I'm back

Well, it has certainly been a long time. Based on the date of my last post, the last time I accessed this blog was in January. I can only attribute my sudden absence to the higher workload I faced in the second half of my Senior year in High School with getting ready to graduate and move onto the next phase of my life, college. It is somewhat ironic that I decided to return to this blog now, just at the end of my first semester at the University of Michigan, when I've seen the most work ever. However, I received an email inquiry from a reader, asking me how my road to becoming a pilot has progressed. Obviously, a lot has happened since January, so I'll start with that.

In January, I already had my Private Pilot's License along with an Instrument Rating. At that time, I was conducting many cross-country flights to build flight time toward my Commercial License. In order to obtain my Commercial License, I had to obtain at least 250 hours total time, in addition to a bit of instructing time to learn new maneuvers and become familiar with new regulations. As I got closer to obtaining my Commercial License, I learned what it was really about.

First of all, the Commercial License allows a pilot to 'fly for hire'. Yes, up until a pilot receives his Commercial License, it is illegal to the pilot to receive any compensation. 'Compensation' is also a term broadly defined by the FAA or whoever writes the Federal Aviation Regulations. It can be defined as monetary compensation a pilot may receive in exchange for his services, or it can even mean the flight hours the pilots gain. In general, if the pilot benefits in any way, any way that can be defined as 'compensation,' that pilot is treading on thin ice. Many people tend to confuse the Commercial License with flying big airliners, but that is far from actuality. When a pilot obtains his Commercial License, he often trains to become a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) but may also fly tow-banners, fly crop dusters, conduct photo flights, traffic reports, etc. Personally, I want to become an instructor.

Second of all, the Commercial License exam tests your knowledge of applicable regulations. The coverage of the new regulations associated with a Commercial License is vast. One must be able to differentiate between the rules that cover a flight under hire and a flight not under hire. For example, if a pilot is carrying a group of people for hire and the route of flight involves flying over water out of gliding range, are lift jackets required? The answer is obvious, and it is yes. But what if the flight is still overwater but is not for hire? For example, if I were just flying a group of friends somewhere and we were all splitting the costs? The answer is no, life jackets are not required. That doesn't mean, however, that they aren't recommended. Does having a Commercial License mean that I can charge anyone I want to fly somewhere? No. I must be working for a commercial operator such as a flight school. Those are a few examples of the regulations that I must be familiar with.

The Commercial License also tests a pilot's ability to control an aircraft under advanced maneuvers. A few of these new maneuvers were called: lazy eights, eights on pylons, chandelles, slow flight, steep turns, power-on and power-off stalls, power off accuracy landings, soft field and short field takeoffs, and more. The majority of these maneuvers are tested during the checkride with an FAA examiner, and the pilot taking the checkride only gets one chance to get them right. Therefore, it takes a lot of preparation and practice to get them right. Furthermore, the pilot is held to higher expectations and official standards during these maneuevers. For example, when I complete the lazy eight maneuever, my altitude and airspeed is only allowed to vary so much (about 100ft and 10kts, respectively). If those limits are broken, the examiner can fail me. To get an idea of what these maneuvers look like and what they involve, look here: http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/maneuver.html. That website is dense, so keep scrolling down until you see the names for the maneuevrs I listed if you don't want to read everything else.

Lastly, by the time a pilot takes his Commercial License exam, he is expected to have a better ability to make smart decisions. This decision making capability should have developed significantly during the period that the pilot was building time, hence the reason why the FAA demands at least 250 hours total time. Everyone makes mistakes, and pilots are expected to learn from their mistakes, determine what they could have done differently, and then never make the same mistake again. As a pilot builds more time, the more experience he gains and thus the better decision he makes, which is why the guys in the front seats of an airliner are paid the big bucks. To put the decision-making process into perspective, one of my instructors told me that, "A good pilot is a pilot who makes decisions to avoid situations that require superior decision making."

So, I spent months building flight time, learning the applicable regulations, and preparing myself for the exam and checkride. I passed my written and oral exam and I took my checkride in November in Ann Arbor. Like I mentioned above, the checkride involved various maneuvers that I had to ace the first time, and I passed! My next step is to begin training to obtain my Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) certificate sometime in the next few months. Then I'll be able to teach, fly, and get paid at the same time and I'll have another good summer job and a part-time job during college.

I'll do my best to post again soon. I have a few ideas about what I'll write about; maybe fear of flying or the airline industry. If you have an idea for a topic that you think I should cover or if you have any questions/comments, send me an email at mike_stangy@msn.com. Lastly, don't forget to check out my youtube and flickr pages (links on the right side of this page). Thanks for reading!

More news from a mile high

I was hoping to get another update written before the end of this month, and it looks like I just made it! The last month has been an interesting one with respect to aviation, with a miraculous emergency landing into the Hudson River and a new plane for me to get my hands on. The rest is comprised of my normal cross-countries, which are always eventful in some way or another.

So, I'll begin with my cross country flight from Allentown to Georgetown/Sussex County, Delaware. I completed this flight utilizing a Cessna 172RG. The "RG", as you may know from my earlier posts, stands for retractable gear, a feature no longer available on the model 172s. Despite its age (manufactured in 1980), the aircraft, N5176V, is still reliable and it gives me the ability to gain time in a "complex" aircraft, that is, an aircraft with a constant speed propeller which allows for a faster cruise speed.


Anyway, the route of flight was essentially directly south, taking me over Pottstown, then to the west of Philadelphia over Wilmington where I crossed the Delaware River to the Delaware side. Afterwards, I overflew Dover Air Force Base and began my descent into my destination. The air traffic at this small, uncontrolled airport was surprisingly dense that day. This type of situation is one which calls for traffic spotting and separation skills, which are obviously VERY important. Some believe that it is better to learn in a controlled environment, but I hold strong to the necessity to learn basic and necessary skills like this. In the long run, it really pays off. I ended up making a safe landing, although not my smoothest, possibly due to the strong crosswind.


I've actually wanted to explain crosswind landings for a while, and so I'll take the opportunity to do so now. In an ideal situation, a takeoffs and landings are made into the wind. Why? A headwind shortens the takeoff and landing rolls which has many advantages. For example, in the event of a rejected takeoff, you would want to have as much runway remaining as possible in order to bring the aircraft to a stop safely. Similarly, a pilot strives to use as little runway as possible during a landing, while having the rest to use in the event of an emergency or another anomaly. Anyway, in most cases, the wind doesn't point directly down the centerline of the runway. Often, it crosses the runway at an angle, which gives a crosswind. Some unique techniques must be applied to manuever correctly in a crosswind environment, which mainly consists of one of the following (see here for more):


The crab. This crosswind landing technique carries this odd name because during the final approach, there is the illusion that the aircraft is almost moving sideways, like a crab. Essentially, the pilot will adjust the direction of the nose so that it is slightly pointed into the wind. As he does this however, the aircraft will continue along it's track towards the runway (the track is the path the aircraft takes over the ground). This wind correction angle is held all the way until touchdown. One would think that the aircraft would continue to roll off of the runway, but due to laws of physics (which are far too complex to explain here), the plane actually continues the track it was taking in the air. One of the disadvantages to this technique is that, upon touchdown due to the wind correction angle, a lot of lateral force is placed upon the tires. Due to enhanced strength in their landing gear, larger aircraft are more capable of this strain, but smaller general aviation aircraft cannot handle it. Therefore, this technique is generally not recommended. Take a look at this video to see the technique in action. See how the aircraft corrects itself immediately after touch down? Now onto the second technique.


The de-crab/sideslip. These are actually two different, yet very similary crosswind techniques. Both involve the use of aileron (bank or roll) and rudder (yaw or horizontal movement) to correct for the wind correction angle. So, instead of landing at an angle, the pilot will apply downwind rudder and opposite aileron inputs. For example, if the wind were coming from the left, I would apply right rudder and left aileron to keep the nose aligned with the centerline of the runway. The only difference between these two techniques is when to apply these control movements. In the sideslip, the entire approach would be flown with these special control inputs. In the de-crab situation, these controls are inputed in literally the final moments of the approach, only seconds before touchdown. Here's a video of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 landing at Zurich, Switzlerland, using the de-crab technique.


So, I took off from Georgetown only a few minutes after landing, and I was on my way home once again. Just like the flight to Sussex County, I passed Dover AFB, some ships in Delaware Bay, and west of Philly once again before descending into Allentown. Unfortunately, I made another rough landing at Queen City Airport. I hope I don't keep this up!


On my next flight, I was off to Danbury, Connecticut with my mother. I hadn't been to Danbury for a while, but I sure did remember the interesting terrain surrounding the airport. The first time I flew into the airport, I was surprised by the high hills which essentially surround the entire field. This made for an interesting arrival, especially since it was at night. As a result, the approach was a bit higher and longer. As a precaution, there are several lighted towers along the top of the hills to warn pilots of the high terrain. You can get an idea of what I am explaining in this photo.


I conducted this flight only two days after the famed landing of U.S. Airways flight 1549 into the Hudson River, in which all passengers and crew miraculously survived. To and from Danbury, I got a view of what the passengers and crew might have felt when I observed the ice-covered waters. I am still amazed by the fact that only a few passengers were treated for hypothermia and not more.

As I flew over eastern Pennsylvania on the way home, I also admired the snowy landscape of the region where I live.

I saved the best news for last, and that is that the flight school I attend finally attained a new airplane! Not only is it a new airplane, but it also has the very advanced Garmin G1000 avionics! In addition, it has been outfitted with leather seats for even greater comfort. Needless to say, I think this is going to be my new favorite plane :-) Just look how it shines! However, in order to fly the aircraft on my own, I need to complete a checkout with an instructor which simply consists of three hours of flying time with the CFI. The aircraft is the same, but the systems are very different and advanced, so I must take some time to familiarize myself. I was able to fly it for roughly an hour and a half one weekend, and as my instructor put it, the machine flies like a cadillac.

Although it's a 2005 model, the plane still flies like it were brand new and the features included in the avionics give a plethora of information that previously was not available to me. For example, I can now receive XM weather (with about a 20 minute delay) and traffic information. However, these features aren't top of the line. For instance, since a 20 minute update delay exists for the weather information, it should be used for general awareness of any weather phenomena, not last minute deviation. The same goes for the TIS, or Traffic Information Service. This feature is a few steps below Traffic Collision and Avoidance System (TCAS) which is a more advanced system common on most airliners. It will display aircraft in the nearby vicinity, but it is still up to the pilot to spot the traffic and avoid it visually, not depend on the computer. Nevertheless, despite the limitations, this additional information and capabilities make flying all the more safer.

Tomorrow, February 1, I will be going flying in the new plane again to finish my checkout, and hopefully I will be able to capture some photos in-flight to give a more in-depth look at the systems.

Make sure to check my flickr site often, as I will often upload new photos long before I make a new post on this blog. Also, I am always looking for new readers, so if you know someone that may be interested in my sites, make sure to refer the links to them! Furthermore, if you'd like a more detailed explanation of a concept that I have discussed in one of my posts, feel free to send me an e-mail at mike_stangy@msn.com. In addition, I've added a few new links on the right side of this page, so also feel free to check them out! Lastly, I would really appreciate any comments on any of my sites (here, flickr, youtube) so I can be a better writer for you and/or receive some feedback. Thanks for reading!