Flight 10: I Won’t Laugh If You Don’t
Today I did some steep turns and stalls (on purpose, but not together), which went well for not having worked on them the past two weeks. We reviewed the engine-out emergency procedures, then flew to Plant City (PCM) to do touch & goes. These were crosswind landings. (Quick student logic: wind about 10 knots, mainly from the north, runway heading east = crosswind.)
The crosswind gave some of my final turns/approaches the shape of a question mark as I turned a bit late and had to get lined up with the runway. (I had a private chuckle when my CFI did the same thing while demonstrating a “better” landing. It seemed a little impolite to laugh out loud at him, since his flying is usually so much better than mine. Looks like my influence is rubbing off.)
The landings went better than last time, especially the ones with decent approaches. Except for the demo, I think I did them all myself, so I’ve progressed from assisted mediocre landings to touching down in a halfway acceptable manner. There weren’t any big bounces or drops. The main problem was pulling back a little early- a couple of so-so landings would have been good ones if I hadn’t done that.
Another good thing today was realizing my mistakes earlier than I had been able to before. I recognized most of them right away, some even before I made them. Some other things are starting to fall into place. The best way I can think of to describe it is a higher awareness of what’s happening, such as checking instruments or making adjustments at points where I hadn’t before.
I’m still drifting off course in the pattern due to the wind, and not always turning at the ideal time, but I’m pretty happy with my progress. (Although it was embarrassing to fly right past our home airport on the way back without spotting it! I guess it’s good that I hadn’t laughed out loud at my instructor’s landing.)
For those scoring at home, I’ve stuck with the 152 since Flight 3, except once when it was already booked.
Today: 1.3 hours
Total: 11.7 hours
