Well today folks you get two blog posts in one! Actually, both the bird strike and engine failure have one thing in common. They occurred on my solo cross country flights. So it is probably fitting to write one blog post about my solo cross country experience rather than two about these incidents.
On Sunday September 26, 2010 I was scheduled to do my first solo cross country. This cross country was from Montgomery Field to Hemet Ryan Airport and back. I was a little nervous because it was my first solo cross country. After drilling my poor instructor, Glenn, for every possible question I could think of to reassure myself that I could handle my solo flight, I got into the plane, went through my start up checklist, and taxied for a straight out departure on 28L. After doing the run up in 22D, I communicated with the tower that I was ready to leave and they cleared me for take off. By now my nerves had calmed down a little and on the take off role I started to really settle into my flying routine. When I was about 500 ft above the ground, however, I hit a little grey bird on the front of the plane (either the spinner, or the prop). It made a loud noise as it hit and freaked me out a little. I immediately contacted tower and let them know that I had hit a bird and would like to return to the airport to make sure the plane was ok. They immediately cleared me to land on any runway that I wanted and asked if i wanted to declare an emergency. Nothing seemed to be wrong with the plane, and since my intention was just to return to make sure that the bird hadn’t taken a chunk out of the prop or had been swallowed into the engine intake, I told them that I was not declaring an emergency and that I could land on 28L since I was already in the pattern for that runway. As I came into land, I was still a little freaked out from hitting the bird and was not set up properly for my landing. The landing was not my best, and I came in a little fast and high. Never the less, after a few bounces on the landing I made it off the runway safely and taxied back to Gibbs. There I checked out the plane for damage from the bird and to make sure everything was ok after the landing. Everything was perfect and I made the decision to try again. I taxied back and took off from 28L and flew to Hemet airport and back.
From this first experience I learned a few things. First I learned that I can handle an emergency. Second I learned that I would have preferred to land on 28R. In an emergency this runway is wider and longer. While typically the landing distance on both runways is equal there is there is an area of the runway that can be only used for taxi and takeoffs for normal operations and in an emergency would be suitable for landing if the engine had failed. Finally, even though there was no damage to the plane, I know I would still do a precautionary landing. Just because there was no damage this time does not mean there will be no damage next time.
The next day was supposed to be my long cross country to Thermal and Imperial airports the next day. The weather was especially warm (>100 degrees) but it was a beautiful day so I headed out for my second cross country, hoping that everything would go smoothly (I was still nervous). There was some turbulence on the way to Thermal but it wasn’t too bad. I landed in Thermal and headed over to the Signature Flight Services. I fueled up, ran to the bathroom, preflighted the plane, taxied to the run up and got ready to take off. When I saw everything was good to go, I took runway 17 for departure. Everything was fine on takeoff, and as I headed south toward the Sultan Sea there was a sudden severe shaking in the engine that continued. I immediately made the decision to turn back to the airport and land the plane. Any engine issues should always be taken very seriously and I was taking this one very seriously. I felt it was best to get the plane on the ground and figure things out when I was on the ground. I had already checked the mixture and ignition which did not reduce the roughness in the engine. I was about 2000 feet in the air after I turned around and just a few miles from the airport. I reduced the power and began my descent. I had a lot of altitude and felt it was best to fly a normal pattern and land on runway 17. I still had engine power, but was concerned about a total engine failure. I set up for runway 17, and gently landed and taxied back to signature services to call my instructor and 9MH’s owner and get a mechanic to check out the plane.
When I pulled into park at Signature, the attendant made a comment that something wasn’t right. When I exited the plane, I saw that there was oil all around the bottom of the plane. It was a good thing I had landed! After the mechanics took a look at the plane, it was apparent that there was an issue with cylinder #4 which had caused the engine roughness. This meant I was stuck in Thermal since the plane was grounded due to the issue. Fortunately, my wonderful instructor came to rescue me in his plane, and in the mean time Signature kept me comfortable with water, internet, and satellite TV (I am very appreciative to the kind folk at Signature).
When I called the owner of the plane he asked me what the engine gauges (oil temperature and pressure) had indicated during the time of the engine roughness. Freaked out, I realized that was not a question I could answer. These two gauges would have provided a lot of information about the issues with the engine. Perhaps I was freaked out or too focused on just getting the plane on the ground, but I did not think to look at the engine gauges. These gauges could have provided important information to what was going on with the engine and was important information for the owner and mechanics. While this would not have affected my outcome, regularly checking the engine gauges is an important thing to do when flying.
On Sunday October 10 I was able to try my long cross country again. This time it was smooth sailing (or rather flying!). I was constantly checking my engine gauges throughout the flight as well as pointing out to myself where I would put the plane down in case of an emergency. These experiences have made me a better pilot and hopefully they will never happen again. These are both rare occurrences but these things do happen. So while I hope that I never have an engine problem or hit a bird again, I have learned that I can handle myself in the case of an emergency and have a little more confidence than I did before.
lisa on December 30th 2010 in Flying
Thanks to everyone who makes my life so wonderful, I love you all 
