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Third Lesson: "...This is UN-natural...."


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Third lesson on Saturday, and no, I will not be posting every time I fly, but this was particularly cool for me because I managed to do some things well that had previously escaped me, such as consistent straight and level flight!!

I benefited from relatively calm air at 1200'-1800'AGL so because of the relative serenity, I managed to stay ahead of the bumps and such.

This was also my first attempt at flying with the IFR glasses, and that wasn't near as difficult as I'd imagined, no doubt aided by the docile air.  So I was able to execute level, ascending and descending right and left, 180 degree turns, on time and on heading, arriving at the target altitude...most of the time. Yeah, I still have a lot of room for improvement.

Oh, and any cockiness I was feeling (none) about being able to land was eliminated by trying and failing to line up for landing with a cross wind.  There are some very tall trees at the approach to runway 35 at 2GC, and I totally fixated on the freaking trees instead of the runway numbers, and messed the whole approach up.

"...Unnatural...." is how I feel about steep turns.  Not a fan. 

I also improved my taxiing by decreasing the throttle to just enough to keep the plane moving: much MUCH easier to not bend a plane this way.  Slow is smooth and smooth is fast, or so the guys who taught me Close Quarters Marksmanship told me. 

The most pleasing aspect of the process, however, is that I had enough attention left over while piloting the plane to enjoy piloting the plane! WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!  I mentioned in my previous post that the first lesson was enjoyable--sort of--but if I'm candid, there was a part of me that thought that maybe I'd bitten off more than I could chew.  The second lesson was more enjoyable, but that was tempered by my utter incompetence and a few almost-very-bad-incidents on the ground.  This lesson, was enjoyable almost from start to finish (steep turns notwithstanding), and again, the processes required for straight and level are more autonomous, allowing me to enjoy the sensations--and the view!!!

 

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1 hour ago, Danb said:

No..keep posting all your lessons, we're still learning

We just finished following along with Richard's lessons, and are waiting while he learns his plane before getting into Instrument training [if he sees fit; it took me three years to get started]. His write-ups were always fun to read! @Skates97--check him out as a role model.

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1 hour ago, Hank said:

We just finished following along with Richard's lessons, and are waiting while he learns his plane before getting into Instrument training [if he sees fit; it took me three years to get started]. His write-ups were always fun to read! @Skates97--check him out as a role model.

I'm a role model???:o

There is always something to learn. I need to write about it still, but this flight to Mesquite involved landing downhill with a quartering tail wind. I'll save the details for my blog post (should be up by mid-week), but I used up about 4,000' of the 5,121' runway. The second taxiway turnoff was at about 3,100' and I was not going to make that one.

1 hour ago, Yetti said:

it takes me about 5-15 minutes to the get straight and level and staying at the right altitude and all that other stuff you are supposed to do.

Glad to know I'm not the only one. Add to that when my son likes to sit up more to see better out the front, or slouch down to take a nap, or turn around and reach for stuff sitting on the back seat and he changes the CG, the trim wheel and I are close friends.

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22 hours ago, Skates97 said:

 Add to that when my son likes to sit up more to see better out the front, or slouch down to take a nap, or turn around and reach for stuff sitting on the back seat and he changes the CG, the trim wheel and I are close friends.

My hangar partner and best friend used to get his E model trimmed well enough that he controlled minor corrections in altitude during cruise by leaning forward or back to keep the plane nailed on altitude.  I'd mess with him sometimes by discretely moving a bit for or aft until he would catch me! 

Tom

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A thought about "straight and level"......

"Straight and level" only exists in the mind of a DPE.  All of us who actually fly know that straight and level is really a matter of tolerance.

If you look at the raw air data while on autopilot altitude hold, the "level" that you perceive is really a series of small, constant corrections.  Same with heading: a constant stream of small corrections.  As long as you are moving through the air, you are either passing through assigned heading/altitude, or correcting to it...albeit by very small amounts.

What this is all about is that often new pilots envision "straight and level" as a Zen state rather than a constant stream of corrections.  When you're new, maybe 20 feet and 3 degrees is about all you can do and you think that "straight and level" has eluded you.  Actually, you just haven't developed the knack of making smaller and smaller corrections early enough.

If you get frustrated by "straight and level", just remember that ATP standards allow variances larger than what you are probably doing right now.  ;)

 

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On ‎3‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 7:00 AM, supersoldier71 said:

Third lesson on Saturday, and no, I will not be posting every time I fly, but this was particularly cool for me because I managed to do some things well that had previously escaped me, such as consistent straight and level flight!!

Most likely you will be posing because every time you fly at this stage in the game you will want to share the experience with others you have just begun having amazing things happen as you begin to learn and accomplish things you thought were not possible the fun and enjoyment just keeps getting bigger and better than the last.  Have fun you are doing something truly special

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On 3/13/2017 at 7:00 AM, supersoldier71 said:

Third lesson on Saturday, and no, I will not be posting every time I fly, but this was particularly cool for me because I managed to do some things well that had previously escaped me, such as consistent straight and level flight!!

 

You could do what @Samurai Husky and I did, just start a thread called "Supersoldier17's Flight Training" or something like that and when you fly put a post in there. A bunch of us here like reading about it, and you will get lots of helpful advice from the members. You will also likely get a bunch of "I remember doing that exact thing" posts too.

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Have you done any stalls yet?  I remember knowing for certain that I was going to die right then and there.  Now they are kind of fun.  I found that the uncomfortable feeling goes away with repetition and practice.   I just started flying a Mooney and everything feels very new all over again.

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30 minutes ago, TonyK said:

Have you done any stalls yet?  I remember knowing for certain that I was going to die right then and there.  Now they are kind of fun.  I found that the uncomfortable feeling goes away with repetition and practice.   I just started flying a Mooney and everything feels very new all over again.

I had flown a lot of RC, and was terrified of stalls. Until my CFI did one. A complete non-event. They are kinda fun!

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22 hours ago, Mooneymite said:

A thought about "straight and level"......

"Straight and level" only exists in the mind of a DPE.  All of us who actually fly know that straight and level is really a matter of tolerance.

If you look at the raw air data while on autopilot altitude hold, the "level" that you perceive is really a series of small, constant corrections.  Same with heading: a constant stream of small corrections.  As long as you are moving through the air, you are either passing through assigned heading/altitude, or correcting to it...albeit by very small amounts.

What this is all about is that often new pilots envision "straight and level" as a Zen state rather than a constant stream of corrections.  When you're new, maybe 20 feet and 3 degrees is about all you can do and you think that "straight and level" has eluded you.  Actually, you just haven't developed the knack of making smaller and smaller corrections early enough.

If you get frustrated by "straight and level", just remember that ATP standards allow variances larger than what you are probably doing right now.  ;)

 

"...straight and level..." as a psychological concept that derives much of its meaning from atmospheric conditions and expectations (like happiness) is a very useful way to think about the processes involved with achieving it. 

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