Pre Stage

The time has come where I am up for my first stage check.  This comes in two parts.  The first is an oral exam, comprising of everything from the engine of the Cirrus, to its electrical system.  Other areas that will be put under a microscope will be what I can and cannot do as a student pilot and what I can or cannot do once I obtain my private.  The last item under scrutiny will be identifying airspace.  This is the one that has been giving me the most trouble.  I can identify the various airspaces on my charts, that’s not the challenge.  The way these questions will be asked are to imagine you are a rocket at a specified airport.  If you are to launch and go straight up… which airspaces will you encounter and at which altitudes will you encounter them.  For those of you who have never seen an aviation chart…  Its best described in my opinion as organized chaos.  Here’s an example. (Click on the charts button at the top and choose any of the boxes depicting an area of the U.S.) Depending on the airport, an answer to these questions can be a series of different layers at different altitudes.  Some airports will have 4 or 5 different airspaces above them all the way up to 60,000 ft.  These can be anything from Airspace Delta, Golf, Bravo, Charlie, and a dash of Alpha.  To make things even more confusing, some airspaces don’t go just straight up.  That would be too easy.  You have to think more 3 dimensionally.  Some look like an upside down wedding cake with two or three tiers.  Here’s an example.  I’ve often said to myself when I start flying cross country solos that I would fly around all the different airspaces to avoid having to talk to different ATCs during the flight.  Of course this would not be the most effective way, as most of the time it would be like a mouse searching for cheese at the end of a maze.  And it’s not guaranteed there is a way to get to that cheese in this manner.

I’ve been listening to various classmates talk about their stage checks when it comes to the flying check.  Some instructors will require you to talk with ATC, and others may be more relaxed about it.  I’ve come to a point where I can make my request and its hit or miss if I can A. understand them or B. I understand the instruction but I’ve already forgotten WHAT they have told me.  The one I am consistently getting good at is after we have landed when we are holding clear of the runway and wanting to go back to DCA ramp.  The response 95% of the time is to taxi via right side Charlie to Lima.  Runways are always numbers and the taxi ways which are like roads to the various runways or areas of an airport and are always letters.  These letters are titled using the NATO phonetic alphabet I have mentioned in a previous post.

Once I get in the air for the second phase of my stage check, the only thing I worry about is my power on stall.  This simulates a take off with too much angle of attack until the wings no longer produce lift.  Eventually the wings will stall and the plane starts to buffet then drop.  Once your instruments indicate a drop in elevation, full power is added with some right rudder to keep straight and hope you have maintained your heading.   The last flight practicing these I was very frustrated with my performance.  I just could not maintain my heading.  The last power on stall I nailed it… perfect 10 from start to finish.  I’m hoping I have some muscle memory to reproduce this.  I also hope they allow me to use my notes for all the different stalls.  I could be lost without them.

I negotiated with my instructor to not submit me for stage until he and I have had one more ground work.  After our session on Monday he will submit my name with my log book for testing.  I’m sure the next posting of TMDN will be the results of my first stage check.