Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command

The Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91.3 (a) The pilot in command on an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.

I should start off with some non-flying personal info. Over the last week, I've been unpacking and getting my bedroom in order. I finally have my LP's and CD's unpacked and my stereo set up. I had to get a new phone, and new phone service, but I kept my same Minneapolis number so I can better keep in touch with all of my friends back home. I've found some work with one of the neighbors. He's paying my $10 an hour to help with landscaping, and so far it's been nothing but hours of lifting rock, moving rock, and setting rock. At least it's a good workout, and I get to choose my own hours to work. Also, two hours of moving rock affords me one hour of gas for the airplane, and since I'm paying for the gas I use when flying, then that labor works for me.

Also, I'm very excited to have heard back from KYRS, the community radio station in Spokane. They sounded very interested in getting me hooked up with the program director thanks to my experience as a KFAI volunteer and my hours of being on the radio. This means that I could be getting my own radio show out here! I'll let you know more about that as it happens.

And thanks to my old pal Ned, who use to live in Sandpoint a few years ago, I might even get some work writing for a weekly paper called the Inlander, which is sort of a Spokane area City Pages. Good Stuff! Thanks Ned.

Ok, on to the flying stuff...

I'm still going over a lot of reading right now, and I've had sort of a slow week because my pilot instructor (Dad) had been away for most of the week. The books keep piling up, and not all of it is interesting reading. As you might tell from the into to this post, I've been going over Part 91: General Operating & Flight Rules in the 2009 FAR/AIM book. This is where I learn what responsibilities come with being a pilot, and what is expected knowledge for a pilot to have. Things like the carriage of narcotic drugs, dropping objects, careless or reckless operation, portable electronic devices, and how long I need to wait after drinking alcohol before I can operate an aircraft.

I have had a few more goes at flying this week, and I'm really getting excited about it. I've been going over the pre-flight checklists on my own, and I've done the last couple take-offs without assistance too. Of course I'm not doing it alone yet. I still have my instructor there with me the whole time to insure that I'm doing everything right and trying new things in the process.

We've been going over making turns, which might sound easy, but it's a bit trickier than you'd think. I didn't even think that the plane would naturally want to descend when going into a turn, and as you might guess, a descend increases your speed, so it's just a bit tricky to keep your altitude and speed the same as you make a turn. Steep turns are a little more frightening, and a little more tricky, but I've been working on those too, and so far so good.

I haven't made an actual landing yet, but I'm getting close. I've been practicing speed changes using flaps, and going over what's called Minimum Controllable Airspeed (MCA), both of which are helping get a feel for controlling the plane if/when something goes wrong and I need time to find a quick place to land.


Here are the books I've been reading as part of my preparation and ground school.

Here's me trying to keep my composure as I get ready to practice more turns. It can be very scary, but equally exhilarating.

This is the view of the lake as I'm flying over it.

And this is an aerial view of Carlin Bay, the area of town I live in. The clearing in the upper right hand corner is where I live. Hopefully you can identify the runway and my house in this picture.