The number of times during training that I wound up picking an undocumented farm field was eye opening. It seems like they're everywhere in east Texas.
They're every where in west TX as well. My biggest problem was having to choose between them.
Here in North GA, however, there are few suitable off airport landing spots. But good preflight planning, may keep you within gliding distance of an airport while on cross country.
I too am constantly on the lookout for a suitable landing spot, but I don't obsess over it, and most times I don't realise I'm doing it. It's just part of flying.
The same here. And really memorizing the engine out procedure is not that difficult. My instructor has been emphasizing the idea of a "flow" rather that reading directly from a checklist. If you are in a 172:
Fuel: both
Carb Heat: on
Mixture: full rich
Primer: in/locked
Mags: both
That follows in inverted "L" shape and you can hit all of those items pretty fast. If time allows:
switch tanks
switch mags
Just wondering: have you learned slips yet? If not have your instructor demonstrate them. Slips are great for getting the aircraft down exactly where you want it without increasing airspeed.
Yea...we CFI's have a sadistic streak in us when it comes to that!
And we students are the beneficiaries. The way I look at it, it is the CFIs job to push me. At the end of a lesson if I feel as though I have not gotten a mental work-out then I have not gotten the most out of the lesson.
I've always wondered - What's the lesson? What's the takeaway?
I always try to write down notes, thoughts, etc., as soon as possible after a lesson. Also someone mentioned "Chair Flying." This might seem silly but chair flying is a great way to build muscle memory and learn procedures
