Jared Fahrner, the Senior Standards Instructor within the Aviation program, is responsible for overseeing Junior Standard Instructors and helps with flight instructions and stage checks. Since he was a little kid, he has always known that he wanted to be a pilot. “My first time ever in an aircraft was when I started flight training. And that is probably my most memorable flight. That was just forever ingrained. Yep, forever ingrained in me, I would say.”
Fahrner offered to take us out and see what goes into flying a plane in UVU’s program and led us out to plane N103UV. This plane is a DA40, and would be the aircraft we would fly in. There were four seats, the front two having capabilities to fly. We were each given headsets with a microphone, and were instructed to plug them into the plane. Flying in a small aircraft like the DA40 is often noisy, and very difficult to hear the people around you. These headsets allowed us to communicate seamlessly through the noise.
Fahrner then pre-checked the aircraft. He describes the process as “Checking for any deficiencies, damage, and if any systems are having issues in the aircraft.” Once the plane was cleared, Fahrner started bringing it to the runway. The small aircraft passed by several parked planes. Fahrner explained that many of these were the private planes used by recreational pilots who stored them at the airport.
Eventually, we made it to a small clearing by the side of the main runway. We stopped for a moment, so we could perform a “run-up”. This process was to check the condition of the engine. We ramped the engine up to its highest power, and made sure there were no issues in doing so. Once the engine was cleared, we waited to be able to take-off.
Fahrner explained that busy flight days garnered high traffic on their runways. We watched various planes land on the runway, seemingly back-to-back. We were shown a map on the plane’s screen documenting every plane flying in the valley, showing their altitudes and the general they were heading. When there was finally a break in-between landing planes, we were able to take off.
Even on the runway, there were still a few things we needed to check. “We’re checking the engine again, making sure it’s operating correctly,” Fahrner explains. Then, it’s time to fly. “I take off looking a “rotate speed”. That’s the point where the wing starts to generate some lift. Then, we apply a little bit of back pressure to the controls to get airborne. We’re climbing out at a certain airspeed that gives us the most amount of lift, so we can climb the most in a given distance. That is called Vy, or our best rate of climb.”
At last, we were in the air. The plane was low enough to see every building in the valley. We spent a moment pointing out various landmarks, such as UVU. We could see the road we drove to get to the airport; we could see our houses. We flew near the mountains by Provo Canyon, then spent a minute circling BYU stadium, waiting for the runway to be cleared. Fahrner explained the holdup was due to a need to swap runways. There had been a change in the wind. “We always want to land into the wind, and so that’s why they change runways.”
Once the runway was cleared, we began the process for landing. “Coming back in, we enter what’s called a downwind. We’re flying parallel to the runway with the wind. Then we enter a base turn, which is a 90 degree turn to the runway. We’re gradually reducing power as we come into land and setting our flaps. As we’re coming into landing, we’re gradually producing power to allow the aircraft to descend. Once we get closer to the runway, we go to what’s called a roundout flare. Once you get just above the runway, you start rounding out your angle of descent into a flare to touch down on the main wheels first of the aircraft.”
Students are typically able to fly the planes after passing three preliminary tests. There is a written exam followed by an oral exam. If they pass those, they are then able to take a practical test. That test takes content from the prior exams, and then makes sure students are fully capable of operating a plane and preparing for an emergency. It’s difficult work, and students essentially take a massive exam every semester. But if they succeed, they are able to start flight training.
Upon returning to UVU, we saw a small DA40 flying through the sky. We watched it fly past, more fully aware of all the work the student took to be flying it.
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