Jimisola.com - keepin’ on

Today was a major milestone for me on my road to becoming a pilot. I flew solo, i.e. as pilot-in-command (PIC), and it was great in every aspect! The flying went well and the conditions were superb - sunny and quite warm. Thinking of it I never had any expectations really - perhaps I haven’t had time to really think about it. I was quite surprised that I was not nervous. I’d thought that I would be at least a little nervous - not like before a 400m race - but just little enough to feel that something special was going on. I assume that my teacher have done a great job since I was not.

The first solo flight (or enkel kommando [EK] as we say in Sweden) is special since from now on I’ll have exercises where I’ll fly alone (PIC). My next three exercises are in fact flown solo.

My school, Lund University School of Aviation, has a long history and strong traditions. One of the traditions is that after the first solo the flight instructor pours a bucket of cold (very cold) water of his/her student. My chosen one was Maria Linder (my flight instructor). She told me early this semester that she’ll be the one to pour water on me, so I knew then that she was one of those slow pouring instructors…

Some pictures from the event are shown be below (and the rest can be found here):

(note: if you click on the thumbnail sized pictures then you get a larger version of the picture)

Heading for the right seat

Taxiing out…

Flying solo and just about to touch-n-go on 29R

Climbing after solo touch-n-go on 29R

First solo flight completed.

First solo flight logged and over with. Enjoying the moment.

Most of my class, 07:1. 9 of us flew solo today.

Lined up for the shower with Maria preparing…

and waiting…

and waiting…

One word: cold!

Give me a hug!

Making sure the water is spread evenly…

Last evening my flight instructor was kind enough to let me do some extra TGLs - even though I have theory week - to prepare for a possible first solo flight today (Tuesday). I did five really good TGLs and one full-stop landing. It was such a relief to finally figure it out! Some minor adjustments and, perhaps, a different mindset was all it took.

Priceless? Priceless is to see your flight instructor’s smile after your first landing. A smile says more than a thousand words.

I was not given the opportunity to do my first solo flight yesterday. Don’t know when the next opportunity will be, but have no doubt that I’ll blog about it…

Today I did a simple navigation (simple since I didn’t have to take the wind into consideration when calculating time etc) over the southern part of Sweden (i.e. Scania or Skåne as we say here). It was a fun exercise for many reasons. First of all, it feel like the real deal; take off and landing, cross country navigation, radio communication etc - it basically had it all! In addition to that I feel really privileged to fly over this part of Sweden. I’m really looking forward to when I get plan my own cross-country. I have some child places and some favorite spots that I would like to see from above.

I had some problems keeping the height on one of today’s five legs. The plane was trimmed correctly but I managed to “over-fly” it and sadly I made it worse since I was looking at the map as well. Well, lesson learned - don’t over fly and keep a closer eye on the altimeter when working with map!

All in all, I’m pretty pleased. I never lost track of where I was and the busy period directly after take off went well.

Tomorrow I’ll have TGL (touch-n-go landings) and if I do well and weather permits I should fly solo on Friday

I’m finally flying again after three and  a half (3½) long weeks. I was suppose to have flown yesterday, but I had a sore throat, pressure problems with my ears et. So, I decided to skip yesterday’s exercise and rest instead which was a good, very good, decision considering the fact that I slept to 16:00.

Today’s weather was not good and most of our group got cancelled, but luckily I did yesterday’s “Emergency during takeoff and landing” exercise to catch up with the rest. The exercise consisted of

1. Engine failure during takeoff /Aborted take off: an engine failure is simulated by setting the power lever to idle after take off at ~200 ft and ~500ft. Established best glide speed asap and then aim for place, such as an open field, to land.
2. Rejected take off: during power-up it is decided to stop asap on the runway (this can be due to engine abnormalities / failure). Set power lever to idle and brake as effective as possible while staying centered on the runway.
3. Balked landing aka go-around: for some reason just prior to landing we decide that we cannot land (this can be due to animals or other aircraft on the runway) and instead have to do a go-around.
4. Flapless landing: The flaps does not work and a flapless landing has to be performed instead. One has to come in with a slightly higher speed (85 kt) at a lower angle with a higher attitude.
5. PFD failure: Use standby instruments (speed, altimeter and horizontal gyro).

No big errors so I’m quite pleased with today’s exercise and flying in general. I felt a bit rusty, but as I said initially I haven’t flown for 3½ weeks (April 27th).  If weather permits then tomorrow I’ll to a simple navigation.

Tuesday I wrote the Technical and Operational Procedures test for our school. Today I found out that  I passed it! Had to pass this test to fly solo. My first solo flight will  therefore be - if weather permits - Thursday or Friday next week.

Ljungbyhed’s Aeronautical Society (sv: Ljungbyheds Aeronautiska Sällskap) had their annual gathering for their members yesterday. You can bet that we went down to have a look yesterday, especially since they’re housed only a couple of hundreds meters from our dorm rooms here on F5 Ljungbyhed .

The weather was perfect and we got to see some fun airplanes - SK28 Vampire, SK50 SAAB Safir and Pits S2 among others. We got to see the Saab Safir, the Pits, the Vampire and the SK11 Vampire Myth in the air. The Pits performed a very fun-to-watch aerobatics show. It looks like a lot of fun  - I have to get a aerobatics license! Another fun thing to do would be to get ride along with the Vampire. It has been passing by my window quite a lot lately when it does touch-n-goes on 29L.

Some pictures from yesterday below (the rest can be found in this album).

SK28 Vampire in the front with a Pits S2 initiating a loop above.

Pits S2 (side) on the ground after its fun aerobatic performce

SK50 SAAB Safir (SE-LAS)

Wow! I passed all eight (yes, 8!) PPL tests today which means that I took a giant leap towards my first pilot license today (a private pilot license that is).

I am extremly happy that I passed as the tests for Swedish Civil Aviation Authority (sv: Luftfartsstyrelsen, LFS) were much harder than last week’s school tests. I almost had problems understanding some of question. But hey, never mind - I passed!

Better yet, it means that I have a day off tomorrow since I don’t have to use the additional tomorrow time that was allocated for the tests.

But the joy won’t last for (too) long. We have technical test on the SR20 airplane as well as solo flight test next Wednesday. The solo flight test will make sure that we have the necessary information for our first solo flight. It covers Operational Procedures etc for our school (how do we depart and arrive at the airport etc etc).

The PPL stage has mainly been in Swedish, but from next week on - when we start on the ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot License) theory - it will all be in English. Then I’ll be able to explain the terms etc in more detail. The translation of area specific terminology from English to Swedish is always difficult. Aviation is no different from Computer Science / Software Development in that sense.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to actually take off with the ATPL. PPL has been like a loooong engine run-up - to use aviation terminology

Yepp, yepp… Passed all eight (8!) PPL tests yesterday (Thursday) - such a relief! Next week we have the same tests - more or less - but for the Swedish Civil Aviation Authority. If that goes well then it’s “only” 40 or so flight hours before I’ll have my private pilot license (PPL) Sadly, there won’t be any time to relax since we start with the next theory period immediately after next week’s test. I envy class of 06 (06:1) that have all PPL and ATPL tests out of the way. Another year and I’ll be in the same position…

Friday’s TGLs (touch-and-go landings) went pretty ok. The downwards spiral didn’t continue at least. After a couple of landings I definitely had the hang of the the approach (speed and aim-point). But, why is the flare out so tricky. I imagine that the flare is something you always have to “work with”. Anyway, I’m glad that the week of flying ended with a somewhat better flight pass so that I didn’t have to think about that for two weeks and, especially, not over our PPL (Private Pilot License) tests this and next week.

Talking about the tests, I’ve been sitting in my room studying non-stop - more or less - for 1½ week and I’m really tired of it (even if I have a pretty nice view - if it’d only been an oceanview..).

The view from my room (overlooking the football/soccer field)

Can’t wait to write the PPL tests, hopefully get it out of the wayand then start with the ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot License) theory. However, it would not surprise me if I miss in one or two of the eight (8) subjects. Meteorology is really tricky with it’s different fogs, air masses and clouds etc. Human Performance and Limitations (HPL is about the human physiology and psychology from a aeronautical perspective) is said to be one of those subject that students might have a problem. I personally think that Aircraft General Knowledge (AGK: “What does an airplane consist of?) or Principles of Flight (POF: “What makes an airplane fly?”) allows for trickier questions.

Anyway, tomorrow I start with the first test at 8:00 and finish with the last and eight test around 15:30.

Almost forgot! I know have 14 flight hours spread over 15 flight exercises. It’s expected that we’ll do our first solo flight during exercises 19th. To due the PPL tests we expect that this will be during week 21. Stay tuned…