Learning to Fly

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Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Feb 27, 2017 - 08:26am PT

What's not to like?

Don't let 'em con you into jumping out with them!

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber

Douglas, WY

Feb 27, 2017 - 05:10pm PT

HP doesn't take that much time; usually 4-6 hours with an instructor. I flew my Dakota back to Casper from Murrieta with an ATP in the right seat, logging 5.3 hours of HP time. Departed in very foggy weather, so also logged 0.2 hours of real IFR since I did the instrument takeoff. My first landing was at Bryce Canyon Utah for a fuel stop. Second TO was a breeze 'cause I could see the runway in the distance. After that I needed 3 hours with an instructor, but with the admonition to get some extra solo time before flying with passengers.

nature

climber

Boulder, CO

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 1, 2017 - 05:30pm PT

All signed up to start next week. They figure 3 lessons and I'll be checked out.

nature

climber

Boulder, CO

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 4, 2017 - 09:21am PT

3/3/2017
Well that was exciting. After a smooth takeoff from KBDU with Jethro Grant we headed south along the Flatirons. It was a little bumpy but nothing of concern. After about 40 minutes the range front started pushing us close to KDEN Bravo and wanting to avoid that I pulled a 180 and headed back north. Winds continued to pick up and at one point a gust blew the plane into a 30 degree bank. Curious, I thought.

With the increasing winds I decided it was time to get the wheels on the ground. Setting up to land two-six was challenging and once over the tarmac things got really exciting - we got blown up and down and left and right. I rejected the landing for another try. Second time wasn't even close. Unicom came on and suggested we find another airport with less winds. I grabbed AWOS from Longmont and Erie only to find it was WORSE.

Jethro grabbed weather from Greeley - it was light winds or calm. So we followed the smell to Greeley and were greeted by a smooth as butter landing. We hung out there for about two hours watching the winds go from bad, to worse, to slightly better. Around 4PM we fueled up and headed to Boulder. Winds at Metro were mellow so we figured worse case is we'd land there and get someone to pick us up and then get the plane home in the morning.

As we approached Boulder the winds died down to 6KN at 230. So I set up for two-six and had an uneventful landing. Parked the plane and headed straight for BEERS!

Thanks for the day, Jethro. You can be my wingman ANY time.

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber

Douglas, WY

Mar 5, 2017 - 08:44am PT

Something your instructors should be discussing with you: Personal Limits. Just how much wind are you willing/able to still fly safely? In Casper, we usually consider anything above 36 knots as stay on the ground and do some hangar flying. That's the limit set by the local flight school for flying with an instructor. My personal limit is 30 kts. down the runway; no more than a 6-7 kt. crosswind component. Yeah, I've landed mine in ~ 40 kt headwind straight down the runway, but the flying isn't as hazardous as taxiing with swirling crosswinds.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Mar 5, 2017 - 09:17am PT

Find somebody with an Extra 300 and get yer HP, taildragger, and aerobatics in one package!

nature

climber

Boulder, CO

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 5, 2017 - 11:48am PT

That Extra 300 looks fun. Guessing the 300 is for HP?

Roger, this isn't about personal limits. All indictions from all weather sources for that day indicated it would be a calm day. Metro TAF was showing a very calm forecast (especially for Metro). We were an hour into the flight before the winds picked up.

nature

climber

Boulder, CO

Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2019 - 08:44am PT

I started this journey for my PPL simply so I could fly drones commercially under an FAA 333 Exemption. 14 CFR Part 107 (commercial drone regulations) ended the need Part 61 Airman Certification - now you just need to take a test.

I've kept current and now this whole experience has paid off to some extent.

I had a job interview with the CEO of DARTdrones ( dartdrones.com) yesterday for a sUAS Flight Instructor position. That went well and I'll now be the DARTdrones sUAS Flight Instructor for the Denver region. They use to fly someone in from San Diego to teach the Denver courses.

Woot!