July 1, 2011 - Solo Circuits and Other Fun
Perfect day for solo circuits! Calm winds, clear skies… the only drama was the busy-ness of the airport: All kinds of Porter traffic, several Cessnas, and apparently a new trainee in the tower made for some interesting learning, more along the lines of communication than piloting abilities. :-P
I had my first instruction to fly a full field circuit at 2000, which meant flying a full circuit pattern but without landing or taking off, and at a considerably higher altitude than normal. It was pretty interesting to see the city and the island from an extra 750 ft higher. Makes a big difference in the “big picture” one sees from the sky.
Due to the traffic, a number of last minute changes to rwy 24 were instituted, as well as several full stops, which allowed me to practise stopping at taxiway Charlie and following various other instructions vis-à-vis backtracking, moving to other runways, going to the threshold, etc.
Also had a bit of a breakthrough in terms of recognizing errors in my landings. My instructor narrated a landing or two, pointing out what she was doing during a demo and pointing out errors with alignment and ballooning when I did the dual landings… later during my solo (I stayed up for an hour this time!), I recognized alignment errors and ballooning issues.
(Now I just have to correct them before they happen – consistently!)
The plan was to fly the next day in St Thomas (near London), as we were going to visit the in-laws, and I thought I’d squeeze in a few circuits at another aerodrome (I flew in St Thomas in the winter, shortly before soloing). Alas, the weather was
not cooperative, featuring thunderstorms and low ceilings for much of the day.
So, I’ll have to wait until Wed at CYTZ, my next lesson!
I had my first instruction to fly a full field circuit at 2000, which meant flying a full circuit pattern but without landing or taking off, and at a considerably higher altitude than normal. It was pretty interesting to see the city and the island from an extra 750 ft higher. Makes a big difference in the “big picture” one sees from the sky.
Due to the traffic, a number of last minute changes to rwy 24 were instituted, as well as several full stops, which allowed me to practise stopping at taxiway Charlie and following various other instructions vis-à-vis backtracking, moving to other runways, going to the threshold, etc.
Also had a bit of a breakthrough in terms of recognizing errors in my landings. My instructor narrated a landing or two, pointing out what she was doing during a demo and pointing out errors with alignment and ballooning when I did the dual landings… later during my solo (I stayed up for an hour this time!), I recognized alignment errors and ballooning issues.
(Now I just have to correct them before they happen – consistently!)
The plan was to fly the next day in St Thomas (near London), as we were going to visit the in-laws, and I thought I’d squeeze in a few circuits at another aerodrome (I flew in St Thomas in the winter, shortly before soloing). Alas, the weather was
not cooperative, featuring thunderstorms and low ceilings for much of the day.
So, I’ll have to wait until Wed at CYTZ, my next lesson!