rottydaddy
En-Route
Yesterday the club rallied to avoid a Sunday washout... a high layer moving in, with rain, but we had a great day of calmish winds and big lift.
I just about made an hour on my first, got to 4900 off a 2500-foot tow- considering the rust I did OK, I think- keeping a steady bank, flying at the right speed, more by feel than by the ASI and (non-audible)vario.
Could have stayed up much longer, but I wanted to work on things other than thermaling, in preparation for the checkride. Left one thermal a bit earlier than a I should have in order to venture west a bit... should have gotten more altitude while I could, but it worked out well- made it farther west than I ever have before on my own, and found some decent lift over there to regain some altitude before heading back. Also working on trying to enter and fly a good pattern without referencing the altimeter (much). The thing's been sticking lately (have to tap it occasionally), which helped.
Also, I think it's good practice coming down when you want to, as opposed to when you have to- it was tricky, with lots of good lift near the field.
Had to wait a while for my next turn, but made a good "pattern hop"... pretty satisfied with my progress, but I need to polish up my landing accuracy in the new landing area (we recently had to shift to the west half of the grass, as they have installed a PAPI array and a bunch of signs right in the middle of the old landing area).
I just about made an hour on my first, got to 4900 off a 2500-foot tow- considering the rust I did OK, I think- keeping a steady bank, flying at the right speed, more by feel than by the ASI and (non-audible)vario.
Could have stayed up much longer, but I wanted to work on things other than thermaling, in preparation for the checkride. Left one thermal a bit earlier than a I should have in order to venture west a bit... should have gotten more altitude while I could, but it worked out well- made it farther west than I ever have before on my own, and found some decent lift over there to regain some altitude before heading back. Also working on trying to enter and fly a good pattern without referencing the altimeter (much). The thing's been sticking lately (have to tap it occasionally), which helped.
Also, I think it's good practice coming down when you want to, as opposed to when you have to- it was tricky, with lots of good lift near the field.
Had to wait a while for my next turn, but made a good "pattern hop"... pretty satisfied with my progress, but I need to polish up my landing accuracy in the new landing area (we recently had to shift to the west half of the grass, as they have installed a PAPI array and a bunch of signs right in the middle of the old landing area).
