Category Archives: Aviation

All right! I passed my flight test, so I will get my new license after doing a bit of paperwork Here are the details.  Read more... (513 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Although this isn’t really recent, it is a related milestone, so it’s in here. This was the day I flew solo for the first time.  Read more... (59 words, 1 image, estimated 14 secs reading time)

I have the amazing fortune to live across the street from a couple, both pilots, who own a plane (PA-28 – see pictures) and invite me for flights occasionally. We have flown to Morrisburg and Pembroke, and this weekend Mike asked me if I was interested in going to the Canadian Aviation Expo being held in Hamilton. You’re reading this, so obviously I eagerly accepted.
Although the weather was not supposed to be too good on Saturday, we decided to go then rather than Sunday just in case it took a turn for the worse and we got stuck in Ottawa. As it turned out, we had a 30 knot headwind on the way down, and clouds and precipitation on the way back, so we had some excitement after all
Since I tend to ramble when I tell stories, I’ll restrain myself this time and just mention some highlights. I flew the trip down including communication and the landing (which I think I did pretty well). It was a very cool feeling flying past the downtown core; I took a couple pictures of the CN Tower – here is one.  Read more... (420 words, 3 images, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

The OFC (Ottawa Flying Club) pre-solo exam is not actually required by the government to get my license, but the flying club makes me write it before they trust me with their planes. The crazy thing is 12 pages long, something I didn’t know until yesterday. There were 61 questions, with a total mark of 100. Most questions were fill in the blank, but most were multiple choice, but most were fill in the blank. A passing grade, fortunately, is 70%, a little lower than for the PSTAR.  Read more... (185 words, estimated 44 secs reading time)

I am two solo flights ahead of where I was when I wrote my last article, one of which went well and the other…not so well :S

The former was a 0.9 hour flight to the practice area; really a very routine flight, practicing stalls, descents, and slow flight.

When it comes to the second one, though, let’s just say it was slightly embarrassing for two reasons.  The first was a simple lack of terminology on my part (“stop-and-go”) resulting in a bit of confusion, although nothing got unsafe at any time.  If it hadn’t been for the second problem, it is likely nobody at the flying club would have heard about it.  Read more... (317 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

Mark and I flew around Russell, Embrun, and Cumberland today so I could practice diversions. It was very cold, and I’m starting to think that I will never get a plane with decent heat! The flight was 1.7 hours. Mark asked me to do a mock flight plan that we’ll go over during my next booking.

The airport was undergoing a lot of snow removal today since the Ottawa area got about half a foot of snow yesterday, so the tower told us to use runway 32, our longest runway.  Read more... (165 words, estimated 40 secs reading time)

Just a quick one this time… Unal and I flew the ground briefing from yesterday – spins and stalls. We did three spins, then a couple power-on stalls. They are so cool, but not quite as cool as in a glider. The G forces during recovery are still rather strong, though.

I asked Unal to take a quick picture of me in the cockpit after we landed:  Read more... (80 words, 1 image, estimated 19 secs reading time)

My exams are done, and I am going to fly as much as possible, weather permitting. I flew for the first time in a long while on Tuesday – a rather cold day, but good for flying. Since Unal, my instructor until now, is returning to his home country, I will now be flying with Mark.

Mark and I flew out to the practice area so I could work on some things I will need to demonstrate during my flight test. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I was able to do, although I ran each radio call past Mark, just in case .  Read more... (132 words, estimated 32 secs reading time)

The weather in Ottawa is frustrating. Seriously, there have probably only been about ten days of good weather in the last six weeks, and I haven’t had a flight booked on any of them!

About once a week, I head out to the airport in the middle of the afternoon for my second solo cross-country, only to hang around a bit, then decide I can’t go. Today, that happened, but I wrote a practice exam since I was there anyhow. The exam was to see if I am ready to write the real Transport Canada exam that I have to pass to get my license. I’ll find out in a couple of days what I got.  Read more... (150 words, estimated 36 secs reading time)