Stefan Vorkoetter’s Blog

We recently had some drainage tile installed in the 10 acre field at the front of our property, so I went on a short flight to shoot some pictures from above. I’ll post a picture here when I get a chance.

Date: 2007-May-22
Aircraft: C-FPMC, DA20-A1
Passenger: none
Route: CYKF - Local Area - CYKF
Flight Time: 1.0h
Takeoffs and Landings: 1

The main reason I went flying today was to remain current, since I had nowhere in particular that I wanted to go. The FBO I rent from requires pilots to fly at least one hour every 30 days to remain familiar with the aircraft and satisfy insurance requirements. It’s probably a good idea too, since it’s amazing how quickly the skills can get rusty. The longer it’s been since I’ve last flown, the longer it seems to take me to get through the checklist.

There was also a bit of a cross-wind (7 to 8 knot cross-wind component), so this was a rare opportunity to practice cross-wind take-offs and landings. Although I flew into the practice area instead of remaining in the circuit, I did do one touch-and-go after returning to the airport so I could practice my cross-wind landing twice. I was happy to find that I did it acceptably well the first time around, and better the second time.

Date: 2007-May-10
Aircraft: C-GCVX, DA20-A1
Passenger: none
Route: CYKF - Local Area - CYKF
Flight Time: 1.1h
Takeoffs and Landings: 2

Sometimes it can be a challenge finding something new and interesting to do while flying. Since I was taking another co-worker for a flight, I obviously couldn’t do anything too interesting, like using my GPS to measure the plane’s glide performance at different airspeeds.

Since a sightseeing flight was in order, and my passenger was new in town, I thought a big circle around Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, and Cambridge might be fun. Rather than plan this flight as a series of straight legs approximating a circle, I decided I’d try flying it by just maintaining a constant distance from the airport (using the GPS distance-to-waypoint readout).

We started with a straight out departure from runway 32 for 10 miles followed by a 90 degree right turn. At that point I tried to keep the distance pegged at 10 miles. There are two basic approaches to achieving this.

One approach involves just flying straight for a while. If the distance increases, turn right. If it decreases, turn left. (Reverse these if you’re flying counter-clockwise).

A more sophisticated way requires some additional information, namely the bearing to the airport and the current ground track. If you always keep the ground track 90 degrees more than the bearing, you’ll fly a clockwise circle. You can still drift off the circle due to accumulated error, so you still need to watch the distance reading too.

I tried the second way first, except I made the mistake of trying to use the VOR (our airport has a VOR beacon on the field). I either forgot, or never knew, that the VOR doesn’t work when the beacon is directly to the right or left. It constantly switches between TO and FROM, with the NAV flag bouncing in and out of view. Now I know, and a practical experience like this one will ensure that I remember.

I completed the flight using the first method, and of course, I cross checked against the chart the whole time too (the VOR rose on the chart is approximately 10 miles in radius). After about 3/4 of a circle, I called the tower, and turned back towards the center to return to the field, followed by an uneventful landing.

Date: 2007-Apr-24
Aircraft: C-GCVY, DA20-A1
Passenger: Sarah S.
Route: CYKF - Local Area - CYKF
Flight Time: 1.1h
Takeoffs and Landings: 1

Although it’s great fun to take a passenger (usually a co-worker) along, it’s also nice to just fly by myself sometimes. There’s nothing like a peaceful (I have an ANR headset) cross country flight to leave the worries of the world behind on the ground. One of the items in the self-assessment checklist before every flight is “stress”. Although I’ve never arrived at the airport very stressed, I’ve found that any stress I felt just melts away when I start the aircraft pre-flight. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry pretty much summed it up:

I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things; it gives me a sense of wider horizons.

The actual flight consisted of a straight out-and-back to Orangeville, where I overflew CPV2, a private grass strip. Rather than relying on the GPS, I used the VOR to maintain my track and stay out of Toronto Pearson’s (CYYZ) airspace. I also took the opportunity to calculate the winds aloft based on compass heading, ground track, air speed, and ground speed. It was pretty close to what was forecast (off by 2 knots and 20 degrees).

Date: 2007-Apr-24
Aircraft: C-FPME, DA20-A1
Passenger: none
Route: CYKF - CPV2 - CYKF
Flight Time: 1.0h
Takeoffs and Landings: 1

Today I had the pleasure of introducing someone to aviation. Michael, my passenger, had never flown before, not even in an airliner. This is only the second time that I’ve taken someone on their very first flight. When he finally goes for an airline flight, I’m afraid he’ll be disappointed.

On the way to the airport, we were discussing a bit of aviation history, and I remarked that airplanes initially were not equipped with seat belts. Needless to say, this resulted in the loss of some early aviators. Michael suggested that this was really only a problem if the plane were to become inverted. I replied that even inverted, you wouldn’t necessarily fall out if you flew a maneuver that never subjected you to negative Gs. Furthermore, I told him you could encounter a negative G situation while upright, although this had never happened to me.

Our flight was after work on a day that had plenty of wind and puffy clouds, although both were starting to dissipate by the time we took off. The weather briefer also assured me that there were no PIREPs for turbulence, and that we’d most likely be in for a very smooth ride. She was wrong. The ride was quite bumpy at times, although on average I would have called it light turbulence.

The path of our flight took us from CYKF down to the shore of Lake Ontario, and then along the shoreline for a circuit over downtown Toronto and around the CN Tower. As we approached the shoreline southbound, things got bumpier, although I assured Michael that it would smooth out as soon as we were over the water. This time, it was me that was wrong.

Shortly after we turned towards Toronto, about 500 feet from shore, we encountered what must have been a huge downdraft. We both hit our shoulder harnesses quite firmly. Nothing like first hand experience to make a point. In an open cockpit with no harness, we would likely have fallen out.

The rest of the flight was still occasionally slightly bumpy, but otherwise uneventful. We got a great view of the city and the Toronto Island Airport (CYTZ). On our return flight, Toronto Lester B. Pearson International (CYYZ) cleared us to fly through their airspace rather than under it, so we were able to get into some smoother air.

After our return, the instructor behind the desk at the FBO (National Flyers Academy) asked Michael if he liked his flight. He said he did, and that he was no longer afraid of flying (which he hadn’t told me he was).

Date: 2007-Apr-10
Aircraft: C-GCVX, DA20-A1
Passenger: Michael S.
Route: CYKF - Oakville - CYTZ - Oakville - CYKF
Flight Time: 1.4h
Takeoffs and Landings: 1