Shan's "Freedom Flight" - Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation

Shannon · 08-08-2003, 11:58 AM

Celebrating a milestone/change in focus in my career and personal aspirations, Justin scheduled a flight for Thursday evening (August 7, 2003). The plan was to depart from Stinson Municipal Airport to overfly Hill Country State Natural Area in Bandera, TX, where I solo camped in May (you'll be reading a trip report on this within days). However, the aircraft we rented was running very hot -- almost red-lining its engine temperature -- so Justin advised me during the taxi/take-off roll that we might need to keep the flight near Stinson. No biggie. Justin then informed the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) of our change of plans to stay near in the airport in case the plane got worse or failed to cool off substantially. We headed to what's called the "South Practice Area," a patchworked expanse of farm fields with few obstructions (except for cows and hay) where many student and licensed pilots, seeking to practice manuevers, fly.

Despite the increased airflow of flight, which should have cooled the engine (radial engines, like the Cessna's, are air-cooled; they lack a radiator like your car or truck posesses), there was no improvement. As a result, Justin made a pilot judgment and advised the controller at Stinson that we were running excessively hot and needed to land. The controller gave him clearance to land on whichever runway he wanted to. Justin chose a normal landing pattern, versus a "straight in" approach for immediate landing. The controller's option basically meant, "If you think it's serious or you need to get down fast for any reason, you have clearance -- just let me know which runway you choose."

Justin landed the plane beautifully, floating it down to a smooth landing on Stinson's Runway 14. When we got out to tie down the aircraft, the engine was so hot you could SMELL it -- excessively hot oil, metal, fuel and super-heated air. Of course, it just happened to be the hottest day on record this season, and extremely humid, which made matters worse for pilot, passenger AND plane!

Justin's flown that particular aircraft many times before, and knew its predisposition to running a little hot, but seeing your engine heat almost on the red-line is disconcerting... in a car, and certainly in an aircraft. Interestingly enough, on our drive home we noted that even my car was running abnormally hot. However, in the car's case, the engine heat was still well within its acceptable range of tolerance.

We'll try one more recreational flight between now and Wednesday, when Justin returns to work, and I'll be riding along with Justin and his flight instructor on Sunday morning out of San Antonio International Airport for his IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) training. Sunday's lesson is a "progress check" for Justin, so I'll get to experience the full gamut of Justin's training up to this point.

Riding along with Justin and his instructor(s) on training flights always impresses me -- both by Justin's aptitude at mastering the concepts quickly and precisely, and the skill and experience a good Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) posesses and shares with his/her students. Amazing stuff to watch! If you think teachers on the ground have it rough, or driving instructors, just imagine teaching someone how to take-off, navigate and land an aircraft in varying conditions and occasionally under stress (busy airport or airspace, in-flight emergency training scenarios, and so forth.)

That's all for now! Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.

08-12-2003, 07:05 AM

Glad to hear Justin brought it in safely. Sounds like you both kept your cool... (heh)

-Lee
http://www.fastenaubaby.com/

Shannon · 08-12-2003, 09:05 AM

One of the things that most impressed me when Justin first started his flight training (August 2001) was realizing how many different emergency scenarios student pilots are exposed to and taught to handle during their training. At no time during the flight outlined above was it "stressful" as the passenger; Justin did everything by the book and brought the plane in at the first indication of a potential problem. Probably the most important thing of all, he calmly kept his passenger (me!

) informed of the developing situation, so nothing came as a surprise.

Speaking of surprises and the importance of communication in the cockpit ... On the flight we took this past Saturday (August 10), we'd had a terrific flight over downtown San Antonio and then out to Hill Country State Natural Area and Medina Lake. As we came in for landing at San Antonio International Airport, everything about the landing seemed "wrong" to me (speed, distance from the runway as we dropped altitude, height above the ground on approach). Since landing is, as instructors drill into student pilots' heads, a critical phase of flight, I keep my mouth shut on landing. So I kept my mouth shut as I fought the butterflies in my stomach... something I really hadn't experienced before on any flight with Justin (I missed out on some of his early training flights when he spooked himself with abrupt maneuvers with the instructor.) Anyway, the moment we touched down, I asked him what was going on, as that was a "white knuckle landing" for me. He was surprised, to say the least. No emergency. Nothing amiss! The reason for what felt like a completely atypical landing? The Air Traffic Controller (ATC) at S.A. International had given Justin a "wake turbulence advisory" on landing, since we'd followed an airliner in for landing and its "wake" was still fresh on the runway. The standard procedure to avoid wake turbulence is to do all the things Justin did on that landing -- alter your glideslope, so you're not flying in the same path/wake the larger aircraft in front of you created; touch down either further down the runway or earlier than your usual touchdown point, and so forth.

So much of flying is understanding the situations you may find yourself in and knowing how to handle them... and that goes for the passengers, as well as the pilot. If I'd known why the landing we were performing was so out of the norm of my experience, I'd not have had the uneasy feelings I did. Needless to say, Justin will be advising me (and any other passengers) the next time he's advised of wake turbulence and needs to perform such a landing. I think if I flew with him less, I'd not have been bothered by it as much... but since I'm starting to know how different maneuvers and actions (landing, take-off, turns, etc.) look and feel in the aircraft, I'm more aware when something's a "new" way of doing things... and "new" in the aircraft, without any frame of reference, doesn't necessarily mean "better".

08-12-2003, 11:58 PM

This should be fun. Let's see how many times I've been a passenger on a commercial/military aircraft:

1972 Born in Okinawa
1973 Moved to Yokota AB, Japan: 1
1974 Round trip to Seoul, Korea: 2,3
1974 Moved to Taiwan: 4
1976 Moved to Chandler, AZ: 5
1979 Moved to Monterey, CA: 6
1980 Moved to Kadena AB, Okinawa: 7
1980 - 1983 Two round trips to Seoul, Korea: 8,9,10,11
1983 Moved to Monterey, CA: 12
1984 Moved to San Angelo, TX: 13
1985 Moved to Escondido, CA: 14
1985 Moved to Osan AB, Korea: 15
1987 Round trip to Yokota AB, Japan: 16,17
1991 Moved to St. James, MN: 18
1991 Round trip to Biloxi, MS: 19,20
1992 Moved to Simi Valley, CA: 21
1993 Moved to Lackland AFB, TX: 22
1993 Moved to Keesler AFB, MS by way of St. James, MN: 23,24
1993 Moved to Luke AFB, AZ: 25
1993 - 1997 Two round trips to St. James, MN: 26,27,28,29
1994 TDY to Keesler AFB, MS: 30,31
1994 Round trip to Ohio: 32,33
1995 Round trip to Las Vegas, NV: 34,35
1995 - 1996 TDY to San Vito, Italy: 36,37
1996 Moved to San Antonio, TX: 38
1997 - 2000 Two round trips to St. James, MN: 39,40,41,42
1998 Round trip to New York, NY: 43,44
1999 Round trip to Houston, TX: 45,46
1999 Round trip to somewhere in Iowa: 47,48
2000 Round trip to Miami, FL: 49,50
2001 Round trip to Las Vegas, NV: 51,52
2003 Round trip to Mankato, MN: 53,54

... and I still get nervous at take-offs and landings.

Around '91 was when flying became more tedious than adventurous to me... commercially anyway. Some of the dates are guesstimates. For instance, I remember moving to Korea in the 7th grade, but I'm not 100% positive it was in '85. It could have been late '84. And naturally, I don't remember any of the flights I took pre-1977... I just assume we didn't leave Taiwan on a junk. Could be wrong though.

Fun Fastenau Flight Facts
================================
First flight alone was in '91 to Biloxi.

Hardest landing was fairly recent: 2000 in Miami. After a moment of uneasy silence, the flight attendent announced, "That wasn't the pilot's fault. That wasn't the plane's fault. That was the asphault." (Hopefully Justin won't need that one, but he can use it if he wants... it's not my material anyway.)

Loudest flights were the MAC (Military Airlift Command) C-141's between Okinawa, Japan, and Korea. They don't have much sound insulation, so they hand out wax earplugs. No windows and the seats faced the rear, so you got a nice view of the cargo, usually large containers or jet engines. Occasionally got to sit in webbing along the sides of the plane.

The two round trips in 99 were on the corporate jet (I believe Gulfstream). The only way to fly. Had food from Jason's deli and the huge leather seats released from the sides of the plane so you could turn around and face the person behind you.

I've been inside the cockpit twice, once on the Gulfstream and once in a C-141. In the C-141's cockpit, someone put a headset on me so I could hear the pilot & co-pilot, but with the audio having no discernable direction, I thought I was talking to air traffic control. It was a few minutes before I realized the pilot was talking to me.

Worst flight was coming back from Mankato this year. Bad weather kept us on the flightline, in our tiny seats, for three hours. Commercial jets, like automobiles, apparently also have trouble keeping passengers cool unless the engines are revved up.

54 flights and never lost a bag.

Longest flight: Seoul, Korea to Los Angeles, CA. 13 hours.

Shortest flight: San Antonio, TX to Houston, TX. 30 minutes.

Most "concern" on flight: "Puddle jumper" from Rome to Brindisi, Italy. First, as the left engine got up to speed, it flinged ice at the fuselage, which was terribly loud and damaging-sounding. I think that's the only time I ever asked a flight attendant if something was out of the ordinary. The approach into Brindisi was disconcerting as well as most of it is over water. Check it out in FS2004.

Favorite airline: Northwest, I think. I got wings from them as a child.

Least favorite airline: United, I think. Southwest's cattle call is pretty cruddy, but you can't beat the price.

First flight sim: SubLogic Flight Simulator (A2-FS1) for Apple II in all its 1 MHz Motorola 6502 glory. Line graphics at a resolution of 280x192.

Most recent flight sim: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 for PC in all its 1.74 GHz AMD Athon XP 2100 glory. 3D textured, dynamically lit graphics at a resolution of 1280x1024.

And goodnight.

-Lee
http://www.fastenaubaby.com/

08-14-2003, 08:17 AM

SubLogic A2-FS1 in 1980: http://www.leefastenau.com/images/A2-FS1.jpg

23 years (and a Microsoft buyout) later...

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: http://www.leefastenau.com/images/FS2004.jpg

-Lee
http://www.fastenaubaby.com/

Shannon · 08-14-2003, 05:32 PM

I give up, you've got me beat by a wide margin!

I have less than a dozen commercial flights to my name, with only one flight outside the continental U.S. when I was too young to remember it (Hawaii; 1974). That means my flights with Justin in rented Cessna Skyhawks now outnumber my commercial flights by at least 2:1!

My first commercial flight alone: 1987; San Antonio, Texas to Huntsville, Alabama to attend Space Camp.

We did the San Antonio, TX to Las Vegas, NV flight in '99 but typically drive on our vacations... which explains why we don't travel much beyond the New Mexico/Colorado/Arkansas vicinity!

Justin's clearly got flying in the blood, since he's been on more commercial flights than I have, and has flown on the corporate jet several times to various offices, with another trip coming up in September (the dog!)

08-18-2003, 09:48 AM

Lucky duck!

-Lee
http://www.fastenaubaby.com/