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. I’m fairly confident with everything, but if I had to pick one thing that was weakest I would say that it was stalls. For some reason I get in a hurry and I let the plane get ahead of me. I guess it’s just that I feel uneasy about it; I don’t really know.
We went out to the Loudon Dam practice area, because that is where I will be doing my check-ride. I think it will be helpful to be familiar with the general area before the check-ride. I realize it is exceptionally useful to venture into areas one is not familiar with, but for lessening the nerve-wracking nature of a check-ride, familiarity is a good thing.
Slow flight is one of my favorite things and I have very few issues with it. I over-control a little bit, but on the whole I have no issues performing the maneuver to the required standards. There is just something about flying around at 55 miles per hour and watching the world go around that is appealing to me. Unfortunately, slow flight is usually punctuated by near constant wailing of the stall horn.
Steep turns are something that is also enjoyable, but I’m still not to the level I would like to be. I can do them to the standards, but I want to be able to do them perfect every time; instead, sometimes they get a little wobbly. I have felt my own wake turbulence several times though.
I will depart from the actual order of the lesson to discuss my biggest issues last, which was stalls. Instead I will move on to ground reference maneuvers and unusual attitudes. Of all the maneuvers in the test standards, turns around a point is probably my most improved maneuver. I can basically nail them every time now. They aren’t perfect; sometimes they get a little lopsided, but that is usually only on the really windy days. S-turns are much the same, since they are really just a collection of half turns around points parallel to a line. The only trouble I have is finding straight roads (or other points) to perform the things.
One of my favorite activities is unusual attitudes. This is a relatively late addition to the syllabus, but it doesn’t take much effort to deal with. The idea is that the instructor takes the controls while the student closes their eyes. The instructor then flies a sequence of random maneuvers (to disorient) and then sets the plane in an unusual attitude. The culmination of the maneuver is the student retakes control and maneuvers the plane to straight and level flight. Now, there are two schools of thought on these maneuvers, one is the “disorientation is subtle” crowd and one crowd puts the plane in a full vertical climb. There are merits to both arguments, so a middle approach is likely best. Thanks to an early realization I had I do really well recovering from unusual attitudes. That realization was that if I don’t try to stay oriented, I can’t be disoriented. In other words, what I am feeling doesn’t matter if what I see doesn’t match. Controlled flight into terrain is no joke, but it is really easy to let the plane just slip into a slight descending bank and wake up dead at the foot of a mountain without realizing anything was wrong.
The last thing we did, was a simulated engine failure. I had plenty of altitude, so after locating what looked to be a good spot, I ran the checklists. Unfortunately, the spot I picked turned out to be not so good considering once we got closer all the power lines became visible. It wouldn’t have been that bad though, because there were numerous other locations in the same general area that would have been suitable. The lesson that I took from this: don’t worry about anything but safely making the ground. This means, if the interstate is the best spot, land on it. Don’t worry about blocking traffic. Similarly, if a nearby field would work just as well, don’t stretch it to make the road. Above all, pick a spot and stick to it. The last thing anybody wants is to make it down from 10,000 feet and stall out trying to stretch it to make the next field over because it is closer to the house.
Speaking of stalls, this is my weakest area. I can handle the plane very well up to and including minimum controllable airspeed (imminent stall), but to take it through a full stall is something with which I’m struggling. I get it so far and then I start over/under-controlling and I blow the heading. The biggest issues I have are wings dropping and adverse yaw. The wing drop at a full stall has caused me to start over-controlling with the ailerons. I end up sawing back and forth on the controls which only exacerbates the issue. The second thing is when I apply full power, I put in too much or too little rudder to compensate for the big dose of adverse yaw. The end result? I blow the heading one way and then do it again the other. This stems from my over-focus on the inclinometer during the stall to avoid starting a spin. At this point, I know what all my issues are and I know what would fix them, but I just get uneasy and they infiltrate right at that moment. We did a number of stalls during the lesson, including several right at the end of our time in the practice area.
The last of the lesson was spent going over short and soft field landings and takeoffs. Short field has been easy for me to practice and perform, so naturally I am pretty good at them. Where I am struggling, is the soft field stuff. I always get too high to early or carry too much speed in and really drop it in. We worked on my technique quite a bit and I knocked a few out to prove that I could do it, then we called it a day.
Josh offered to sign me off today and let me try for a check-ride before Christmas, but I elected to wait and fly a solo lesson to practice stalls and my soft field technique. Incidentally, I found out about 5 minutes later, when filling out my logbook, that I was still exactly 1 hour short of the 40 hour minimum. So I have to fly one more hour as well.