Josh let me know on the very end of the downwind, that my electrical system had just failed. He turned down all the lights, and we were in the dark. All I had was runway lights, engine sounds and a stall horn to guide me. My response to this was, "Oh...does that mean I have no flaps either?" (The Skyhawk has electric flaps.) So now it was a no flap landing too. Nevertheless, I made a really good, short landing.... Read more »
Continue ReadingTag archive for "night flying"
Intercepting Radials and Short Days
Last lesson we had discussed a brief ground lesson to cover some things that the examiner had asked on a recent check ride. Due to scheduling issues, I had scheduled a shorter amount of time than I thought would be necessary to do any decent amount of flying. Naturally, I had assumed we would do... Read more »
Continue ReadingNight Cross-Country
I was however surprised by the wind they were reporting; it meant I was going to be doing crosswind landings my first time in the dark. I'm not talking a slight wind either, we were indicating 210 and tracking 225; that's a 15° crab angle. Fortunately, I was in tune with the plane and I could feel the crab, so I knew what I needed to do and when. Unfortunately everything seems faster at night, so I was constantly fighting the urge to slow things down.... Read more »
Continue ReadingAbout the author
Hello, my name is Matt Everett and as of 1/1/2010 I am a private pilot ASEL. I started this blog early in my training and used it primarily as a place to keep notes of my lessons. Since then it has grown to much more than that, but my main focus is still on aviation experiences. It is my sincerest hope that this blog is a resource for others as much as it is a resource for me. Looking for more?
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