Lesson #2
After not being able to fly last Thursday due to 90-degree crosswinds of 15-17 knots I finally got up in the air again today for 1.3 hours. I was hoping to finish up my BFR (provided I flew well) while also get checked out in Cessna 99A, a 172 model R plane with fancier systems than an older 172 (auto-pilot, GPS, fuel-injection, etc).
When I got there I found out that there was little chance of finishing the BFR since there would not be enough time to do the ground parts of it. That was no big deal though, b/c I could do that right before going solo by coming in a bit early and working with the instructor (Tom) to finish up that phase.
So I started my pre-flight. There were a few things foreign to me in that pre-flight. Some were easy to figure out, like testing the pitot-heater and the car-style seat belts, others were totally new to me like the annunciator panel (just a set of panel warning lights, like cars have). But with some help from Tom, I learned those things, as well as the different start-up procedure (I have always flown in carb'd aircraft in the past).
So we started taxiing (once I figured out where the mic-key was on the nice contoured yolk). Everything was fairly normal for the rest of the taxi and run-up phases. We took off and I managed to make the airplane do a little hop on the runway by apparently pulling up at 50 knots, instead of 55 (I swear I pulled at 55, but I guess not; I'm shooting for 60 like I used to in the past from now on).
Tom told me that we'd head to a local airport, just a few miles away, and shoot some touch-and-gos. I started turning the wrong way at first, but with a little help from the right seat, I corrected that. :)
We played with the autopilot on the way out to West Point airfield. It was very cool to have the plane fly itself around. :) It didn't want to track the VOR at first, but after a bit it started proper making course corrections.
We practiced some stalls in a turn and an emergency engine-out; I did ok on the stall, not too great on the emer. situation though.
We flew on to West point (where I had experienced my one and only sky dive) and setup for the first landing. I was feeling very out of it (my situational awareness was down too low; the final straw being when I got on the radio at West Point and had no idea about the runway headings) so I asked Tom to shoot the first landing for me, in the hopes that my brain would reset some.
He was kind enough to do so, and after we were a few hundred feet up again I took the reigns. I shot about 3 landings, one with a simulated engine-out. On each I came in quite high (that airplane really likes to float) but my flares were much better than my flight a week earlier, so I was happy about that. One I came in so high on that I had to go-around (not land).
We were running out of time, so we headed back to JGG (Williamsburg) and I managed an OK landing there, on the numbers. I think the only reason that one was not way-high like the rest was b/c I did a slightly longer downwind leg to give some traffic ahead of me more room. I will do a longer downwind from now on in that plane.
So moral of the story: it may hurt to do badly on some flights, but if you learn more about yourself and about flying (and you don't break anything) it's not such a bad flight after all. No matter how cheesy that may sound.
I have plans to go out to JGG again on Thursday and do the ground work. This time I plan on nailing the emergency procedures. :) Maybe if I'm lucky I'll actually get signed off to use my license like it was meant to be used, with passengers (after a few more solos for polishing of course).
I really like 99A. That plane is nice looking, flies really well once you get used to it, and has plenty of high-tech toys. I wish it weren't so damned expensive (all the planes are) but I will look forward to flying in it again. Maybe she'll like me better next time too.
When I got there I found out that there was little chance of finishing the BFR since there would not be enough time to do the ground parts of it. That was no big deal though, b/c I could do that right before going solo by coming in a bit early and working with the instructor (Tom) to finish up that phase.
So I started my pre-flight. There were a few things foreign to me in that pre-flight. Some were easy to figure out, like testing the pitot-heater and the car-style seat belts, others were totally new to me like the annunciator panel (just a set of panel warning lights, like cars have). But with some help from Tom, I learned those things, as well as the different start-up procedure (I have always flown in carb'd aircraft in the past).
So we started taxiing (once I figured out where the mic-key was on the nice contoured yolk). Everything was fairly normal for the rest of the taxi and run-up phases. We took off and I managed to make the airplane do a little hop on the runway by apparently pulling up at 50 knots, instead of 55 (I swear I pulled at 55, but I guess not; I'm shooting for 60 like I used to in the past from now on).
Tom told me that we'd head to a local airport, just a few miles away, and shoot some touch-and-gos. I started turning the wrong way at first, but with a little help from the right seat, I corrected that. :)
We played with the autopilot on the way out to West Point airfield. It was very cool to have the plane fly itself around. :) It didn't want to track the VOR at first, but after a bit it started proper making course corrections.
We practiced some stalls in a turn and an emergency engine-out; I did ok on the stall, not too great on the emer. situation though.
We flew on to West point (where I had experienced my one and only sky dive) and setup for the first landing. I was feeling very out of it (my situational awareness was down too low; the final straw being when I got on the radio at West Point and had no idea about the runway headings) so I asked Tom to shoot the first landing for me, in the hopes that my brain would reset some.
He was kind enough to do so, and after we were a few hundred feet up again I took the reigns. I shot about 3 landings, one with a simulated engine-out. On each I came in quite high (that airplane really likes to float) but my flares were much better than my flight a week earlier, so I was happy about that. One I came in so high on that I had to go-around (not land).
We were running out of time, so we headed back to JGG (Williamsburg) and I managed an OK landing there, on the numbers. I think the only reason that one was not way-high like the rest was b/c I did a slightly longer downwind leg to give some traffic ahead of me more room. I will do a longer downwind from now on in that plane.
So moral of the story: it may hurt to do badly on some flights, but if you learn more about yourself and about flying (and you don't break anything) it's not such a bad flight after all. No matter how cheesy that may sound.
I have plans to go out to JGG again on Thursday and do the ground work. This time I plan on nailing the emergency procedures. :) Maybe if I'm lucky I'll actually get signed off to use my license like it was meant to be used, with passengers (after a few more solos for polishing of course).
I really like 99A. That plane is nice looking, flies really well once you get used to it, and has plenty of high-tech toys. I wish it weren't so damned expensive (all the planes are) but I will look forward to flying in it again. Maybe she'll like me better next time too.
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