le rez-de-chaussée
Did the “airport tour” today with my instructor. Having already been to Class D airspace on Saturday and thus a little ahead of the game, we decided to up the ante and fly into the local Class C airspace, i.e. Piedmont Triad International in Greensboro. Flying the airplane is much easier on account of the fact that ATC (Air Traffic Control–the control tower) gives you vectors–headings to turn to–every step of the way and also that the runway is much (read: MUCH) longer and wider than anything. I felt like a fly landing on an empty dinner table.
That said, communications are much more difficult. You have to know what to say exactly when, and how to say it as well, to convey only the relevant information in the shortest space possible. It’s going to take practice before I get the hang of it. I can’t imagine learning to fly from scratch out of a Class C airport–I’d go crazy trying to learn to control the airplane and talk to ATC at the same time.
We landed at Greensboro, employing probably only a tenth of the runway to land, stop, and turn off at the first taxiway. After contacting Ground Control and taxiing back around to the hold short line in position to move on the same runway we just left, we sat and waited for a jet to land. Turned a little bit so we could see the approach, I watched the jet on final (i.e. about to land), nose pointed at the runway. Suddenly, with just a few hundred feet to go, I saw its nose rise and its landing gear retract. It did a go-around and flew perhaps fifty feet directly over us, giving me a good view of its underside. It betrayed sharply swept, artistically tapered wings and tailplanes, a relatively thin fuselage and two huge engine nacelles. I recognized it immediately as a Cessna Citation X, one of my favorite airplanes since before its first flight in ’94, probably on a training flight. Absolutely unmistakable. And beautiful.
So cool, M :)
What would you have to do in order to be able to fly a Cessna Citation X? Or any other jet?
how exciting :)
[the visual aids are much appreciated!]
/es/\\e
You know how inspiting your journey toward the sky has been for me? Pretty Darn! Can only imagine the freedom… once the communication skills are honed… and wouldn’t it be great if you could OWN a plane… now that is something that I would love to see you have… so how does the 19th look for ya? might come for another vist??
Vectors…
Now you’re speaking my language… This personal account makes calculus make total sense! If only I could get others to see the beauty and relevance of mathematics! I’d be a happy girl!
You really have a flare for descriptive writing… Keep it up for those of us who aren’t learning to be pilots!
The short answer: I’d need my instrument, commercial and multiengine licenses, an appropriate amount of experience, and be type-certified to fly whatever kind of jet it is. The longer answer involves getting connected to a business jet charter company or a larger firm with a fleet of corporate jets…
I’m glad you found them helpful :)
I’m free the 19th :) Come on by. Harsha will probably be around but that doesn’t mean we can’t hang out.
Owning a plane I think is pretty much out of the picture. Heck, the dinky little 172s we fly for training are $30-40K these days… And insurance costs are insane. But who knows, right? A lot of airplanes these days are owned by groups of people, kind of like real estate time shares.
hahaha
It’s not so much calculus as just simple geometry, and even that’s just in the flight planning stage :) Up in the sky I don’t do much but turn to headings and such (at least when I’m on the radio with ATC).
And thank you :) Who might this be?
I’m flying to Moline, Illinois today for a second-round interview with John Deere…Well, I should say that they’re flying me, hehe. I looked at my itenerary and I go from RDU to ATL, ATL to Moline. I also noticed that from RDU to ATL, I will be flying on a Boeing 757-200. The other flight and the flights back will be on a Canadair Jet, but I’m excited about the 757. I always loved the way they look. I think it’s the shape of the nose more than anything else. I remember you saying that pilots love to fly 757s, but passengers hate riding on them. I’ll let you know how it goes, but hopefully it’ll be fun. I imagine being at a larger airport must be like a minnow among whales…but probably not at Greensboro. Maybe if you flew to RDU. Fun stuff bro.
Geometry is even better! My second favorite area of mathematics!! And I understand… pulling out your notebook and taking a few derivatives to find the slope at which you need to descend probably isn’t ideal, especially in a small aircraft such as yours (well, such as MAI’s).
I bet there’s some hidden calculus in the planning stages… rates of change and what-not!
You’re quite welcome… and no one special : )
757s are the hot rods of airliners. You can just look at them and tell they’ve got some get up and go. Something about the big hackin’ turbofans and the narrow fuselage (that passengers hate). Cool that you’ll get to fly on one. The only time I’ve been on one that I remember (and you were on it too) was flying in to Jackson Hole on our trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park.
Hope your interview goes well, D :) I’m praying for you.
We really just eyeball it on the way down :) Trial and correction, estimating rate of descent. But it works out okay.
If there’s calculus in there it’s hidden pretty darn well. I can’t think of where it would be. But in terms of fancy math, we do use logarithmic scales on the flight computer in order to make quick calculations…
Ooooo that is fancy! I don’t know if I like the idea of eyeballing it on the way down… I was contently under the impression that there was strict logic and numbers of some sort to back it up. I’m sure I’m just far too analytical… I mean, clearly I’ve never died on a plane! (Or anywhere for that matter!) I definitely don’t have one of those “Man, one time I died and it was awful” stories!
Irregardless, I stand by my claim that math is everywhere. Try and prove me wrong, I’ll find a counterexample every time!