"One of the most dangerous ways homosexuality invades family life is through popular music. Parents should keep careful watch over their children's listening habits, especially in this Internet Age of MP3 piracy."
I got a new CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) today. My old one got a job flying rich people around in corporate jets. (a common career for CFI's) As it turns out, my old CFI wasn't doing much of a job. I like this new guy a lot more and I learned more from him in this hour than I did from the last 3.
However, that meant that I had to start at the beginning. I never did the basics like climbs, descents, turns, etc...
The best part, tho, was "slow flight". There you learn how to fly the plane as slow as possible without falling out of the sky. In a Cessna 172S, that means about 55 knots--that's just over 63 mph. I know that doesn't sound too slow, but remember that I'm keeping 2,300 lbs aloft just using the same air you feel when you stick your hand out the window while driving down the road. And at 2,500 feet in the air, it really feels like treading water.
The only bad part of the hour was the landing. The air was really rough for the last 800 feet. (not unusual, but it was worse than usual) I was all over the place. I'm told that a good landing is any one you walk away from--I'm shooting for a little better than that.
Another good thing is that I finally got an answer from my CFI as to how I'm doing overall. My last one never said anything. It's tough to gage my progress because I've got no standard to base it against.
He said I'm doing ok. He said I'm just a little "ahead" of normal. (but nothing phenomenal) He seemed to think that I'll be soloing after about 15 hours.
Finally, I've got my eyes on a yoke and pedals on eBay for Flight Simulator. If that shaves even an hour off my training, they will pay for themselves.
[Editorial Note: It appears that you are going to be subjected to an hour-by-hour recounting of my training. Not much else is going on in my life while I do this, and by writing it out, I remember it better.]
Training continues. It's still in the very early stages, but it feels like I've been flying for a while. I'm starting to become more comfortable in an airplane. (actually, I'm just a little less than totally scared-shitless, so relatively-speaking, that's "more comfortable")
We spend this hour circling the airport and doing touch-and-go's. Literally. Just taking off, circling and landing. After a full hour of this, I think there's one or two things I'm doing right. (but only one or two)
Everything is still incredibly difficult for me. I still have to think about what I need to do, determine if I need to do it now, determine if I *can* do it now and then figure out how the hell to do it. Sounds strange, right? Let me give you an example.
The following is how I take off and approximately 30-45 seconds after that: (I'm doing this from memory, so I might be completely wrong)
1) On the runway, at a full stop, apply full throttle and release the brakes
2) The airplane will try to go left off the runway, so give it just enough right rudder to keep it centered
3) At 56 knots, pull back and leave the ground (which my instructor calls "rotating" for some strange reason)
4) Pitch up so that we climb at 75 kts. (however, the airspeed indicator is delayed, so I have to visually estimate my climb angle)
5) Trim the elevator so I don't have to keep so much pressure on the stick.
6) While climbing, I need to maintain just enough right rudder to keep the turn indicator showing that I'm not slipping. (or what is called "stepping on the ball")
7) When I reach 800 ft, pitch for a 20 degree left turn to 90 degrees off the runway
8) While turning, key the mike and say "West Houston Airport, this is Skyhawk six-two-four-tango-alpha turning left crosswind one-five, West Houston".
9) By the time I'm done saying that, I've almost reached 1,100 ft--the pattern altitude. I need to start leveling off at about 1,000 ft.
10) Re-trim the plane for level flight
11) Pull the throttle back for 1,200 rpm
12) By the time I've done that, it's time for another 20 degree turn to 80-85 degrees left. This will put me nearly, but not completely, parallel to the runway.
13) Key the mike and say "West Houston Airport, this is Skyhawk six-two-four-tango-alpha left downwind of one-five, West Houston"
So, there you have it, that's the first half of a takeoff and touch-and-go. Re-reading it, that doesn't sound too bad. But it's happening all at the same time. And I don't do everything in order. It's more likely that I'm doing #6, #8, #9 and #12 all at the exact same time. In those first few seconds of flight, I'm using 4 separate flight controls to coordinate 5 separate indicators and trying to figure out visually if I'm doing it right. (all while I'm listening to my instructor telling me what I've forgotten or missed or done wrong)
The bad part is that's the easy half. Although all of that happens in the first 30 seconds or so, it's still easy compared to the last half.
Yeah, I know. I've been lax in my blog again. What can I say? The holidays were busy. I haven't had much time since Thanksgiving. I don't know how people with kids do it...
So, I won't spend much time re-hashing 2006. It's all about looking forward.
As is my recent custom of sitting down at the end of each year and planning the next, I used Christmas Day to do just that. (please don't call them "resolutions"--that word has way too many negative connotations that I don't think apply at all)
This is what my table looked like when I was about halfway through my planning. As usual, I'm sure only about 1/2 to 2/3 of the stuff will even get close to being done, I'm starting ambitious.
I probably have about 15 large goals to be completed sometime during the year. And since I've read that telling people about your goals will help you reach them (nothing like embarrassment and guilt for motivators), here are a few select goals:
There are lots more, but they are a bit personal.
