November 6, 2011 - Dual Slow Flight and Steep Turns
After last Sunday's less than stellar solo flight, Korkka and I set out to review attitudes, in particular for slow flight. Flying together to the practice area allowed me to have yet another demonstration of the correct attitude for different configurations: climb, slow flight, turns (all at various airspeeds, and some with flap). The focus was on precision flying, i.e. maintaining heading, altitude and airspeed in different situations, and actually I think I did not do too badly.
Ironically, this is really something I should have mastered early on in my training. Can't do "combination" stuff like precautionary and forced until you get the basics down. I have to laugh, though, when I think back to those early days of my training... I was so focussed on trying not to grab my instructor's arm in fear that I barely could absorb anything going on around me, lol! Kind of reminds me of learning to drive. I remember how freaked out I was during my driver's exam some 20 years ago... I could hardly believe I actually GOT my driver's license, I was so consciously incompetent. And now, I am super comfortable in a car, even driving stick! So I know it will come in the plane, too... it's all about amassing enough hours, a constant conflict with my time and financial budget!!! (Oh would that I could fly to work each day as I drove my mother's car to school one two-week stretch while my unsuspecting mother was in Cuba... how my driving improved after those compacted 17 hours!)
One thing I am yet again realising I have no real understanding of is this whole "backwards" thing with slow flight... I get that there is some sort of an inverse relationship between the performance on one side of the power arc and the other, but I don't really have a solid understanding of how it works. And then the damned sun is so beautiful out over the water while flying by -- it's all very distracting when one is trying to focus on solidfying skill and understanding!!!
I think I need to lock upself up in an empty room and just read and study for a few hours, then lock myself in another room with a smart person who gets it, and ask a whole bunch of questions.
One thing I remember is in grade 10, just before I dropped math, there was something about parabolas. Our teacher kept drawing these things on the board, I had no idea what the heck it all meant; just kept thinking, "Hey, it looks like a half pipe!" (I was pretty into sk8boarding back then....)
Out of money -- no future lessons booked. If some of the 43 on average people a day who-- according to my weebly statistics page -- read this, could send some website business my way, I'd surely be grateful!!! :-)
Ironically, this is really something I should have mastered early on in my training. Can't do "combination" stuff like precautionary and forced until you get the basics down. I have to laugh, though, when I think back to those early days of my training... I was so focussed on trying not to grab my instructor's arm in fear that I barely could absorb anything going on around me, lol! Kind of reminds me of learning to drive. I remember how freaked out I was during my driver's exam some 20 years ago... I could hardly believe I actually GOT my driver's license, I was so consciously incompetent. And now, I am super comfortable in a car, even driving stick! So I know it will come in the plane, too... it's all about amassing enough hours, a constant conflict with my time and financial budget!!! (Oh would that I could fly to work each day as I drove my mother's car to school one two-week stretch while my unsuspecting mother was in Cuba... how my driving improved after those compacted 17 hours!)
One thing I am yet again realising I have no real understanding of is this whole "backwards" thing with slow flight... I get that there is some sort of an inverse relationship between the performance on one side of the power arc and the other, but I don't really have a solid understanding of how it works. And then the damned sun is so beautiful out over the water while flying by -- it's all very distracting when one is trying to focus on solidfying skill and understanding!!!
I think I need to lock upself up in an empty room and just read and study for a few hours, then lock myself in another room with a smart person who gets it, and ask a whole bunch of questions.
One thing I remember is in grade 10, just before I dropped math, there was something about parabolas. Our teacher kept drawing these things on the board, I had no idea what the heck it all meant; just kept thinking, "Hey, it looks like a half pipe!" (I was pretty into sk8boarding back then....)
Out of money -- no future lessons booked. If some of the 43 on average people a day who-- according to my weebly statistics page -- read this, could send some website business my way, I'd surely be grateful!!! :-)