Last Wednesday I had a challenging lesson. For starters, I hadn't flown because of weather and schedule conflicts for 2 weeks. Then the perfectly calm winds turned into a crosswind as I approached KFES. Then there is the fact that I am always dead tired after teaching all day when I do weekday evening lessons. But, all that being said we did accomplish a lot of new things. First we reviewed power on stalls, then we reviewed power off stalls followed by some slow flight. After the review we dropped down to 1500 MSL or about 1000 ft AGL and performed my first ground reference maneuvers. First we did left, then right turns around a point. The first point I picked turned out to be a town, Fults, Illinois (see picture) and even though it only has 28 people according to wikepedia, my instructor said it is better not to bother them, so we found a barn across from Rush Island that was caught in the flood. I liked the maneuver, even though it was for sure challenging. Then it was time to try S turns, which we did using the tracks north of Fults as our reference. But, we hadn't done this very long, when we noticed that the cropduster that we had been keeping our eye on was doing a lot of spraying, with their associated and wild flying in this whole area, so Paul wisely said to go back to KFES and do some pattern work. It was my first time landing on 18 instead of 36 since I came back to flying in December. So all of my references were a little off, but it was OK. We did a go-around and then landed. I was having a lot of trouble both on the go around and the recovery from the power on stall of climbing too steeply, while trying to raise the flaps simultaneously and was struggling on the edge both times to stay above stall speed. So, I was really hard on myself, as I always am and was a little down. But, in retrospect, I feel it was a good lesson and I am ready to stay in better practice. Luckily, I only have 3 more weeks of school. I can't wait to see what it is like to fly with more mental focus and physical energy.Saturday, May 7, 2011
Ground Reference Maneuvers
Last Wednesday I had a challenging lesson. For starters, I hadn't flown because of weather and schedule conflicts for 2 weeks. Then the perfectly calm winds turned into a crosswind as I approached KFES. Then there is the fact that I am always dead tired after teaching all day when I do weekday evening lessons. But, all that being said we did accomplish a lot of new things. First we reviewed power on stalls, then we reviewed power off stalls followed by some slow flight. After the review we dropped down to 1500 MSL or about 1000 ft AGL and performed my first ground reference maneuvers. First we did left, then right turns around a point. The first point I picked turned out to be a town, Fults, Illinois (see picture) and even though it only has 28 people according to wikepedia, my instructor said it is better not to bother them, so we found a barn across from Rush Island that was caught in the flood. I liked the maneuver, even though it was for sure challenging. Then it was time to try S turns, which we did using the tracks north of Fults as our reference. But, we hadn't done this very long, when we noticed that the cropduster that we had been keeping our eye on was doing a lot of spraying, with their associated and wild flying in this whole area, so Paul wisely said to go back to KFES and do some pattern work. It was my first time landing on 18 instead of 36 since I came back to flying in December. So all of my references were a little off, but it was OK. We did a go-around and then landed. I was having a lot of trouble both on the go around and the recovery from the power on stall of climbing too steeply, while trying to raise the flaps simultaneously and was struggling on the edge both times to stay above stall speed. So, I was really hard on myself, as I always am and was a little down. But, in retrospect, I feel it was a good lesson and I am ready to stay in better practice. Luckily, I only have 3 more weeks of school. I can't wait to see what it is like to fly with more mental focus and physical energy.
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