Training has begun! (my journey)

I really like the Gleim materials for private pilot.

I tried a few different things and settled on them. Jeppesen's textbook is good, but I'm not crazy about their study guide as it has errors in it. The Gleim stuff didn't.

I used the Sporty's online Private pilot ground school. I do not recommend it. Things are missing from it. I can't vouch for other online ground courses, I do know Gleim also offers one.

Also get a copy of FAR/AIM, you'll need that as well.

The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge is also a good one, goes with the Airplane Flying Handbook and also an FAA book.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
I really like the Gleim materials for private pilot.

I tried a few different things and settled on them. Jeppesen's textbook is good, but I'm not crazy about their study guide as it has errors in it. The Gleim stuff didn't.

I used the Sporty's online Private pilot ground school. I do not recommend it. Things are missing from it. I can't vouch for other online ground courses, I do know Gleim also offers one.

Also get a copy of FAR/AIM, you'll need that as well.

The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge is also a good one, goes with the Airplane Flying Handbook and also an FAA book.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. I really am interested in starting an online ground school... but bummed to hear that you did not like the Sporty's version. I definitely want to find one that is considered high quality. Anything that can help me learn and prepare faster will be good for my wallet in the long run.

I am going to look into those books and grab a few. Thanks!
 
So I picked up FAR/AIM 2014 as well as The Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Should be a good start.
 
So I got the two books last night, The Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge is a pretty straightforward read, but FAR/AIM just seems like a massive wall of info...

How do you approach this sort of material? Are certain parts applicable to me? Is it more of a reference? What exactly do I need to know?
 
The index in the front of the FAR/AIM has recommended study chapters for a private pilot student.
 
joeparrilla said:
Ok, time for a question! I want to get myself a decent headset that will not break the bank. Any suggestions? We have one in my training airplane, but my instructor said it would be best for me to just get one, as the rental one takes quite a bit of abuse. I have seen headsets from a few hundred to thousands of dollars. What do I need?
Click to expand...
search craigs list aviation or aircraft. i got a high end set of david clarks for $200
 
joeparrilla said:
So I got the two books last night, The Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge is a pretty straightforward read, but FAR/AIM just seems like a massive wall of info...

How do you approach this sort of material? Are certain parts applicable to me? Is it more of a reference? What exactly do I need to know?
Click to expand...

FAR/AIM is more of a reference. For your exams (written and practical) there are certain ones you need to know cold. But these are usually listed in both the various text books and the PTS.

For the FAR/AIM, I highly recommend the iPad app from ASA. It makes searching a very easy thing, AND when the revisions are published, the ASA updates the app, where with a paperbook, you would have to purchase a new copy.
 
Flight Log #3.... STUCK ON THE GROUND!

So KISP is IFR today, and visibility is complete crap... so that means Im stuck on earth. I think I may need to up my training days because waiting 2 weeks to fly is just too much. I need more.
 
PPL LOG: 3rd Flight 10/13/13

PPL LOG: 3rd Flight 10/13/13 (for real this time)

So after a 2 week break for weather, I was back in the air again today.

Started off learning to read the METAR which was quick and straight forward. This time I did everything from pre flight to the hold short for takeoff all on my own (minus communication). One part related to communication that I did do was jotting down the ATIS info. This was actually harder than I thought, and it took me 3 run throughs before being able to grab all of the info (he spoke really fast!)

Crosswind was very noticeable today, so we did a sort of assisted takeoff. I controlled the throttle and rudder to keep us on the centerline, and my instructor got us up. The ceiling was at around 2300ft today, so we practiced at around 2k.

Today was all about rudder. We spoke about left turn tendency due to torque, adverse yaw, and any other situation where rudder is needed. First my instructor demonstrated why we actually use rudder in a turn by doing a very steep/quick roll and having me notice how easily you can see the nose skid to the outside of the turn before actually moving into the turn. I saw a similar effect after the rollout, with the nose sort of wobbling before becoming steady. Once he performed coordinated turns, it became apparent why we care about this sort of thing. It was cool doing really steep turn, I actually felt G's for the first time (even though very little).

I more or less practiced coordinated turning for the entire flight. I found it difficult knowing how much rudder was needed for a given bank angle. I really feel unsure about pedal pressure all together, whether it be taxiing or in the air. I feel like I cant get any response out of them, but then I just get too much and over steer.

Its cool having control for more of the flight now. I feel really confident in climbs, level flight , and descent. I am much better at using outside references to keep my attitude constant. I actually found myself hardly using the instruments this time... which felt really good. I also seemed to be able to pick up a lot of attitude info from referencing the wingtips. All in all I feel more aware and loose up there. My head feels like it is on a swivel... which I assume is a good thing.

We finished up with a pretty awesome crosswind landing (first time I have ever been in one).

On the schedule for next week is beginning to actually perform some radio contact on my own, and some new maneuvers. Today marked my 3rd flight, and the official end of my "starter package". As of next week I am officially a student at the school and begin to pay actual rates from the meter (awesome...)

It was a solid day altogether. Honestly any day that I am up there just puts a smile on my face. This is simply the greatest thing imaginable...
 
You go Joe!

If you are still looking for a headset, pigpen on this site often has some for sale. I bought one from him and am very happy. Do a search if you are interested.
 
Great stuff Joe. PM me if you are ever looking to go flying with a fellow Islip based pilot. I'd be happy to take go flying with you. Your enthusiasm and love for flying is palpable through your posts.

Just one thing from your write up that I'm sure you did not learn yet- you said you practiced at 2,000 feet with the cloud ceiling at 2,300. I'm sure you were lower than that or the clouds were higher than that. Technically, you must maintain a distance from the clouds when flying VFR( 500 feet below the clouds in most cases and 1,000 feet above). Of course no one can tell exactly how far below the clouds he or she is but it's a rule.

Keep up the great work and the write ups!
 
jspilot said:
Great stuff Joe. PM me if you are ever looking to go flying with a fellow Islip based pilot. I'd be happy to take go flying with you. Your enthusiasm and love for flying is palpable through your posts.

Just one thing from your write up that I'm sure you did not learn yet- you said you practiced at 2,000 feet with the cloud ceiling at 2,300. I'm sure you were lower than that or the clouds were higher than that. Technically, you must maintain a distance from the clouds when flying VFR( 500 feet below the clouds in most cases and 1,000 feet above). Of course no one can tell exactly how far below the clouds he or she is but it's a rule.

Keep up the great work and the write ups!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for that offer.. dont be surprised if I take you up on that. I need any excuse I can get to be up there ;)

I always knew I would enjoy it... but I didnt know exactly how much. Turns out that I fell in love.. and my once a week flights seem like an eternity from each other. I just want to experience everything aviation has to offer. I really need to get out and meet pilots / aircraft owners and become more a part of the culture.

About the cloud ceiling... I probably just have no idea what Im talking about :) I just remembered ATIS saying broken at 2300.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk now Free
 
great to hear your stories! i fly out of FRG starting commercial training soon. keep up the good work. PM if you want to fly IFR. i think it will be a fun experience for you
 
joeparrilla said:
Thanks so much for that offer.. dont be surprised if I take you up on that. I need any excuse I can get to be up there ;)

I always knew I would enjoy it... but I didnt know exactly how much. Turns out that I fell in love.. and my once a week flights seem like an eternity from each other. I just want to experience everything aviation has to offer. I really need to get out and meet pilots / aircraft owners and become more a part of the culture.

About the cloud ceiling... I probably just have no idea what Im talking about :) I just remembered ATIS saying broken at 2300.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk now Free
Click to expand...

Yeah I can totally relate to that feeling of not being able to wait for the next flight! I've been flying for 3 years now and I still have it! I also hope it never goes away.

No worries on the clouds- just did not want you to publically admit that you broke a rule on an Internet message board accessible by who knows. Of course it would be impossible to do anything about it if anyone wanted to make a big deal but why chance it.

So what's next in training? Are you going on any cross country flights yet with your instructor? I went to Groton CT(KGON) for my first cross country flight about my 5th or 6th flight into training. That flight remains the time when I fell in love with flying and whenever I fly that route now I still think about how awesome it is to fly and even more awesome it is to fly around Long Island and all the amazing sights.
 
jordane93 said:
great to hear your stories! i fly out of FRG starting commercial training soon. keep up the good work. PM if you want to fly IFR. i think it will be a fun experience for you
Click to expand...

Awesome! Good luck with that.

Thanks for that... it would be fun to go IFR. Definitely something Ill keep in mind. Thanks man!
 
jspilot said:
Yeah I can totally relate to that feeling of not being able to wait for the next flight! I've been flying for 3 years now and I still have it! I also hope it never goes away.

No worries on the clouds- just did not want you to publically admit that you broke a rule on an Internet message board accessible by who knows. Of course it would be impossible to do anything about it if anyone wanted to make a big deal but why chance it.

So what's next in training? Are you going on any cross country flights yet with your instructor? I went to Groton CT(KGON) for my first cross country flight about my 5th or 6th flight into training. That flight remains the time when I fell in love with flying and whenever I fly that route now I still think about how awesome it is to fly and even more awesome it is to fly around Long Island and all the amazing sights.
Click to expand...

Next is getting me on the radios and takeoffs/more turning related maneuvers (steeper turns, getting better at coordinating etc). I havent heard anything about XC yet... but hopefully soon!
 
So I pulled the trigger on a headset and went with this one:

http://www.sportys.com/PilotShop/product/9018

Its the one my instructor uses, and he said that he really liked it for a PNR headset. I really liked the way the ear contour felt. I know the ANR would probably have been a better choice... but I really wasnt feeling like spending twice the cost of this one right now. When I outgrow this one I will go for the big time. Anyways, this is a hell of a lot better than the one in my plane that everyone uses and abuses :)
 
joeparrilla said:
So I pulled the trigger on a headset and went with this one:

http://www.sportys.com/PilotShop/product/9018

Its the one my instructor uses, and he said that he really liked it for a PNR headset. I really liked the way the ear contour felt. I know the ANR would probably have been a better choice... but I really wasnt feeling like spending twice the cost of this one right now. When I outgrow this one I will go for the big time. Anyways, this is a hell of a lot better than the one in my plane that everyone uses and abuses :)
Click to expand...
I was going to start off with the QT Halo but there was a 3+ week back order when I went to purchase so I ended up with the Lightspeed Zulu.2

I have been extremely pleased with them over the past 19+ hours with them. They are night and day compared to the ASA headset that you used from the school.
 
PPL LOG: 4th Flight 10/20/13

Beautiful Sunday afternoon for a lesson! This was a very cool lesson, and definitely the most fun to date. There was a lot of new stuff introduced... and a lot of it was crucial.

I basically did all ground radio communications on my own... from clearance to departure. I did a quick test with my instructor acting as ATC, and then got right to it. I was pretty nervous, but it went really smooth. No mess ups, and I got everything on the first listen. I then did my usual taxi and run up... but I didnt know I would be taking off today!

Takeoff was what I expected although I was slightly nervous. Once off the ground, the plane pitched high very quickly which I did not expect. I didnt realize the ground effect would be so prominent.. and I can definitely see how easy it is to inadvertently stall after rotating.

Once at the practice area.. it was time for 45 degree turns. These were the most fun yet, but also took a lot of attention. I did not expect how much elevator would be needed to maintain altitude... the plane just drops at that bank angle. I did a few full 360 degree turns at that steep bank and got better each time. It became easy once I realized that the bank would generally hold itself, and all I needed to do was keep the horizon level. Just when I thought I had everything down, we switched to right turns and everything I thought I knew went to complete ****. I either felt like I was climbing too fast or falling to the ground. All of my attitude references were off, and it took much more concentration.

We finished with a joint landing... but the control was mostly in the hands of my instructor. I sort of just held the controls and he talked through his thought process.

Overall it was another great day. I covered a ton of stuff and felt pretty good about all of it. My new headset sounded awesome and my ears felt comfy which was nice (David Clark H20-10)

I feel like everytime I get better at multitasking... a new task gets added on. I guess thats the job of a pilot though. The winds definitely kept me on my toes and added some fun to the ride. Next week we are talking about stalls which I am very excited about.

For this coming week I am going to tune in to some live ATC and get a feel for how everyone talks. Hopefully it will help me become a better communicator. Happy flying everyone!
 
Awesome to read this log you are building. Steep turns are interesting. They make me a little uncomfortable. I am not a big fan of the G's. Some people love it. Ask your CFI to show you this but if you nail a steep turn 360 degrees, you will fly through your own wake turbulence and get a nice little reward for your precision. That part is fun.

Keep posting about your journey. This is great to read!
 
joeparrilla said:
PPL LOG: 4th Flight 10/20/13

Beautiful Sunday afternoon for a lesson! This was a very cool lesson, and definitely the most fun to date. There was a lot of new stuff introduced... and a lot of it was crucial.

I basically did all ground radio communications on my own... from clearance to departure. I did a quick test with my instructor acting as ATC, and then got right to it. I was pretty nervous, but it went really smooth. No mess ups, and I got everything on the first listen. I then did my usual taxi and run up... but I didnt know I would be taking off today!

Takeoff was what I expected although I was slightly nervous. Once off the ground, the plane pitched high very quickly which I did not expect. I didnt realize the ground effect would be so prominent.. and I can definitely see how easy it is to inadvertently stall after rotating.

Once at the practice area.. it was time for 45 degree turns. These were the most fun yet, but also took a lot of attention. I did not expect how much elevator would be needed to maintain altitude... the plane just drops at that bank angle. I did a few full 360 degree turns at that steep bank and got better each time. It became easy once I realized that the bank would generally hold itself, and all I needed to do was keep the horizon level. Just when I thought I had everything down, we switched to right turns and everything I thought I knew went to complete ****. I either felt like I was climbing too fast or falling to the ground. All of my attitude references were off, and it took much more concentration.

We finished with a joint landing... but the control was mostly in the hands of my instructor. I sort of just held the controls and he talked through his thought process.

Overall it was another great day. I covered a ton of stuff and felt pretty good about all of it. My new headset sounded awesome and my ears felt comfy which was nice (David Clark H20-10)

I feel like everytime I get better at multitasking... a new task gets added on. I guess thats the job of a pilot though. The winds definitely kept me on my toes and added some fun to the ride. Next week we are talking about stalls which I am very excited about.

For this coming week I am going to tune in to some live ATC and get a feel for how everyone talks. Hopefully it will help me become a better communicator. Happy flying everyone!
Click to expand...

Keep up the good work Joe! Learning to fly involved more and more tasks until these tasks kind of become part of your habit. I say kind of because you never just want to go off memory and always use a checklist but little things like rememebering to put your heals to the floor before takeoff become ingrained in your mind.

Just a note in Islip air traffic controllers. They are extremely helpful and easy to talk to. They just want you to use standard phrases and not the pilot jargon. I'd just recommend parroting back exactly what they say for now and don't worry about how other pilots respond to instructions. Dealing with New York Approach is a whole different animal. They want quick rapid fire communication but they will also respect you more if you know what you are saying. God help those pilots who jam up their frequency. Just rememeber to tell them what you want. Perfect example of what drives them nuts: I was flying back from a trip out to Martha's vineyard. Got to around the Montauk area and some pilot calls up and says " new York approach Cherokee xxxxx Request flight following." The air traffic controller literally responded with " that's great." Waited to see if the guy got the hint and then said" Cherokee calling approach, care to give me some details, like where you are, where you are going, you know nothing too personal." You don't want to be that guy! :)
 
jspilot said:
Keep up the good work Joe! Learning to fly involved more and more tasks until these tasks kind of become part of your habit. I say kind of because you never just want to go off memory and always use a checklist but little things like rememebering to put your heals to the floor before takeoff become ingrained in your mind.

Just a note in Islip air traffic controllers. They are extremely helpful and easy to talk to. They just want you to use standard phrases and not the pilot jargon. I'd just recommend parroting back exactly what they say for now and don't worry about how other pilots respond to instructions. Dealing with New York Approach is a whole different animal. They want quick rapid fire communication but they will also respect you more if you know what you are saying. God help those pilots who jam up their frequency. Just rememeber to tell them what you want. Perfect example of what drives them nuts: I was flying back from a trip out to Martha's vineyard. Got to around the Montauk area and some pilot calls up and says " new York approach Cherokee xxxxx Request flight following." The air traffic controller literally responded with " that's great." Waited to see if the guy got the hint and then said" Cherokee calling approach, care to give me some details, like where you are, where you are going, you know nothing too personal." You don't want to be that guy! :)
Click to expand...

Good points! My instructors was actually stressing to me yesterday that the ATC guys are people too... And I should speak to them as so. Its a bit intimidating to speak quickly and accurately. He said I was better of being slow and clear. Definitely made me relax.
 
PPL LOG: 5th Flight 10/27/13

Took to the sky again today, but this time practiced falling out of it ;) It was a day of stalls, and was a ton of fun. I did everything from pre flight to 2000 ft completely on my own today, which feels really great. Taking off is by far my favorite thing... I love going full throttle and leaving the ground.

So first I was showed both power on and off stalls. It felt pretty much how I expected, possibly even more tame than I expected. The Alarus can fly really slow, so it was actually not too easy to get into a stall. The nose just wants to drop and get you back into flight.

I spent the day practicing power off stalls in a landing configuration (idle engine, 1/2 down flaps). It was fairly straightforward, although it was hard to keep myself from correcting any bank in the stall using aileron. My hands wanted to do the adjusting, but it was stressed to me that spins are caused by this, and i needed to use rudder to correct.

After doing steep turns and stalls, I really have confirmed to myself that I need to eventually get into aerobatics. I love being at odd attitudes and feeling G forces. I always knew I wanted to do it, but maneuvers that we are doing (even though not at all extreme) are making me want it even more.

Another great flight with some great weather. I feel like I am slowly building new skills and feeling more confident every time. My nerves are low and many things are becoming instinctual for me. One thing I feel is that I need more time with some maneuvers. I feel like by the time I work out the kinks with each new maneuver, its time to head back to the ground. Maybe a few flights going over all of the things Ive learned would be good... but I imagine that will be done.

Thanks for reading guys... Happy flying!
 
joeparrilla said:
Just when I thought I had everything down, we switched to right turns and everything I thought I knew went to complete ****. I either felt like I was climbing too fast or falling to the ground. All of my attitude references were off, and it took much more concentration.
Click to expand...

My first few steep turns to the right were gross. They require totally different amounts of rudder, and the sight picture is really different. I'm still more comfortable with left turns than right ones, but I can pretty regularly squeak out good steep turns. Running into your wake feels great :). In fact, I took a couple of friends out the other day and showed them a few steep turns. Ran into my wake too :). I find that people my age (20ish) really like them.
 
Nice write up again Joe. It was pretty windy on Sunday. Sounds like you had a nice part f the day though!

Went flying myself on Saturday before the winds picked up. I knew it was going to be a windy day when at 830 am the winds were already at 10knots and I was in a crab for most of my downwind and final approach legs.

I'm enjoying reading a fellow local pilot go through the same journey I went through. Brings back great memories! Also sounds like you are getting great instructing. I think we are fortunate around here to have some great instructors. We also get plenty of varied conditions to make the learning continue and each season provides new challenges.
 
Last edited:
jspilot said:
Nice write up again Joe. It was pretty windy on Sunday. Sounds like you had a nice part f the day though!

Went flying myself on Saturday before the winds picked up. I knew it was going to be a windy day when at 830 am the winds were already at 10knots and I was in a crab for most of my downwind and final approach legs.

I'm enjoying reading a fellow local pilot go through the same journey I went through. Brings back great memories! Also sounds like you are getting great instructing. I think we are fortunate around here to have some great instructors. We also get plenty of varied conditions to make the learning continue and each season provides new challenges.
Click to expand...

Well the wind was definitely there, but it was at 320... so runway 33L was quite nice :) I felt it a bunch when getting down below 1000 ft during descent, but takeoff/landing were pretty smooth.

The journey has been great, and I cannot complain about a thing. The instruction has been pretty awesome, and none of my questions go unanswered. The only complaint I can think of is that I can't quit my job and do this all day!
 
Yeah I can relate to the wanting to fly everyday. I a little lucky in that I'm a teacher so summer's give me that option- my checkbook does not though!:)

Trainig should only continue to get better Joe.

Quick question though, why do you do power off stalls with 50% flaps? I learned in a 172 and I always used full flaps for power off stall. I wonder if it is specific to the Alarus you are flying?
 
jspilot said:
Yeah I can relate to the wanting to fly everyday. I a little lucky in that I'm a teacher so summer's give me that option- my checkbook does not though!:)

Trainig should only continue to get better Joe.

Quick question though, why do you do power off stalls with 50% flaps? I learned in a 172 and I always used full flaps for power off stall. I wonder if it is specific to the Alarus you are flying?
Click to expand...

Good question... My instructor demonstrated first with full flaps. But told me to try with half. Maybe to ease me into it and not slow me down very fast? Honestly Im not sure... good question for next time though.

And thats awesome you have summers off. My wallet hurts too.. but I just sacrifice where I have to. When Im in the air I dont regret passing on a night out at the bar...
 
PPL LOG: 6th Flight 11/1/13

So I was pretty sure I wasn't going to fly yesterday, but the weather gods relaxed a bit just in time.

This time I added some more radio work as well as power stalls. The radios still make me pretty nervous, which cause me to speak fast and generally mess things up. I added contacting departure to my repertoire, and it actually went well. I didnt think I would be able to hold Vy while switching radios and talking, but it actually wasnt too bad. I think Ive gotten better at trimming, so by the time I contacted departure, the plane was more or less climbing itself. I also took off on my own, which is always fun.

Power on stalls went pretty well, as I always enjoy being at odd attitudes. I think I have the procedure down pretty well... probably have a harder time getting into the stall than actually recovering.

After the stalls, we did some more steep turn... which I was complete **** at. Once I get in the bank, I am pretty good at holding the bank and altitude. The problem is getting to 45 degrees. I cant seem to increase my pitch at a rate equal to the bank increase. I either pitch to much before the bank gets steep, throwing the nose up (which by the way is a great was to stall and spin.....) or I bank too much before pitching and lose altitude. Once I get the entry down, I think Ill be good to go.

Finished up by holding our descent on final and doing an assisted touch down. I finally feel like I am doing so much of the process on my own, and its awesome. Once I get comfortable with the radios, I will feel a lot better.

Good flight all together of course. I am feeling more piloty and less like an idiot, which is cool. Im flying again tomorrow, so Ill be back! As always, any advice you may have for me is always appreciated.
 
We had one (Alarus) at my flight school for a couple of years. It flew great for the first 400 hours, but then developed a lot of problems (some structural). The company (here in Georgia) wasn't all that great about maintenance issues. It's a good flying little airplane and plenty roomy for a two seater. Just didn't strike me as being very well built.

One issue with rudder. If you apply left rudder too aggressively, the nose swims around and suddenly tucks under pretty abruptly. It'll snap roll if you shove full left rudder in. Be careful with that.
 
Last edited:
write-stuff said:
We had one (Alarus) at my flight school for a couple of years. It flew great for the first 400 hours, but then developed a lot of problems (some structural). The company (here in Georgia) wasn't all that great about maintenance issues. It's a good flying little airplane and plenty roomy for a two seater. Just didn't strike me as being very well built.

One issue with rudder. If you apply left rudder too aggressively, the nose swims around and suddenly tucks under pretty abruptly. It'll snap roll if you shove full left rudder in. Be careful with that.
Click to expand...

Oh that makes me feel safe! ;)

Yeah the rudder is basically the entire tail. Its a very effective rudder but you have to be careful. You dont need much to do what you need.
 
good stories. i enjoy reading them! i went to martha's vineyard today in a 150 while building some time with another guy out of frg. we did 5 hours round trip and had a gnarly headwind coming back and doing 60 kts over the ground. wait until you start doing some x countries. you'll have a blast
 
PPL LOG: 7th Flight 11/3/13

Another day where I woke up, looked outside, and said "looks like ground training today". Yet again everything got nicer on my drive over to the airport :)

Had some decently nasty cross winds going on during take off because we hadnt switched runways yet, so I got some practice holding a wing down and avoiding being blown away :) This was actually a very relaxing flight, with no maneuvers which was a cool change. It basically consisted of my flying around, and my instructor hitting breakers and asking if anything seemed wrong. We spoke about various types of failures in the vacuum and electrical realm, and what to do in each situation. We spoke about what sort of failures are the sort of thing we declare an emergency for, and which ones are more of just a pain in the ass.

I did some flying with "broken" altimeter, engine speed, airspeed, heading, etc. Honestly the one that bothered me the most was the altimeter. It is easy enough to visually know you are not going to hit the ground or a mountain, but seeing small changes in altitude is almost impossible for me without it.

We spoke a bit about the errors of the magnetic compass, and how it can over/undershoot heading depending on the pole you are going towards.

I learned a lot about the electrical systems of the airplane, how the battery charges, what denotes a charging/discharging battery, how to lessen the load by disabling unnecessary systems in the event of an alternator malfunction, etc. It was really an informative flight, and nice to just cruise for a change and not worry about my horrible steep turns :)

I added arrival radio to my list this time, so I more or less did every part of radio comm on my own. I am feeling much more confident these days. The easy part is when I pretty much know what ATC will say, the issue comes when they throw curveballs.

Landing was interesting, as I felt the wind trying to throw me off of final. I managed to get into a decent crab with a pretty good glide path. A bit before touchdown, we began coming in a bit short, so my instructor took over and finished up.

Another great day to fly. Wind was pretty rough on the way up, but I really do enjoy fighting it for some reason. Its satisfying when I get everything trimmed right, even though the wind is trying to blow me away.

Next time is learning about engine failures, so that should be cool. Until next time, happy flying!
 
Sounds like fun....I was supposed to do my 2nd supervised solo today at FRG but wings were 040@14G21....no go....Scheduled for tomorrow noon-5pm to hopefully get the supervised solo as well as my 1st xc solo to KPOU done
 
momalley said:
Sounds like fun....I was supposed to do my 2nd supervised solo today at FRG but wings were 040@14G21....no go....Scheduled for tomorrow noon-5pm to hopefully get the supervised solo as well as my 1st xc solo to KPOU done
Click to expand...

Ah bummer. I guess that is a no go since it was a solo operation? I dont think I would normally be grounded in those winds, but then again I would be up with my instructor...
 
Nice Joe- sounds like another good flight.

I cancelled my flight on Sunday because of the high winds. It's a nice day to train in but not much fun to fly around for fun. Definately could have handled the winds but I'd rather save my money and go on a day where I can enjoy myself.

How many hours do you have now? I think I went on my frst xc dual with about 6 hours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top