Category: FMA Solo 2020

Follow the 2020 FMA Solo Program scholarship recipients through their journey towards flying an aircraft.

I Finally Did It – First Solo!

As the title says, I soloed! I finally got to fly a plane by myself for the first time after 16 hours of training, and I felt invincible. I will never forget November 21, 2020. The night before, I was concerned if I would even be able to fly the next day because the cloud ceilings were forecasted to be about BKN 015, which is the minimum ceiling to do pattern work at Kent. When I arrived at the airport on 11/21, the ceilings were at 012, which had me worried. Though when I called the weather briefer, they said that they expect the clouds to rise, so it was just a waiting game at that point. Thankfully, the METAR updated before my departure time and said that the ceiling was BKN 019, which meant I could fly! Once we got in the air, we did four landings. The first landing was not my best, I came in a bit low and slow, but my next three landings were much better. So much better that after my fourth landing, when we taxied off the runway my instructor asked me if I felt ready to solo. I asked him if he felt I was ready, and he said that I was ready so I responded that I’m good then. I dropped my instructor off and proceeded to Runway 01. I ran through my TILTS check (Time, Instruments, Lights, Transponder, Seatbelt) before I made the call to depart. “Kent Traffic, Kent 2 departing runway 01, Kent Traffic”. I taxied to the runway and lined up with the centerline and pushed the throttle to full power. Before I knew it, I was flying a plane by myself for the first time. Words can’t describe the feeling of freedom and accomplishment I had and still do when I’m writing this post. After I got to 1700MSL, I made the turn to crosswind and climbed to 2000MSL, turned to downwind, and started preparing myself for landing. Once I hit the midpoint on the runway, carb heat hot and then reducing the throttle, lowering flaps, and pitching for my airspeeds, then as soon as I know it I’m already on my final pulling the throttle to idle and starting my flare. The time finally comes where my wheels are back on the ground and I taxi off the runway to do my after-landing checklist. And that concluded my first solo flight.  I only got to do one landing in the pattern, but I know there is so much more to come in my journey to becoming a pilot. 

I would like to thank The Flying Musicians Association and all of their sponsors for providing me with so much knowledge and materials to help me get started in my aviation journey. I can’t wait to keep everyone updated with my future accomplishments through my private license and beyond. Thank you everyone so much for everything!

Here is a video from the Kent State Marching Golden Flash Halftime show!

https://www.facebook.com/kentstatemgf/videos/356248228999088

Spins, Midterms, and Recordings

Hello again everyone! I’m back with another update about my flight training, college academics, and music. Since my last update, I have flown two more times. I was not able to fly much recently was because both my instructor and I had to quarantine because of Covid. Even though we both tested negative, we were not allowed to go back to the airport for fourteen days after our initial exposure. In my first lesson after quarantine, I worked on takeoff and landing out of Portage County Airport, which is about 12 miles from Kent’s airport. Then in my second lesson, I had the privilege of doing spin training. The first time my instructor demonstrated a spin, my stomach just dropped because I had no idea what it would really be like even though I had watched videos and imagined it beforehand, it is a completely different experience up in the plane. There is no way to predict what it will actually feel like. But as I did more and more spins, they became very fun and I hope I can do more training like this in the future. They are a lot easier to recover from than I had previously imagined. I hope to log more flight hours and learn more skills in the upcoming weeks as I get closer to my first solo flight! 

As midterms wrap up, I am proud of my academic success so far this year. I have A’s in all of my classes, though I am especially proud of my A in my Flight Theory class. About every 3 weeks we take a block exam that covers about 6-8 chapters in the Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. For each exam, we have to score above 70%, because the flight theory course is mandated by the FAA. If we don’t reach this score above 70% the first try, we get another attempt.  If we don’t score 70% on the second attempt, then you have to retake the entire course. I am proud to say I have scored 93% on both of the block exams I have taken so far which was well above average for both of the tests.

At Kent, I participate in their marching band and their wind ensemble, which is their top concert band. The MACC conference is resuming football at the beginning of November, so I will finally be able to perform with the marching band. In the meantime, the marching band has recorded some songs that I will link below. For wind ensemble, since we are unable to meet as a large group, I am in a brass quintet, and we will be recording a song on Thursday which should be posted on Kent State School Of Music Facebook (I think). Even though college definitely isn’t what anyone expected right now, I am still making the most of it and I am having a great time so far!

 

 

Flight Training Update

Hello again everyone! I just thought I would give everyone an update about my flight training. So far I have completed 6 flight lessons, and one lesson in the simulator. I have been progressing well through my flight training. I could be farther along in my learning, but the constantly changing, unpredictable weather of Northeast Ohio has canceled some of my flights.  So far I have worked on weather briefings, weight and balance, shallow, medium, and steep turns. I have also practiced normal takeoffs and landings, descents and climbs, show flight, gliding, learned all of the corridors and practice areas for Kent, tracking a straight line and correcting for wind, radio communications, minimum controllable airspeed (MCA), ground reference maneuvers, power-off stalls, and lastly, and my favorite part so far, unusual attitude recovery. 

I have enjoyed every minute of the flying. The hour or so I get to spend in the air  feels like its over in just a few minutes. It seems like as soon as I take off and make my way to the practice area, I already have to go back to the pattern and land. So far, all of my training flights have been in the morning. Generally, my flight block is from 8:30-10 in the morning. I had the opportunity to fly at 7 one morning, though, and it was really cool getting to watch the sunrise while flying. I also enjoy seeing all of the patches of fog scattered on the ground. From Kent, I am able to see all the way to downtown Cleveland and even farther over the lake. Days that I’m not flying, my CFI is teaching me a ground school, so all of the knowledge I’ve gained through Sporty’s and my Flight Theory class is being reinforced into my brain. I’m continuously grateful for the opportunity The Flying Musician Association has given me and expect more updates soon!

SOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Hello everyone!

Yesterday marks a huge milestone in my journey to Private Pilot. I completed my first solo flight!!! It was amazing. I did three takeoffs and three landings all by myself. They were great too, no problems at all. It was such a beautiful night as well, the sunset was perfect, and the winds were pretty variable but only at a couple knots. A perfect time for a solo flight. Thanks so much to everyone in the FMA who made this possible for me. It’s truly a dream come true. It still feels so unreal. I soloed in 10.8 hours of total flight time, so that’s definitely pretty sweet! I hope to be able to get my PPL right around 40 hours, which of course is minimums for PPL.

I’ll have to take a little break now unfortunately, but I have finished my application for the EAA Ray Scholarship, so hopefully I can get that and continue my flight training! The next thing I want to complete is my written test. I am planning on having it done before the end of October. I have been and will continue using the Gleim aviation practice tests, the Sporty’s Learn to Fly course, and the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge to study. I think that this will prepare me enough for the test. If anyone has any better advice on this, please let me know!

Thanks so much for following me thus far,

Jake Myers

My First Flight!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that on September 4, 2020, I had my first flight at Kent State. I just wanted to say I’m sorry in advance because I forgot to take pictures because I was so excited to fly. I got to Kent’s airport (1G3) at 7:45 in the morning for my 8:30 flight. My CFI let me do all of the preflight all by myself. After I did my weather briefing, I calculated the density altitude and figured out what my landing and take-off distances were. After I filled all of that out, I got to head out to my plane. For my Private Pilot course, I will be flying a Cessna 152 most of the time. Once I got to the plane, I disinfected the inside and then started my preflight walk around. After I did this, we had to fill up our fuel tanks which pushed back our departure time. After all of the preflight checklists had been completed, it was finally time to taxi to the runway. 

Once we finally took-off, my CFI showed me the corridors that we have to take to get to the training areas. Once we got to our training area, I practiced shallow/medium banked turn and also climbs and descents while turning. The first flight for me was to get a basic understanding and feeling for the controls. Once we landed, my CFI let me taxi back so I could get a feel for the controls. I kept wanting to use the yoke to turn the plane instead of the rudder.  During this flight, I logged .7 hours of flight time. I plan on coming to the airport on the weekends to fly in addition to my scheduled flight blocks during the week. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be able to fly and have a group of amazing supporters. I can’t wait to keep everyone updated with my training!

First Day of School and Why I Chose Kent State

Hello Everyone. Today, August 27th marked my first day of classes at Kent State University. This semester I am taking Kent State’s ground school course along with their private pilot course. My CFI said that we are going to try and fly next week, but the date isn’t completely set yet because of the backlog of students from the spring semester who lost out on flight time due to Covid. I am so excited to start my new journey and take flight in life and I can’t wait to keep everyone updated.

Why I chose Kent State University (KSU). 

Let’s start with the location of Kent State. Kent State is located in Kent, Ohio which is about an hour south of Cleveland. It also is 45 minutes from CLE and 30 minutes from CAK. Since Kent is located in Northeast Ohio, the weather conditions are constantly changing. It can be snowing in the morning and 70° in the afternoon with thunderstorms in the evening. The changing weather will allow me to learn how to fly in any condition so I’m better prepared for the airlines. 

Kent State has the largest fleet out of any collegiate flight program in Ohio with 32 planes. Their fleet consists of 27 single-engine Cessnas (150,152,172R,172S,172SP), 2 Piper Seminoles, and 3 Piper Arrows. Kent State is also retiring some of their 172s and replacing them with brand new ones over the next 5 years. The Kent State airport is owned and operated by Kent State itself and is about 10 minutes from the main campus by car, so very convenient. Kent State owns all of its aircraft and also conducts all of its maintenance. 

Kent State has many accreditations. Kent State is the only aeronautics program in Ohio to be accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International. Kent State also has a restricted ATP, meaning I only need 1000 hours until I can fly for commercial airlines.  In addition, Kent State also has many connections with airlines. FedEx recently donated millions of dollars to the Kent State Aeronautics program to build a new facility at the airport. In addition, Kent is one of the few schools that are a part of the Delta Propel Program. Kent also has many connections with charter and regional airlines. 

Overall, Kent State has a great aeronautics program and I can’t wait to tell everyone about my flight journey!

-Jacob Burdette

A Little Update-Jake Myers

Hello again everyone!

Despite not a whole lot going on with me right now with flight training due to my vacation last week and then a covid scare this week with my instructor’s family (thankfully, test came back negative for covid), I just want to touch base with anyone following and share a few other things going on in my life right now.

I go back to school this coming Monday to start my senior year. I’m pretty excited, but at the same time pretty bummed that it’s partly online. At least it isn’t all online. I also take the SAT Sunday. I do have a flight lesson scheduled for next Tuesday, and if all goes well, you can look for another post from me after that.

In the meantime, check out my bands’ new video!!!

(sorry if audio isn’t that great, we were on vacation and did not have any of our recording equipment with us).

Gleim Aviation Private Pilot Test Prep-EAA Chapter 122 Fly In

Hello All!

Since before I started flight training, I have been using the Gleim Aviation Private Pilot Test Prep. Here, I will show you some of my thoughts on it. Overall, I think it’s a great program. I love how you can customize practice tests. You can control what kind of questions you see in a test, and as well as how long the tests are. The practice tests are the main thing I use it for, but it does have some other functions as well. You can access text ebooks for review, as well as take full practice tests simulating the FAA Knowledge Test. I primarily use it for the Study Sessions so I can review specific concepts that I have learned at a flight lesson with my instructor. The only complaint I would have about it is that to me, the dashboard and test prep just kind of looks a little dated to me. But overall, the information the program presents is good and current. It’s a good program for any student pilot to use to study, as well as for any pilot to use to keep current on information.

On Saturday, I went to an EAA Chapter 122 fly-in with my instructor, who is the chapter president, in his L-16 Champ. I really enjoyed talking and socializing with everyone there, and I think I hit it off with everyone quite well. I wore my FMA shirt, and I told everyone there about the FMA and me and my scholarship. It’s a great flying community, and I will definitely be going back to all the future meetings and fly-ins I can make. I got to meet John Rathmell (hope I spelled that correctly). He runs Sport Flying USA, a company who handles sales of all Bristell aircraft in the US, and it’s also the company who subcontracts Jon Still and his company, Still Flying LLC, who trains me. John Rathmell brought his Bristell 915IS, which is pretty much the same airplane I fly, just with a turbocharged engine that produces about 35hp more than the plane I fly. On the way back to Carlise (N94), John Rathmell formed up on our right ring and flew formation with us all the way back to N94, before breaking off and heading home. (Just so everyone knows, Jon Still and John Rathmell ARE in fact both trained in formation flying and are ex-military pilots. As I’m sure everyone knows, formation flying should never be attempted without proper training and experience). It was awesome! Nothing like an old warbird and a beautiful new Bristell flying together. I got some awesome pictures and a video that I’ll put in this post.

So long for now,

Jake

Update on Flight Training-First Time at a Tower Controlled Airport and a Ride in a Navion L-17!

Hello!

Yesterday, I had my first training flight to a tower controlled airport, Capitol City Airport (KCXY). It was a bit intimidating, but also a lot of fun. I thought I was going to do pretty badly with communications, but under the pressure of actually making the calls, I did pretty well. I also learned how to do a touch and go. I did three yesterday, two at Cap City and one at Carlisle (N94). A highlight of that training flight was flying right under Air Force One! My flight instructor told me that Air Force One often does practice and training flights in the area.

Today my instructor, Jon Still, took my girlfriend and my little sister up for an EAA Young Eagles flight in his North American L-17 Navion. I got to ride along, and it was great! It’s such a cool airplane. North American produced the L-17 for the Army and fledgling Air Force at the end of WW2 in order to keep business going as they began to slow down production of the P-51. Although Jon’s is painted with a Navy paint scheme, the Navy only tested the Navion for its suitability and never really used it that much. When you look at the Navion, you can see some very similar design characteristics to the P-51, such as the designs of the tail and canopy.

I have around six or seven hours of total flight time now, and I believe I am about halfway to my solo. My passion for aviation has gotten even deeper during the course of my training so far, and I am extremely motivated to finish through solo and get my pilot’s license. I’m really looking forward to it and to hopefully continuing my training afterwards if I can find the financial means to do so.

Here’s some pictures and videos of the Navion flight as well as one of me with the beautiful Bristell NG5!