Tag Archives: KLVK

Close call and then a Solo

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Today wind was 240@9kts at Livermore.We departed right downwind towards Byron where the wind was 210@6kts and clear skies.Apparently I was still on Livermore tower frequency (00:21:12 in the video) when I announced on the radio that we were inbound for Rwy 23. We did a short field landing (02:09:00) at Byron followed by a maximum performance takeoff (02:35:00). Next we proceeded to Tracy (winds 260@10) and did a soft field landing on Rwy 26 (05:32:22) followed by a regular takeoff.

We next headed to New Jerusalem which is only 7 miles away and aimed for Rwy 30. Winds were from 260 (no ATIS or AWOS in New J so we go by the Tracy weather) so it was a crosswind (06:39:00) for Rwy 30. We only employed 20 degrees of flaps and that caused us not to sufficiently slow down and remain low for landing. As we approached the runway, the airspeed got very low to 50kts and Steve pushed the throttle for a go-around at the last minute (07:32:19) as the stall horn started going off. I was apparently not watching the airspeed at all, being more intent on getting the plane low enough (through a slip) for the landing (10:02:04). That was a close call. On reflection, the thought did cross my mind that perhaps I should go around given I was so high. I should have gone around as soon as the thought crossed my mind. We did two more successful attempts before heading back to Livermore.

Over the Altamont pass just before I was going to call Livermore tower, I saw an aircraft coming straight at us. I simply pointed it out to Steve (11:32:24) who immediately banked us sharply to the left and we noticed the other aircraft pass us (slightly below). It seemed like it would have been a head-on approach and that got me quite shaken up. I should have gotten us out of trouble the moment I saw the aircraft. In reviewing the radio communications just prior, there were two aircrafts that had departed Livermore. 53MM was ahead of 7E(something) and 7E(something) confirmed to the tower that the Cherokee traffic ahead of it was in sight (11:02:11). Tower then approved 7E(something) for a frequency chance and then radio’ed 53MM that traffic was behind to its left at 2500′ and had 53MM in sight. 53MM’s frequency change was next approved. So both those aircraft were heading towards us and no longer talking to Livermore Tower. We were tuned into the Livermore Tower frequency but the three of us were neither talking to each other, nor talking to the Tower. We were in a see and avoid territory and while I saw what was most likely 53MM, I was slow to avoid. Maybe I had a premonition about this event because I asked Steve a question at the start of our flight (00:02:18 in the video) about how we deal with oncoming traffic that uses the same general path.

Back at Livermore, Steve sent me off to fly my solo in a pattern around a towered airport. I did 3 touch and go’s and on all three attempts I was #2 behind another aircraft. I had to extend my downwind leg, watch for the aircraft ahead of me before turning base.

Soft field takeoffs and landings

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Ceiling at Livermore was 1500’ broken so our pattern today was lower than usual. A storm was about to roll in. When we see seagulls in the airport vicinity, Steve forecasts that a storm is impending. There were lots of birds today and once we had to bank sharply to the left on the upwind after takeoff to avoid some of them.

Today we focused on soft field takeoffs and landings. We did the landings with only 20 degrees of flaps and with a little bit of power (65kts instead of the usual 60kts) to hold the plane off the rough runway. If this was a real soft field, then the extra speed will help touch down gently and also in not letting the wheels dig into the muck.

Winds picked up after a few touch and go’s, turning into 240@10. On one of the patterns, a twin Diamond was departing ahead of us so tower asked us to extend downwind and called our base turn.

 

Air work and strong winds

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After reviewing audio from the previous flight’s recording, we determined that the intercom was not working on the rear inputs. We can only hear the radio come through so unfortunately none of the cockpit chatter was recorded. While I squawked about this issue, since the plane is owned by Five Rivers Aviation it is really up to them to fix it.

Departed Livermore in the evening into a headwind. We flew our regular course towards Byron but the ASOS reported winds were too strong from 220 at 15 gusting to 21. Steve decided we should head towards New Jerusalem instead so we banked right over Fore Bay and did two sets of steep turns to the left then to the right. Followed by slow flight with shallow turns, power-off stall, a stall on right turn and a power-on stall. Then we did an engine out simulation.

By now the Byron area winds have increased to 20kts@220. We shot a straight in landing on Rwy 23. It was really bumpy over Fore Bay and more so as we approached the runway. We ended up being too high so the first approach and a landing wasn’t salvageable. We did a go-around and gave it one more try (good landing this time) before heading back to Livermore.

N6475Q

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N25ES has now been determined by the insurance assessor as a total loss and the club is in the process of finding a replacement 172. Steve was supportive when I asked if I could fly the club’s 1981 Cessna 152 (N6475Q) in the interest of staying in touch with my flying skills. I flew the 152 for the first time on July 24 to get a feel for the plane. I had not remembered to charge the batteries on my GoPro the previous night so there is no video archive from that first-time experience.

N6475Q is different from N25ES in many ways. For starters, it is a 2-seater aircraft (vs. 4-seat) and has a significantly lighter empty weight of 1165lbs (vs. 1459lbs). The plane is very sensitive to control inputs because of its light weight and the ride is also bumpier as it is easily tossed around by wind. The seats feel like they are almost at floor level with the legs pretty much extended straight ahead to the rudder pedals. I found it harder to get in and out of the plane. Seats slide front-to-back and the backrest has a single reclining position flopping flat on the seat in order to reach the luggage compartment. Front seats on the 172 have height adjustment, seat back reclining angle adjustment and they slide front-to back. The engine is a 115hp Lycoming 0-235 (vs. 180hp Lycoming 0-320 series). The most noticeable difference was during climb outs after takeoff due to the weaker engine. I’m used to a regular climb on the 172 but the angle of attack has to be much shallower on the 152 in order to avoid a power-on stall. Roughly 67-70 kts Vy for the climb (vs. roughly 76-80 kts) and 60 kts on the landing approach (vs. 65 kts). Right after takeoff, we needed to level off to gain airspeed before climbing out.

I’m flying 75Q today again and we did a bunch of touch-and-go at Livermore. Towards the end we were switched to runway 25L and on the last approach, I was way too high and too fast so I did a go-around and requested tower to switch us to 25R for a full-stop.

More landings

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I’m finally starting to get the hang of landings.

Today the winds were from 280 @ 6kts and the controller cleared us for right closed traffic on runway 25R. We were #2 behind another inbound aircraft and I started off being too flat on the landings. On one of the early landings, I ballooned up due to too much flare too soon and Steve pushed the power in to do a go-around. We were then #2 behind a Beechcraft Baron and the tower changed us from 25R to 25L and left closed traffic. After a landing, the tower gave us the option to switch back to 25R which we gladly took.

After a few landings and one real greaser, Steve took the plane just to give me a breather. He did a short approach to hand the plane back to me quickly for more touch and go’s. I did another greaser landing and the controller switched me to 25L promising to switch me back to 25R after one pattern. But soon the controller came back on the radio and asked us to follow a LearJet to 25R. We called it quits after that final landing.

Touch-and-go at Livermore

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We started a right closed traffic pattern at Livermore around 5:45pm and there was quite a bit of air traffic in the area. The landings were all below average but it was good to get some experience dealing with the traffic. I’m still trying to figure out the flare just before touchdown. By the time I came around for the fifth landing, the traffic was pretty much gone. My radio work was quite shabby. In fact, I could chalk this video up as Radio Bloopers.

One time we were cleared to land but on final the tower asked us to go around – presumably the traffic behind turned out to be faster than the controller initially thought. On the next approach, I flared a little too much and I ballooned up a little too much just above the runway. So I immediately did a go-around without prompting from my instructor.

Just before we ended for the night, Steve asked the tower controller to show me light gun signals. We saw a Green flash and then a Red flash. Technically, this means “Exercise Extreme Caution“. A steady Green would have cleared us to land instead. We landed anyway because our radios were still working and we got clearance from the controller who showed us the light gun signals.

Crosswind landings, stall recovery under instruments

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We started off with Steve handing me stylish eyewear i.e. flying under the hood. After maintaining a heading and then tracking a VOR, I practiced two stalls in the clean configuration and recovery. Using only instruments under the hood. Then I practiced an approach to landing stall. First by initiating a descent, slowing down to 1500rpm and deploying flaps. The idea is to simulate a landing approach. Then pulling up the plane in this configuration and initiating a stall the plane. Recovery is similar to a stall in the call configuration with the exception that we have flaps deployed. So slowly retract flaps step by step when a climb has been achieved.

Next, I practiced slow flight with shallow turns. And then Steve pulled the power out simulating an engine out situation. We scouted a field and when we got pretty low, Steve pushed the throttle and we headed over Byron.

The winds were really strong at 20kts but fortunately it was a headwind on Rwy 23. Still the ride was really bumpy, perhaps the bumpiest of all our flights thus far. We practiced a couple of touch-and-go and then headed to Livermore for a couple more.

On the second touch and go at Livermore, we ballooned after touchdown due to the wind so Steve immediately did a go-around. I wasn’t quick enough to react and this was a good learning experience. After one more landing, we called it quits for the day.

Wings of Freedom

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The annual Wings of Freedom Tour is going on this weekend at the Livermore airport. As we pulled up beside our hangar, a B-17 Flying Fortress “Nine 0 Nine” was going through its run up check prior to takeoff. The Collings Foundation offers tours on its fleet of WWII aircraft as they tour around the country. The sound of its Wright-Cyclone engines thumped through the air and echoed off the nearby hills. Our hangar is one of the closest to the run up area and a group had gathered for best views and to photograph the spectacle.

We took off on 25R and headed right downwind. As we were climbing, Steve spotted a B-25 on our right heading towards the airport to perform an overhead break. Very soon Steve handed me stylish eyewear, his term for the instrument hood. After maintaining different headings, Steve asked me to stall the plane. Under the hood! Without realizing, I ended up in a falling leaf stall so I did it again, this time consciously and without the hood. The plane was clearly unhappy as it bounced around in a stall condition.

Today we tried boxing the sky for the very first time. Using full rudder to move the nose to the left and right while at the same time using the ailerons to keep the wings level. After a few boxes, we headed to the New Jerusalem airport. It was pretty close by and we had quite a bit of altitude to lose so we did a side slip with nose slightly nose down and fully cross controlled. We did 5 touch-and-go at New J before heading back to Livermore.

As we got close to Tracy to turn west towards Livermore, the B-17 passed ahead of us and we followed it all the way to Livermore. He was lower so we didn’t have any threat from wake turbulence. We did watch where he landed so we could touchdown farther to avoid the wake turbulence on the runway. The bombers were done for the day and we taxied past them on our way to fuel.

had never seen these WWII aircraft in airworthy condition, let alone flying or taxiing amidst these heroes. Today was a memorable day! Here is the full flight track for the day.

Falling Leaf Stall, Ground Reference Maneuvers, Touch and Go

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Winds 230@12, foggy morning but we saw some holes in the south east sky. So we are going to poke through it because east of the hills is supposed to be clear weather. The climb was quite turbulent as we stayed low below the clouds, but high enough to clear the hills. This was the first time we’ve flown through scattered clouds. Along the way, an aerial view of Lake Del Valle with its dark green waters was quite rewarding. We kept poking through holes in the clouds and following valleys beneath to maintain the maximum possible ground clearance. Once we crossed Lake Del Valle, it was time to bank left and head for the central valley.

Srinath started with the falling leaf stall – his first time consciously doing the maneuver. As expected, the plane buffeted and was unhappy (to quote Steve) because Srinath kept the elevators aft and used the rudders to maintain wings level without letting the nose drop. Then time for a few touch and go’s at New Jerusalem. However we were too high at 2000′ and Srinath used a side slip to lose some altitude quickly.

Next, turns about a point. First around a crop circle counterclockwise and then clockwise. Next, we moved west to find a point on the ground (a house) and then turns to the left and then the right. Along the way, we heard on the radio that skydivers were jumping off  an airplane at 13,000′ over Lodi airport.

First night cross-country flight

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The days are getting long and that means sunset is later in the evening. A few days ago, Steve gave a route for Srinath to plan his night cross country trip. We were to leave Livermore for the Sacramento Executive Airport (KSAC), then Rio Vista (O88) followed by Kingdon (O20) and back to Livermore. We created a cross Cross Country Flight checklist as a PDF document with form fields and used this cross country trip as a trial subject. Anyways, we are now set with all the details and Srinath even received a full weather briefing through 1-800-WX-BRIEF. We were to meet Steve in the hangar at 8:30pm right around sunset. While night flying hours can be logged beginning with civil twilight, we were going to take off an hour after sunset.

Earlier this evening, Srinath had an appointment with the AME in Pleasanton to apply for a third-class medical certificate and it went pretty smoothly. It was a big relief!

We got to the hangar a little early and started the preflight checklist. When we flew a couple of days ago, we noticed that the landing light was not working and it had been placarded. It would be interesting to land without landing lights nevertheless Steve cleared us to go flying that night. We spent a good bit of time reviewing the planned details of the cross country trip with Steve. I set up Foreflight on my iPad so I could follow along the planned course.

Night flying is very different. First of all, there was no ATIS, no Ground or Tower controllers – it was past the operating hours – so we announced our intentions to Livermore Traffic on the CTAF. There were very few planes flying around at night and those that were flying could be spotted by their position lights. Depth perception wasn’t the same as while flying during the daytime. Thankfully this was a full moon night and the landscape was lit quite well. Watching from the back seat the moon rise over the horizon was quite a feeling. Photography was difficult due to extreme low light conditions. The GoPro picked up city lights but the rest of the time during our cruise it was pitch black outside and very dim inside the aircraft. The two massive towers (roughy 2050′ tall) northwest of Lodi stood out like sore thumbs.

Sacramento Exec airport was at first a little hard to find because it was engulfed by the city lights. There was another pilot announcing his intentions to take off from the airport while we were on the downwind leg. This landing turned out very smooth and we taxied off the runway to pause and regroup for the next leg to Rio Vista. En route to KSAC, we saw O88 to the west of the two massive towers so we simply looked for its airport beacon as we took off from KSAC. As I followed along on Foreflight, we basically tracked over the deepwater shipping canal. Suddenly we heard a high pitched sound and for a few seconds we were trying to figure out what was wrong. The terrain was almost pitch black so emergency landings would be impossible if needed. Thankfully it turned out be just a radio problem and we were able to resolve it quickly.

O20 Kingdon airport was almost impossible to find. It took quite a while to locate the airport in the darkness (see video). The airport didn’t have a beacon and the lights when keyed with the mike stayed on for just a couple of minutes. Srinath looked at the freeway and correctly guessed that we were almost overhead of the airport. Keying the mike proved it and we had quite a bit of altitude to lose. So we circled over the airport watching for any signs of winds as we shot for Rwy 30.The runway edge lights were placed quite far apart and that make it even more difficult to stay in the center of the runway. Finally the last leg back to Livermore was quite uneventful.

Here is the foreflight tracker. http://www.foreflight.com/s/track/1430886307-780FAB33-6427-4269-95FE-3B853966A072/