Turns (Ex 9) - Saturday, November 20, 2010
Well… just when I was getting comfortable—WHAP! I am hit with a slightly turbulent day and a NEW challenge: I am afraid of steep turns, lol!!!
Actually, the turbulence was not so bad, I wasn’t as deathly afraid as I have been in the past, near the beginning of this adventure. It was the turns that really got me! Poor Lari, in the ground briefing, I think had the sense that I more or less knew what I was talking about. After all, I had done the readings, and so I had most of the “right” answers.
Alas, cerebral knowledge is not the same as “knowing” in your body. I fought the wind out to the practice area (we took off 33, btw another new experience for me… more on that later…) and then Lari had me turn gently (less than 15 degrees), then more moderately, all the while “stepping on the ball”, i.e. using rudder to keep the ball centred. I think conceptually, I did learn how to do a coordinated turn, but steep turns, forget it!! Lari demonstrated, and I was supposed to copy him, but every time I got slightly beyond “comfortable”, my R-complex kicked in and overrode my neocortex so that I simply COULD NOT DO IT!! I think Korkka clued in after a while, because he resorted to a variety of other tricks to distract me.
Shit! This could be what does me in. It just felt so WEIRD!! The horizon, it’s not supposed to look like that! And how the hell do you know when the turn is too steep, i.e. you’re going to stall?! So much going on, too, with the altitude being lost quickly if you don’t keep your nose up, and then the bit with the rudder – totally don’t get that, just relying on the turn coordinator for that one! And the damned radio with some guy from another flight school sharing his position (incorrectly, I might add), with anyone who is listening every 30 seconds, arrrGGHHHHH!!! :P
Airspeed/Attitude
Something I think I am figuring out as of today’s lesson is the relationship between Airspeed and attitude… I know attitude plus power equals performance, but that’s only been when cruising for me. Now we are “setting” the throttle to certain RPMs, which in theory are supposed to relate to certain airspeeds during different maneuvers. (For example, Vx = 56 KIAS, whereas best RATE is 68.) Lari has me set the RPMs and then I am supposed to maintain a certain airspeed without messing with the throttle. But how? Nose down speeds things up I know now. And nose up slows me down. But then my altitude changes. What up with that?
Circuits/Landings/Overshooting
Lari knows I need to learn how to land. So, he sneaks it in every time. He was good today, though, willing to demo the first one, since I was so freaked out from the steep turns, lol! So, we did circuits. First time we really did that… practicing going around in circles.
1250 is another number I need to memorize… it is where we begin to get ready for landing. 1250 ft altitude when on the downwind leg. I think. Circuits… lots of talk about that, lots of reading, and now we did it. I kind of am starting to see just glimmerings of what that all means. (At lunch with another pilot a few weeks back, we talked about circuits… what it all means, climb out, down wind, base leg, final approach… again, all talk until you experience it. The challenge is that it takes 7 repetitions to solidify the average synapse, and I’ve only had 4 or 5 goes at it, and not even the same runway each time!!!)
My brilliant instructor “coded” the tower for an overshoot – I suspected something of the kind – and as I was on final approach, just before landing, suddenly a call came in from the tower, directing me NOT to land! Ever the communicator, I first responded to the call, and THEN pushed the throttle in, lol! Impulse! So… next time, throttle in and get control of the plane, wing flaps up in stages, (I STILL am not sure what the nose does… so much happening today, hard to remember), carb heat OFF (push it in), mixture rich and I guess then let tower know you heard them.
Regular Practice/Flight Sim
I can’t fly after work – it is too dark now, in November. But I have booked Lari with the flight simulator for Monday night. I have never done that, so we will see how it goes. With any luck, we can practice “in the air” stuff, so that I become more comfortable with that, without the many other distractions (radio, walkaround, run-ups, etc. etc. taxing, etc.) that usually get in the way.
Homework:
- Ex 10 and 11 range and endurance, and slow flight
-POH section 5, if time permits.
Actually, the turbulence was not so bad, I wasn’t as deathly afraid as I have been in the past, near the beginning of this adventure. It was the turns that really got me! Poor Lari, in the ground briefing, I think had the sense that I more or less knew what I was talking about. After all, I had done the readings, and so I had most of the “right” answers.
Alas, cerebral knowledge is not the same as “knowing” in your body. I fought the wind out to the practice area (we took off 33, btw another new experience for me… more on that later…) and then Lari had me turn gently (less than 15 degrees), then more moderately, all the while “stepping on the ball”, i.e. using rudder to keep the ball centred. I think conceptually, I did learn how to do a coordinated turn, but steep turns, forget it!! Lari demonstrated, and I was supposed to copy him, but every time I got slightly beyond “comfortable”, my R-complex kicked in and overrode my neocortex so that I simply COULD NOT DO IT!! I think Korkka clued in after a while, because he resorted to a variety of other tricks to distract me.
Shit! This could be what does me in. It just felt so WEIRD!! The horizon, it’s not supposed to look like that! And how the hell do you know when the turn is too steep, i.e. you’re going to stall?! So much going on, too, with the altitude being lost quickly if you don’t keep your nose up, and then the bit with the rudder – totally don’t get that, just relying on the turn coordinator for that one! And the damned radio with some guy from another flight school sharing his position (incorrectly, I might add), with anyone who is listening every 30 seconds, arrrGGHHHHH!!! :P
Airspeed/Attitude
Something I think I am figuring out as of today’s lesson is the relationship between Airspeed and attitude… I know attitude plus power equals performance, but that’s only been when cruising for me. Now we are “setting” the throttle to certain RPMs, which in theory are supposed to relate to certain airspeeds during different maneuvers. (For example, Vx = 56 KIAS, whereas best RATE is 68.) Lari has me set the RPMs and then I am supposed to maintain a certain airspeed without messing with the throttle. But how? Nose down speeds things up I know now. And nose up slows me down. But then my altitude changes. What up with that?
Circuits/Landings/Overshooting
Lari knows I need to learn how to land. So, he sneaks it in every time. He was good today, though, willing to demo the first one, since I was so freaked out from the steep turns, lol! So, we did circuits. First time we really did that… practicing going around in circles.
1250 is another number I need to memorize… it is where we begin to get ready for landing. 1250 ft altitude when on the downwind leg. I think. Circuits… lots of talk about that, lots of reading, and now we did it. I kind of am starting to see just glimmerings of what that all means. (At lunch with another pilot a few weeks back, we talked about circuits… what it all means, climb out, down wind, base leg, final approach… again, all talk until you experience it. The challenge is that it takes 7 repetitions to solidify the average synapse, and I’ve only had 4 or 5 goes at it, and not even the same runway each time!!!)
My brilliant instructor “coded” the tower for an overshoot – I suspected something of the kind – and as I was on final approach, just before landing, suddenly a call came in from the tower, directing me NOT to land! Ever the communicator, I first responded to the call, and THEN pushed the throttle in, lol! Impulse! So… next time, throttle in and get control of the plane, wing flaps up in stages, (I STILL am not sure what the nose does… so much happening today, hard to remember), carb heat OFF (push it in), mixture rich and I guess then let tower know you heard them.
Regular Practice/Flight Sim
I can’t fly after work – it is too dark now, in November. But I have booked Lari with the flight simulator for Monday night. I have never done that, so we will see how it goes. With any luck, we can practice “in the air” stuff, so that I become more comfortable with that, without the many other distractions (radio, walkaround, run-ups, etc. etc. taxing, etc.) that usually get in the way.
Homework:
- Ex 10 and 11 range and endurance, and slow flight
-POH section 5, if time permits.