My Aircraft Wish List

This post, I've decided, is both realistic and unrealistic.  It's practical and impractical.  I thought it would be a good idea to write out my thoughts on an airplane wish list. Since I began flying, my thoughts have often drifted toward aircraft ownership.  Two years ago being young, naive, and fresh to the field of aviation, I had no idea what an airplane cost, nor how to even acquire one.  A quick Google search found me having to reattach my jaw seeing how much even a 30 year old beat-up trainer would even cost.  This discovery has taught me that I am not currently financially stable enough for aircraft ownership, and frankly, I'm not sure where or when this might happen.  Yet, the dream lives on that I might someday own an aircraft of my very own.  What follows is a list of what I'd like to own.  Keep in mind that I'm not looking to buy jets, or even a new airplane, but something simple and practical that would allow me to continue to fly for fun and travel.

#1.  1978 (or newer) Piper Arrow II (PA-28R-200)

PA-28R-200

Built on Piper's classic PA-28 airframe known as the "Cherokee" series, the Arrow is a classic 4-place airplane with the addition of retractable landing gear and a constant speed propeller.  This airplane would be "it" for me; it's a complete package and would allow me to transition to a complex airplane and use for further training and travel.  The Cherokee has always had docile handling characteristics, is very forgiving in stalls, and is easy to fly. A 200HP 4 cylinder engine allows for higher cruise speeds without guzzling gas and retractable gear creates less drag.  If I were actually looking to purchase this airplane, I would also be looking for a moving map GPS, such as a GNS 430WAAS, an autopilot, and a three-blade constant speed prop.

There are several drawbacks to this airplane, though. Any airplane that has retractable gear means more money in insurance costs and annual inspections. Gear-up landings are a fear of every retractable pilot, though Arrows are equipped with a system that helps to prevent this, when it is working properly, or hasn't been completely disabled by a previous owner.  The other fear is gear failure. If you don't have "three greens" on final, you've got to find a solution.  Gear malfunctions are always a possibility, and a quick search on YouTube of gear malfunctions will cause you to grind your teeth when you hear aluminum slide across a runway.  Gear up landings usually mean prop strikes too, which means the engine comes out, gets torn apart and inspected for damage.  As any pilot will tell you, "That ain't cheap."

#2 1976 (or newer) Piper Archer II (PA-28-181)

PA-28-181

Another entry in the PA-28 airframe series, the Archer is very similar to the Arrow, with a few exceptions.  A cabin that's smaller by a few inches is hardly noticeable, but what is easy to notice is the fixed landing gear.  Archers are outfitted with a 180 HP engine, resulting in cruise speeds that are slower than the Arrow, but still makes for an enjoyable trip.  The same docile, forgiving and easy flying characteristics are still there, and '76 introduced the tapered wing design, where the previous versions featured the classic "Hershey bar" wing.  If I were purchasing one of these, I would still be looking for a moving map GPS.  Wheel fairings would also a must because personally, a fixed gear airplane looks naked without them.

With any airplane, there are some trade offs.  The fixed landing gear would definitely cause you to avoid any gear up landings and both insurance and annual inspection costs would be lower compared to the Arrow.  However, a less powerful engine means slower cruise speeds and fixed gear means additional drag on your airplane.  What you exchange in lower ownership costs results in taking a little longer to get to your destination.  Still, its a great airplane to have for a first-time owner.

#3 1978 (or newer) Cessna 152 (C152)

C152- one I actually flew!

I would think that a lot of pilots would've thought that they would see this airplane earlier on this list than where it falls.  Really, that comes down to me as the author.  I built about half my time in a 152 training as a private pilot before I switched to a Piper, and I've simply found a low-wing design to be better than their counterpart.  However, the Cessna 152 is an unsung hero to it's big brother, the 172 (which I have 0 time in!) Yes, half the world has trained in a 172, but 152's are just fun to fly.  A small two-seater plane, with a 110HP engine allows you to build time by flying slowly.  152s aren't about getting to your destination quickly, but enjoying the trip along the way. 152's are effortless to fly, and are tough because their primary purpose is a trainer.  Best of all, they're relatively cheap.  Cheap to buy and cheap to own.  All these factors make the 152 a great first time purchase.  If I were buying one for myself, I'd still want the moving map and IFR certification.

The 152 is a great airplane, no arguments there.  I prefer Piper over Cessna, and I'll still tell you the 152 is a great airplane. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a nice 152 that does not have a ton of hours on it.  Because the 152's primary purpose was to serve as a trainer, they are highly available, but most have quite a few hours on them.  This can also translate into them being beat up.  I've had my share of bounced and hard landings in a 152 and the 152 has to endure such abuse from many students.  You'll also have to sink some money into some avionics if you want to fly IFR.  152's are usually VFR airplanes.  They're light, and flying IFR in some conditions may get you and the plane thrown around a bit, so you may just want to save your money and fly VFR only.  Stalls can also be tricky with this plane.  If you're not coordinated when the plane stalls (and even when you are) you can likely experience a wing drop which, if not caught in time with the rudder, would result in a spin.

Honorable mention:  Piper Cherokee Dakota (PA-28-235)

PA-28-235

Visually no different from its Archer counterpart, all the difference in this plane lies underneath the engine cowling.  Under the cowling is a 235 HP engine turning this plane into quite a load carrier for the single engine Piper fleet.  This airplane is one of those that is an actual four place aircraft, where you can take off with four people in the plane and the tanks full of fuel.  You can't do that in the Arrow or the Archer.  You could try it, but they'll be pulling you out of the trees- if you can get that high.  Out front is also a constant speed propeller creating greater efficiency when flying, and underneath, reliable fixed gear.  If you've got WAAS avionics, this plane has you all set, in my opinion.

But the advantage is your disadvantage.  A 235 horsepower engine will guzzle gas all day long.  And, you'll also need a high performance rating for this airplane.  It seems to me if you're not carrying a full load, you're wasting your money on this plane.  But if you've got the extra cash to throw around on extra fuel, why not?  Then again, why not upgrade to a bigger plane since you're getting a high performance rating.  A Cherokee Six, Saratoga, or Lance will let you carry six passenger with 300 horsepower.  Probably not the best option for a first time buyer, but still a solid airplane.


One Day You Wake Up, and it All Makes Sense

As a private pilot training for his instrument rating, I feel obligated to mention that IFR training is completely different from that of the initial private pilot ticket.  I may have said this before, and if so, let me just reinforce that idea again.  In my previous posts, I've mentioned staring at lines on  charts in hopes that I can establish a connection with what to do, or how to fly them.  Things often take a turn for the abstract when looking at approach plates and en route charts, and the phrase "always be ahead of your airplane" has never been more true when trying to fly those lines in an actual airplane.

Since I received a passing score on my instrument knowledge test, I have taken the next step and started the flight portion of the training process.  During this time, I've finally managed to build 100 hours of total flight time as PIC (Pilot in Command).  This doesn't mean much in terms of aviation.  There's no celebration and no shirt tails are cut.  It's just an entry in a log book.  However, we in the aviation community always mention that your first 100 hours is your "license to learn".  Finally having surpassed the 100 hour mark, I don't exactly feel seasoned.  Experienced, yes.  I feel safe saying I know enough to be dangerous.  (Using the word dangerous very loosely here).

However, during my flight training process, it seemed to me that I had difficulty figuring out just HOW to fly an instrument approach.  Sure, there are dots and lines leading you right up to the runway and step down altitudes that tell you how to get there safely.  In all honesty, I know how to read an approach plate, but developing the kinesthetic sense of flying the approach did not make any sense.



Where to?

Until now.  One morning I woke up, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  It all just "clicked" together and I think what made it happen was finally flying it in the left seat; developing those thought processes and actual feel of preparing the aircraft to fly the approach.  A few summers back, I actually taught a ground school for private pilots, and I had a couple of students who wanted to get some airtime while they learned the ground work.  I suggested that they complete their ground work first in order to maximize their experiences in the air and as such, I decided to do the same while preparing for this instrument ticket.  However, I now can understand their frustration and confusion with what they were studying.  Sometimes what you're learning just doesn't make sense until the prop is turning and you're 3,500 feet in the air.



ACTUAL hand flown procedure turn and ILS approach. Like a boss.

Now that it's "clicked" I hope it sticks.  I am to a point where my confidence is rising and I'm feeling more proficient in my abilities to fly IFR.  In fact, while my training syllabus has quite a bit of stuff to do before I start flying places, I am eager to work through them (and even jumping ahead in some cases) to begin planning and flying trips.



The Quest for IFR: First Leg- Complete

The contents of this past week have been filled with excitement, stress, anxiety, and worry.  This cocktail of emotions came to the summit of what I have been preparing for the past three months: my IFR Knowledge Test.  Studying in short, hour-long bursts on a semi-regular schedule and reviewing all content questions at least twice, I began the final process of preparing for my tests by completing mock tests.  12 of them.  While all of my grade results were satisfactory by the standards of the FAA, I considered them to be below my personal minimums.

Once the day arrived that I was to actually take my test, I had to stop and collect my thoughts over what had occurred the past few days.  My test scores, while passing, weren't where I wanted them to be.  To further complicate the problem, it is theorized by many flight instructors that students will do about 10 points less on their actual test compared to a simulated test.  This is due to a variety of factors including new or strange test questions and test anxiety.  This "10 point factor" also held true for me when I completed my Private Pilot Knowledge Test.  Factoring in the "10 point factor" I began to realize that there was a strong possibility that I would not meet my personal minimum goal for my knowledge test.  Concerned over this, I decided to cancel my test, and use the weekend to review and polish up a little more.

That weekend, I continued my regimen of practice tests with moderate results at first.  As the weekend continued, I saw my scores slowly begin to increase to a satisfactory level.  Internally, I still wasn't completely satisfied with myself, but the realization that I was running out of time gave me no further room to delay my test.  As my test day grew closer, I began to realize that my learning had plateaued and that it would continue to remain in such a trend unless I changed my study habits.  Not having the time for this, I decided to face the challenge, use what extra days I had left and do the best that I could do.

On test day, the hours of the day crept by at a slow pace, each adding a bit more stress and pressure as my test time grew closer.  I even had brought some last minute study notes with me to review in my spare time, but the busyness of the work day kept me from glancing at them.

Finally, it was time.  I walked into the testing facility, my heart beating furiously from the nervousness contained within my body.  After completing paperwork, and verifying my name and address a minimum of 5 times, I sat down in font of the computer and began my test.  As I saw my first question, I felt my eyes widen in fear.  I was being asked a question I had never even seen or studied.  "Maybe it's just one of those new questions they ask you," I thought to myself.  The FAA will include 5 questions in s test for data collection that don't affect the grade of the test. Testers are not notified which questions are for this purpose, but I have to say it's pretty evident.

I pressed on, reviewing each question and selecting my answers and marking those I wasn't sure about to later review.  Completing all of my questions, I reviewed my marked ones and finally submitted it for grading.  Stepping out of the room to notify the proctor, she asked me if I'd like to review the ones I missed.  "Nope.  Just give me my grade," I said anxiously.  Looking back, I know this was a foolish decision, but I had been through so much anxiety that I didn't care at that point.  I didn't want to see how many I missed, because I knew I would count them to calculate my grade and didn't want to risk any disappointment.

Hearing the printer finally spin up, I knew that what was on that piece of paper would either make the rest of my week, or crush me in disappointment and fill me with fear of having to continue what has already been a long, drawn out process.  Looking at my test results, my eyes caught it. "PASSED".  While it was a promising sign, I also wanted to make sure that my score was above my personal minimum.  A second later, I found my actual score and realizing it was ABOVE my personal minimum, I raised my hands in victory.

Relief came to me instantly.  The long 3 months of studying had paid off and came to a successful completion.  That evening, I walked out of the testing facility, a smile on my face, satisfaction in my soul, and adventure on my mind as to what will follow next- the flying portion!

COP

COP. By now in my pursuit of an IFR certificate, I've learned that this acronym means "Change Over Point" and indicates to pilots using VORs to switch VOR frequencies in order to maintain adequate reception and ensure proper course heading and track.  Using a change over point means that a pilot must tack a new VOR in order to maintain course.  I've also found that I have just arrived at a COP in my journey to the instrument rating.  After investing time and money into this next step of my aviation journey, I've learned that I may need to begin to re-evaluate my decisions about how I am going to accomplish this certificate.

A Change Over Point as shown on an Enroute Chart

To explain, I need to set up a bit of a back story.  My last VFR flight revealed to me that it was time to go up with an instructor again.  In short, my landings were terrible, nearly bouncing every time and even wheel-barrowing in on one landing.  Due to personal budget limitations, the past few months have kept me out of the left seat, allowing my skills to further deteriorate and even allowing my currency to expire.  Needless to say, as July moves in, I look forward to getting some flight time in to work on my takeoffs and landings and gain my currency back.

Today, after a quick round of emails with my instructor this morning, I've learned that the Cherokee that I had intended on flying this weekend (as well as using for my instrument rating) has recently been taken offline and is now unavailable to rent.  Surprised to hear this, I wasn't able to fully connect my thoughts on the implications of how this would affect my continual training until it finally sunk in- "Where do I go from here?"

Sure, there are other aircraft available for rent and nicer ones at that too, even ones with autopilots.  However, those luxuries comes with a price that I am not willing to pay.  After all, I've set a personal goal to not spend as much money on this rating as I did with my initial ticket and I choose to remain committed to that goal.

For now, I'm still committing to continue with this rating even though the thought of "cutting my losses" has crept across my brain today. Though I would probably have a more flexible budget if I made that decision, I've put in too much time, I've spent too much money, and I enjoy flying too much to simply turn my back and walk away.

I've got some decisions to make ahead of me.  I'll keep you posted as I make them.

Shut up and study!

There come some occasions in life when that voice in the back of your head challenges your ability to believe that you will be successful at something.  Lately, all I've heard is, "This is too much," or "You're never going to get this." Usually, this voice has crept up on me when studying for my knowledge test.  This week, I finally responded to that voice and I said, "SHUT UP!"  So far, my greatest challenge in studying for my knowledge test has been myself.  Having finally realized this, I believe I'm starting to make some headway.

I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to my study process, reading and attempting to understand why each answer is the specific answer the FAA is looking for.  This process takes a huge amount of time and with over 1,000 available questions for the IFR knowledge test, it is a daunting process.  Because this task is so huge, I've allowed my self-doubts to creep in and challenge my self efficacy.

However, I've come to realize that possibly my approach is a bit off.  One of the things I learned in graduate school was that adult learners have different learning methods and they must adapt and develop ways of learning that create success for them.  So while I like to have a firm understanding and knowledge of why each answer is correct, I've also come to realize that this isn't always entirely necessary.

Indeed, there are multiple test questions that essentially have the same answer, but are worded differently.  These are not a problem.  Then there are others that are heavy on diagrams and charts which require a little more effort in an attempt to understand what the specific processes are.  Here is where I use a bit of training from my undergraduate career as a drama major.  When in the rehearsal process, a trick I used to memorize my lines were to find operative words in the script that connected a string of thoughts or ideas of the character, and the same process has worked with my private pilot knowledge test.

I'm not saying that memorizing the answers to the test without understanding the content of the answers is what I'm doing, but in a way it is.  However, I've found that when using this process, the concepts begin to connect and make sense once I'm finally in the airplane. This will make more efficient use of my study time and will allow me to review more questions.  All it takes now is a little bit of repetition.  Now that I'm over my self-doubts, it's time to develop my groove and get settled into it.

IFR: Weeks 2 and 3

I must admit that the past few weeks have not been too heavily laden with IFR study time.  In fact, I think I've actually studied only a handful of days out of the past two weeks.  Case and point, this IFR work is much slower than what I had anticipated.  These past few weeks, I've found myself distracted by other things to keep me entertained- like a Nintendo DS and Wii.  And while I've been pretty lucky at collecting all of the Star Coins in Super Mario Bros on the DS and Wii, I can only tell you some stuff about an enroute IFR chart.



Study me!



This looks more fun!

The upside to this story is after reviewing the flight planning session, and starting to feel over my head, I decided to break the natural progression.  Usually, I check off the list topic by topic.  Breaking from this routine, I started looking at the IFR charts instead.  I figured it'd be better if I understood how to read and interpret those before looking at flight planning so I could at least understand a segment of the flight planning process. Again, after finishing over 150 questions, I felt exhausted, but felt like I had learned something.  I must admit that while I have still learned, the details are still quite fuzzy.

Getting down to it, I've become dissatisfied with my study process.  Clearly, this process isn't working as well as it has for me in the past.  Possibly because there is a lot of information to take in that is completely different from what was required for private pilot training, and possibly because I'm intimidated by everything so I just strafe away from it- a self discipline issue.

So now it's time to take a step back and reconfigure what needs to be done.  I've got a solution in mind, but I am currently waiting on the right things to fall into place.  If they do, I'm hoping this new strategy will be more effective than what I've used in the past.  The unfortunate side to this is having to spend more money for the training, but in order to meet my set goal, perhaps this is a necessary sacrifice.  I am still determined to pass my knowledge test first.  I still have my simulator waiting on me once I'm ready.  I am still hopeful, but to be honest, I wish this process were easier than what it is.

IFR: A Week In

Last week, I wrote a post with the fullest intention to begin the process to add the IFR ticket to my Private Pilot Certificate.  While I still have the intention to do so, the first week has been rather uneventful.  As I sat down the first night in front of my computer to begin this process, my study software had the first topic to address- Federal Aviation Regulations.  97 questions to review, I set to work looking at each question, settling back into the once-familiar groove I used to prepare for the PPL and AGI.  Some 50 minutes later I finished reviewing, feeling accomplished in the fact that I had learned some new things.

The next day I continued the routine, but not before reviewing what I'd looked at the day before.  This particular day's topic was IFR Flight Planning and after a few minutes in, I began to feel somewhat under prepared.  This study session brought with it lots of charts, flight plans, and general trivial information that needed to be crammed in my head.  Soon I realized that I didn't have what I needed to be successful for this session, so a few minutes later I closed the session and took to the internet to order my testing supplement that is full of those charts and diagrams.  Personally, I prefer to have the booklet in front of me, rather than staring at a computer screen and being forced to use scroll bars to grasp the entire picture.  While I was at it, I also ordered my IFR kneeboard and View-limiting device, even though I knew I would not be needing them anytime soon.

Since my supplies were not scheduled to arrive for the next few days I took a break from studying, rationalizing the fact that I still have plenty of time to get everything in.  I fully had the intention of studying more this week, but after a brief spell of feeling under the weather and lacking the motivation necessary to study, I found myself short on study time this week.

Feeling a bit better this weekend I found myself in front of my computer screen again studying away.  Now that my testing supplement had arrived, I felt more confident in my abilities to grasp the material, but after a few questions in, I once again felt the doubts creeping in.  The material again seemed foreign and unfamiliar, and I began to realize that some additional reading and review is going to be required before I move further.  Cutting my study session short once again, I decided to call it a night, and save everything else for this week.  I still have plenty of time ahead of me to get familiar with this material.  I am determined to be successful.

Total Study Time:  2.3 hours