167 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
167 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
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---
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layout: post
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title: "12 months of burning avgas"
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tags:
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- aviation
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- flying
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- vfrstudentpilot
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---
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One year ago today, my wife and I made the drive down to Hayward for the first
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time to take an introductory flight/bay tour with California Airways. My
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scheduled instructor for the flight was busy, and so another instructor picked
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up the flight.
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In the past twelve months, I've received 50 flight hours of instruction from
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him, and racked up nearly 15 hours of solo time myself, all in the pursuit of
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a private pilot's license.
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[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/agentdero/8083598598/)
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**Before our first flight**
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* * *
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Running late this morning, I pushed my right foot, and my luck as I sped
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towards Hayward. The weather wasn't flyable when I woke up, but it was
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clearing up fast, and I wanted to get as much work in as possible.
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The plane, 733PV, that I had intended to take out went "off-roading" the day
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prior and was off the flight line until it could be inspected for non-obvious
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damage. This put me in 172CA for my morning work, and likely for my checkride.
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A year to the day, I would be taking the same plane into the air. Unlike last
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October 13th, this time I would be pre-flighting, taxiing, taking-off and
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landing, all by myself.
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* * *
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Pre-flight complete, I wiggle into the cockpit and start to adjust the seat.
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There's a pit in my stomach, but not one of anxiety that has typically marked
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my solo flights, it is a pit of agitation. With only a few hours before my
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checkride, I was switching planes _again_, and thanks to the weather, I
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wouldn't have enough time to head out to
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[Livermore](http://airnav.com/airport/klvk) to practice.
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With the engine cautiously coming to life, I'm almost immediately in better
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spirits. I've noticed that external stresses tend to melt away once I'm
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sitting behind the yoke. The engine running means it's time to fly, and until
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I shutdown and tie-down the plane, none of the other bullshit matters.
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"Hayward Tower, Skyhawk One-seven-two Charlie-alpha at the green ramp with
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November, request taxi to Two-eight rig..uh, two-eight left."
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* * *
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Completing my run-up, I mosey towards the hold-short line for 28L, going over
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my departure review for my invisible instructor in the right seat.
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"All right, we'll be staying in the pattern today so any engine failure on the
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runway before rotation and we'll go power to idle, maintain centerline, brake
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straight ahead and exit the runway once we've reached taxiing speed.
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Any failure after rotation in the upwind or cross-wind legs and we'll be
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landing within 30 degrees of the nose.
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Any failure in downwind, base or final, and we're landing back at the
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airport."
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I laugh at myself and the fake-airline-captain voice I found myself using for
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the departure review, and call up Tower.
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Take-off clearance received, I push the flaps to 10, yank the yoke back and
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slowly roll onto the runway: soft-field take-off to start us out.
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* * *
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Once airborn, Tower informs me that until 10am touch-and-go's are prohibited
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for noise abatement so I'll need to perform full-stop landings. Fine by me! I
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need to practice short-field landings anyways.
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Coping with the fast and low pattern at Hayward usually leads me to make
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circuits that look more like elongated ovals with straight sides as opposed to
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rectangles. By the time I've finished turning base, it's already time to turn
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final! In order to stay ahead of the airplane, I find myself performing my
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CGUMPS checklist half at the very end of downwind, and half after completing
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the turn to base.
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My headset has been very quiet for this first circuit as I turn final I click
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the radio
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"Hayward Tower, 172CA, am I cleared for 28L?"
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"172CA, Hayward Tower, 28L cleared to land."
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I must have caught somebody dozing off at the scope. I neglected to descend
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much, and less than a mile from the threshold I decide I'll overfly the runway
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and just go around.
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Next circuit, my headset is being quiet again, so I decide to politely nudge
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the Tower.
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"One-seven-two Charlie-alpha, turning base"
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"172CA, Hayward Tower, 28L cleared to land."
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On final I get my airspeed down, and continue my descent. Runway widens, the
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sound of air rushes past the windscreen, the stall warning horn starts crying
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and the mains gently touch down. Once the nose touches the pavement, my feet
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slide up to the brakes at the top of the pedals. If I'm going to have to make
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full-stop landings, I'm going to make sure I get the first taxiway every time
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around.
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Taxiing back to the start of 28L, I look at my watch, 9:00am. I've got another
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50 minutes before I'm done.
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* * *
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I alternate between short-field take-offs and landings, and soft-field take-
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offs and landings. I'm not sure if everything is up to my instructor's
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requirements, but I'm quite pleased with my consistency and improvements in
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speed management.
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On circuit five or six, a new controller's voice comes on the radio while I'm
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in my downwind leg.
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"[17]2CA, 28L cleared for the options"
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Being cleared for the options means you can perform full-stop landings or
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touch-and-go's, I know it's not 10am yet, so I ask "Hayward Tower, 172CA, just
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checking, you're clearing me for the options?" "Affirmative."
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I debated whether or not I should ask about the noise abatement, but figured
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he must have cleared me for some _reason_, and besides, avgas is expensive and
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I've only got this bird for another 30 minutes.
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Touch-and-go it is!
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A soft-field landing later, I'm back in the air. In my downwind leg, the
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controller jumps back on the radio
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"Two-charlie-alpha, 28L, cleared to _land_"
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After the readback he explains "Sorry, I forgot about the noise-abatement,
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full-stop until 10am" "Roger" is the only reply I can let off before I start
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laughing in the cockpit.
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Perhaps I should feel bad for those spoil-sports whose mornings I interrupted
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at the end of the runway, but the airport has been there over 60 years, so I
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think they knew what they were getting into.
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* * *
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Running out of time, I terminate and return to the green ramp to shutdown and
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secure the aircraft. My instructor's words "be quick, but don't rush" go
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through my head as I jog around the plane tying it down, only a couple minutes
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before the next scheduled flight in 172CA, and I still need to run the binder
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down to the office!
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Despite my haste, I still stop to take a photo of the plane that started it
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all one year ago.
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<center><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/agentdero/10257275714/"
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title="172CA after pattern work by agentdero, on Flickr"><img
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src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8139/10257275714_2b44a2fede.jpg" width="500"
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height="375" alt="172CA after pattern work"></a><br/><b>Charlie-Alpha after our
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morning exercises</b></center>
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