Tower Adivsor - Lesson 34
Aug. 29th, 2006 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slipstreamsurfrToday after work I had scheduled the plane for some solo work. I arrived at the airport at 6:15 or so, in time to see Mischa for a few before I went up. Sure enough, the tower is now operating in an advisory mode with full ground even.
I preflighted 508 and sat in the cockpit. Tuned in for weather first, 34 is in use today. Winds are almost directly down the runway, should make for easy landings right? I switch to the ground frequency and sit there a minute or so. Mike fright has taken root again. I thought about it for a minute, I was being silly. I key the mike and "Arlington Ground, Cessna 80508 would like to taxi from the katihawk ramp to runup for runway 34" A quick confirmation from ground and I can taxi when ready. Painless. Nothing to be afraid of here.
I do my run up and everything checks out okay, pull forward to the hold short line and turn the plane to watch final. I let tower know I'm holding short for takeoff. The tower is running 34 with a right pattern this afternoon. I beats them staring in the sun trying to see downwind. Somehow I think this may become the norm for the afternoon when using 34. One airplane on short final, another stacked behind him. I'm advised I am clear for takeoff after the second plane on final, if I expedite my takeoff. No problem. I can do that.
Taxi out and line things up and don't dither about on the runway before I add the power and rudder and I'm rolling and off before I know it. I let the tower know I want to stay in the pattern for touch and go's and he instructs me to make right traffic for 34.
What followed was an interesting set of landings. Not anything was quite decided up front. Everything pretty much started out as a flapless landing, some got a slip if I was high, some got flaps. Some had to add power because I had been directed way far down before I could turn. Some worked out nicely as no flap landings. Some arrivals were firm, some were so so, one was pretty nice.
Very much was a case of sometimes the tower/radio work was really easy, other times things got really busy and he'd have to have one or the other of us do something odd in order to fix something. Not everyone knows the tower is in advisory mode now, and some pilots weren't able to tell that we were running right traffic for 34 and tried to enter on the left downwind for 16. We had one that was confused, flying around the edges of our pattern, not talking to anyone for a long time, not on old unicom, not on the tower frequency. I got routed out of the pattern out over Joe Pool lake, and then the tower wanted me to come back north and cross over the 360 and I-20 interchange and report back to him for sequencing back into the pattern. If the tower had been fully operational the bonanza tonight would have likely been instructed to 'call the tower' and been dressed down royally for the mess he caused tonight.
All in all I shot 8 landings tonight in my hour. The patterns were tight and fast, except when we had to do strange things to let other folks in. It was different, sort of fun to have to manage spacing a bit, slow down, or keep the speed up, fly it out a ways, bring it back on a long final. Make the landings work out. If I've kept it high, then slip it, or drop the barn doors and bring her down. Speed control was really crucial tonight.
I made my full stop, and turned off at the Charlie taxiway so that the plane behind me on final wouldn't have to go around. I switched to ground and and requested a taxi back to parking. I was told I could taxi at my discretion and then he thanked me for being so easy to work with in the pattern. That it'll get easier as more folks get used to the tower being there.
I've never been thanked by a controller before. Usually they are annoyed at me because I've been slow on the radio somewhere. ;)
I parked the plane and tied her down. Then I stood, leaning against her watching the sun set beside the tower, the windsock blowing in the setting sun. Good times. A really nice end, to a pretty lousy day at the office.
-- 1.0 solo
-- 8 landings
I preflighted 508 and sat in the cockpit. Tuned in for weather first, 34 is in use today. Winds are almost directly down the runway, should make for easy landings right? I switch to the ground frequency and sit there a minute or so. Mike fright has taken root again. I thought about it for a minute, I was being silly. I key the mike and "Arlington Ground, Cessna 80508 would like to taxi from the katihawk ramp to runup for runway 34" A quick confirmation from ground and I can taxi when ready. Painless. Nothing to be afraid of here.
I do my run up and everything checks out okay, pull forward to the hold short line and turn the plane to watch final. I let tower know I'm holding short for takeoff. The tower is running 34 with a right pattern this afternoon. I beats them staring in the sun trying to see downwind. Somehow I think this may become the norm for the afternoon when using 34. One airplane on short final, another stacked behind him. I'm advised I am clear for takeoff after the second plane on final, if I expedite my takeoff. No problem. I can do that.
Taxi out and line things up and don't dither about on the runway before I add the power and rudder and I'm rolling and off before I know it. I let the tower know I want to stay in the pattern for touch and go's and he instructs me to make right traffic for 34.
What followed was an interesting set of landings. Not anything was quite decided up front. Everything pretty much started out as a flapless landing, some got a slip if I was high, some got flaps. Some had to add power because I had been directed way far down before I could turn. Some worked out nicely as no flap landings. Some arrivals were firm, some were so so, one was pretty nice.
Very much was a case of sometimes the tower/radio work was really easy, other times things got really busy and he'd have to have one or the other of us do something odd in order to fix something. Not everyone knows the tower is in advisory mode now, and some pilots weren't able to tell that we were running right traffic for 34 and tried to enter on the left downwind for 16. We had one that was confused, flying around the edges of our pattern, not talking to anyone for a long time, not on old unicom, not on the tower frequency. I got routed out of the pattern out over Joe Pool lake, and then the tower wanted me to come back north and cross over the 360 and I-20 interchange and report back to him for sequencing back into the pattern. If the tower had been fully operational the bonanza tonight would have likely been instructed to 'call the tower' and been dressed down royally for the mess he caused tonight.
All in all I shot 8 landings tonight in my hour. The patterns were tight and fast, except when we had to do strange things to let other folks in. It was different, sort of fun to have to manage spacing a bit, slow down, or keep the speed up, fly it out a ways, bring it back on a long final. Make the landings work out. If I've kept it high, then slip it, or drop the barn doors and bring her down. Speed control was really crucial tonight.
I made my full stop, and turned off at the Charlie taxiway so that the plane behind me on final wouldn't have to go around. I switched to ground and and requested a taxi back to parking. I was told I could taxi at my discretion and then he thanked me for being so easy to work with in the pattern. That it'll get easier as more folks get used to the tower being there.
I've never been thanked by a controller before. Usually they are annoyed at me because I've been slow on the radio somewhere. ;)
I parked the plane and tied her down. Then I stood, leaning against her watching the sun set beside the tower, the windsock blowing in the setting sun. Good times. A really nice end, to a pretty lousy day at the office.
-- 1.0 solo
-- 8 landings