I did not want to get up the morning after my night flying. I was tired, but I didn’t want to cancel because we’re going on vacation next week and I am excited to get my requirements done!
Jake and I stayed up later than I planned going over uncontrolled field procedures. We took the balsa planes I hung up all over the living room for his birthday and flew them around the coffee table in every scenario. It worked quite well.
When I got to the airport with my CFI we had to wait a bit because we were early and the plane wasn’t scheduled to come back until 10:45am. We chatted in his car while waiting. Returning the plane was another student I’ve talked to a few times, he recently soloed which was exciting. His instructor asked what we were doing that lesson and my CFI told them we were going to a grass strip. The other was a bit surprised by that asking if the insurance covered it, my CFI responded it covered it for him since he was an owner. I do forget how glad I should be that I get to do some of the things we do because he owns the planes!
The grass strip is about 17nm away and below the Class C outer shelf of Islip so we have to fly at around 1,200ft. ATC did call us up and asked why he had us leveling off at 900ft. The altimeter encoder in the plane was transmitting wrong (we’re also within 30nm of a Class B, therefore required). Traffic was passing us at 1,400ft which I had climbed to just in case when we were figuring out the problem, so just gave ATC the heads up that was the problem.
We almost passed the grass strip. It’s a cut out in the Class C airspace that keeps the floor of it at 1500 vs. the 700 around the rest of the area. I did all the announcing just fine. The landing wasn’t bad either. It felt soft, but the roll started to feel a bit bumpy. The grass of the strip also needs to be cut more apparently. It was not how I thought a soft field landing would feel. I was definitely glad to experience it though!
Here’s where the simulated landings don’t do it justice. Taxiing is WORK. Holding the yoke all the way back the entire time is work. You’re on the ground, you can’t trim that. Also making sure the plane doesn’t stop the entire time. You have to be so much more aware while taxiing on grass versus pavement. I did a soft field take off, which they are getting better. At least I didn’t settle back onto the runway!
We might do that one more time, but that was good enough for today. We went out into the practice area and did some instrument work. I felt spacial disorientation for the first time. It wasn’t extreme, and my instructor was glad I experienced it. I felt I was in a left bank when I was straight and leveled. He had me fix it by doing a real bank to the left, that felt weird! It got a bit better, but I don’t think I ever felt truly how the plane actually was.
It makes me think if I go onto instrument training how much it will suck. Well, it won’t suck, it’ll just be hours and hours of feeling weird. We also did a power off stall while under the hood, which was cool to do. Also, he threw in that unusual attitudes. I totally cheated on those but by accident both times.
Something I forgot to add about night flying, we worked on no flap landings with slips. I haven’t done one in awhile and last night, he put us into a slip and I suddenly was like “I don’t like this, I don’t like this, I don’t like this!” He kept going because he knew I was fine just felt weird. So we worked on slips out in the practice area to get me more comfortable with them.
Yesterday, the 152 got spin approved. My CFI applied the kit to make it fit with the AD. Now, if you haven’t been keeping up with me. I’m kind of scared of spins. I know I need to experience them to get over it. I asked if we could do a spin. It was too hazy, but he said next time we would. Oh no! I might regret that.
We came in to do some touch and gos. Another soft field (simulated this time), short field, and no flaps landing. Did a real slip this time, it was alright, I need to get better control of them. My first landing he asked how I felt. I said it was alright. He thought it was really good, and a pretty soft landing. I said it could have been softer. He does like my critical nature, we just have to make sure there is that line where it’s not negative.
Overall, a good lesson, glad I went. I fell asleep on the train ride home. We’ll be gone at the beginning of next week and I hope to maybe get in a lesson at the end of the week. My CFI was hoping maybe to arrange me and him flying to Sky Acres with some of his buddies that go out there for lunch every week. We’d fly there together and I’d fly back solo to finish my solo XC time. I hope it works out!
I’m inching ever closer! What requirements I have left:
Instrument – 1 hour left
Solo XC – 0.7 of an hour
Solo – 2.6 hours
Check ride prep – 3 hours
Like I said last post, I’m hoping to get it done this month, pending of the government not staying shut down too long.
Lesson Time: 1.5
Total Time: 52.6
Heh, you think taxiing around in a tricycle gear plane is work – if you ever learn a conventional gear plane, you’re in for a shock 😛 You have to hold the stick back all the time to keep weight on the tail wheel, or the tail wheel will slide around and not turn the plane properly. Plus you add power when turning rather than removing it when turning – it’s a tricky thing to get used to. Those are the planes built for grass runways though.
That’s awesome that you get to try out spins though! We tried to make a 172 spin yesterday – it wasn’t happening. It’s hard to get a 172 to spin – it usually just goes into a spiral, or if you do manage to spin it, it will spiral on recovery. It went straight into a spiral yesterday – my instructor didn’t bother taking over though, she just let me deal with it, but then she’d reminded me in my preflight briefing that on a flight test, when you’re asked to do a spin, you recover from whatever the plane is doing, not from what you were told to make the plane do. Was a decent recovery though, she said, though it was entirely on reflex, which is good.
I’m working towards a commercial flight test now though, and there’s a spin in the commercial flight test, so I get to practice spins more – and practice them solo. I’m always nervous going into a spin the first time on a flight, but after the first one it’s familiar again and it’s not so bad. If your instructor will let you, get him to teach you how to do the spin yourself, after he demonstrates it. It’s always more frightening when someone else is at the controls. When you’re doing it yourself, you feel more in control and having to pay attention to what you’re doing distracts you from being afraid.
My boyfriend tells me that getting a 152 to spin is very difficult, and to make it do an actual full spin you have to keep the input to spin in, otherwise it’ll just fix itself.
I meant to ask you about that. In Canada, you just go straight into commercial versus receiving your instrument rating next? Every one here seems to do PPL, IR training, then Commercial.
In Canada, you can do it either way – though for the most part, the only job you can get without a multi/IFR is instructing. I’ll be doing multi and IFR after my commercial, but the commercial ground school has started now, so it’s best if I do it while the information is fresh.
And your boyfriend is right, 152s don’t spin well, but they spin a hell of a lot better than a 172. Just keep giving it full rudder, and the 152 will spin okay – if you let go, it’ll eventually either recover or spiral. The Citabria I learned after, that one spins beautifully.
Side slip are strange, I have practiced them last week, but at night it has to be even more scary, lol. I think there is a lot of fun comming up during my future night VFR training, haha. It is strange, but in Europe we only learn the spin recovery, but they are prohibited…
It was weird how different it felt at night. Well, in the US for your PPL only “spin awareness” is required. You are not required to have any spin training until your CFI rating which then you get a spin endorsement. So doing any spin is illegal there? Even in aerobatic planes?
Doing spin is illegal. You learn the theory, but I think in the case that something should happen, you wouldn’t know how to react. Even the most comercial pilots have never done this before. The only way to practice this is during an aerobatic excersises. You practice spins, stalls, loopings, inverted flight and many abnormal positions… I am quite sure, that it makes one a pretty safe pilot. I spoke to an instructor from Venezuela who lives here and he said that a part of the excersise was to practice spin in a C-152 in the night! I don’t know if this was a long time ago, but it must be pretty scary…
I know exactly what you mean about slips feeling unnatural. These, and your grass strip landings, and your spins (yay!) will make you a better all around pilot. You are very lucky to have a CFI who is willing to do all of this with you 🙂
I’m SO glad I ended up switching because I wouldn’t get to do two of those things at the other school. I’m excited about doing them and becoming a better pilot because of it!
Reblogged this on Flight Training Blog.
I’ll add something to this. Years ago when I was 16 and learning to fly, I was living in Canada. Incipient spins were part of PTS. I was in a PA38-112 “Traumahawk” practicing incipients with my instructor. Well the sucker went into a full spin to left. After we tried to correct, it went into a full spin to right. I hated that plane. I heard they later modified the Tomahawks to mitigate spins.
Oh that’s scary. The 152s were originally allowed to spin, but the FAA issued an AD due to the fact when someone was correcting a spin the rudder got stuck and they couldn’t get it unstuck. Now, it’s just a bigger bolt and a piece of metal to avoid that happening. My CFI showed me on the plane what had to be fixed to get it spin ready.
BTW Caitlin, I learned outside of Winnipeg Manitoba at St. Andrews. Loved that airport and learning to fly in Southern Manitoba. But it was worth it. Youngest pilot in Canada at one timevv