Toby
Cleared for Takeoff
It was super windy today, gusting into the mid-20s but mostly down the runway, which was good for takeoffs and landings, and really bumpy up a few thousand feet, which made things exciting. We did a lot of half rolls today, and a lot of flying and making small turns while inverted so I could really get the feel of it and have time to glance at the altimeter to see what was happening there. (Chip, you mentioned finding exercise this valuable. It was.)
I screwed up the first couple half rolls, because I was so intent on the stick movements that I forgot to stop us upside down and just rolled through. But after that, the next 4 or 5 times I was able to stop us just there, and fly around for a while! It was awesome.
I learned, for a left roll, to move the stick just a bit back and to the left to get started. Moving it a tiny bit back seems to get the nose lifting up sooner than I'd been able to do it before. I'd always experienced a lag, and the effect was that I wouldn't get the nose high enough above the horizon when inverted. I think I'm also starting to get the timing of the combination of movements necessary to bring the ship around. It's all so precise! It's really a whole lot of sequential movements that have to be done just so. But today I noticed that I was doing a few of those movements unconsciously.
We didn't get to do what he had hoped, which was at least one spin, but that was because it had been almost three weeks since I'd flown the plane and I was a little rusty. Well, let me amend that. I wasn't rusty so much as I was feeling afraid. If I have a big break, I tend to let that fear get the better of me for a while. I have to fly some and work it out of me. It took me half the lesson to feel at home in the plane again. But I feel pretty good now. When I go back on Friday, we should be able to move on from here -- weather permitting, of course.
I screwed up the first couple half rolls, because I was so intent on the stick movements that I forgot to stop us upside down and just rolled through. But after that, the next 4 or 5 times I was able to stop us just there, and fly around for a while! It was awesome.
I learned, for a left roll, to move the stick just a bit back and to the left to get started. Moving it a tiny bit back seems to get the nose lifting up sooner than I'd been able to do it before. I'd always experienced a lag, and the effect was that I wouldn't get the nose high enough above the horizon when inverted. I think I'm also starting to get the timing of the combination of movements necessary to bring the ship around. It's all so precise! It's really a whole lot of sequential movements that have to be done just so. But today I noticed that I was doing a few of those movements unconsciously.
We didn't get to do what he had hoped, which was at least one spin, but that was because it had been almost three weeks since I'd flown the plane and I was a little rusty. Well, let me amend that. I wasn't rusty so much as I was feeling afraid. If I have a big break, I tend to let that fear get the better of me for a while. I have to fly some and work it out of me. It took me half the lesson to feel at home in the plane again. But I feel pretty good now. When I go back on Friday, we should be able to move on from here -- weather permitting, of course.
