jmaynard
Cleared for Takeoff
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2008
- Messages
- 1,487
- Location
- Fairmont, Minnesota
- Display Name
Display name:
Jay Maynard
I finally gave a real flight lesson yesterday. It wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be.
There's a young lady who built a Zodiac two years ago. She hasn't been able to fly it yet for two reasons: it hasn't finished phase I testing, and she hasn't been able to get signed off to solo it because she only turned 16 a couple of months ago. Yes, she built the airplane when she was 14. She's got a Canadian private ticket, which can apparently be done at 14, but the FAA wouldn't let her convert it to a US private ticket - so she's been stuck. Her dad has flown the airplane about 30 hours.
She's been a voice of reason on the Zodiac mailing list, and has given out a lot of good information. I decided that I'd at least get her signed off to solo so she could fly her own airplane. (In phase I testing for an experimental aircraft, only required crew are allowed on board. An instructor is not required crew.)
I pulled out FAR 61.87 and drew up a specific pre-solo check lesson plan. I also wrote up two pre-solo tests from the AOPA Air Safety Foundation safety advisor circular and sent her the take-home part so she could have it filled out when we met up.
She came to Fairmont yesterday, on her way elsewhere. We sat down at the airport for the oral part of the lesson. We talked about her experience and how she got to where she is today. That led into a discussion of the written test, and we spent a lot of time going over what was covered there and her answers. Her home airport is a towered field, so we discussed tower operations as well as what we'd be doing at Fairmont (which is definitely non-towered). We talked for over an hour, and then broke for a late lunch.
Back to the airport, we preflighted the aircraft with her dad watching and taking a few pictures. (Hopefully, you'll get to see them in an upcoming story on her in the EAA magazine.) I showed her a few things to look at, and she showed me a few. We pulled the airplane out, got some more pictures, and started taxiing out - and then taxied back in to the fuel pumps. (CFI brain fart; we'd discussed fueling on preflight, but I directed her out the taxiway to the runway instead.) Put fuel in the airplane, and then finally went out.
I decide we'd work from the longer, wider, smoother runway 31 instead of runway 2, even though the winds were 350 at 7-9. She'd met crosswinds before, after all. Before we got down to the nitty gritty of landing practice, we first went out to the practice area so she could get the feel of the airplane. As I expected, her 150-trained reflexes needed some retraining for the Zodiac. A few turns, a stall series, and a rectangular pattern, and she was handling the airplane quite well. Back to the airport.
I'd discussed the pattern and landing, and how each leg was to be flown, on the ground. I demonstrated one in the air (and felt completely comfortable doing it), and then it was her turn. As you might expect, she had trouble with the first few, mainly because she flew the downwind and base too wide and flared too much; there was also some trouble with directional control at touchdown. None of it was bad enough to warrant taking the airplane, though; the landings were hard, but not damaging. As we went on, I told her what needed fixing, and she did it. By the end, while she still needed some work on keeping the airplane pointed down the runway in a crosswind, I felt comfortable signing her off - she made the last three without any input from me at all aside from critiquing what needed improvement afterwards.
Before I started, I decided that I'd sign her off if I felt she would be able to fly safely without damaging herself or the airplane, and if she could make three landings in a row without coaching. I was comfortable putting my signature in her logbook over the proper endorsement.
We talked some more about what she needed to work on (mainly directional control, but also not overrotating the flare and carrying a little more power down final). She didn't want to solo my airplane; she wants her first US solo to be in the airplane she built. I can't argue. I think she'll do great.
There's a young lady who built a Zodiac two years ago. She hasn't been able to fly it yet for two reasons: it hasn't finished phase I testing, and she hasn't been able to get signed off to solo it because she only turned 16 a couple of months ago. Yes, she built the airplane when she was 14. She's got a Canadian private ticket, which can apparently be done at 14, but the FAA wouldn't let her convert it to a US private ticket - so she's been stuck. Her dad has flown the airplane about 30 hours.
She's been a voice of reason on the Zodiac mailing list, and has given out a lot of good information. I decided that I'd at least get her signed off to solo so she could fly her own airplane. (In phase I testing for an experimental aircraft, only required crew are allowed on board. An instructor is not required crew.)
I pulled out FAR 61.87 and drew up a specific pre-solo check lesson plan. I also wrote up two pre-solo tests from the AOPA Air Safety Foundation safety advisor circular and sent her the take-home part so she could have it filled out when we met up.
She came to Fairmont yesterday, on her way elsewhere. We sat down at the airport for the oral part of the lesson. We talked about her experience and how she got to where she is today. That led into a discussion of the written test, and we spent a lot of time going over what was covered there and her answers. Her home airport is a towered field, so we discussed tower operations as well as what we'd be doing at Fairmont (which is definitely non-towered). We talked for over an hour, and then broke for a late lunch.
Back to the airport, we preflighted the aircraft with her dad watching and taking a few pictures. (Hopefully, you'll get to see them in an upcoming story on her in the EAA magazine.) I showed her a few things to look at, and she showed me a few. We pulled the airplane out, got some more pictures, and started taxiing out - and then taxied back in to the fuel pumps. (CFI brain fart; we'd discussed fueling on preflight, but I directed her out the taxiway to the runway instead.) Put fuel in the airplane, and then finally went out.
I decide we'd work from the longer, wider, smoother runway 31 instead of runway 2, even though the winds were 350 at 7-9. She'd met crosswinds before, after all. Before we got down to the nitty gritty of landing practice, we first went out to the practice area so she could get the feel of the airplane. As I expected, her 150-trained reflexes needed some retraining for the Zodiac. A few turns, a stall series, and a rectangular pattern, and she was handling the airplane quite well. Back to the airport.
I'd discussed the pattern and landing, and how each leg was to be flown, on the ground. I demonstrated one in the air (and felt completely comfortable doing it), and then it was her turn. As you might expect, she had trouble with the first few, mainly because she flew the downwind and base too wide and flared too much; there was also some trouble with directional control at touchdown. None of it was bad enough to warrant taking the airplane, though; the landings were hard, but not damaging. As we went on, I told her what needed fixing, and she did it. By the end, while she still needed some work on keeping the airplane pointed down the runway in a crosswind, I felt comfortable signing her off - she made the last three without any input from me at all aside from critiquing what needed improvement afterwards.
Before I started, I decided that I'd sign her off if I felt she would be able to fly safely without damaging herself or the airplane, and if she could make three landings in a row without coaching. I was comfortable putting my signature in her logbook over the proper endorsement.
We talked some more about what she needed to work on (mainly directional control, but also not overrotating the flare and carrying a little more power down final). She didn't want to solo my airplane; she wants her first US solo to be in the airplane she built. I can't argue. I think she'll do great.
