Flight 17
07-02-95

1975 C-172M
TEB-CDW-TEB

4500 overcast; wind 290/09

1.1 dual
4 landings

"Normal t.o. and landings, t.p. procedures"

Well, last week's lesson was cancelled due to fog, and needless to say, I'm a bit rusty today. But 453 is a plane I recall being fond of- why exactly, I can't say. Today I like it even more because a push-to-talk switch has finally been installed.
"Does this work?" I ask M.

"No", he tells me. I try it anyway... and it works. Good. 453 is now my favorite airplane in the fleet, as it has its own PTT and for backup, the big old-school  mic that I prefer.

Takeoff is not too shabby... climbing through 700 feet, I bank west and level off at 1200. Within a few minutes, Caldwell Airport lies before us. I make contact with the tower. I feel nervous today... maybe it's the impending series of touch-and-gos. There are two other planes in the pattern, and I manage to keep them both in sight as I make my way along the circuit to my first landing attempt of the day.

In my eagerness to avoid being too high on final, I over-do things a bit... have to add some power as we sink towards the Willowbrook Mall as 453 glides down to the runway, prop idling. I'm then too hot in the flare... we float a ways... then as the nosewheel settles on, the plane begins to shake violently... nosewheel shimmy...

"Pick it up", M. says. "Full power..."

Right. I knew that. Pull back a bit to get the wheel up; throttle forward... and we're airborne again.

Now it's time for another try. I make a very precise turn to final, and establish a good glide angle, but a glance at the ASI as I clear the fence shows we're way too hot- it seems I have managed to retract the flaps completely when I though I was merely stopping them at thirty degrees. I wonder why M. said nothing... but no matter; the runway's long, I can salvage this easily... or can I? I flare and hold it, waiting... waiting...453 flies on, not slowing much as we roll... the runway is dwindling rapidly... nervous now, I advance the throttle too quickly for the takeoff... and the engine burps.
"Take it easy", M. scolds. I have just learned another important touch-and-go lesson (learned it for real, not just heard it explained): that power must be fed in smoothly, or the carb could get flooded.

On downwind for the next one, I spy another Cessna crossing the field- 300 feet below me!! Whoever it is, they have not been talking on the radio. And the tower issued no warning... don't they see this guy? Another lesson: even with a tower present, constant vigilance is required around airports!!

This time I'm all over the place as I turn to final. terrible. But the descent is good...followed by a too-high flare... rescued by an excellent touchdown, even remembering to hold the nosewheel off as long as possible. Smooth throttle this time, and we're off for home again. Once cleared to enter TEB's class D airspace, I'm given instructions to make "close traffic" for Runway 01. That goes well enough.

All in all, I feel I've made some improvement, but I must try harder to stay ahead of the airplane at all times!
M. announces that he's being transferred to the school's new satellite facility at Lincoln Park (the pleasant little suburban airport I'd visited while looking for a school). I mull this over: it's a little farther from home, but no tower and no landing fee. Another advantage: it's better-situated for cross-country flights in any direction.

But none of that makes as much difference as this fact: the rental rates are almost $10/hr lower than at TEB!
Time to switch airports...


Next: flight 18

FridayChild wrote on Feb 5^th, 2007 at 5:39am:


Y'know, re-reading this, I was asking the same thing. I'm not sure he took much notice. But think about it: we couldn't see the N-number, the tower said nothing (didn't even hear him calling for this plane to ID), so what could we do?

My guess is that this was somebody wandering to or from Lincoln Park (very close by)... and perhaps they were below CDW's radar and not visible from the tower.

It was a good lesson, though: new pilots MUST understand that tower and TRACON controllers are not gods, they miss things and make errors, and in VFR conditions they expect you to be looking out more than they are. Got to be vigilant with eyes and ears, and announce whenever practical.