1. Common courtesy will go a long way.
2. Common sense will keep a pilot alive.
3. Always be prepared for every flight.
4. ATC is your friend.
5. Know your FAR's!
1. Being a courteous pilot is important because it is the correct thing to do when at taxiing by taking turns when pulling up to the runway, doing your runup away from anyone, talking to fellow pilots when entering the traffic pattern, letting everyone know who you are, where you are, and what your intentions are, and saying please and thank you when talking to anyone on the radio.
2. Common sense will help you make the right decisions. If an emergency happens, use common sense. Don't over think the situation. Do what makes the most sense. Common sense works hand in hand with common courtesy. Keep track of where you are headed when flying to a specific destination. Something as simple as looking out the window at a landmark and finding it on a sectional chart and placing your finger on that landmark will help keep track of your route.
3. Be prepared for all situations. If you get lost on your way to Easton airport....make a u-turn and back track to find your planned route. I may have planned on flying to Easton airport to practice flying in Class D airspace as well as to practice landings. I ended up flying towards Ridgely airport to the east. My main landmark was where route 301 and route 50 split. Continue east on 301 towards Ridgely or bank to the right and head south along route 50 straight to Easton airport. I may have missed my target when posing for some pictures to place on this blog. This was a test to see how prepared I was and if I could apply basic pilotage. I failed and realized I missed my target, the Queenstown Outlet mall. Oops, a quick U-turn and back track....a good way to find your way when you are lost. Other things that you should always be prepared for are to always know the frequencies at the destination airport and understand how to communicate with air traffic control.
4. Class D airspace is the airspace over the smallest airport with a control tower. Class D is commonly used for "Goldfish" sized aircraft. Class C is commonly used for "shark or dolphin" sized aircraft and Class B airspace is for "Blue Whales or Shamoo" sized aircraft. Now some larger aircraft can be found in Class D airspace just as small light sport planes can be found in Class B airspace such as flying north to BWI. Class D, C, and B all have control towers. I was intimidated by the control tower at Easton airport. The first step to fixing this problem is to not fear the controller and be prepared to read back what the air traffic controller says. ATC is there to help you land safely without any midair collisions. If you don't remember what ATC tells you, ALWAYS ask them to repeat themselves. They are willing to help. I failed to remember these simple rules. Once I had calmed down and I was no longer tongue tied I felt comfortable again. The next issue was to find the correct runway ATC assigned me to land on. It is difficult to imagine the direction the runway is pointing, the heading of the airplane, and the heading the airplane should be on in different parts of the traffic pattern. Again, ALWAYS BE PREPARED. Bring a small detailed airport layout attached to your kneeboard to make orienting the plane easier when given instructions from ATC. I commenced to practice take-offs and landings and working in the traffic pattern. When I was on my way back to Bay Bridge I used common courtesy. As I left the Class D airspace I informed ATC who I was, where I was, and my intentions. I was leaving his airspace and I said a nice thank you for all his help while dealing with me and my first experience in Class D airspace.
5. Almost back to Bay Bridge and I tune into the Bay Bridge AWOS to find out the wind direction. It was blowing at 6 knots from 200 degrees which is an exact 90 degree crosswind favoring neither runway 11 nor 29. I then listened to the Bay Bridge CTAF to find out where other planes were landing. I heard runway 11 so I entered the traffic pattern for runway 11. I noticed it was getting dark out and my flight instructor decided to quiz me on my FAR's. You must use the strobe or anti-collision lighting at all times on an aircraft but you must use your navigation lighting at nighttime, it is not required during the day. I forgot this simple FAR as well as the the definition of nighttime which is "the time between the end of civil evening twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight". When does evening civil twilight end is the more important question and it can be found on the internet. Part of being prepared is knowing when you must be on the ground. Sport pilots cannot fly at night. Now back to landing this plane. My flight instructor noticed the plane was being blown away from the Bay Bridge (I am now in the downwind leg parallel to runway 11) due to the 6 knot crosswind. We went through a "demonstration" on how to crab a plane.
Lesson: point the nose of the plane about 5 degrees off course into the cross wind to prevent the plane from being pushed away from the runway. DO NOT roll the plane, bank the plane, point the nose 50 degrees off course, perform S-Turns, or add rudder. All of which I/my flight instructor tried and failed/scared bay bridge automobile traffic with our crazy maneuvering. Just point the nose of the plane about 5 degrees into the crosswind to crab into the wind. Lesson learned. I got to turn on the runway lights by clicking the push to talk button 5 times and the runway and taxiway light came on. Quite exciting and then I came in for an evening landing.
Overall it was a stressful and difficult lesson but we covered a lot. I learned a lot but I also learned that even though flying can be difficult, the fun and joy of flying drastically overrides the difficult times. The difficult times end up being a teachable moment or a lesson learned moment to help me become a better and more safe pilot.
P.S. there was a gorgeous sunset over the Chesapeake Bay. Every color you can imagine and we could even see some mountains far off to the west. What a day of flying!
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