More Flying this weekend

[motospeed9058]

So as promised, my next lesson covered steep turns and landings. And of course, I got scolded again by my instructor. Scolded in a good way though. She was mad that my steep turns were better than hers. Only had to do them a couple of times to include 720's in each direction and they were perfect with no altitude loss. Once that was out of the way and a couple of power on/off stalls which came out ok, we headed in to start working on some pattern work.

During the touch and goes, I found the most irritating part to be after the "go" portion. Once we started climbing, I kept climbing through the pattern altitude and having to really futz with the throttle and the yoke trying to figure out how to make the transition smoother from the takeoff into the cross wind. One of the "issues" at FDK is the noise abatement areas where you must "hit your marks" at certain points. So that made each leg of the pattern very crucial to ensure that we weren't in violation. Turning from base to final also seemed to be a bit of a challenge with the actual allignment with the runway. Funny part is, I had no problem with actually getting the plane on the ground, or the process necessary for the touch and goes.

Overall, a very solid weekend and another couple hours logged. Here's to hoping the learning process continues again soon! Happy Monday everybody!

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Turning from base to final also seemed to be a bit of a challenge with the actual allignment with the runway.

I used to do a lot of "button hook" turns there... But now I tend more to start the turn early an kinda fudge the last bit to end up more or less aligned with the runway.

 

[murphey]

And what's wrong with a 135 deg turn to final????

 

[MBDiagMan]

And what's wrong with a 135 deg turn to final????

Are you asking this question tongue in cheek or seriously?
Doc

 

[p1l0t]

So as promised, my next lesson covered steep turns and landings. And of course, I got scolded again by my instructor. Scolded in a good way though. She was mad that my steep turns were better than hers. Only had to do them a couple of times to include 720's in each direction and they were perfect with no altitude loss. Once that was out of the way and a couple of power on/off stalls which came out ok, we headed in to start working on some pattern work.

During the touch and goes, I found the most irritating part to be after the "go" portion. Once we started climbing, I kept climbing through the pattern altitude and having to really futz with the throttle and the yoke trying to figure out how to make the transition smoother from the takeoff into the cross wind. One of the "issues" at FDK is the noise abatement areas where you must "hit your marks" at certain points. So that made each leg of the pattern very crucial to ensure that we weren't in violation. Turning from base to final also seemed to be a bit of a challenge with the actual allignment with the runway. Funny part is, I had no problem with actually getting the plane on the ground, or the process necessary for the touch and goes.

Overall, a very solid weekend and another couple hours logged. Here's to hoping the learning process continues again soon! Happy Monday everybody!

Just remember that noise abatement is voluntary. It is good to be a good neighbor but safety always comes first. Also consider the time of day/day of the week. 5pm on a Friday the rush hour traffic on the roads is going to be much louder than the airplane anyway, besides no one is probably sleeping. Now if you go climbing out over someones house at 2 in the morning the next call they make might be to complain.

<---<^>--->

 

[jspilot]

Turning from base to final also seemed to be a bit of a challenge with the actual allignment with the runway.

Sounds like things went well. My instructor always tells me to extend the center line of the runway out to help judge when to turn final. That helped me figure this out. I agree it is one of the harder parts of pattern work.