ChrisK
En-Route
I have been taking too many jabs and stabs at threads on this board, so I figure it is time to make a slightly-sober attempt at a benchmark post.
I did my first (dual) cross country flight today (15G-16G-MFD-15G) and I have to say that it was AWESOME. I think I'm going to be a "go places" sort of a pilot when I'm done rather than a "poke holes in the sky" sort of pilot, so being able to leave the practice area even supervised was an awesome treat for me.
As expected, my instructor kept yelling at me for going off course, and it was amusing to work out why I was doing it. At some point early in my training, my CFI told me to stop playing with the rudder and "keep my damn feet on the floor". It isn't that I stopped using the rudder altogether, but given his chastisement, I really didn't use them to help hold my course. On our last leg, my CFI finally said "use your rudder to hold your course". Wow, that's a lot easier =P
On the way to 16G my instructor claimed to "not know where he was" and tended to question me a lot on my checkpoints, which I would with a great deal of angst and frustration stab the sectional, gesture out the window, and say "Look! Town, diagonal railroad tracks! We are RIGHT THERE!" at which point he would back off and say "ok ok fine we're there". I have a bit of background in woodsman navigation, so at the very least I can coordinate a map with what I see out the window to a certain extent. I'm pretty sure he feigned lost with much showmanship, but I know the guy too well to fall for it.
This was also my first approach to a towered field, and I have to say (aside from the fact that 9000' >>> my home 2300' runway) it was really nice. We were approaching MFD and my instructor asked if I could see the runway. I thought I could, but not having been there before, I couldn't say for sure. He advised me to call the tower and ask for a vector and I'll be damned they pointed me right at it. That's so much easier than what I'm used to out in the country... With my CAP communications experience and with some thanks to Live ATC, I was able to work through the towered field communications like I'd been doing it all my life.
In the end, we made it back just before dark, and I've been grinning ear to ear ever since. This is the happiest I've been in my flight training. I can't wait to do my solo CC (and to play with my non-approved GPS), and even more so to get signed off to venture farther afield. Really for the first time since I've been training I feel like there is a proverbial "big world out there" for me to explore, and I'm getting closer to being ready for it.
Ok, back to my lurking and taking potshots!
I did my first (dual) cross country flight today (15G-16G-MFD-15G) and I have to say that it was AWESOME. I think I'm going to be a "go places" sort of a pilot when I'm done rather than a "poke holes in the sky" sort of pilot, so being able to leave the practice area even supervised was an awesome treat for me.
As expected, my instructor kept yelling at me for going off course, and it was amusing to work out why I was doing it. At some point early in my training, my CFI told me to stop playing with the rudder and "keep my damn feet on the floor". It isn't that I stopped using the rudder altogether, but given his chastisement, I really didn't use them to help hold my course. On our last leg, my CFI finally said "use your rudder to hold your course". Wow, that's a lot easier =P
On the way to 16G my instructor claimed to "not know where he was" and tended to question me a lot on my checkpoints, which I would with a great deal of angst and frustration stab the sectional, gesture out the window, and say "Look! Town, diagonal railroad tracks! We are RIGHT THERE!" at which point he would back off and say "ok ok fine we're there". I have a bit of background in woodsman navigation, so at the very least I can coordinate a map with what I see out the window to a certain extent. I'm pretty sure he feigned lost with much showmanship, but I know the guy too well to fall for it.
This was also my first approach to a towered field, and I have to say (aside from the fact that 9000' >>> my home 2300' runway) it was really nice. We were approaching MFD and my instructor asked if I could see the runway. I thought I could, but not having been there before, I couldn't say for sure. He advised me to call the tower and ask for a vector and I'll be damned they pointed me right at it. That's so much easier than what I'm used to out in the country... With my CAP communications experience and with some thanks to Live ATC, I was able to work through the towered field communications like I'd been doing it all my life.
In the end, we made it back just before dark, and I've been grinning ear to ear ever since. This is the happiest I've been in my flight training. I can't wait to do my solo CC (and to play with my non-approved GPS), and even more so to get signed off to venture farther afield. Really for the first time since I've been training I feel like there is a proverbial "big world out there" for me to explore, and I'm getting closer to being ready for it.
Ok, back to my lurking and taking potshots!
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