Flight 36: Flying Backward
Today I flew with my CFI for the first time in three weeks to work on ground reference maneuvers. The wind was strong and gusty, which made it interesting. I felt more uncomfortable than I had in a long time. A few times we hit updrafts that blew the plane up a hundred feet or so at a time. Sometimes a slight change of heading resulted in a 90-degree turn as the wind caught us.
Near the end of the flight we tried to fly backward. We headed straight into the wind and dropped our airspeed as low as we could get it without stalling (about 35 knots). For a minute or two the headwind was strong enough to equal the airspeed, so we hovered over one spot. We didn’t quite go backward, but it was the first time I’ve seen a zero groundspeed.
Today: 1 hour
Total: 49.6 hours
Total Solo: 15 hours
