Toby
Cleared for Takeoff
We started with power on stalls today, which freaked me out the first time in the 172 but are very mild in the Decathlon. Nothing much to do but level out and recover. Then we did lots more left and right spins. We were going to do a base-to-final turning stall/spin combo, but decided to leave that for next time.
To break the stress of doing spin after spin, my instructor suggested loops and a try at doing some maneuvers in sequence. The loop is the maneuver that is singly responsible for my wanting to learn to fly in the first place! We did one together and I learned the steps. Entry speed preferably 160 mph, although 140 is acceptable. Look straight up until I get to the top, then look left over the left wing, float over the top, look out over the nose again as we come down and out. There is NOTHING like that feeling of floating over the top, ever so slowly -- but the slowness is an illusion -- it's breathtaking. We did another one, and then another of those competition spins which I believe had 3 turns, then pulled out and went into a 4-point roll. Sequences are fun! So are the competition spins. They are MUCH nicer and neater than ordinary spins, and much faster.
I'm too tired to get any exhilaration into my writing. This stuff wipes me out.
To break the stress of doing spin after spin, my instructor suggested loops and a try at doing some maneuvers in sequence. The loop is the maneuver that is singly responsible for my wanting to learn to fly in the first place! We did one together and I learned the steps. Entry speed preferably 160 mph, although 140 is acceptable. Look straight up until I get to the top, then look left over the left wing, float over the top, look out over the nose again as we come down and out. There is NOTHING like that feeling of floating over the top, ever so slowly -- but the slowness is an illusion -- it's breathtaking. We did another one, and then another of those competition spins which I believe had 3 turns, then pulled out and went into a 4-point roll. Sequences are fun! So are the competition spins. They are MUCH nicer and neater than ordinary spins, and much faster.
I'm too tired to get any exhilaration into my writing. This stuff wipes me out.