Late Bloomer
Pre-Flight
It was a gorgeous, sunny day today, and I met up with my new CFI.
Since I hadn't flown in about 9 months, we went over some basic aerodynamic stuff, and then she watched me preflight the plane.
Went up, did some climbs, descents, turns, and power-on stalls. I actually kept the altitude within +/- 100 feet, so I didn't do as bad as I thought I would.
I had forgotten what a beautiful sight it is up there--the sun was setting, and we were flying over the gulf. It couldn't have been a better day.
The interesting part--on the way back to the airport, entering the pattern, we experienced complete electrical failure.
The alternator must have died, because as soon as we tried to extend the flaps for landing, all the radios, etc. went dead. Since we had no communication with the tower, we had to watch for light gun signals. The CFI was a true professional, though. She kept her head cool, and checked everything methodically.
After receiving the green light signal, we made an uneventful flaps-up landing. After leaving the runway, on the way to taxi back, there were several fire trucks and emergency vehicles coming out to see us. So, we decided to shut off the engine. Great--my first flight with a new CFI, it was getting dark, and I see nothing but flashing red lights headed for us!
After seeing we were OK, the emergency vehicles left, and we went back into the plane to taxi back. Well, the battery was so drained, the engine wouldn't even turn over. Luckily, there was someone still at the office, so we called and had a tow vehicle come and tow the plane back to the fuel pit.
My CFI was great throughout the whole thing--she kept asking me if I was OK (I was), and she said she hoped it didn't deter me from flying (it didn't). Even after all that had happened, any apprehension I had about learning to fly is just about gone!
So, I experienced first hand the need to practice those emergency procedures--you never know when you'll really need to use them!
Since I hadn't flown in about 9 months, we went over some basic aerodynamic stuff, and then she watched me preflight the plane.
Went up, did some climbs, descents, turns, and power-on stalls. I actually kept the altitude within +/- 100 feet, so I didn't do as bad as I thought I would.
I had forgotten what a beautiful sight it is up there--the sun was setting, and we were flying over the gulf. It couldn't have been a better day.
The interesting part--on the way back to the airport, entering the pattern, we experienced complete electrical failure.
The alternator must have died, because as soon as we tried to extend the flaps for landing, all the radios, etc. went dead. Since we had no communication with the tower, we had to watch for light gun signals. The CFI was a true professional, though. She kept her head cool, and checked everything methodically. After receiving the green light signal, we made an uneventful flaps-up landing. After leaving the runway, on the way to taxi back, there were several fire trucks and emergency vehicles coming out to see us. So, we decided to shut off the engine. Great--my first flight with a new CFI, it was getting dark, and I see nothing but flashing red lights headed for us!
After seeing we were OK, the emergency vehicles left, and we went back into the plane to taxi back. Well, the battery was so drained, the engine wouldn't even turn over. Luckily, there was someone still at the office, so we called and had a tow vehicle come and tow the plane back to the fuel pit.
My CFI was great throughout the whole thing--she kept asking me if I was OK (I was), and she said she hoped it didn't deter me from flying (it didn't). Even after all that had happened, any apprehension I had about learning to fly is just about gone!
So, I experienced first hand the need to practice those emergency procedures--you never know when you'll really need to use them!
