06/04/2009 - "Yahtzee!"

After about five years of dreaming about it, two years of talking about it, and one year of planning for it, I have finally had my first flight lesson. It was more amazing than I could have imagined. I am taking lessons through API Flight School (Aviation Professionals, Incorporated), from Chicago Midway Airport (MDW). That's right... I'm taking flying lessons at Chicago's second busiest airport, and I'm going to be talking to ATC from day one! Today marks the beginning of my journey to the Private Pilot's License, which I hope to have by August 31st.

The weather was perfect... 65 degrees, barely any wind, and only a light sheet of clouds at 25,000 feet. I pulled up to the flight school, at about 4:40. I met my instructor, Tom, with whom I instantly hit it off. After a quick chat, we got in our cars and drove down the street to the Atlantic Aviation FBO.


Boy, was it interesting in there! Tom told me they've recently remodeled, and the whole building is a pretty cool combination of classic and modern. In the lobby, there were several big, comfortable leather sofa chairs which gave a temporary respite to a number of corporate jet pilots, who awaited their passengers as their Citation X's cooled down on the tarmac. I saw the flight planning and weather stations, where pilots submit their flight plans to ATC and check on weather conditions. There was also a very LARGE coffee machine, complimentary of course, but I wasn't really in the mood for any. Tom filled a pretty big cup of coffee, and we headed out to the tower apron to check out the plane, a Cessna 172, registry # N172NT.

Tom provided me with checklists and guided me through the pre-flight walkaround. The entire plane must be looked over. We examined the instrument panel, tested the master switch, examined all of the rivets, moved the control surfaces to make sure they moved freely, looked underneath the ailerons to make sure that all of the bolts were in place and tightened, examined the tires and brakes. We sumped a little bit of fuel from each wing using a clear plastic sample cup to ensure that there was no water in the fuel. "Sumping", just like a sump pump in your basement, means to draw a little bit of fuel from the wing and examine it. Water is heavier than aviation gas, and will sink to the bottom of the tank, so by sumping fuel in the lowest place of the fuel tanks you can be sure to remove any water that may have collected in the tank since the last time the plane was flown. Aviation gas is tinted blue so that you can clearly see any sediment or foreign matter in the fuel as well. The fuel was clean, and I just dumped the sample on the ground. It was time to get going. The plane was tied down at three places... one rope on each wing, and one at the tail. I untied the ropes and threw them clear of the aircraft, and at last, we were ready to fly.

... On a side note... the right main tire on this aircraft was quite bald... Tom thinks that pilots have been favoring that tire on landing. He assures me that it is only a minor problem, because the tire is properly inflated, but notes that this plane is up for FAA inspection in 40 hours, and a mechanic will replace the tire at that time.

Started 'er up, tuned radios to Midway Clearance Delivery. Told them that we are a VFR Cessna 172 on the tower apron, and we want VFR departure to the south. Clearance Delivery keys us into the ATC system so that other controllers will have information about our aircraft. He tells us to contact ground when are ready to taxi.

We roll to the edge of the tower apron, and set the brakes to do a 10-second runup to 1,700 RPM's, watching the oil and AMP gauges for anything out of the ordinary. Everything feels good. We contact ground, and he tells us to taxi Runway 4L via F and K, and hold short of 4R. I taxied the aircraft, and first, it was a little difficult to differentiate between the rudder controls at the bottom of the foot pedals and the brakes at the top of the foot pedals. I brought the aircraft to a premature stop a couple times, but then I figured out that if I push the pedals with heel pressure, I tend to turn the aircraft, and if I push the pedals with toe pressure, I tend to brake the aircraft. I actually got quite good at using the rudder pedals to stay centered on the taxiway, and a little bit of braking in the turns helped me get through the turns a little more efficiently. By braking the right wheel while making a right turn, the plane is able to turn more sharply, which actually allowed me to taxi faster. Tom stopped us well short of 4R, and I enjoyed watching a Southwest 737 touch down on 4R and roll past us at more than 100 knots. As soon as he went by, ground control told us to continue taxi across 4R. I opened up the throttle to about 1,200 RPM's to get the plane moving, then scaled it back to 1,000 RPM's once I had overcome the plane's inertia. As we crossed 4R, I looked out of my left window with amazement as I could see THREE aircraft lined up on final, headed straight for me! The first one was at least 3 miles out, and wouldn't arrive for another minute or two, but boy, it was pretty intense crossing an active runway for the first time.

We pulled up to 4L @ Z, and I stopped the aircraft to hold short of the runway, about 5 feet behind the hold short line. Tom said I was a little too close to the hold short line for his preference, but he said I was fine because at least I was still behind it. He wants me about 10 feet back from the hold short line because it would sure suck if the wake turbulence from a landing aircraft flipped us over! Yes, Boss...

Moment of truth: We called up MDW Tower on 118.7, told him we were ready to go. The takeoff clearance came quickly: "Wind 060@7, turn right heading 180, runway 4L cleared for takeoff." Opened up the throttle and followed the yellow taxiway line to the center of runway 4L. Kept her rolling. Pushed her up to full power, keeping one eye on the runway centerline and one eye on the airspeed indicator. At 60 knots, Tom told me to pull back slowly on the control wheel, and with a level of power that quite surprised me, we were airborne. I've taken off in plenty of commercial aircraft that are 10 times as powerful as this little Cessna, but when you're the one with your hands on the wheel, you feel like you are controlling the most powerful machine in the world!

At about 800 feet AGL, with Tom's guidance, I banked the aircraft and began a right turn to the south. My first bank felt like I was going to roll the whole plane over. I looked down at the attitude indicator, sure that I was almost inverted ... Nope, just barely 20 degrees of bank, not even a standard rate turn! I decided I was happy with the 20 degree bank, and with Tom's help, held the aircraft's pitch to maintain a climbing airspeed of 75 knots. We levelled off at 1,900 feet, and I pushed the control wheel forward to get our speed up to about 100 knots indicated. After less than a minute, I noticed that I was still climbing a little bit, and Tom took the airplane for a few seconds to get us trimmed and stabilized for level flight at 1,900... at the very bottom of the MDW class Charlie.

You hear horror stories about bumpy rides in small aircraft, and I know that one day I will have to face that. But on this day, I was completely astonished by how smooth the ride was. I kept her straight and level, making small rudder corrections to keep the plane facing due south, and followed Cicero Avenue. Tom pointed out several landmarks that will one day help me find my way home. We spotted the two large red, white and blue Alsip water towers. There is one on each side of Cicero Avenue, and we flew between them like a football during a well-kicked field goal. Once we passed the water towers, Tom called MDW tower and told them that we were leaving the Charlie airspace to the south. Tower acknowledged, and we turned off the radios. We're a VFR aircraft (Visual Flight Rules), which means that when we're flying free of restricted airspace, we don't have to talk to anyone... we are responsible for our own separation from other aircraft and obstacles. We can just FLY!

Tom pointed out a couple regional fields that will help me find my way back home: Frankfort (a private airstrip), Meadow Creek (private), and Bult (C56). We might be landing at one of these fields during future lessons. Tom told me to always look for the large orange radar antenna in Frankfort, because it means that I am 15 miles from Midway. It took me a long time to spot that radar antenna... it was so tiny against all of the other high-resolution scenery (that was an FS9 joke... ha ha), but I found it. Finally, after reaching what I imagine is pretty close to the Peotone (EON) VOR, we were far enough from Midway to start practicing some maneuvers, and we got to work!

I worked on straight and level flight, trimming the aircraft to keep a steady altitude. At API, they call their system "Attitude Flying". No, this doesn't mean, "you need to have a good attitude before you go flying"! "Attitude" refers to the aircraft's relationship with the ground. Tom talked about using the nose of the plane, the window sills, and the tips of the wings as a visual reference point to help me determine whether I am climbing, descending, banking, etc. Tom asked me to pull the wheel back and start a gentle climb of about 500 fpm. He covered up the altimeter and vertical speed indicator, and asked me to look out of the left forward window panel, and level out the plane by judging the angle the plane is making over the ground. It is important for a beginning pilot to use visual cues rather than flight instruments to determine whether he is climbing or descending, because the instruments actually only register changes in the plane's position after 6-9 seconds of real time. Thus, if a pilot concentrates solely on the instruments, he/she isn't going to notice changes in the plane's altitude and attitude until 6-9 seconds after the change is already happening.

Tom asked me to pull back on the control wheel until the nose of the airplane touched the horizon. I did so, and began a steady climb of 500 feet per minute. Then, Tom covered up the altimeter and vertical speed indicator and asked me to push the nose forward until I was certain that I was in level flight once again. He asked me to reference the nose, the window sills, and the wing's relationship with the horizon. When I was satisfied that I had achieved level flight, I said, "Yahtzee!" Tom uncovered the instruments, and checked my attitude. Well, I am pleased to report that I called "Yahtzee" when the plane was very, very close to level flight. Tom was pleased. (No... Tom didn't ask me to call "Yahtzee"... I came up with that one on my own...)

We did some standard rate turns. Now, I rolled the plane over to a full 30 degrees of left bank, and looking out the left window I could almost see straight to the ground. When you are doing a standard rate turn, the plane tends to lose altitude, so you need to not only bank the wings, but also pull back on the yoke so that you hold your altitude in the turn. I did about 3 standard rate turns in this lesson, and never managed to hold altitude perfectly. I only dropped 100-200 feet in the turn, so it's not like anything was wrong, but I know I can do better than that. This will be one of my major focuses in the lessons to come. We did maneuvers like this for a little less than an hour. Tom complimented me on my ability to hold level flight and roll out on headings. Unfortunately, daylight was wearing thin, and it was time to head home.

We turned to the north, and I lined myself with Cicero Avenue again to follow it straight to Midway. I noticed that the heading indicator had precessed about 10 degrees during our turns. "Precessed" means that over time, the indicator loses an accurate representation of the plane's heading. As I lined myself up with Cicero, which I know is a north-south street, I noticed that the heading indicator was showing a heading of 350. I asked Tom if the heading indicator had precessed, and he agreed that it had, so I fixed it.

Within 10 minutes, I saw the Alsip water towers again. Tom asked me to descend to 1,900 as we continued north. And suddenly, Tom said, "Do you see Midway?" I looked forward over the plane's nose, and there was the airport, like a vast, bald rectangle of space in the middle of hundreds of buildings. I was so surprised that I hadn't noticed it eariler. I briefly glanced up and noticed O'Hare International Airport (ORD) just on the horizon to the northwest... I could even pick out runway 4R/22L! Tom contacted Midway Tower, "N172NT, a Cessna 172, 10 miles south of Midway, requesting full stop." The tower came back with pattern entry instructions, "N2NT, cross midfield at or below 1,700, make left downwind, runway 4L." Tom asked me to descend to 1,650 and pull the RPMs back to 2,000. I overflew the field, and looked down as a 737 landed directly under me!

As we passed 4L right at the center of the airport, Tom asked me to pull the RPMs back to 1,500, and turn left for a downwind to 4L. At this point, I was becoming overwhelmed. Big 737's landing on 4R, and we were going to be landing right next to them. I could hear my voice becoming more stressed, and I turned the airplane for the downwind, but I rolled out of the turn late and now I was cutting the pattern too close. Tom told me to bank to the right a little and straighten out my downwind. I told Tom, "I'm a little freaked out." Instantly, Tom said, "I have the airplane." And I said, "Thank you!"

Tom straightened out our downwind, continued descending below 1,200, and turned left base for 4L. Straight ahead, about 100-200 feet below us and 1/2 mile away, was a Southwest 737 landing on 4R. As a first-lesson student, I can only describe this aircraft to you as "HUGE"! Of course, there was nothing wrong with our proximity to the aircraft since he was landing on the parallel runway, but it is both unnerving and thrilling to be flying a tiny little Cessna next to those big guys!

Just as we were turning short final, the pilot of this 737 comes on the Tower frequency and says, "Tower, you see this Cessna headed straight for me? He's really close!" In my mind, I'm wondering, "Did I do something wrong?" Tom just snickered. "I'm not even past the centerline. What a jerk!" And it's true. There is nothing wrong with a Cessna landing on 4L while a 737 lands on 4R. This Southwest pilot was whining because he wants to be the only plane at the airport. What does he think GA aircraft are gonna do? Go sit in the hanger until 2 in the morning when there is no other traffic? Of course not! Us little Cessnas have just as much right to use the airport as the big jets do.

And now comes my absolute favorite part of my first flight lesson. Midway Tower vidicated us. This Southwest pilot whined about us landing on the parallel runway, like Southwest owns the whole airport and we have no right to be there. And the Midway Tower controller responded to this pilot by saying, "I told you where that Cessna was TWO TIMES already. I told you he was landing on 4L."

Tom was so pissed at the Southwest pilot that he didn't even hear what the tower controller said. He touched the aircraft down right on the centerline, and the bump I felt on touchdown was akin to hitting a medium size pothole in the city. He slowed down, exited the runway to the right at F, and with Tower's blessing, crossed 4R and stopped on the other side. We contacted MDW Ground, were given taxi clearance, and started to make our way back to the tower apron.

"Man, that pisses me off. I was nowhere near him." Tom scowled.

"Tom?", I said, "Didn't you hear what the tower controller said? He chewed the pilot out on the frequency. He vindicated us."

"Really?" Tom smiled. "Wow. That makes my day! Gotta love the controllers!" And we DO.

Pulled onto the tower apron. Pulled the plane into the parking spot, but facing backwards because the parking spot is almost right next to a barbed wire fence and there is no room to come at the spot from behind. I turned the plane on a dime by pushing the RPMs to 1,200 and tapping the right brake so that the plane could park facing forward. Of course, I missed the parking spot centerline by just a little bit. So get this... Tom told me to cut the engine, turn off all of the switches, and take the keys out of the ignition. Tom and I got out of the aircraft. Tom sat on the horizontal stabilizer on the back of the plane, lifting the front end into the air so I could push the entire plane into the parking spot. It took two tries, but we got it. I tied the plane down using the chains and ropes provided, and used a special knot Tom showed me that will hold the plane down securely but be easy for the next pilot to untie. And with that, we headed back to our cars.

One more funny bit. Remember how I sumped a little bit of fuel during the pre-flight walkaround to check for water in the fuel? Tom had given me a plastic sample cup to do this, and when I was done with the walkaround, I put the sample cup in my shirt pocket. Unfortunately for Tom, I didn't notice that the sample cup was STILL in my pocket until we left the airport grounds and got back to the flight school.

"Hey, Tom! Look what was in my pocket!" I said, holding up the sample cup.

"Well," Tom smiled, "I'll just have to put the cup back in the plane when I come in tomorrow morning." What a patient guy.

A thoroughly pleasant and useful lesson. Tom gave me several compliments... I was the best first-time student he's ever had. Looks like 300 hours of flying on VATSIM is going to be a tremendous advantage. THANK YOU, VATSIM!

1 and 1/2 hours in the air for my first lesson. Bought a pilot's log, recorded my hours, Tom signed off on them. Purchased a DVD ground school course from Sporty's Pilot Shop that will be a terrific study aid to help me complete upcoming FAA written and oral exams. Some of the acting is cheesy, but the information is valuable and thorough.

Huge kudos and thanks to Instructor Tom. A flight instructor should always let the student fly as much as possible, even on the first lesson, and Tom gave me complete control over the aircraft from the very beginning. Can't wait to work on those standard rate turns, can't wait to fly the traffic pattern correctly and turn to final myself.

Can't wait to go back.

Next lesson is on Monday evening... I promise myself that I will continue to write about each lesson, step by step, on my road to the Private Pilot's License. If I'm committed to flying, I'm going to stay committed to writing about it.

'Till next time....

- Airman Eric