Climbs (Ex 7) - Saturday, October 23, 2010
Ha! It was good today!
I remember the first "real" lesson I had, with another teacher, at the end of the lesson, as we were walking back into the building, she asked, "So, how was it?" I guess I was supposed to be raving about how awesome it was, but the truth was that at the time I was thinking, "I so can't do this, what was I thinking?!" Ha! Today, however, was a different story...
My studying of the flight exercises using my Harv's Air videos paid off: Although I had to do weight and balance from scratch, because I couldn't remember one damned thing from last time, I was very confident with most of the material on straight and level, and also climbs. I remembered APT from my reading/watching, and I pretty much understood the concept of "attitude + power = performance". (I had been pushing/pulling imaginary control columns and throttles incessantly in my sleep for over a week, and picturing the resulting performance.)
I was not stellar with run ups and all that. (I still feel like I am randomly pushing buttons and playing with dials according to some arbitrary list, and not much of it makes any real sense to me.) And taxiing was a bit of an issue (no surprise there, I am still painfully incompetent with the visual-spatial stuff surrounding the different runways, taxiways, etc... I totally need a close-up arial shot of the airport, and someone willing to slowly walk me through it all without me feeling completely stupid.) But then we took off, somehow, miraculously, I was flying again. And although I was terrified, I was also exhilarated, amazed, high in every way!
The most amazing thing happened about 12 minutes later. Lari had me turn north, and as we moved away from the chaos of the airport and the surrounding traffic, I actually felt like I had some sort of control over the plane. My mouth, hitherto dry as an imminent murder victim, started feeling normal. And my knuckles, which had been wrapped tightly around the control column, loosened. Even when the brilliantly skilled Lari began demonstrating various tricks with wing flaps, and sudden descents and so on, I was a bit surprised, but not completely stressed out on the brink of a heart attack as -- let's be honest -- I have been most of the time up to now.
* We talked about and practised "overshooting" (no I don't remember all the details, but I get the basic concept.)
* I began to actually understand the connection between the trim wheel and the control column!
* I applied rudder to correct for yaw and keep a particular heading.
* I experienced "mechanical turbulance" first hand.
* I finally could see how Navigation comes into play, as visually, I was "lost" above Stouffville,
without the familiar CN tower and water line immediately in view.
* I made radio calls to request permission to taxi, and get instructions for landing.
If this flight lesson had been a cartoon, the lightbulbs would have been sproinging out fast and furious!!! :)
Unfortunately, time and finances dictate that I'll not be able to fly again for at least another month. I know I will lose most of what I gained today by then. I won't remember the feel of the different controls needed to overshoot correctly, to maintain a heading and altitude with any decency, and to keep a certain attitude in view. But I will remember the feeling of actually possibly being able to reach the goal of not feeling completely incompetent 99% of the time!
How was it? It was FANTASTIC!
I remember the first "real" lesson I had, with another teacher, at the end of the lesson, as we were walking back into the building, she asked, "So, how was it?" I guess I was supposed to be raving about how awesome it was, but the truth was that at the time I was thinking, "I so can't do this, what was I thinking?!" Ha! Today, however, was a different story...
My studying of the flight exercises using my Harv's Air videos paid off: Although I had to do weight and balance from scratch, because I couldn't remember one damned thing from last time, I was very confident with most of the material on straight and level, and also climbs. I remembered APT from my reading/watching, and I pretty much understood the concept of "attitude + power = performance". (I had been pushing/pulling imaginary control columns and throttles incessantly in my sleep for over a week, and picturing the resulting performance.)
I was not stellar with run ups and all that. (I still feel like I am randomly pushing buttons and playing with dials according to some arbitrary list, and not much of it makes any real sense to me.) And taxiing was a bit of an issue (no surprise there, I am still painfully incompetent with the visual-spatial stuff surrounding the different runways, taxiways, etc... I totally need a close-up arial shot of the airport, and someone willing to slowly walk me through it all without me feeling completely stupid.) But then we took off, somehow, miraculously, I was flying again. And although I was terrified, I was also exhilarated, amazed, high in every way!
The most amazing thing happened about 12 minutes later. Lari had me turn north, and as we moved away from the chaos of the airport and the surrounding traffic, I actually felt like I had some sort of control over the plane. My mouth, hitherto dry as an imminent murder victim, started feeling normal. And my knuckles, which had been wrapped tightly around the control column, loosened. Even when the brilliantly skilled Lari began demonstrating various tricks with wing flaps, and sudden descents and so on, I was a bit surprised, but not completely stressed out on the brink of a heart attack as -- let's be honest -- I have been most of the time up to now.
* We talked about and practised "overshooting" (no I don't remember all the details, but I get the basic concept.)
* I began to actually understand the connection between the trim wheel and the control column!
* I applied rudder to correct for yaw and keep a particular heading.
* I experienced "mechanical turbulance" first hand.
* I finally could see how Navigation comes into play, as visually, I was "lost" above Stouffville,
without the familiar CN tower and water line immediately in view.
* I made radio calls to request permission to taxi, and get instructions for landing.
If this flight lesson had been a cartoon, the lightbulbs would have been sproinging out fast and furious!!! :)
Unfortunately, time and finances dictate that I'll not be able to fly again for at least another month. I know I will lose most of what I gained today by then. I won't remember the feel of the different controls needed to overshoot correctly, to maintain a heading and altitude with any decency, and to keep a certain attitude in view. But I will remember the feeling of actually possibly being able to reach the goal of not feeling completely incompetent 99% of the time!
How was it? It was FANTASTIC!