If you are one of those people that teeter on the edge of thinking perhaps flying is an unsafe pastime, and are as yet unsure if you want to risk getting in a plane with me, I would advise not reading this entry. Simply read this next paragraph:
Flying is perfectly safe!
... and go on to a different website.
Now, for the rest of you. My instructor's been in the hospital, unfortunately, due to some stomach condition. So I was unable to call on him to fly with me when the weather turned sour. Thus, my Thursday lesson became my first phase check, wherein a different flight instructor asks me to perform some basic maneuvers to ensure I am still on track.
The only aircraft I was able to reserve was one I'd never flown before, N4312R. Stephen had mentioned that 12R was "bad luck," but I never believe in luck, so it didn't phase me. So, there I was at the Old T's, 12R preflighted and ready to go, waiting for my phase check instructor to show up.
Joel Klein is a large man with a thick Brooklyn accent. He's everyone's best friend on the airport: Along with being a flight instructor, his day job is managing the airport's construction crew. This crew was out in spades today, as 27R was closed down for some maintenance. Vehicles were running around, crowding the taxiways and the ground frequency. This also meant that Joel and his hard-hat buddies would trade thick Brooklyn pleasantries while I readied for departure.
Joel is quite a talker too. It was like having a commentary track on my flying. As I started up the alternator, Joel would go off on a 5-minute speech on how the alternator works. As I taxied past the construction crews, Joel would go on at length about the nature of the FAA's airport maintenance requirements.
I parked 12R in front of a closed taxiway to do my runup, but got the ire of Ground in doing so.
"12R, is there a problem?"
"12R, negative, just doing my runup."
"12R, please move away from the closed taxiway and perform your runup at the hold-short line."
Ooooookay. I'm not looking to make enemies over the radio so I did as I was told. I brought the airplane to the hold-short line for 33 and began my runup. As I brought the yoke back to test the elevators, Joel suddenly jumped.
"What the hell was that?"
"What??" I said anxiously.
"A giant freakin' spark! Right by your leg!"
We could both smell it now -- burning insulation. Joel and I were in agreement that we needed to taxi back. I had read earlier that 12R was having some battery problems, so I asked Joel if we could taxi back with the battery off. He said yes.
"Ground, 4312R is having a problem and needs to return to the Old T's."
"12R, taxi down runway 33 to the Old T's."
After I got my taxi clearance I killed the battery and the plane went dark. Joel and I took off our headsets and continued to chat over the droning engine noise. Now, of course, Joel's endless monologue was on alternator failures, electrical fires, and appropriate emergency procedures.
We returned the plane to the Old T's, shut it off, and stuck a giant red sign over the logbook that read "DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE, DO NOT FLY." Joel called the plane owner and informed him of the problem while I made a reservation for 739UL, which had recently returned and become available.
Since we were low on time and the weather was getting a little thicker, Joel said we'd only do a part of the phase check, and finish the rest later. We'd stick to doing a few touch-and-goes for now. That's fine, I'll defer to his judgement. I preflighted 9UL and got my clearance to takeoff.
"9UL, cleared for takeoff on 33, right turn over the 27 midfield to left closed traffic for 27L, winds 250 at 12."
That was an interesting departure clearance; clearly the construction on 27R has screwed up the traffic pattern somewhat. I had a little trouble with it, so tower came over the radio again to direct me more carefully through the unfamiliar flow of things. When I was set up in the 27L pattern, I requested my touch-and-go clearance.
"Tower, 739UL abeam the 27 numbers, request the option."
"739UL, ahhh .... uhhh .... let me see here ... well, OK. For now extend your downwind, ummm .... I'll call your base. Hold that course for now."
"Ooookay, extending our downwind, 9UL."
Whoever was doing tower was new to the job. I followed his instructions and continued flying further and further away from the runway.
"739UL, you can turn your base now. Cleared for low approach, 27L."
"Turning base and cleared to land, 9UL."
I turned the plane 90 degrees to line up with the runway.
"9UL, change of plans, extend your downwind now."
"9UL, we're turning back north..."
Okay, Iturned the airplane back north. We finally got our landing clearance and I did a touch-and-go on 27L. Coming back around, I asked for the option again, and got my clearance. Coming in to land...
"9UL, uhhh, I'll need you to extend your downwind once more..."
Okay, so Joel asked me if we wanted to try Hayward maybe. Sure, why not. I got clearance to fly to Hayward, and made tracks to their airspace. Low bands of stratus clouds were surrounding me; it was difficult to fly below them and stay in VFR minima. We'd be at Hayward soon enough though.
Since this was an examination, Joel was constantly bombarding me with questions. Along with flying the plane and dealing with the screwy radio commands, I had an oral quiz to participate in.
Hayward cleared us for pattern work on 28L. My landing at Oakland and this first landing at Hayward were surprisingly smooth. The wind was almost right down the runway, which helped, but I was still impressed at how lovely the touchdowns were. Taking off again from 28L, I heard a familiar request over the radio.
"9UL, can you extend your downwind...?"
Joel and I looked at each other? Is this Annoy the Pilot day? Well, fine. I dealt with more squirrely radio instructions and performed another few touch-and-goes. On my last touch-and-go, in the middle of an oral quiz no less, Joel had me perform a go-around.
Well, I never really practiced go-arounds, so I made a pretty bad mistake when aborting the landing: I raised all my flaps at once. The airplane sunk suddenly to the ground and scared the bejeezus out of me.
"Generally on a go-around we raise the flaps incrementally." Yeah, no shit.
Heading back to Oakland, dodging clouds again, I got my clearance for a long final to 27L. We were behind a commuter jet, so Joel had me land long -- really long -- to ensure we didn't get disturbed by their wake turbulence. I ended up touching down halfway down the runway.
I returned the plane to the Old T's, where we found Ginny and her crew inspecting 12R. We talked a bit about the surprising miswirings they found underneath the panel, and then headed back into the clubhouse.
Since we had taken off and landed at Hayward, I coyly asked Joel if he could sign me off for solo work at Hayward, thus giving me the ability to fly between Oakland and Hayward on my solos. He said sure, he would, but he never actually did. Blast.
Joel had offered his explanation as to why we kept getting vectored away from the airport at the last minute: Apparently "cleared for low approach" is not the same as "cleared for landing." So each time I got clearance for a low approach, and I replied with "cleared to land," Tower got scared and vectored me away.
I have a solo opportunity Saturday and the second half of my first phase check on Sunday, again with Joel. Stephen says he might be better by Monday; I'm looking forward to resuming training.
Cost so far: $5,036.41
Time so far: 68 days
Hours so far: 24.1
Projected certification date: August 12, 2007
Projected total cost: $10,500
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