Last month, I've started going to a new FBO in Renton called Rainier Flight Service for airplane rental and instrument rating training. The main reason that I switched flight school is because that after learning how to handle short runway with obstacles on both ends, I'd like to get more radio communication practices with the controller. Renton not only has a control tower, but also very close to Sea-Tac and Boeing Field, making it a perfect place for me to force myself to talk to the controllers. An unexpected surprise of switching to my current flight school is that their rental fee is lower than any other FBO I know. I could save almost 20 dollars an hour on the C152 :) They are also so efficient that they don't even have front desk or dispatch manager. It's like a self service flying club that I can simply checkout and checkin the plane from the system.
My plan of getting my glider rating by the end of May is not going very well so far, although I could still complete it on time if weather is good enough in the following weeks. There are a couple times that it's sunny everywhere, including the glider field, but the wind is a little too strong for our operation. Bergseth Field is one of those challenging private airfields that could be quite dangerous if flying in bad weather. Because of the hill on one end of the runway, we don't have a choice on which runway heading to use. We always takeoff with the hill on our back and land facing the hill. So the wind direction is either taking-off with headwind and landing in tailwind(the preferred scenario at Bergseth), or taking off with tailwind and landing in headwind. Besides the hill on one end of the runway, the other end of the runway is actually 200ft cliff, which means if we are landing in strong headwind, we might be watching ourselves sinking towards the cliff if we are not high and fast enough when entering the final.
On Saturday of Easter weekend, the winds was blowing at 20-30 kt (tailwind for takeoff and headwind for landing) and the field manager and tow pilot both suggested to call off the operation. However, my instructor was "brave" enough to volunteer(of course he's volunteering for me at the same time) to get into the pattern and checkout how bad the weather was. Trusting my instructor's 50 plus years flying experience, I was actually quite excited to experince how it's like to fly a glider in bad weather. Towing is not too much different than usual, though sometimes the towplane will suddenly "pop" up by a dozen feet in one second and I will have to make some adjustments to catch up with it. The fun part began after releasing the rope. In fact, it started at the exact moment I pull the releasing knob - the updraft almost slamed the rope onto our canopy (great demostation of why glider should always turn right and towplane turn left immediately after release). Windshear is everywhere throughout the pattern. The needle in the airspeed indicator was swinging violently. At one moment it might be showing 50mph but the next second it might be as high as 80mph. The glider is being tossed up and down at the same time. With that 20-30 knots tailwind, our ground speed is surprisingly fast. I turned base and final high and fast (more than 20% faster than normal) and still touched down at the beginning of the runway. I adjusted my altitude and speed(even higher and faster) on the second pattern and had a decent landing like I would have on a normal day. Then on my last pattern, I was adjusting too much that I ended up being way too high to be able to land in a safe speed, so my instructor performed something that people will not see very often - he took over the control and did a 360 turn on final to get rid of the extra altitude. It's crazy enough to see a 360 on final, and he's doing that in gusty wind and a cliff in front of us! I wonder how many years I need to fly before having that kind of stick and rudder skills and judgements. After my patterns, there are a few other folks that have the guts to take a flight by themselves. Though no one get into any real trouble(such as too low to get back), all of them landed short of the runway, including one of our best glider pilot (after watching his glider flying slowly like a kite on final, those who haven't flown that day all decided to stay on the ground for their safety).
Easter Sunday had a similar weather condition, and I didn't bother to go to the glider club again. Instead I chose to build some cross country time, flying a short trip from Renton to Skagit and landed on Harvey on my way back. Having trained in Harvey for my private pilot license, this trip is more like two local flights put together for me. I did get some practice I wanted on my way back to KRNT. There was a plane with medical emergency trying to land and the control tower gave them first priority. I was instructed by the tower to wait for the plane with emergency and other planes ahead of me. This is the first time that I had to wait outside of a traffic pattern at a controlled airport, and almost get disoriented. Thanks to the nice controller's kind notice, I didn't get into any trouble and landed saftely.
Last Friday night I had my first night flight out of Renton. Flying around Seattle is definitely more interesting flying north of Snohomish(it's just dark everywhere). I also had my first VFR transition through Sea-Tac. Watching those jets shooting final approach at night with landing lights and nav lights is quite stunning, and there are also bright stars in the clear sky as background! Definitely my favorite sight at night from the sky.
Last weekend I also had my regular glider training and IFR trainings. I love IFR training so much that even when my instructor told me I can take off the foggle on our way back to the airport, I insisted to keep them on until the last minute, which seemed to surprise him.(I know I am crazy that I would rather stay dark when there are beautiful sunshine outside lol) During the partial panel practice, I also asked him to cover even more panels for some fun and challenge. I ended up practicing stall recovery without both attitude indicator and turn coordinator that day :)
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| En route on an earlier cross country flight to Port Angeles back in March. |
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| Olympics |
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| Olympics |
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| Olympics |
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| Everett - flying back to Renton from the Skagit trip. Trying to take a photo of the aircraft carrier using the cell phone from that far away is not a good idea. |
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