After learning how to set up the airplane for Endurance Flight as described in my last post, it is now time to learn how to fly slower! That is, to fly the airplane right on the edge of stalling. Really, slow flight is the range of speed from stall up to the endurance speed. Check out the video!
Why would you want to fly so slow? Mostly importantly, during take-off and landing.
The idea was to establish straight and level flight at cruise speed, 105kts. After doing so, I was instructed to reduce the throttle to idle and raise the nose progressively, as the plane slowed, to maintain straight and level flight. One trick the FI showed me was that as soon as I reduced the throttle, to roll the trim wheel to the limit for a nose up attitude. This establishes a relatively steep nose up attitude. As the airspeed bleeds off, the stall horn faintly starts to sound. As soon as you hear the faintest sound, apply throttle all the way full. Then, it is just a matter of adjusting the throttle to maintain altitude.
While we were doing this exercise, there was a lot going on. For the first time, I found it took a lot of concentration. Once I watched the FI demonstrate it and then work through establishing it myself a couple of times, I started to get the hang of it.
One of the major points of this flight, other than learning how to establish yourself in stable slow flight, is to experience the substantial reduction in aileron sensitivity. Normally, when flying in cruise the ailerons are very responsive. The slightest rotation of the yoke translates into a a bank of the airplane. In slow flight, the wings are inclined so much, very near stall, that the airflow over the wings is very turbulent and the so the ailerons have very reduced sensitivity. The yoke feels loose and it takes large rotations to effect a bank. The rudder and elevator controls remain about the same since they are in the slipstream of the propeller blasting fast moving air along their surfaces. This is great training to get a feel for this at such a high altitude so that when landing (especially) you are ready for the 'sloppiness' of the ailerons.
We started this flight pretty late and so we flew, excuse the pun, through it. We landed just as the sun was setting.
Monday 28 April 2014
Ground School
Since I am getting through my flight training relatively quickly, I figure it is time to start ground school.
My flight school does not currently have a formal ground instruction program. They recommend an online program. I decided on www.pilottraining.ca. They have ground school options for many different kinds of licenses. The private pilot course is $250 CAD + tax and includes PSTAR and Radio Operator Certificate preparation. You get online access for 270 days.
There are reading assignments, presentations and videos. Each section has a quiz which tracks your understanding and grades you through the course. Since the TC requirements indicate 40 hours of ground school, I am surprised that they do not REQUIRE you to spend 40 hours minimum. Anyone who has a boater license might know what I mean. Each reading section has a timer and you are not allowed to move on until the timer reaches zero. Major annoying if you learn quickly, but there are time requirements. the PPL course does not have something similar. From what I gather, if you have the knowledge, you can do all the quizzes and watch all the videos and you are good to go.
I am just waiting for my copy of From the Ground Up (THE book for PPL ground school) from my flight school and I will start making my way through the material.
My flight school does not currently have a formal ground instruction program. They recommend an online program. I decided on www.pilottraining.ca. They have ground school options for many different kinds of licenses. The private pilot course is $250 CAD + tax and includes PSTAR and Radio Operator Certificate preparation. You get online access for 270 days.
There are reading assignments, presentations and videos. Each section has a quiz which tracks your understanding and grades you through the course. Since the TC requirements indicate 40 hours of ground school, I am surprised that they do not REQUIRE you to spend 40 hours minimum. Anyone who has a boater license might know what I mean. Each reading section has a timer and you are not allowed to move on until the timer reaches zero. Major annoying if you learn quickly, but there are time requirements. the PPL course does not have something similar. From what I gather, if you have the knowledge, you can do all the quizzes and watch all the videos and you are good to go.
I am just waiting for my copy of From the Ground Up (THE book for PPL ground school) from my flight school and I will start making my way through the material.
FTM Exercise 10: Flight for Range and Endurance
I seem to be motoring thru flight training at a pretty good pace. I only did one flight today (I normally try for two): Flight for Range and Endurance.
We started off as usual with a short ground brief to make sure that I read the FTM section and that I have some understanding of what we would be practicing. It seemed pretty straight forward.
The purpose of the exercise is to set up the airplane for to fly for its' maximum distance given the amount of the fuel it has on board. This is Flight for RANGE (FFR). One important point is that this does not necessarily mean that you will be airborne for the longest time, just that you will fly the farthest in this configuration. It is also important to note that it does not mean that you will have the fastest ground speed. Setting up the airplane for the maximum time in the air is called Flight for ENDURANCE (FFE). FFE does not maximize ground speed nor fuel efficiency, just time aloft. Think glider...with an engine providing minimal power.
As explained to me, it is important to know how and when to use each of these types of configuration. For example, you would want to set up the airplane for maximum range (FFR) when your are on a long distance flight and you want to minimize the number of fueling stops. Fueling takes a lot of time especially when the airport is busy. You might even have to hold or divert depending on circumstances at that airport you planned to stop at. Landings and take-offs also put you in slow flight near the ground which is a very undesirable state of flight (though safe when trained as I will find out!).
Now we all know that fuel is very expensive, so when do we ever want to fly in a less than ideal state of fuel efficiency such as FFE? Say for example, you are approaching an airport on you cross country trip that you intend to make a fuel stop at. You arrive in the area with about an hour of fuel in reserve as planned. As you contact ATC to get clearance to the circuit for landing, they put you in a hold for some reason (high traffic, VIPs, deer on the runway, an accident on runway, whatever). As a pilot, you have a decision to make: hold or divert. ATC will not make that decision for you. If it is a matter of traffic, you probably can make a pretty good estimation of the time needed to fit you in. Sometimes it is not so clear. The problem becomes critical if you do not have enough fuel to make it to the next airport or if you do and that airport is closed due to weather. This is when FFE becomes your configuration of choice. This flight configuration maximizes the amount of time you can remain in the air for the fuel you have on board. FFE is also the slowest you can fly the airplane before you enter SLOW FLIGHT (which I will discuss in another post).
So how do you achieve them? That was the point of the lesson today. Sometimes, an airplane will have a table, but the point today was to learn how to figure it out by experiment in flight.
We took off an headed out to the practice area at 3,500. We accelerated up to cruise at 105 MPH at 2,300 RPM. The rule of thumb is that for each reduction of 100 RPM, we should see a drop of 5 MPH of airspeed while holding altitude. We keep dropping the RPM by 100 increments until we see a drop in airspeed larger than the 5 MPH linear drop. In our case this was about 1,800 RPM. The speed dropped about 8-10 MPH. We note that RPM and speed on our kneeboard and put the RPM back up to 2,300 and accelerate back up near cruise and then reduce RPM back to the last RPM that gave us the steady linear 5 MPH to 100 RPM drop and add 100 RPM. In our case 1,900 RPM at an airspeed of 85 MPH. We adjusted the mixture which is important for fuel economy. This is FFR. If we flew at 85 MPH, at 1,900 RPM at 3,500 we would fly for the maximum range that we could achieve with the fuel on board. If we know the fuel on board and the fuel flow, we can calculate how long we could fly at that airspeed. Using wind information, we could calculate the ground speed and we would know how far we could fly. It is important to note that we would have to find a new FFR if we were at a different altitude because the engine runs at a different efficiency at different altitudes. Generally, flying higher gives greater range (up to a point).
Now to find FFE, we use a similar procedure with a subtle difference. We again start off at level flight 3,500 MSL at cruise speed with 2,300 RPM. We begin reducing the throttle by 100 RPM however this time, we are paying attention to altimeter. For each RPM drop, I kept changing the attitude to maintain straight and level flight at 3,500. The lowest RPM that I was able to maintain altitude was noted. It was just under 1,900 RPM...1825 RPM. A tiny difference in this plane. We accelerated back up to cruise and reduced RPM back down to the noted 1,825 RPM and we settled in at our FFE airspeed and attitude. This was the configuration that would allow us to remain airborne for the greatest possible TIME.
To finish off, we descended to 2,500 and found that the lower the altitude, the greater the endurance time we could achieve. This is an important point: when FFE is required, you should fly at the lowest safe altitude possible. Things like obstacles, buildings, ATC, traffic and turbulence should be taken into consideration. Of all considerations, turbulence is the most problematic generally. Because, in FFE, you are operating at the lowest power setting possible to maintain level flight, turbulence can cause changes in drag and more power will be required to maintain altitude. This results in constant changes in throttle and higher fuel flow which will decrease your endurance. As I learned, in this case, you should either change altitude or fly at a slightly higher power setting which will not require constant throttle changes which would be less efficient than a slightly higher constant power setting.
To be honest, I really enjoyed this lesson. For the first time, I really felt in control and confident in flying the airplane. Unfortunately, I accidentally set my GoPro Hero 3+ Black to still image instead of video mode so I all I found at the end of the flight was a picture of my hand pressing the record button.
Tomorrow, I have slow flight and I will be sure to get a video up on that one.
We started off as usual with a short ground brief to make sure that I read the FTM section and that I have some understanding of what we would be practicing. It seemed pretty straight forward.
The purpose of the exercise is to set up the airplane for to fly for its' maximum distance given the amount of the fuel it has on board. This is Flight for RANGE (FFR). One important point is that this does not necessarily mean that you will be airborne for the longest time, just that you will fly the farthest in this configuration. It is also important to note that it does not mean that you will have the fastest ground speed. Setting up the airplane for the maximum time in the air is called Flight for ENDURANCE (FFE). FFE does not maximize ground speed nor fuel efficiency, just time aloft. Think glider...with an engine providing minimal power.
As explained to me, it is important to know how and when to use each of these types of configuration. For example, you would want to set up the airplane for maximum range (FFR) when your are on a long distance flight and you want to minimize the number of fueling stops. Fueling takes a lot of time especially when the airport is busy. You might even have to hold or divert depending on circumstances at that airport you planned to stop at. Landings and take-offs also put you in slow flight near the ground which is a very undesirable state of flight (though safe when trained as I will find out!).
Now we all know that fuel is very expensive, so when do we ever want to fly in a less than ideal state of fuel efficiency such as FFE? Say for example, you are approaching an airport on you cross country trip that you intend to make a fuel stop at. You arrive in the area with about an hour of fuel in reserve as planned. As you contact ATC to get clearance to the circuit for landing, they put you in a hold for some reason (high traffic, VIPs, deer on the runway, an accident on runway, whatever). As a pilot, you have a decision to make: hold or divert. ATC will not make that decision for you. If it is a matter of traffic, you probably can make a pretty good estimation of the time needed to fit you in. Sometimes it is not so clear. The problem becomes critical if you do not have enough fuel to make it to the next airport or if you do and that airport is closed due to weather. This is when FFE becomes your configuration of choice. This flight configuration maximizes the amount of time you can remain in the air for the fuel you have on board. FFE is also the slowest you can fly the airplane before you enter SLOW FLIGHT (which I will discuss in another post).
So how do you achieve them? That was the point of the lesson today. Sometimes, an airplane will have a table, but the point today was to learn how to figure it out by experiment in flight.
We took off an headed out to the practice area at 3,500. We accelerated up to cruise at 105 MPH at 2,300 RPM. The rule of thumb is that for each reduction of 100 RPM, we should see a drop of 5 MPH of airspeed while holding altitude. We keep dropping the RPM by 100 increments until we see a drop in airspeed larger than the 5 MPH linear drop. In our case this was about 1,800 RPM. The speed dropped about 8-10 MPH. We note that RPM and speed on our kneeboard and put the RPM back up to 2,300 and accelerate back up near cruise and then reduce RPM back to the last RPM that gave us the steady linear 5 MPH to 100 RPM drop and add 100 RPM. In our case 1,900 RPM at an airspeed of 85 MPH. We adjusted the mixture which is important for fuel economy. This is FFR. If we flew at 85 MPH, at 1,900 RPM at 3,500 we would fly for the maximum range that we could achieve with the fuel on board. If we know the fuel on board and the fuel flow, we can calculate how long we could fly at that airspeed. Using wind information, we could calculate the ground speed and we would know how far we could fly. It is important to note that we would have to find a new FFR if we were at a different altitude because the engine runs at a different efficiency at different altitudes. Generally, flying higher gives greater range (up to a point).
Now to find FFE, we use a similar procedure with a subtle difference. We again start off at level flight 3,500 MSL at cruise speed with 2,300 RPM. We begin reducing the throttle by 100 RPM however this time, we are paying attention to altimeter. For each RPM drop, I kept changing the attitude to maintain straight and level flight at 3,500. The lowest RPM that I was able to maintain altitude was noted. It was just under 1,900 RPM...1825 RPM. A tiny difference in this plane. We accelerated back up to cruise and reduced RPM back down to the noted 1,825 RPM and we settled in at our FFE airspeed and attitude. This was the configuration that would allow us to remain airborne for the greatest possible TIME.
To finish off, we descended to 2,500 and found that the lower the altitude, the greater the endurance time we could achieve. This is an important point: when FFE is required, you should fly at the lowest safe altitude possible. Things like obstacles, buildings, ATC, traffic and turbulence should be taken into consideration. Of all considerations, turbulence is the most problematic generally. Because, in FFE, you are operating at the lowest power setting possible to maintain level flight, turbulence can cause changes in drag and more power will be required to maintain altitude. This results in constant changes in throttle and higher fuel flow which will decrease your endurance. As I learned, in this case, you should either change altitude or fly at a slightly higher power setting which will not require constant throttle changes which would be less efficient than a slightly higher constant power setting.
To be honest, I really enjoyed this lesson. For the first time, I really felt in control and confident in flying the airplane. Unfortunately, I accidentally set my GoPro Hero 3+ Black to still image instead of video mode so I all I found at the end of the flight was a picture of my hand pressing the record button.
Tomorrow, I have slow flight and I will be sure to get a video up on that one.
Friday 25 April 2014
Student Pilot Permit (PSTAR) Exam
So today I wrote my PSTAR exam and scored 98%! I can officially fly solo legally when the time comes.
Radio Operator Certificate
The other I managed to get finished was my Radio's Operators Certificate (ROC-A) from Industry Canada which is a prerequisite before you are allowed to communicate with other aircraft or ground stations in the aircraft. This is also required before I am allowed to fly without an instructor (still a ways to go yet before that happens). I am now able to start practicing radio calls.
The study guide for the ROC-A can be found here. You really do not need a course to complete the exam. I did find it a bit frustrating that I could not find a sample exam to see how the exam is structured and how they ask the questions, but after writing the exam...it is very basic. Other than the basic stuff like how the order of priority and the phonetic alphabet, be sure you know the penalties, when to use words like "affirmative" and "over" and read the questions. Some of the questions are very hard to understand and seem more about testing your ability to understand complex phrases used in regulations than to make sure you understand what you are answering. One question, I had to ask my instructor after if I read it right and he got it wrong too.
It is only 25 questions and takes under 15 minutes. You need a 70% to pass.
Now, with that out of the way, I am on to write my Student Pilot Permit (formerly PSTAR) exam tomorrow. Wish me luck!
The study guide for the ROC-A can be found here. You really do not need a course to complete the exam. I did find it a bit frustrating that I could not find a sample exam to see how the exam is structured and how they ask the questions, but after writing the exam...it is very basic. Other than the basic stuff like how the order of priority and the phonetic alphabet, be sure you know the penalties, when to use words like "affirmative" and "over" and read the questions. Some of the questions are very hard to understand and seem more about testing your ability to understand complex phrases used in regulations than to make sure you understand what you are answering. One question, I had to ask my instructor after if I read it right and he got it wrong too.
It is only 25 questions and takes under 15 minutes. You need a 70% to pass.
Now, with that out of the way, I am on to write my Student Pilot Permit (formerly PSTAR) exam tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Thursday 24 April 2014
Flight Lesson 3 - Climbing & Descending (VIDEO)
Today we worked on climbing and descending. Video can be found here.
Johnnie, my instructor, had me perform the pre-flight exterior check on the Cessna 150.
I slowly did my walk around checking leading edges, screws, lights, the propeller, oil levels and the control surfaces. I assisted a little more with the pre-start checklist this time and after that we taxi'd to the fueling station and filled the tanks.
Probably the biggest difficulties I have had so far is controlling the plane during taxi. I find difficult to brake with both feet at the same time without applying to much on one side or the other. For those that do not know, the steering for the plane (on the ground) is controlled by foot pedals which slide in and out. When you oress the right pedal in the plane steers right and when you press the left it steers left. Seems simple, but the added issue I have is that if you rotate the pedals (press your toes in) that is how you brake and if you press one brake pedal more that the other, the plane turns. It is going to take a bit of practice. Luckily, I avoided trying to steer the plane with the yoke like a steering wheel which is always an instructors favourite rookie mistake I hear. Actually, the yoke does play a part in taxiing, but that is for another day. Johnnie took over the backtrack on the runway due to the amount of traffic for this flight, but I assure you, it wasn't pretty yesterday when I did it.
There was quite a bit more traffic today due to the beautiful weather. A few planes coming and going for lunch, a private jet and another student doing circuits (repeatedly landing and taking off without stopping). It was good practice for spotting traffic. We found a break and took off.
I flew quite a bit more today. After reaching a safe altitude, I had control for most of the flight. I found the workload to be A LOT higher during this lesson. Climbing and descending requires monitoring of several things at once and the instructor tried to get me used to monitoring it all at once (except the mixture control). For some reason, it took me a while to grasp the order and the memory aid he uses: "look down and PAT (Power-Attitude-Trim) the Dog" for descending & "look up at the "APT (Attitude-Power-Trim) building" for climbing. I think it mostly had to do with the drastic increase in workload.
I practice climbs and descending for about 30 minutes and finally nailed my last descent properly with all controls in the right order and within tolerances. It really helped near the end when I started to think of all of the control manipulations as a simultaneous rather than step by step. In a power off descent for example, I had a tough time remembering to: put carburetor heat on, power off, adjust attitude, establish a stabilized descent (airspeed, vertical speed, RPM) when I was trying to do them as individual steps one after the other. It was much easier when I just let it flow and didn't think it through so much. Hard to explain, but when you are up there it can get overwhelming...for my first time.
Johnnie commented that I did a good job, but that he would like to do a few more to make sure it is second nature and I would have to agree. I also think that I will hit my home simulator to go through some practice of the steps until they become a reflex rather than something I need to think about. The weather is forecast to be bad for the next two days, so it gives me some time to work on it on the PC.
I should note that flying a PC simulator (even with all airplane flight controls matching a plane) is not even close to the real thing. The only thing I will "practice" on will be the order of controls and making them reactionary. I think it also has a place for practicing instrument navigation when the time comes, but I could be wrong.
Johnnie, my instructor, had me perform the pre-flight exterior check on the Cessna 150.
Cessna 150 Aerobat
I slowly did my walk around checking leading edges, screws, lights, the propeller, oil levels and the control surfaces. I assisted a little more with the pre-start checklist this time and after that we taxi'd to the fueling station and filled the tanks.
Probably the biggest difficulties I have had so far is controlling the plane during taxi. I find difficult to brake with both feet at the same time without applying to much on one side or the other. For those that do not know, the steering for the plane (on the ground) is controlled by foot pedals which slide in and out. When you oress the right pedal in the plane steers right and when you press the left it steers left. Seems simple, but the added issue I have is that if you rotate the pedals (press your toes in) that is how you brake and if you press one brake pedal more that the other, the plane turns. It is going to take a bit of practice. Luckily, I avoided trying to steer the plane with the yoke like a steering wheel which is always an instructors favourite rookie mistake I hear. Actually, the yoke does play a part in taxiing, but that is for another day. Johnnie took over the backtrack on the runway due to the amount of traffic for this flight, but I assure you, it wasn't pretty yesterday when I did it.
There was quite a bit more traffic today due to the beautiful weather. A few planes coming and going for lunch, a private jet and another student doing circuits (repeatedly landing and taking off without stopping). It was good practice for spotting traffic. We found a break and took off.
I flew quite a bit more today. After reaching a safe altitude, I had control for most of the flight. I found the workload to be A LOT higher during this lesson. Climbing and descending requires monitoring of several things at once and the instructor tried to get me used to monitoring it all at once (except the mixture control). For some reason, it took me a while to grasp the order and the memory aid he uses: "look down and PAT (Power-Attitude-Trim) the Dog" for descending & "look up at the "APT (Attitude-Power-Trim) building" for climbing. I think it mostly had to do with the drastic increase in workload.
I practice climbs and descending for about 30 minutes and finally nailed my last descent properly with all controls in the right order and within tolerances. It really helped near the end when I started to think of all of the control manipulations as a simultaneous rather than step by step. In a power off descent for example, I had a tough time remembering to: put carburetor heat on, power off, adjust attitude, establish a stabilized descent (airspeed, vertical speed, RPM) when I was trying to do them as individual steps one after the other. It was much easier when I just let it flow and didn't think it through so much. Hard to explain, but when you are up there it can get overwhelming...for my first time.
Johnnie commented that I did a good job, but that he would like to do a few more to make sure it is second nature and I would have to agree. I also think that I will hit my home simulator to go through some practice of the steps until they become a reflex rather than something I need to think about. The weather is forecast to be bad for the next two days, so it gives me some time to work on it on the PC.
I should note that flying a PC simulator (even with all airplane flight controls matching a plane) is not even close to the real thing. The only thing I will "practice" on will be the order of controls and making them reactionary. I think it also has a place for practicing instrument navigation when the time comes, but I could be wrong.
Lesson 1 - Attitudes & Movements
So today I had my first flight lesson!
The plan was to fly a Cessna 150 in the morning for the first lesson and a Diamond DA20 for the second so that I could get the feel for the different planes available. They also have a Cessna172 and a Diamond DA40, but I figure these are too big (and pricey) for just starting out.
The plan was to fly a Cessna 150 in the morning for the first lesson and a Diamond DA20 for the second so that I could get the feel for the different planes available. They also have a Cessna172 and a Diamond DA40, but I figure these are too big (and pricey) for just starting out.
Cessna 150
Diamond DA20
I would have preferred to try both airplanes, but we ended up just flying the DA20 due to the high winds. I am hoping to use the 150 for one of the lessons tomorrow.
When I arrived, we did a brief overview of the flight exercise. Basically, the instructor questioned me on a few of the points in the Flight Training Manual to make sure I had read it and understood what we would be doing. Nothing too crazy, just some basic stuff. After that, we headed out for a pre-flight check.
The instructor did most of the flying, but I did do the pre-flight check of the airplane with him and did most of the taxiing. All the radio work was done by him as I have yet to write my radio exam. He flew us to the training area and then I did quite a bit of work at the controls flying the plane which was a lot of fun. I think I tend to ask A LOT of questions, but I think that is a good way to learn.
I did mount a GoPro in the cockpit and am in the process of editing a video.
Tomorrow is Climbing and Descending!
Tomorrow is Climbing and Descending!
Sunday 20 April 2014
Student Pilot Permit - Prep
I have begun studying for my Student Pilot Permit (previously called the PSTAR). It is a 50 question multiple choice test drawn from a pool of 200 questions. Transport Canada has a study guide which shows all 200 questions. Unfortunately, there are no official answers released to check your prep.
An excellent source for studying for the student pilot permit exam that I found is called Robyn's Flying Start. The study guide has all of the questions and the associated answers along with an explanation for the answers and why the other choices are wrong. This is definitely something you want to check out before the test. Find it here.
I am going to write my SPP exam this week.
An excellent source for studying for the student pilot permit exam that I found is called Robyn's Flying Start. The study guide has all of the questions and the associated answers along with an explanation for the answers and why the other choices are wrong. This is definitely something you want to check out before the test. Find it here.
I am going to write my SPP exam this week.
Private Pilot License Requirements
For those that are not aware or for anyone that is not from Canada, the requirements for a Private Pilots License are summarized below. I have included links to the Transport Canada Regulations for those that like to read the actual detailed requirements.
- Must be a minimum of 17 years of age
- Must hold a Category 3 Medical Certificate (or better)
- 40 hours private pilot aeroplane ground school instruction
- Obtain a minimum of 60% in the overall written examination Private Pilot Licence - Aeroplane (PPAER) including 60% in each of the individual knowledge areas
- 45 hours private pilot flight training including:
- 17 hours dual instruction flight time, including a minimum of 3 hours cross-country flight time and 5 hours of instrument time
- 12 hours solo flight time, including 5 hours cross-country flight time
- 16 additional hours either solo or dual 5 of which may be in a simulator
- Flight Test with Transport Canada Examiner(full details here)
One of my Favourite Flight Videos - Flying VFR into IMC - a top KILLER of pilots
Yesterday I purchased a GoPro Hero3 Black Edition high-definition camera to record my flight training. I am hoping that these videos of my flights will allow me to review each of my flights for the little details that I might miss while learning in the air.
Here is one of my favourite GoPro videos where a pilot records his flights and uses them to learn. He has some excellent videos and commentary.
This pilot, Flightchops, inspired me to begin recording my flights. Pilots, do you record any of your flights?
Here is one of my favourite GoPro videos where a pilot records his flights and uses them to learn. He has some excellent videos and commentary.
This pilot, Flightchops, inspired me to begin recording my flights. Pilots, do you record any of your flights?
Welcome to my blog. My name is Ian Foster. I am 35 years old, a father, a husband, a real estate investor, and an aspiring pilot. On April 23rd, 2014, I will be starting my private pilot license training with Genesis Flight Centre in Collingwood, ON Canada.
This has been a lifelong goal of mine and I am finally going to achieve it. In 2000, I was offered admission to the Seneca College Aviation Program, which I turned down, to move to British Columbia where I eventually pursued a totally different career path. I have been a rampy at 2 major airports in Canada, a construction labourer, a engineering student, a professional project manager in charge of multimillion dollar projects in the marine industry and lately, a real estate investor. I enjoy new challenges in life and I am never scared to change what I do when I stop enjoying it. Flying though... that has never fallen out of my mind through all of the things I have done.
So here I am, on the verge of starting my Private Pilot License. I hope you enjoy this blog.
This has been a lifelong goal of mine and I am finally going to achieve it. In 2000, I was offered admission to the Seneca College Aviation Program, which I turned down, to move to British Columbia where I eventually pursued a totally different career path. I have been a rampy at 2 major airports in Canada, a construction labourer, a engineering student, a professional project manager in charge of multimillion dollar projects in the marine industry and lately, a real estate investor. I enjoy new challenges in life and I am never scared to change what I do when I stop enjoying it. Flying though... that has never fallen out of my mind through all of the things I have done.
So here I am, on the verge of starting my Private Pilot License. I hope you enjoy this blog.
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