This trip report will be a bit different from my previous reports. I’m usually flying SQ as a passenger and quite enjoying the experience, but this report will document me as a pilot, which was an even more exciting experience.

Background

I always wanted to be a pilot. Since my first flight when I was 5yrs old in a LH 742 and I transited via FRA, I knew I wanted to be a pilot. However, I was told to get an actual degree before pursuing a flying career, which I did and I’m pretty happy about that. But there was always something in the back of my mind that reminded me of what I really wanted to do.

So during my Xmas holidays I decided to go out to a small airfield close to where I was spending my holidays to give it a go.


Next to a Texan in immaculate condition


Dying to take this one for a spin

Dep: CJR – Culpeper County Airport, Culpeper, Virginia
Arr: OMH – Orange County Airport, Orange County, Virginia
A/C: Cessna 172
Reg N7058G

We had initially found an airport in Warrenton, about 45 miles from Washington, DC, however the guys there kept on giving us the go around, no pun intended. So we drove a further 20-30 miles to Culpeper and found another tiny field where a very friendly guy, Bob, was the instructor at White Hawk Aviation. He agreed on taking me up in the air for about an hour, do a couple of take offs and, hopefully, the same number of landings. The weather was not perfect for flying, but not bad either. The FAA’s METAR report said winds calm, visibility 10Mi, and a 6000ft ceiling for the area, which was good enough to go.

On to the tarmac, and it was time to get familiar with the plane. Now, although I would never say that Flight Simulator is anything like the real thing, it did help a bit having been an FS nut in the past to know some of the main dials. Fuel mix in, Master/Alt on, and it was time to crank start the plane, which went smoothly. A check on the avionics and the sound in the headset, and it was time to push on the throttle and taxi to the active.


In the driver's seat


Checking the map of the area


Nearly ready to go

My stepdad being a pilot and having flown all different kinds of planes for all different kinds of airlines as well as for private jets, had told me that it was very important to know about the P-factor, where P stands for propeller. Due to the way the blade is shaped, when you push on the throttle, the airplane will want to go to the left, so you need to maintain a light tap of right rudder while on taxi.






Bob instructing me how to start the engine


Taxiing to the active

As we approached the end of the taxiway and held short from the active, Bob went over the basics of aerodynamics and basically how speed, altitude, and flight level is held, which is always a mix of throttle and pitch.

We got on the common frequency for CJR and announced our intended plan of departing on Rwy and then heading South, without the intention of remaining in the pattern.

I pushed on the throttle and we lined up on the keyboard. Immediately Bob told me to give it all the throttle it had and remember to keep giving it right rudder, especially now that we had full power on. It is incredible how much the a/c pulls to the left, and it was a good thing that Bob was there with his own set of controls in case something went wrong.

Before I knew it, Bob was saying “She’s ready to fly! Pull on the yoke.” She indeed was ready to fly, and for my first takeoff, it was incredible how leveled it was considering the pull to the left and my foot deep in the right rudder, but we soon were up around 1000ft and I was flying the plane with the yoke and the pitch.


"She's ready to fly!"

After takeoff we turned left and were downwind of the runway, but then turned right heading 210 degrees towards OMH. The flight was itself uneventful and me and Bob spent the 20-odd minutes in the air continuing our conversation on the basics of aerodynamics and how/why things fly.

We dialed in the localizer for OMH in the OBD and soon enough we were looking out the window trying to find the field. We tuned into the ATIS and found out the runway in use was 24. I reduced the throttle to about 2000rpm and then further down to 1500 in order to bring the plane down to 1000ft and in for finals.

It is surprising how up around 2500ft without winds the plane rides so smooth, but when you come in for a landing, the controls become quite sensitive and it is hard to bring it down the centerline for a landing. It is also interesting on how, obviously (I suppose), you can make so many corrections even at the last minute in such a small plane. The landing was not as rough as I was expecting it to be, considering you really feel the speed in such a small aircraft as opposed to when you are seated as a passenger in a bigger commercial jet.

Bob told me that he did not believe in touch-and-go’s, and that he wanted us to land, extit the runway, and taxi back to the active for take off, which we did.

Dep: OMH – Orange County Airport, Orange County, Virginia
Arr: CJR – Culpeper County Airport, Culpeper, Virginia
A/C: Cessna 172
Reg N7058G

Once we taxied back to the active, we tuned into the common frequency for OMH and stated our intentions. We then aligned ourselves on the runway and applied full power. For a split second I forgot the P-factor, and the aircraft started veering to the left, so I applied some right rudder. The problem was that by then the plane was ready to fly and I was pulling back in the yoke, which combined with a lot of right rudder was not such a good idea, but Bob saved the day and I was only left with a slight embarrassment for forgetting the P-factor.

We took off to the north and after an uneventful flight spent talking about Bob’s previous life and my current one, we were on the look out for CJR. Since the winds were calm and we were first in the air, we called the landing rwy and it was number . We flew downwind and then made a turn for finals, which was quite tight. Bob kept reminding me to look at the compass, but I knew that we had missed the alignment for finals and we would have to do the approach all over again. 1200rpm in the dial and we made a really tight left turn to intercept the final path and then a right turn to align with the rwy. There were a lot of last second corrections with the rudder, but we managed to put her down safely and back to the tiny terminal bldg.


Taxiing back to the terminal at CJR


Parking


Parked


Shutdown


Tied down for the rest of the day


So this ends my first trip report in which I’m not an actual passenger.

Hope you enjoyed and if you did leave a comment.

Cheers
Coal