Brett psyched to enter the IMC soup!

Last Sunday, after a full day of working at the airfield, Brett and I decided to fly over to Aurora to meet up with some friends for the evening. Brett wanted to get some IFR time, and the weather looked like it was going to cooperate fully, and by cooperate I mean clouds sitting from 2000ft-8000ft. Brett filed the flightplan, we grabbed the Diamond, and off we went.

We only had patchy clouds to contend with initially, which in the evening light was absolutely gorgeous. This was short lived though, and somewhere over Cascade Locks we took a deep breath and plunged into the solid wall of cloud.  Watching from the right seat this all looked fairly effortless, aside from noticing Brett had become more focused. Communication with Seattle ATC was regular, which I would have found comforting if I was pilot in command.

Just before plunging in...

Approaching Aurora we realized we would have some time before our ride arrived, so Brett decided to fly a missed approach and let me take controls. Previously I had somewhat gotten used to flying somewhat off of feel. In the clouds I had to learn not to trust my internal sense of up and down and put all my focus into the instruments. And it did take all my focus. I can’t yet imagine talking on the radio, or studying a map or approach plan. It was all I could do to maintain altitude within 100 ft and hold a heading or coordinated turn. It really drove home the point that at my level of skills flying into a cloud is no joke.

After 25 minutes of intense focus, Brett took controls again and we landed. Not only was I a bit worked from the effort, but looking up from the panel I ws surprised that adjusting to the visual reference below the clouds was not immediate.

Anyway, even though it was hard work I really enjoyed the engaging nature of the flying. What a cool learning experience.

View of Portland on the return trip

-IB

Today I got a huge treat! The plan was to fly to Condon where Brett was to meet up with a student for a lesson, and we would do a lesson there and one back. Since the 172 was booked we got to take out Gorge Aviation’s other plane, the Diamond Star. Now I like the 172, but the Diamond is dead sexy! Its lines are reminiscent of a glider. Once in the cockpit the difference from the Cessna is initially overwhelming, but adjusting to where everything is pretty rapid.

We were a bit pressed for time on the flight over, so weren’t able to get into much instruction, but it was super fun to just get a feel for the Diamond. Not far out of The Dalles we climbed up nearby the layer of patchy cumulus or “Simpsons” clouds. This was the most fun I’ve had flying yet! We were sure to keep a sharp eye out for other planes, but weaving over, around, and brushing shoulders with these clouds was absolutely amazing! You could really enjoy the 3 dimensional aspect of flying.
All too soon we reached Condon (the Diamond really likes to move too) and entered the pattern. While flying over the airfield we spotted a local cropduster on the ground with engine running, and Brett made the comment to keep an eye peeled for these guys since they typically operate without radios. By the time we were on final, the cropduster was taxiing out and looking as if he were going to jump on the runway in front of us. He saw us just as he rolled onto the runway and made a rapid 180. I was about to put in the throttle and go around when Brett took the controls and eased us around and into the landing. The whole thing was a good wakeup call not to fall too much into routine.

Cropduster taxiing for takeoff

On the return trip we practiced stalls (a bit easier in the Diamond than the Cessna but maybe that’s just me), turns around a point, and crabbing and slipping. Also while focused on ground reference exercises, Brett pulled the engine power on me, simulating an engine failure. This consisted of attaining glide slope speed (90 in the Diamond), finding a suitable landing site (I chose a field instead of the nice,  paved runway which was already inline with my heading, …damn), then trouble shooting the engine failure.

Today’s landing at The Dalles went better. The lesson for me to take away was the use of flaps to bleed off altitude while maintaining airspeed. We approached straight in, which felt unusual, and were a bit too high initially. Once Brett clued me in to putting in flaps we descended perfectly to the runway, and this time I was able to be a bit more patient with flying the plane to the runway and letting it set down. Definitely psyched!!! What a day!

-IB

At 6.1 hours of flight time, this first post will involve a bit of “catching up” on what has transpired.  Please forgive me if it gets long winded. First some background…

I am sure like most of you reading this, I grew up fascinated with flying. I have a vivid memory from about the time I was in the first grade where my father and a friend were having a conversation about the unbelievable SR-71 Blackbird. As soon as I could get my hands on books containing information and pictures of this inspiring machine, I was hooked and dreamed of becoming a pilot. Well over time this dream shifted and discovered a different passion in climbing which took me away from my original dreams and evolved into a ten year career climbing and guiding peaks around the world. This too, has shifted into pursuit of a second career and I am 2 years into a bachelor degree in nursing.

This summer a unique opportunity presented itself when a long time friend and flight instructor offered a “flight immersion” experience. I would move from Bozeman Montana to The Dalles for the summer and work at Gorge Aviation in exchange for flight lessons. Immediately all the old childhood excitement was reignited. I have known Brett Zefting for almost a decade, much of that time spent climbing and guiding climbing together. Through this I have experienced both his ability to make solid and calculated decisions in high-risk scenarios as well as his competency as an educator. My renewed enthusiasm for flying, coupled with knowing the caliber of human Brett is, I jumped at the opportunity and set plans in motion for heading west as soon as my semester finished.

Reflecting on the last 2 weeks, my “immersion program” has proved to be a whirlwind. My first couple flights felt surprisingly overwhelming with trying to acclimate to the environment, controls and instruments. Initially, we focused on pre-flight (make friends with the checklist and it’s easy), run-up, take off, climbing, straight and level flight, coordinated turns, descents, entering a pattern, and approach to land…whew! To be honest, it took a couple flights before I could relax enough to fully enjoy the fact that I was flying. The flight sessions seemed to pass so quickly and we would be back on the ground leaving me to spend the rest of the day dreaming of getting back into the air.

Just as I began to feel that some of these tasks were becoming manageable, we started into slow flight and stall recovery. This I really enjoyed. The buildup of suspense to an eventual stall felt like it took forever, the whole time thinking, “this is just wrong!” I was surprised though with how quick and easy the recovery is. That Cessna 172 really just wants to stay in the sky. The most difficult part of the day was actually transitioning back into full-powered flight after having gotten used to the mushy controls of slow flying, then entering the pattern at The Dalles airfield where things again begin to happen rapidly.

Since then we have mostly been working on staying in the pattern and practicing landings. The pattern, and approach feel better each time, but landings are proving to be quite challenging. I finally figured out that I have been rushing the landing, and have been in too much of a hurry to put the plane on the runway, which tends to cause too big a flair and sometimes a good bounce. Next time I’ll work on flying down to that “air cushion” just over the runway, then let the airspeed bleed off till the plane decides to touch down.

I’ll keep you posted!