My Student Pilot's Log
Night, More Cross Country

Flights 28-29

Flight 28: Tues, Feb 20. (1.1 / 36.3 / 6.3)

We did the first full night lesson tonight. I had logged close to an hour of night time, but half of that was from my intro flight, when I was much more of a passenger than a pilot.

We discussed the regulations for night flight, and then went for an hour of local practice. I did some stalls and steep turns, then I was introduced to the hood. I put on a pair of foggles and did more steep turns solely by instrument reference. That was not too difficult, but it did make it clear that instrument flying requires much more precision.

Then my flight instructor had me close my eyes and try to do some maneuvers. He had me attempt level flight, turns, climbs, and descents. The point of the lesson is that you can't rely on your sense of feeling. It was interesting to see where we were aimed when I opened my eyes.

(I knew what was coming as soon as I closed them. I was glad to not get airsick as some people do. It was actually pretty fun, like an amusement park ride, but to enjoy it I had to totally trust my flight instructor.)

We then headed over to Plant City (PCM) to do some touch & goes after I reminded my instructor that they're not allowed at night at our airport. I had some trouble seeing the runway among the other lights, especially on the downwind leg. On the approach it was much easier to see than it is during the day.

I learned how to turn on and adjust the brightness of the runway lights by clicking the mike. I found that I was lower over the runway than it looked, and touched down too soon a couple of times. During the day I'm able to judge my height over the runway pretty well by now, but at night it was a different story. I went back to what worked in the early days, looking out the side window before touching down.

Flight 29: Thurs, Feb 22. (2.3 / 38.6 / 6.3)

I had the 152 booked for some lunchtime solo practice today, but when I checked the weather info, I found that VFR was not recommended until at least 1 pm, so I cancelled.

About an hour later, my flight instructor called me and invited me to fly across the state to watch the Space Shuttle launch. We filed a flight plan to Titusville, one of the closest airports to the launch site, did some quick cross country planning, and saddled up a 150.

We got past Orlando, tuned to Patrick Air Force Base approach, and heard someone say the shuttle was in the air. It was pretty hazy (more fires) most of the flight, and although we were within 30 miles, the shuttle looked like a small red-hot bullet.

At that point, there was no point going all the way to Titusville, so we made a U-turn and landed at Kissimmee (ISM) to count the trip as cross country. (See my Cross Country Map.)

It was just as well that we didn't go to Titusville, since it was no doubt crowded with shuttle watchers. We heard several pilots asking air traffic control which airport was the closest to the launch and whether the launch had taken place but the controllers were too busy to play tour guide.

On the way back I did some more hood work. I flew most of the pattern by instrument reference, and was starting to wonder if I was going to be coached all the way through the landing that way. Finally I was asked to remove the foggles, and found myself on final lined up with the runway. I'm not sure if or how much my CFI worked the controls, but I doubt that I did it all myself.

Glossary