. Today was one of those rare spring days in the Seattle/Puget Sound area. High cumulus clouds (over 5000 ft) scattered all over the place and we caught some actual sun.

Dave explained the pre-flight as I followed him around. The pre-flight started in the cockpit, looking to make sure the belts were not fouling the controls. Then we turned the master switch on to see if the battery worked. The second step was to make sure the fuel selector was "ON". We looked at the fuel under the panel, where there is a clear fuel line which is calibrated. You can read off the gallons and subract 3 from the total (since the airplane is tilted from the horizontal on its' tailwheel). We looked at the general condition of the wings, looked at the aileron interconnects (the Eagle has 4 ailerons - 2 on each wing). The metal interconnects have a string attached lengthwise so that the airflow cannot cause a resonant vibration and cause flutter.

Then we got out the "calibrated fuel quantity measurement device" which is wooden stick with markings on it. It was put into the fuel tank just behind the engine. The tank holds 16 gallons and we had about 14 gallons. The aircrafts 200 hp IO-360 takes " a gallon every 6 minutes" which is 10 gallons per hour. I found that the aircraft is operated at full power most of the time especially with two up. An hour's flight is all she writes - especially as some of the fuel is unusable.

We looked at the "javelins" which are the posts midway between the flying wires which connect the top and bottom wing. Dave said that the original metal ones were replaced with wood, since the metal would fatigue due to the vibrations. If the javelins fall off the flying wires vibrate crazily and scare the living daylights out of the pilot.

We looked at the usual stuff like the props, fairings, struts and the tail. One thing that you do with the Eagle is twang the flying and landing wires to make sure they make a "thunk" sound. And of course the trim tabs and the tailwheel need to be looked at.

Now I had to make sure that I had the belts laid out in the proper formation so that I would be able to put them on comfortably once I was ensconced in the cockpit with a parachute. This is a five point harness with a ratchet for tightening and a lap belt. The idea is to get your butt in tight in the seat, so that the shoulder belts are relatively loose and don't hurt your back when you are inverted.

Getting into the cockpit is a procedure! One needs to hold on to the purpose built hand hold on the top wing, put your foot on the walk strip on the wing and swing your leg over to stand on the seat. I have size twelve shoes and I had to get special auto racing shoes that are narrow to make sure my feet fit on top of the rudder without fouling cables. Otherwise the cockpit is very roomy, I had a cushion to sit on - and even so my "top knot" cleared the canopy. With it I am about 6 ft 3 inches.

Starting is interesting - the sequence for a normal start is
1. Crack the throttle wide open, mixture at idle cut-off, prop full forward
2. Operate the manual wobble pump till a fuel flow is seen.
3. Close the throttle and open it a squoosh (a "squoosh" is a precise aviation metric).
4. Start the engine using the key - which you shouldn't have forgotten to bring. Otherwise you unhook and do it all over again!
5. Push in the mixture as soon as the engine catches

It took me two tries to start - which isn't bad!

Canopy latching is important, one needs to be careful not hold the canopy from the strut but there is a strong cross member on which to hang on.

Taxiing is a hoot! You can't see much, the aircraft is really low to ground and you feel the wing will touch the tarmac with every dip. Dave's advice is good - keep moving only towards the area you have cleared. A Zenith 701 came by while we were waiting for clearance to cross - I couldn't see him where I was stationary, and had to turn the aircraft to see him. It could hurt you if you didn't clear the path actively. I couldn't find the taxiway on the other side of the runway because I couldn't see it! I had to be prompted by Dave.

Run-up is pretty standard. The best part is that check list in on the back of the cockpit divider. 1700 rpm, mags and prop and we were ready for take off.

Takeoff was in control for me till I raised the tail. I over-controlled on the rudder - it is very sensitive and Dave had to "help" to get us straight. Takeoff distance was short and the climbout at about 100 kt is steep. The noise is quite loud - I had difficulty hearing tower and Dave. The other thing is that the intercom button is below the sill and I had to take my hand of the throttle to talk to Dave and he had to do the same in the front cockpit.

I was at 2000 ft before I knew it and we headed to the Lake Sammamish area. Dave introduced me to the power setting procedure. He asked me to use the mixture control to set a fuel flow which was eventually 10 gph and then go to 24" on the manifold pressure and 2400 rpm on the prop (24 square). The prop control is low near the left hand cockput floor but it is a big knob and I soon got comfortable using it. We were doing about a 160 kts at that setting.

I got to get the picture from the back seat which has much better than from the front. I did some turns include steep 360s to each side. This airplane made it look too easy - it was all I could do not to scare Dave by screaming "yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" throughout the flight!

I next tried some power off stalls and then Dave selected a road on the ground to act as a simulated runaway. 100 on downwind, 90 on base and 85 (knots) on final were the speeds with a 1000 ft floor. He demonstrated one, then I did one that was too tightly in. I loved the go around, the feeling of power and control is so much more than any of the other aircraft I have been flying. The next one was much better so we went back into the pattern at Renton. We came in straight in and I thought I had it all under control. But I flared a little high, touched down with the tailwheel first (which isn't too bad) and was ok with the rollout. Towards the end I overcontrolled and Dave had to step in.

We taxied back and did the takeoff again. Same result, swerved because I was putting in Citabria like inputs on the rudder. Ironically BEFA's Citabria was in front of us and we had to do a non-standard pattern to follow it and a Cessna 172 doing a 747 circuit. This time I flared too high, knew it - but ran out of ideas on what to do with it. We landed with a bump and Dave took over from there.

We taxied back. I think I was satisfied with the first day flying it and feel confident I can handle it with some more practice. I had the same notion as Dave about what I had to change - and he was very encouraging. Of course he encouraged me to relax too!

Folks - it was B-L-A-S-T!