Practice Makes...
Today I was really, really tired. I've been averaging probably about 5.5 hours of sleep per night for 4 nights, which is simply not enough. I staggered through work today, and had to nap in my car in the afternoon (which doesn't really work; one of the few lame things about VWs is that it's really hard to recline the seats). So I wasn't expecting great things from my flight this afternoon.
But it was good! We went to LVK (Livermore), and on the way out, we practiced slow flight and a simulated engine failure, which I executed nearly perfectly. We then went for a landing, but Kevin made me go around because I neglected to go through the pre-landing checklist. It's a good thing -- I had never gone around before, so I got to learn the procedure. The next landing we did as a simulated engine failure -- this was funny; he pulled the power, told me I had an engine failure, and the first thing I did was tell him I'd land on the field below us. His response: "How about the runway?" I had to laugh. So that landing went pretty well. Then we tried a few no-flap landings. The first two times I came in too high and we had to go around (again, good practice). The third time was better, but it was pretty freaky with the shallowness of the approach. I like flaps. Flaps good.
Then we flew back to PAO and on the way out, we did a power-on stall. It went alright but I had a little trouble staying coordinated with the rudder. On the way in to PAO we were originally going to do a no-flaps landing, but the ATC brought me in right onto the base leg (i.e. not much pattern to go through) and it was a weird enough approach that Kevin allowed me to just do a normal landing. It went alright; I leveled off a little high (actually, that was consistent today) but I got it down, on the rear wheels. So that was it!
Kevin says I'm almost ready to solo, that I just need a little more practice on the landings and the maneuvers. I agree -- there's a lot to remember and I need to study some, especially about the aircraft, but I think I'm close. I can maintain altitude, I feel in control of the craft, takeoffs are easy, landings are not easy but they're possible. Probably in a couple of weeks I'll be soloing!
But it was good! We went to LVK (Livermore), and on the way out, we practiced slow flight and a simulated engine failure, which I executed nearly perfectly. We then went for a landing, but Kevin made me go around because I neglected to go through the pre-landing checklist. It's a good thing -- I had never gone around before, so I got to learn the procedure. The next landing we did as a simulated engine failure -- this was funny; he pulled the power, told me I had an engine failure, and the first thing I did was tell him I'd land on the field below us. His response: "How about the runway?" I had to laugh. So that landing went pretty well. Then we tried a few no-flap landings. The first two times I came in too high and we had to go around (again, good practice). The third time was better, but it was pretty freaky with the shallowness of the approach. I like flaps. Flaps good.
Then we flew back to PAO and on the way out, we did a power-on stall. It went alright but I had a little trouble staying coordinated with the rudder. On the way in to PAO we were originally going to do a no-flaps landing, but the ATC brought me in right onto the base leg (i.e. not much pattern to go through) and it was a weird enough approach that Kevin allowed me to just do a normal landing. It went alright; I leveled off a little high (actually, that was consistent today) but I got it down, on the rear wheels. So that was it!
Kevin says I'm almost ready to solo, that I just need a little more practice on the landings and the maneuvers. I agree -- there's a lot to remember and I need to study some, especially about the aircraft, but I think I'm close. I can maintain altitude, I feel in control of the craft, takeoffs are easy, landings are not easy but they're possible. Probably in a couple of weeks I'll be soloing!
posted by MKT at 10:54 PM
1 Comments:
sorry this flight was so hard. i just wanted to ask-- would you consider talking to kevin about how he should deal with you?
he may or may not be receptive, but on the chance he's interested in becoming a better instructor, he might appreciate learning how someone with personality type thanawala.gen.1 are most effectively taught (i know there are others out there!) ...
hope it's better next time.
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