Newest Pilot in the United States - Passed My PPL Checkride!

It's the end of the beginning portion of my aviation journey, as the title of this blog reads, "From Private to Professional Pilot." Fittingly, getting my Private Pilot's License is a major milestone, but just one of many for the future! 

Just a heads up to all of those interested, I will be writing a separate article for the blog about my PPL Checkride experience, with details about the major stages, etc. I'll give information about my cross-country flight plan, studying strategies, etc. This post is more about my relief and happiness that I've finally reached a major life-goal of mine. 

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Finding words to describe what today has been like is going to be a challenge. Getting my pilot's license is something that I've been dreaming about for as long as I can remember. After finally becoming reality, it still hasn't hit me yet. I've been training so hard, for so long; all of this almost feels unreal somehow. Knowing that unless I really mess something up or loose my medical, that I have a pilot's license for life is an incredible feeling.

Two weeks ago, I flew my last flight as a student pilot, with my awesome instructor Graham Frye, out of Hanover KOFP (HOVA Flight Services). It was in preparation for today, my PPL Checkride. As every pilot knows, right when you really want the weather to cooperate, it won't. So for the next 2 weeks from that day, we planned 3 checkride flights, all of which were cancelled due to snow storms. On the bright side, I got school off for a few days around and on my 17th Birthday! 

With my awesome instructor, Graham Frye

Waking up at 6am today to do some final flight planning, I was nervous, anxious, and didn't quite know what to expect. Checkrides are something that pilots go through constantly over their career, but being the first, I had no idea what was heading my way. Having studied for the past few weeks, and knowing that my parents and grandparents were going to be there, I didn't want to let myself or anyone else down. 

Arriving at the airport, I met my examiner for the first time. He instantly put me at ease with his laid back, yet knowingly systematic style. As he put it "let's get this mission done." After passing the oral (saving this for another post!), we headed out to the plane to pre-flight and got on our way. 

I'll save the flight portion for another post as well, but I will point out one very distinct feeling I remember. I remember being on final approach for my last landing (a soft field landing), knowing that I had passed everything thus far. I told myself "ok Swayne, let's get this landing down and not screw it up at the last second." I felt so at ease yet highly alert. One more landing, and I would have that certificate in my hand is what I told myself. After a flawless calm-wind approach, just as I was passing the numbers a few feet off the ground, the wind gave a brief but sudden gust, as if it was saying "remember to stay on your toes." That little bump pushed us down, requiring nearly full aft elevator, but still resulted in a greased landing. It's almost like nature was reminding me to stay alert, especially at the times I'm starting to feel the most comfortable. 

After parking the plane and shutting down, I was greeted by the much appreciated handshake and congratulations from my examiner. Walking back inside the FBO, I couldn't help but have a huge smile on my face, and gave my mom and grandparents a big thumbs-up and hug as I walked through the door. After the paperwork and official "Temporary Airmen Certificate" was signed, we got down to some pictures! 

Imagining the future?

Did I get much sleep last night? - No. But now that I've finally accomplished one of my biggest goals in life, I can put my head down in a few minutes, and sleep soundly knowing that I've done something I only dreamed of until this moment. 

Do you know what the best part of this is? My journey just began. 

Thanks for reading,
-Swayne Martin 
Twitter: @MartinsAviation

I want to say a special THANK YOU to all of my friends, family, followers,  mentors,  and instructors that have helped me so far on my path. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be here right now, writing this article, if it hadn't been for each and every one of you. 

Checkride Schedule Update

It's my 17th Birthday, which makes me eligible for my Pilot's License! As I expected, winter storm Pax messed up my plan for having the checkride today. With snow, rain, hail, icing, turbulence, lightning, and low ceilings, it's definitely NOT the most ideal day for flying! Check out some of the weather from Foreflight below: 

On the bright side, I woke up on my birthday to inches of snow, with school closed!!!

So as of now the PPL checkride has been pushed back to next Friday at 9am, let's hope it'll work out! Send your good vibes towards Richmond! 

I'll be back with more posts soon! Thanks for reading,

-Swayne Martin 

Twitter: @MartinsAviation

Airport Review: Falwell (W24), Virginia - A "Ski-Slope" Runway

Falwell's airport in Southwest Virginia has one of the most unique runways in all of Virginia, if not on the entire East Coast. You can only take off from runway 10, and land on runway 28, due to a massive runway gradient. Between the end of runway 10 and the opposite, runway 28, there is a 150+ foot drop down a pretty steep hill. Falwell's runway looks more like a ski-slope than anything else. People have been known to use it as such after a heavy snowfall!

Our flight from Hanover KOFP to Falwell W24 was a longer flight of 83nm (one way.) There and back, I flew a total of 2 hours simulated instrument flight time, which fulfilled the rest of my requirement towards the PPL. On the same day, I decided that I might as well start the Virginia Aviation Ambassadors Program: a program where you have an aviation "passport" for Virginia, acquiring a stamp for every visited airport. If you ever complete the book, you receive a very nice, free leather aviators jacket. (there are also sub-categories of achievement, where one can receive a free flight bag, etc.) Here's my book and the stamp I got from W24: 

We departed shortly after 4:30pm and arrived at Falwell just before 5:30pm. Our leg to W24 was at 4,500ft, route-mapping below provided from CloudAhoy: 

En-route to W24 

Descending into W24

Arrival at W24 (*note some GPS inaccuracy... we didn't miss the runway!)

As I took off my "foggles" (used for simulated instrument flight), for our descent, I was greeted with a pretty awesome sunset over the Virginian Mountains:

Shown below is a video of our arrival into Falwell W24, landing on runway 28. The footage was filmed with my GoPro Hero 3 and includes some time-lapse video, with most radio calls included. You can find more videos like this on my Youtube Channel: MartinsAviation1


As you could see in the video, we had a little trouble finding the airports FBO, which is hidden in the anthill layout of Falwell. If you try to find the FBO, just remember to take the lowest taxiway, which leads to the lowest point of the airport. Upon finding the FBO, we were greeted by a really friendly manager who walked out to put chocks on the plane, later leading us inside for our passport stamp. 

Our plane on W24's ramp (yes, I parked backwards in the spot!)

Falwell's FBO (not my photo)

As I alluded to above, Falwell's taxiways were like an anthill. Some leading seemingly nowhere, some leading directly to houses, and one leading to the FBO. All of this is built right on top of a steep hill! My instructor and I felt like we were off-roading in our little Tecnam. Make sure to add a lot of engine power while taxiing up the hill, so you don't get stuck! 

As planned, we departed runway 10, from the top of the hill. Our next route of flight would take us to Lynchburg KLYH, but that's for another article. One quick piece of advice for taking off... make sure you're not fooled by the steep hill, pay close attention to your airspeed, and rotate very gradually so there's no chance of a tail-strike. Below is a video of our takeoff with audio included:

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Falwell. W24 has become one of my favorite airports in Virginia, one I can't wait to visit again and show off to passengers with my PPL! 

Thanks for reading and watching,

-Swayne Martin 

Twitter: @MartinsAviation

Flight Training Completed! - PPL Checkride Preparation

1 Year, 1 Week, and 2 Days later, my flight training has officially been completed for my Private Pilot's License. On December 28th, 2012, I was getting ready for my first flight training experience, a little nervous but very excited. I now write with 41.9 hours under my belt, and have an endorsement in my logbook signing me off to take the final checkride. 

Logged flight time to date: 

• Total Time: 41.9 Hours
• Single Engine: 40.9 Hours
• Night: 4.4 Hours
• Day Landings: 101
• Night Landings: 11
• Flight Training: 26.5 Hours
• Cross-Country: 15.8 Hours
• Solo Cross-Country: 5.4 Hours
• Solo/PIC: 14.4

On the right hand column of this page, you can see all of the aircraft I've flown, including all the airports I've been to. From a Tecnam at Hanover KOFP and a Cessna 150 at First Flight Airport, to a SGS-2-33 Glider over Lake Tahoe and a Piper Warrior over my family reunion, I've had some great, diverse flight training! 

This final flight training flight was focused on preparation for my PPL Checkride one week from today. If I had my choice, I'd have flown closer to the checkride date, but because of scheduled maintenance on N16HV, that wasn't possible. Our final flight consisted of the following (my instructor checked off the list I created as we went through the flight): 

Right from takeoff, my instructor began to really test me. At about 600AGL, he pulled the power and told me that I had an engine failure. I quickly pitched for best glide and returned to Runway 34, landing about midway down the runway after a sideslip.

We flew out to Lake Anna Airport (7W4), to practice short field/soft field landings and takeoffs. The runway at Lake Anna is only 2,500ft long, perfect for practicing my short field work. We also worked on mock soft field takeoffs and landings while at the airport. Luckily for us, the wind was calm, so we landed and then turned around and took off, which we did 6 times. 

Our route of flight is shown below via CloudAhoy. You can also see some of the pattern work we did at Lake Anna: 

(*Note some GPS Inaccuracy, we weren't driving on the ground for our pattern!)

(*Note the GPS Inaccuracy, we didn't miss the runway!) 

Returning to Hanover, we did all of the maneuvers covered on the flight test. I didn't have trouble with any of the maneuvers except for power-off stalls, of which I had some difficulty not using aileron to correct for heading change. You have to use full rudder controls to point the plane during the power off stall. 

We ended our flight with a mock soft-field landing on Runway 16, and taxied back to the ramp to fill out some paperwork. Not a bad flight, around 1.4 hours! Afterwards, we went over the flight, filled out my logbook, and registered myself on IACRA, for pilot registration pre-checkride. 

I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't nervous about my checkride, but after today's flight, I feel much more confident about it. What a great note to end my official PPL Training on! 

Thanks for reading,
-Swayne Martin
Twitter: @MartinsAviation

PS... My Checkride is scheduled to begin at 8am the morning of my 17th Birthday, hope the weather works out! I have to plan a 283nm xc from OFP to AVL.