Straight and Level Flight (Ex 6) - Saturday, September 18, 2010
Wow! Wind makes a difference! I can't believe I was yammering about last week's flight, and how hard it was to control the plane, this week was nuts! We had a fairly strong wind (still trying to figure out all the names and technical terms -- here is a site I am supposed to check out, btw: AWWS it gives you all the forecasts and everything (like Greek to me, but I am sure I will get it eventually!)
Taxiing proved to be more challenging than ever, as I kept turning the controls (another name for yoke, as I discovered through immersion today!) to the right and left, rather than pressing the appropriate rudder pedal -- oops!
Today's lesson also introduced the throttle - power! So...while flying (yes, Vera did manage to actually take off once again!) Lari* had me increase or decrease the power (i.e. push the throttle in or pull it out) and then adjust my attitude accordingly. Once cruise attitude was achieved, I learned to trim.... sort of. By adjusting the trim wheel, the pilot can "fine tune" the cruise attitude so that s/he can take hands off the yoke for a bit. Kind of neat. I must confess, though, that I am still not altogether sure when to trim up or down. But the concept was at least somewhat understood. To adjust airspeed, you actually pull the throttle out or push it in just a little bit, keeping an eye on RPMs, if you change 1000 RPM, that translates into 5 knots. I think. (Geez there's a lot to remember!)
Another new learning today centred around cardinal directions. So there is some instrument (not sure what it is called now) that you set to the compass, and that helps you navigate. It's all about numbers. So 360 (or 0 ) is north, then it's 270, 180 and 90. The issue (oh, I think that thingie is called a "heading indicator") is that the markings on that instrument are only 36, 27, 18 and 9 -- THEY SHAVE OFF THE LAST NUMBER!! What the heck is up with that? Good grief, all my math phobia is returning full force; the pressure is unbelievable! So many things going on at once, and I am SOOO not quick at figuring it all out, yikes!
On the way back, we had a strong headwind, and Larry decided to do a fancy landing, called "cross wind landing". I suspect he was showing off a bit. Well, it worked, now I am convinced he is a strong and competent pilot who may be able to teach even the likes of me, lol!
Lari also gave me a link to the RIC-21 study guide -- apparently we are having some kind of test in Ground School on Tuesday night -- everything there is so darned disorganized, no one seems to know what's going on one night to the next, and well, anyway, so that is what I am supposed to read and absorb, apparently, then we will once again enjoy the glorious 3 hour ppt full of text, following which we will all no doubt be mentally able to write the test, lol!
Alpha, Brava, Charlie, Delta, Echo.........
Good Night!
*Tatiana was already booked with another student, so I ended up with Lari, who was just as good. I guess I'm playing the field a bit, hehe.
Taxiing proved to be more challenging than ever, as I kept turning the controls (another name for yoke, as I discovered through immersion today!) to the right and left, rather than pressing the appropriate rudder pedal -- oops!
Today's lesson also introduced the throttle - power! So...while flying (yes, Vera did manage to actually take off once again!) Lari* had me increase or decrease the power (i.e. push the throttle in or pull it out) and then adjust my attitude accordingly. Once cruise attitude was achieved, I learned to trim.... sort of. By adjusting the trim wheel, the pilot can "fine tune" the cruise attitude so that s/he can take hands off the yoke for a bit. Kind of neat. I must confess, though, that I am still not altogether sure when to trim up or down. But the concept was at least somewhat understood. To adjust airspeed, you actually pull the throttle out or push it in just a little bit, keeping an eye on RPMs, if you change 1000 RPM, that translates into 5 knots. I think. (Geez there's a lot to remember!)
Another new learning today centred around cardinal directions. So there is some instrument (not sure what it is called now) that you set to the compass, and that helps you navigate. It's all about numbers. So 360 (or 0 ) is north, then it's 270, 180 and 90. The issue (oh, I think that thingie is called a "heading indicator") is that the markings on that instrument are only 36, 27, 18 and 9 -- THEY SHAVE OFF THE LAST NUMBER!! What the heck is up with that? Good grief, all my math phobia is returning full force; the pressure is unbelievable! So many things going on at once, and I am SOOO not quick at figuring it all out, yikes!
On the way back, we had a strong headwind, and Larry decided to do a fancy landing, called "cross wind landing". I suspect he was showing off a bit. Well, it worked, now I am convinced he is a strong and competent pilot who may be able to teach even the likes of me, lol!
Lari also gave me a link to the RIC-21 study guide -- apparently we are having some kind of test in Ground School on Tuesday night -- everything there is so darned disorganized, no one seems to know what's going on one night to the next, and well, anyway, so that is what I am supposed to read and absorb, apparently, then we will once again enjoy the glorious 3 hour ppt full of text, following which we will all no doubt be mentally able to write the test, lol!
Alpha, Brava, Charlie, Delta, Echo.........
Good Night!
*Tatiana was already booked with another student, so I ended up with Lari, who was just as good. I guess I'm playing the field a bit, hehe.