06/10/2009 - "Don't Fixate!"

Woke up Wednesday morning, looked out the window, and instantly knew that I would be flying. Checked the METAR; only a scattered cloud layer at 12,000 feet, and the forecast predicted even better weather as the afternoon went on. Sent a text message to Tom: "Weather looks good." Tom responded, "Yup." ;)

When I pulled up to the security checkpoint, I brought out my medical certificate and driver's license in case the guard wanted to see them. The guard recognized me from my first lesson (or Tom had told him to expect me), and he opened the gate for me. I parked my truck, walked into the Atlantic Aviation FBO lobby, and situated myself on a comfy sofa while I waited for Tom to return from his prior lesson. After a few minutes, Tom came in from the ramp.


We spoke briefly about my goals for the day. We planned to finish Attitude Flying, practice some medium bank turns, and begin working on stalls. I explained that I really need help so that I can learn to hold my altitude in the turns, and Tom agreed to help me with that. I also told Tom that I felt ready to talk to ATC myself. The phraseology I've picked up on VATSIM has helped me feel very comfortable on the radio, and Tom said that while he has never had a student talk on the radio in their second lesson, if I'm ready for it, he'll be happy to get me started. I also said that I would like to better control the airplane in the traffic pattern, and Tom said that I will be flying as much of the approach as possible. And we headed out to the aircraft.

This time, we are flying N737ME, another Cessna 172. This aircraft looks a little older than N172NT from my first lesson... in other words, this girl is well-loved. ;) I took out my checklists, which I have now laminated and strung together on a keyring for easy access. Pre-flight walkaround was uneventful, although I did everything myself with very little prompting from Tom. We roleplayed the calls I would make for departure clearance, request to taxi, and request for takeoff. Tom said he was impressed with my phraseology, so when it came time to call up clearance delivery, I made the call.

"Midway Clearance Delivery, 737ME is a Cessna 172 on the tower apron, departing on a heading of 180 with information Uniform."

"Cessna 737ME, maintain at or below 2,000 while in the Midway Class Charlie, squawk 5125." responded the controller.

"Will maintain at or below 2,000 while in the Charlie, squawking 5125, Cessna 737ME." I replied.

We are agreeing to stay below 2,000 feet while we are within 10 miles of Midway airport, and we are telling the controllers that we want to turn to a heading of 180, due south, after takeoff. The squawk code they give us will be used to identify us on radar.

We start the engine, taxi to the edge of the tower apron, perform a runup to 1,700 RPMs to check for irregular engine function. Everything looks good, so we switch over to Midway Ground.

"Midway Ground, 737ME is at the tower apron, ready to taxi."

"737ME, taxi runway 4L via F, Y, K, hold short 4R."

"Runway 4L via F, Y, K, hold short 4R, Cessna 737ME."

I open up the throttle to overcome the plane's inertia, but no sooner did I start to move than the ground controller came back, "Cessna 737ME, hold position."

I hold the brakes. "Holding position, 737ME."

Not sure why we're holding position, although I begin to look down taxiway F to see what the problem is. After a few seconds, I notice another Cessna 172 taxiing towards us. When he passes by, the ground controller gives us permission to go.

"Cessna 737ME, continue taxi, hold short 4R."

"Continue taxi, hold short 4R, Cessna 737ME."

Rolling out on taxiway F, holding the centerline quite well. When we had listened to the ATIS, it mentioned that taxiway K is closed between Y and F. When I was rolling on the field, I noticed that there were actual barricades on K, blocking off the short run. Can't really tell why the taxiway is closed, but then again, I don't have time to sit and wonder. I'm taxiing an aircraft!

I stop short of 4R, this time about 10 feet back from the hold short line. I watch as an executive jet touches down and rolls past us.

"Cessna 737ME, cross runway 4R for 4L, no delay."

"Crossing 4R for 4L, no delay, Cessna 737ME."

Rest of the taxi uneventful. Punching her up to 1,500 RPM's, and zipping across that runway. I pull her back to 1,000 RPMs, taxi to 4L just as I did in my first lesson, call Tower, get the takeoff clearance, and are cleared to go.

As we lift off, Tom reminds me that I need right rudder to compensate for P-Factor. I push the rudder down to what I thought was halfway, and after a second, Tom says, "More right rudder." I look down at the turn coordinator, and see that yes, P-Factor is still pulling the plane to the left. I start to apply more rudder, as Tom says, "Pull back on the control wheel, you want to climb out at 75 knots." I look down at the airspeed indicator and see that we were climbing at 85 knots. Too shallow and too fast. Not dangerous really, but definitely not efficient.

The "best rate of climb" speed for this aircraft is calculated at 75 knots because that is the airspeed that maximizes the rate of climb while sacrificing the least amount of time. To pull back harder on the climbout would slow the airplane down, so any improvement in the climb rate wouldn't be worth the fuel expended. To push forward on the climbout would speed the airplane up, but the plane would take longer to gain the desired cruise altitude, which might put the airplane in danger if there is a high obstacle near the runway, and would probably make the tower controller impatient because he's waiting for us to turn right to a heading of 180 before he clears the next aircraft to take off, and we can't make that turn until we are high enough to do it safely. In coming lessons, I will be working on holding runway heading and best rate of climb speed on climbout. I need to develop these skills because takeoff is second only to landing in terms of the most dangerous phases of flight, and holding the runway centerline/climbing out at best rate make the takeoff phase safer and more fuel efficient.

Passing 800 feet above the ground, I banked the aircraft to the right, making sure to hold a standard 30 degree bank. Once again, the nose of the aircraft started to pitch down in the turn, so I pulled the control wheel back to keep climbing. I had vowed in my previous lesson that I would level out at 1,900 feet. So, I'm watching the altitude indicator: 1,600... 1,700... 1,800... At about 1,850 I pushed forward on the control stick and stuck the needle at exactly 1,900!

"Yes!" I thought. The airspeed began to increase as I held the plane level. Tom said, "Nice job holding altitude. Trim off the control pressure." I pushed forward several notches on the trim wheel to help the plane stay level so that I could relax the forward pressure I was placing on the control wheel. After a few seconds, Tom said, "Pull the throttle back to 2,350 RPMs, and then trim." Oops. I must change throttle setting before trim, because every change in throttle setting will cause the attitude tendencies of the airplane to change. I followed directions, and it took me about 10 seconds, but after pushing forward on the trim quite a bit, I looked at the altimeter and it was holding at 1,900. Success!

"Here come the Alsip water towers," Tom said.

I looked out over the nose and saw those red, white and blue water towers on either side of Cicero Avenue. After only a few seconds of looking out at these towers, Tom warned, "You're still climbing! Keep it below 2,000 feet!"

I looked at the altimeter, and to my sincere surprise, it read 2,000, and the vertical speed indictor showed that we were climbing at 200 feet per minute. How in the world did that happen? I thought that I trimmed off the control pressure!

"Think about all the cues the plane is giving you," Tom encouraged. "Keep your scan going. Don't fixate on only one thing!"

In retrospect, I know exactly what happened. I was so fixated on leveling out at 1,900 that once I thought I had achieved my goal, I stopped worrying about it, and in fact, became fixated on the Alsip water towers and forgot to pay attention to the plane! After I trimmed off the control pressure and checked the altimeter to verify 1,900, I assumed that I was in level flight. Guess what I forgot to do!? I never looked over the nose of the plane and verified that I was in level flight attitude. I assumed that the plane would hold its current altitude after only a second or two of looking at the instruments. Even though the instruments showed level flight, the plane was actually climbing slightly... a climb which became more pronounced as I became fixated on the Alsip water towers.

I learned something very, very important at that moment. A pilot cannot become fixated on any one piece of information in the aircraft. He/she must continuously scan and process all information... instruments, the view of the horizon over the nose of the aircraft, the windowsill, the wing, the control pressure at the fingertips, the sound of the engine, the feeling in the seat of the pants. And a pilot must never become satisfied that the job is done until the plane is parked and he/she is enjoying a beverage in the FBO lobby. My mistake here was that I became satisfied that the plane was in level flight and then stopped worrying about it, when in fact the plane was climbing. I must work on my vigilance as a pilot, never stop flying the plane, and never "assume" anything!!!

Flew due south for about 10-15 minutes, until we arrived at the same general area where we did maneuvers in the first lesson. Tom is reminding me to use parts of the airplane to determine my attitude in relation to the ground. I'm very comfortable looking at the horizon over the nose of the airplane to determine if I am in level flight. Worked on medium bank turns for about 30 minutes. Tom tells me that the strut of the wing should seem to be parallel with the ground when we are in a standard rate turn. When the wings are banking, some of the lift which keeps the plane in the air is being used to turn the plane, and the pilot has to pull back on the control wheel to compensate for the decreasing lift. I am still getting feel for how much control pressure is required to maintain level flight. In my first couple turns, I still lost altitude, but it was more like 80 feet lost as opposed to the 150 feet that I lost in my first lesson!

"We're going to do another turn to the south," instructed Tom.

"I'm getting it," I told Tom. "I need to stay ahead of the airplane. I need to predict what she is going to do and compensate."

"Always keep your mind ahead of the airplane," Tom agreed.

The next few seconds of my lesson were simply incredible. It was like I had Obi-Wan in the back of my head, "Stay ahead of the plane, Eric! Stay ahead of the plane!"

In the next medium bank turn, I cleared the area, applied a little left rudder, banked the wings and pulled back on the control stick about two inches. Straightened out the ailerons at 30 degrees of bank. And instantly, Tom said, "There ya go!"

I didn't need to look at the instruments; I could feel it. I was in a medium bank turn and the plane was holding altitude. The turn was smooth, and I didn't feel like the plane was dropping down away from me as I had in the past, and I didn't feel like I was going to roll the plane over, either. I pretty much felt the same way that I had when the plane was in level flight.

I didn't move my hands at all, save a little extra back pressure on the control stick as the turn continued. I saw heading 180 coming around on the heading indicator. When I had only ten degrees to go, I smoothly rolled out of the turn, pushed slightly forward on the control wheel and then pulled it back to center, and released right rudder.

"See?" smiled Tom. "You can do it."

Thanks, Obi-Wan.

"We've only got about 10 minutes left out here. Let's do some slow flight. Pull the throttle back to 2,000 RPMs. As the plane slows down, it will want to pitch downward, so pull back on the control wheel to compensate. When you hold your altitude, the plane will slow down to 80 knots."

Dutifully obeyed. Had to pull back on the wheel just a little bit, and watched as the airspeed indicator shows 80 knots. Not so hard! I held the slow flight attitude for about 15 seconds, and then Tom asked me to push the throttle back up to 2,350 RPMs and resume normal cruise flight.

"Now we'll practice a stall," announced Tom.

A stall doesn't mean that the engine has failed. It means that one or both wings have stopped producing enough lift to keep the airplane flying, and it is caused by an excessively high angle of attack. Lift is generated when normal airflow above and below the wings applies force to the aircraft and counteracts the force of gravity. If the wings become pitched too steeply in relation to the wind, the air can no longer flow over the top of the wing smoothly. The air burbles over the top of the wing in random spirals, and the wing fails to produce enough lift to keep the plane flying in the desired attitude. Although a stall can occur at any airspeed and any attitude, the most likely times an airplane can stall is climbing out in a takeoff or slowing down in the traffic pattern for landing. We're going to purposely stall the airplane at high altitude so that I can learn what I must do to recover from the stall.

"Pull the throttle back to 2,000 RPMs again and hold your attitude for level flight."

The plane slowed down to 80 knots, and we are holding altitude at 2,500.

"Now, pull back on the control wheel to decrease our airspeed below the stall speed, which in this aircraft is 40 knots."

Boy, every bit of your survival instinct is telling you, "Don't do that! We'll fall out of the sky!" Tom had to keep telling me, "Pull back on the control wheel. Pull back more. Pull back more!" What happened next was quite interesting. The stall horn sounded, which is just a reed on the left wing which makes a whistling noise that lets you know the airflow over the wing is going to cause a stall. I kept pulling back on the control wheel, and I felt like we were almost vertical! Of course, this little airplane can't do that; but my upward pitch probably exceeded 40 degrees. And suddenly, quite smoothly, the plane stopped climbing altogether.

"There's the stall," Tom announced. "Push forward slightly on the control wheel."

I didn't really need to do much of anything! The plane stalled in a nose-up attitude, but within a second, the nose dropped down about 10 degrees, and the plane started flying again. It's not like we were going to fall out of the sky; as soon as the stall happened, the plane pretty much placed itself in a lower attitude, stopping the stall and resuming climbing flight. This exercise reassured me that the plane is designed to stay in the air; it wants to fly! The remedy to a stall is simple; decrease the angle of attack. The airflow will resume over the wing, and the plane will begin to fly again! I'll be practicing more stalls in the future... for now, it's time to head home.

A couple interesting tidbits as we returned to Midway. We called up the tower, he gave us a squawk code, we were headed in. Then we heard Bill's voice (he's the owner of the flight school) on the radio as he was cleared to take off in the aircraft that I used in my first lesson, Cessna 172NT! Tower told Bill to turn to the south heading 180, and then advised us, "Traffic is a Cessna 172, at your 1 o'clock, 3 miles." We were both looking for Bill for least 30 seconds. Tower had given Bill the same traffic advisory, and he was looking for us, too. Honestly, we didn't spot him until we were within a mile of him, but at last, there he was! We passed each other in the sky about 3/4 of a mile apart... we could almost wave at each other.

"Cessna 737ME, traffic is a Citation, at your 10 o'clock, 3 miles, on final for 4R. Report him in sight."

Tom and I looked out the left window, and I saw him pretty quickly. It can be pretty tricky to spot aircraft when you're flying; this Citation looked like a little black dot against a gray cityscape.

"Cessna 737ME has the Citation," I replied.

"Cessna 737ME, make right base behind that Citation for Runway 4L."

"Right base behind the Citation for Runway 4L, 737ME."

I turned to the northwest, and watched as the Citation continued his approach for 4R. Within a couple minutes, we were behind him, making our turn to 4L.

Tower cleared us to land. Tom asked me to pull the RPMs back to 1,600 and extend 20 degrees of flaps. I'm still getting used to interpreting the sight picture of the runway on approach, but I felt that we were a little high. Tom told me to push forward on the control wheel, pull the throttle back to idle, and extend full flaps. It was surprising to me how quickly the airplane slowed down; I felt almost as if we were floating just short of the runway threshold. Altitude still decreasing, but still a little high.

"I'm going to help you with this," Tom reassured me.

10 feet over the runway now. We're probably 500 feet behind the numbers, but we've still got plenty of runway left.

"Pull back on the control wheel." And I did... the stall warning horn sounded! "Not so much!" Okay!

Touchdown! A little far down the runway, but Tower asked us to make a 180 on the runway, and taxi back to F. Crossed 4R with their blessing, and headed back to the tower apron.

"We were a little high on the approach. I should have told you to pull back to 1,600 RPMs sooner," Tom said. Oh, well... you know what they say... any landing that you can walk away from... ;)

Taxied to the apron, parked, tied 'er down. I looked down the ramp, and saw the most interesting turboprop that I had ever seen, parked on the ramp. Walked closer, and determined that it was a Piaggio Aero, an Italian turboprop with the propellers at the rear. Had never seen one of those before, but I snapped a picture, shown to the right.

Lesson #2 in the bag! Getting more comfortable holding altitude in turns, but I'm still not as comfortable as I would like to be. We're going to be doing ground reference maneuvers in the next lesson, which will help me be more confident in the traffic pattern, and we'll be doing simulated landings which will help me get a grip on approaches. 'Till then...

- Airman Eric