06/20/08 18:00

Stats: 1.5 Dual Hours, 7 day landings, ground reference maneuvers, steep turns, short field take off and landing. Total hours to date: 9.2

Today, I received what I can only guess is a compliment from Ron. As we were talking about what we were going to do today, he said that he wanted to demonstrate short field take-offs and landings. He said he’s been coming out here diligently for 6 days now and hasn’t had a chance to fly. I take that as a compliment.

So, the short field take-off over an obstacle. This is similar to a normal take off, except you hold the brakes while you put the throttle in (like heavy jets do) and then do your rotation up to the plane’s best climbing angle to get the most altitude in the shortest distance (you have to climb out over an obstacle on a short runway remember). The landing is just the opposite, you come in at a steeper descent rate to clear the obstacle and then hit the brakes quickly to get you stopped short of the end of the runway. Ron, of course, makes it look easy. I make it look like I need more practice. I get the take-off portion no problem, it’s the landing that I need to work on. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of opportunities coming up.

Today was apparently landing day as we did 4 at Mount Comfort and 3 at Shelbyville. Finally, I think I’m starting to get the idea on the landings. I did a couple of fairly decent landings at Shelbyville and then one back at Mount Comfort that netted an 8/10 from Ron. Given the fact I’ve only been in the air less than 10 hours, I’ll take an 8 out of 10.

06/23/08 21:02

Stats: 1.5 Hours Dual, 5 Day Landings, slow flight, stalls, steep turns, soft field take off, ground reference maneuvers. Total Hours to Date: 10.7.

Something new to try today. Soft field take offs and landings. I had briefly read about these and they didn’t seem to difficult. WRONG. At least at the beginning they were very difficult for me. I’m sure they will get easier as time goes on.

This type of take off requires you keep the nose wheel off the ground as you start your take off roll, then as soon as able you take off but fly just a few feet off of the ground until your airspeed comes up to your best rate of climb speed. Then you rotate up for a normal climb out. Let’s just say that after bouncing around and down the runway, I need a bit more practice at these…

We went out to the practice area to work on slow flight and stalls. These actually went pretty well today. I have a habit of bring the nose up to high to induce the stall rather than just waiting for the airspeed to drop. The higher nose leads to a somewhat more violent stall that is a bit harder to contol. Basically, I’m making it harder than I need to. I’ll definitely remember that one for next time.

Ground reference maneuvers and steep turns are getting better. I am pretty much staying within the guidelines required to pass my checkride. We’ll see how I do when there is more wind…

Next time we’re doing a mini cross county and going to an airport with a tower…

06/28/08 21:02

Stats: 1.5 Hours Dual, 0.5 Hours Simulated Instrument, 5 day landings, crosswind takeoff and landing, basic instrument only maneuvers. Total Hours to Date 12.2.

Today’s goal was to takeoff and head to the New Castle airport (narrow and short runway) doing some instrument only training along the way, then head up to the Anderson airport to do a little work at a controlled airport. Everything went well until we got to Anderson. Apparently something was wrong as there was no one at the tower. We called three or four times and never got a response. So much for working with an Air Traffic Controller…

However, the instrument training along the way went very well. Basically you put on the hat / visor thing that allows you to only see the instruments. You are not able to look outside the aircraft at all. After spending all the time up to now constantly looking out the plane to make sure you are level and not climbing or descending and being able to reference the ground to get an idea of how high you are, not having that is a little weird. This is where having spent a lot of time in Flight Simulator comes in handy. Although you can see out in FS, it is, well, less than reliable. You learn to read the instruments when playing the game. Therefore, this came pretty easy for me. We did some basic flight maneuvers and navigated our way between airports only with the instruments. It’s a little more taxing on the brain, but not too bad. It makes me want to work on getting my instrument rating after I get my certificate…

06/30/08 19:47

Stats: 1.4 Hours Dual, 0.2 Hours simulated instrument, 6 Day Landings, stalls and spin awareness training, soft field, slow flight, ground reference. Total Hours to Date: 13.6

Going into today’s lesson, I had no idea what was in store. We really didn’t talk about what we were going to do. Much to my relief, there was really nothing new going on today. We did a spin awareness exercise where we were in an intentional stall (managed by the instructor) and it was my job to keep the wings level, which suprisingly enough is done with the rudders. It was a weird sensation to be falling out of the sky in such a controlled manner. I glanced at the airspeed indicator at one point and it was showing about 25 KIAS. The point of the lesson was that you can avoid a spin by keeping the wings level and not letting your stall fall off to one side as this would induce a spin.

After some ground reference maneuvers and simulated IFR, we headed back to do some landings. We started by making a regular approach and then just before touchdown, adding a little power to fly just a few feet off of the runway. This was great. I had time to see how much or little pressure was needed to adjust the plane in ground effect. I really think this helped my landing technique as the next two were the best ones I’ve ever done.

Will the next lesson include solo flight… I don’t know but I’m already starting to get nervous…

07/02/08 20:36

Stats: 1.2 Hours Dual, 5 Day Landings, Crosswind T&Gs, slow flight, steep turns, stalls. Total hours to date 14.8

This evening’s weather was definitely the challenge of the day. The visibility and ceiling wasn’t a problem, it was the wind. We had a fairly strong crosswind (for someone who only has about 14 hours and not a lot of experience in crosswind) and I certainly learned a lot about crosswind landings. After a couple landings, I was getting the hang of it.

Then it was off to around 4000’ ASL to work on some slow flight and stalls. It went o.k. but every once in awhile, I still over-correct and we get a little negative “G” time. After that we did some steep turn work. This went very well. For the first time, I did a 360 and came back to the same spot I started the turn in. How do I know you ask… I ran into my own propeller turbulence. Woo-hoo…

Until next time…