Just to clear the air, I am getting very close to the check-ride. Prior to this lesson all that was left to complete is an hour or so of practical test prep. The plan for this lesson was to perform all the maneuvers required for the check-ride and then work on anything that needs improvement. That means we will do stalls, steep turns, slow flight, ground reference maneuvers, and unusual attitudes.... Read more »
Continue ReadingTag archive for "steep turns"
Practical Test Prep and Last Night Landings
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 Reading
A Short Dual Lesson
The lesson culminated with a thoroughly normal landing which was excellent. It was another landing that really made me look good and really makes me feel bad about the terrible landings I had been making. After securing the plane and paying for the lesson, I received a bit more debriefing. As things stand right now, I'm looking to be done by end of year and that is a distinct possibility given the schedule we worked out.... Read more »
Continue Reading
Half and half
The radio chatter was coming so quickly, that I was afraid I would never be able to break in and request to come back in for landing. I just flew along the ridge and kept turning around to try and maintain a decent proximity to the airport and practice area. I made about 3 circuits of this pseudo holding pattern before I got a chance to request permission to head back in. ATC issued me a heading that was basically parallel to the ridge and I complied. After about 5 minutes and upon noticing that I was nearly to Six Mile, the controller broke in and let me know that I didn't have to stay on the heading and just to hold to the east of the field until further notice.... Read more »
Continue Reading
Solo Lesson – GPS
The lesson culminated with me putting on a show for my mother and wife. There was a bit of a crosswind so I came in in a crab. I rode it down almost to the runway and (for the first time ever) kicked out the crab so that I was lined up perfectly with the runway. I touched down on centerline slightly fast, but otherwise a really good landing.... Read more »
Continue ReadingTwelfth Lesson – ground reference solo
I elected to forego touch and goes in an attempt to lighten the load on the controllers and myself. They vectored me in, which was easy. I came straight in to my base leg and turned final. I set it down in the first thousand feet and made it to the first turn off. It was a really good landing.... Read more »
Continue ReadingSeventh Lesson
In an effort to be smooth I was trying to maintain glide as best as possible and I was doing perfectly. As we got near the runway I slowed the descent as smoothly as I could and let the speed bleed off. I new we were in ground effect so I just let it float a little bit as we slowed down maintaining pitch so that we didn't slam down on the runway. By the end of the relatively short float the stall horn went off and the airplane settled silently onto the runway. There were no bumps or anything.... Read more »
Continue ReadingFifth Lesson
I read back, "Expect 23l, fly runway heading, err 230 after takeoff squawk zero three three three, skyhawk 21693." The response I get is "Actually, runway heading is different, that's 230 and squawk ZERO THREE THREE THREE." Be sure to read that in the most pissy tone you can muster.... Read more »
Continue ReadingFourth Lesson
Our final task was steep turns. I had but one question, what is the steepest one should go? This was answered with Josh performing a 60 degree steep turn. I felt like I was looking almost straight down at the ground. Then it was my turn I stayed closer to 45, which is nothing to shake a stick at. I lost some altitude but not bad for a first try. Josh had me do a steep turn to the right and we headed back to the airport straight away.... 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?
Be sure to check these great sites for more of your favorite aviation content from Leaving Terra Firma.
© 2012 Leaving Terra Firma. Powered by WordPress.
