It was on a balmy, flawlessly blue day, September 29, 1995, that I walked into the modern State University of New York-College of Technology at Farmingdale Aviation Center on Route 110 on Long Island, experiencing a degree of trepidation, that I began my Private Pilot Flight Training Program. Technically constituting a required “class” for my Associate of Applied Science degree in Aerospace Technology, shared with others I knew from the main campus facility about two miles away, significantly expanded the scope of experiential education beyond what which could have been considered “routine”. .” The fact that he had already had a decade-and-a-half career with an international airline at JFK International Airport certainly qualified him as a constant theme in life. However, he was about to assume the pilot’s seat this time. .
Received by my Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), they told me to take the Pilot’s Operating Manual (POH) shortened from the Aviation Center and deposit it in the respective aircraft on the ramp. My initial and introductory lesson would be in a Cessna C-172 Skyhawk, registration N73334, a four-seat, high-wing general aviation aircraft powered by a single two-blade Avco Lycoming O-320-H2AD 160-hp piston engine. . Its design and performance parameters were many: its maximum payload was 910 pounds; its maximum takeoff weight was 2,300 pounds; its fuel capacity was 43 gallons; her top speed was 125 knots; its rate of rise from sea level was 770 fpm; and its service ceiling was 14,200 feet.
Checklist in hand, I performed a clockwise pre-flight inspection, from propeller to flight surfaces to fuel add-on for clarity, before taking the left seat and strapping on my shoulder and seat belt.
“Clearance!” I yelled to alert everyone in the vicinity of its impending start, causing the engine to growl and land in a wake-generating life and elevator bath. The plane felt alive and I was in control.
I requested a taxi permit from the Aviation Center on the ground frequency of the Airport of the Republic, I released the finger brakes without pushing the power stick any further and the rotating propeller naturally made the aircraft move along the ramp at a pace light.
He had to resist the temptation to steer with the yoke: he only deflected the ailerons for bank in flight and did nothing on the ground. Rudder pedal movements ensured nose wheel steering.
Pushing myself onto the acceleration pad near the runway 1 threshold, I performed a full flight check from brakes to magnetos, flight surface freedom of movement, and altimeter current barometric pressure setting, then changed on the Republic Tower frequency, inching forward. to the runway and receive takeoff clearance.
The full power of the engine deafened the cockpit, sending a torrent of air over its airfoils and propelling the high-winged plane into acceleration. Nearly immeasurable rudder pedal pressures allowed me to keep the nosewheel on centerline, while the nosewheel itself, beginning to jump off the ground, was the Cessna’s signal that it had gained enough speed to surrender to flight.
A gentle tug on the yoke and a press of the right rudder pedal to counteract the torque on the prop, freed her from her gravity restraints several thousand feet before the end of the runway, while I “rode the ball,” trying to to keep it centered.
Ignoring procedure, I banked to the right, whereupon my flight instructor advised me, “Stay heading down the runway until you clear it.”
The ground receded and the blue purity of the sky became the new dimension of flight.
Climbing to 2200 feet and reducing power to steady myself, I traversed Long Island to the Northport Stacks, while my instructor demonstrated inclines and descents. The hour long introductory flight passed quickly.
Approaching the Republic airport again, I radioed, “Republic Tower, this is Cessna 73334, arriving for landing.”
Authorization to “continue” was given.
Unable, in my novice state, to actually execute the landing, however, I was given the opportunity to fly a right-hand pattern, consisting of downwind, base, and final legs, the last of which required extensions. progressive flaps on the trailing edge, which could only be countered with a push of the yoke to avoid the tendency to lift the nose. A roundoff and reduced power flare re-profiled the aircraft into its immediate takeoff angle of rotation and stripped it of its airspeed, allowing it to land softly on its main wheels. Brake assisted deceleration and a diversion to the taxiway preceded a frequency change to Republic Ground, which gave clearance to return to the Aviation Center while I “cleaned” the aircraft by retracting its flaps. A jerk on the power lever deprived the engine of its fuel and all vibration, noise, and wake ceased.
Inside was carried out a report and an entry in the log book.
The following week’s lesson involved the operation of the smaller two-seat Cessna 152, registration N67856, with a takeoff from the reciprocal of Runaway 1, in this case 19, and a cruise to the South Long Island practice area over Jones. Beach, connecting, assembly set resembling the Captree Bridge. The return required the radio transmission of “Republic Tower, this is Cessna 67856 over Captree, en route for landing.”
The five-session, 5.7-hour flight training course, called “Introduction to Flight I” and which took place from September 29 to October 27, also involved the N757AA aircraft, another C-152, and the curriculum included the four fundamentals of flight, minimum controllable airspeed, 30 degree banks, stall approaches, descents, and runway 14 landings.
The subsequent six-flight, six-hour “Introduction to Flight II” course, which ran from February 27 to April 19, 1996, involved all Cessna 172 aircraft, although two registered N734HD and N1517E aircraft had not yet been registered. flown. They also introduced me to a new flight instructor.
Although the standard curriculum included practice maneuvers such as traffic pattern, slow fly, and coordinated flight, the man-machine combination in constantly changing weather conditions created some challenging moments.
A half-hour sector at Marah 15 in the N734HD aircraft, for example, led to a quick return after takeoff in the rain and nothing more than a traffic pattern loop due to visual flight rule (VFR) threatening conditions. low.
The coordinated flight on April 12 in aircraft N1517E over the northern practice area took place amid thick cloud cover and 35-knot winds blowing from the forward right side, propping up the Skyhawk and making it difficult to control.
And the following week’s departure, with the N734HD on April 19, involved the roar of the engine as it was revved to a setting above 2200rpm, leaving the flight instructor to take over and immediately return to Republic Airport from the southern practice area, all the while at a slight angle of climb. An engine inspection was clearly in order afterwards.
The “Primary Flight I” course for the fall 1996 semester, with the same flight instructor and the Cessna 172s with which I had now become familiar, involved eight sectors and 8.7 hours during the period of September 19 to December 5. December 1996. He included some of his own surprises and challenging situations.
Twice, on September 19 and November 1, both with the N734HD aircraft, I flew 15.5 nautical miles in sectors reminiscent of airlines from Farmingdale’s Republic Airport to Islip’s Long Island MacArthur and landed before to return. During the first I made crosswind takeoffs and landings, the latter with only ten degrees of flap, and introduced myself to radio communication in Class C airspace. Returning from the second, I made a left turn to the left. wind below clouds at 1,600 feet, experiencing moderate turbulence, a 50 degree crosswind at 25 knots gusting to 32, trailing wind shear, relentless sound of stall warning horn, continual drop left wing to the ground and insufficient rudder travel, causing my flight instructor to desperately take over and correct each altered lateral axis until enough airspeed had been purged to widen and snatch Republic Runway 32 with their main wheels.
The rest of the fall curriculum involved the more “mundane” maneuvers of airspeed and setup changes, 45 degree banks, S-turns, and spins around a point.
The spring 1997 follow-up to “Main Flight I”, which spanned the four-month period from January 27 to May 12, included eight sectors and 7.7 hours, and the reintroduction of my original flight instructor. The first three flights were in the N734HD aircraft, the remaining five in the N1517E, all obviously Cessna 172s. His lessons included climbing and descending turns, following, air traffic control procedures, straight and level flight, airport entrances, a inadvertent immersion into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) causing clouds and a short, fast final descent from 1200 feet. to runway 14 at Republic Airport.
Along with a private charter of a C-172 Skyhawk from Republic Fixed Base Operator (FBO) Nassau Flyers on January 30, 1996 (registered N5700E) for a short one-hour cruise on Long Island South, during which one of my airline colleagues was my first “passenger”, my flight training program concluded with 32 sectors and 29 hours in my log.
