| Lesson 18:
Date: Sunday 2/24/2008 Where: UZA Aircraft: Cessna 172N N517DL Instruction: 1.2/0.3 hours (air/ground) Dual Instruction with William Grannis Rainy Days Sunday didn't start off well. First off, it was cloudy. Then around 11AM, I got a call from Scott to let me know that my instructor for the day Jill Cagle, was out with a fever. I was supposed to fly at 3PM, but Scott said he'd check with Bill to see if he and I could get together later in the day. So, around 12:30, David called and said that Bill could meet me for instruction from 5PM - 7PM. That was OK with me, but the weather was still ominous looking. Around 2PM, Bill called and asked if I could come in around 3:30PM. That worked for me as well. I left my house at 3:15 and it was raining. I got to the flight school and checked the weather. The ceiling was 4,000ft and the visibility was 6 miles, even with the rain. We were still going to fly! I grabbed the flight bag for Delta Lima and headed out to the flight line. After my pre-flight in the rain, I climbed into the cockpit and waited for Bill, while I dried off. Bill joined me and after checking the weather again, we taxied to runway 2 for takeoff. By the time we made it to the run-up area, the rain had already stopped. We took off and headed west to the practice area. I was doing well. I was keep my altitude and had the plane trimmed for level flight right away. Bill asked that I followed the power lines on the ground so that we could find a good point to practice turns-around-a-point. Bill was looking for a particular spot where 5 roads intersected. We never found that point, so Bill picked out a group of intersecting trees in an open area. I lowered my altitude to 1,300 feet and maneuvered to begin the turn to the left. I wasn't getting much, if any, correction from Bill, so I assumed I was doing well. Bill said that I could stop and then make a turn to come back and do the same maneuver while turning right. Again, not much correction other than, "you're a bit too far from your point". After a few circles, we leveled out and Bill took the controls while I put on my Foggles. Once I had them on, I took the controls back, and Bill had me make some turns to different headings, then climb and descend to different altitudes, all under the "hood". Bill also had me complete both power-on and off stalls while under the "hood". I guess I was doing well, because I still wasn't getting much correction from Bill. He would remind me of which instruments were my primary for each maneuver I was completing, but that was it. I was doing well. After the "hood work", Bill suggested we head back to UZA. On the way back, Bill decided to shoot an ILS approach to UZA. The Instrument Landing System (ILS) is a ground-based instrument approach system which provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), such as low ceilings or reduced visibility due to fog, rain, or blowing snow. He explained to me how this worked and had me maneuver the plane to line up. The object is to line up two needles (one vertical and one horizontal) on a small circle on one instrument. If you're too high the horizontal needle will be low and if you're too low the needle will be high. The object is to follow the needles. This was cool and very interesting. Once we had both needles centered I looked out and could see the runway 2 straight ahead, a few miles off our nose. We were coming in fast and quickly adjusted for that. We made a forward slip to lose altitude quickly and I made an OK landing. We turned off to the taxiway and Bill said we had time to do a few more landings. I taxied back to runway 2 and we took off. Right after rotation, I have a tendency to take my hand off of the throttle. Bill reminded me not to do that and I quickly corrected myself. I made my crosswind turn and we heard, on the radio, that there were two planes making an ILS approach behind us. This slightly complicated things since we were staying in the pattern to make a touch and go landing. Reason being, these two planes were coming straight in on runway 2. They were not flying the pattern, like us. Bill had me slow down to 65 knots as I turned for downwind. We were using slow flight in the pattern to allow for good separation. This is why you learn slow flight! As we were crossing the runway midfield I saw the first plane land. The second plane made a radio call that he was still 8 miles out. I made my base turn and we adjusted for a short final in front of the second plane shooting the ILS behind us. I made the landing, slightly hard. Bill had me put in full throttle and take off right away. I did just that, and once again, I dropped my hand off of the throttle. Bill sternly corrected me again and I placed my hand back on the throttle. As I turned downwind Bill and I both saw the second plane come in for a landing. This pattern was going to be normal. I flew it well and we turned for base and heard yet another plane coming in on an ILS approach. It was getting more and more hazy so I see why they were shooting the ILS approaches. I came in for my last landing of the day. The landing was pretty good. Not great, but good. I taxied back to the ramp and parked the plane. After securing it I met Bill inside the school for a quick post flight brief. We discussed the primary instruments used while flying IFR and the slow flight we did while in the pattern. Overall a great flight. Conclusion: A great day of learning and instruction. What I learned: I'm getting better and I feel confident enough for a solo flight! This may be coming very soon. |