Finally after a month and some of bad weather I got airborne for my second lesson. This time it was with the Chief Flying Instructor, David, and a lot more in depth than my first air experience flight in January. Object of the day was to teach and demonstrate the effects of the controls.
Those of you reading this that have a little knowledge of flying may be thinking that this would be 'wee buns' ... push the stick forward you go down, pull the stick back you go up, move it right you go right etc. It is a lot more thourough than this. Too much to go into in this blog so if you are interested have a look here.
So anyway the lesson started off with a ground brief on the primary and further effects of the flight controls, the effects on the controls at different speeds, the effects of slipstream and triming. Then it was out to the aircraft (G-UFCG again) and a walkthrough talkthrough of all the pre-flight checks. Jump in, strap in, wind up the rubber band and off we went. A call on the radio (done by me, Army signals training came in handy here!) to let whoever was listening that we were taxing and backtracking along the runway for a take off on 04. Once again I was allowed to do the taxing however it was a wee bit faster than last time as we were backtracking along the runway. David asked me to take a right turn off the runway. He gave this request about 50 meters before the turn and there was no way I was going to get the plane slowed down in time so he took control and carried out what felt like a handbrake turn off the runway. We stopped and carried out the engine power tests and then taxied back onto the runway.
"Ok Jeff, do you want to do the take off?" .... "Yes please!". Full power applied, gentle movements on the rudder to keep us in a straight line, 55 knots, a steady pull back on the yoke and up we went. A bit of right rudder to correct the yaw caused by the slipstream and a positive rate of climb achieved. Take off number two in the bag!
We turned right and climbed to 2000 feet and headed out over the Ards Peninsular to carry out the planned exercises which I am pleased to say all went very well. During my first lesson I found I was flying more so using the instruments rather than looking out the window and using the horizon to set the plane attitude. This time I made more of a concious effort to do this and I was happy with the results, only scanning the instruments to confirm speed and height, a quick glance at the slip ball when doing a turn to make sure I wasn't slipping in the turn and a look at the tachometer to set the desired engine revs.
The only concern I have is my use of the rudder. It doesn't feel natural yet. Having looked on the various flying forums this seems to be a common problem with student pilots. I guess it will come with time. Its only my second lesson after all so I shouldn't really expect it all to fall into place straight away; but all those that know me will know that when I do something I strive for it to be done properly every time!
Anyhoo again all too soon it was time to head back to the airfield. David landed, taxied back and parked up. We went back into the club house and a student record sheet was started for me. I saw that David wrote in the comments field 'All Good'. Happy Days!
When I was at the reception paying for my lesson, club membership and shiny new logbook a club member standing next to me welcomed me to 'The Poor Mans Club'. That may be so but I think its going to be worth it!
Hours flown:
Dual: 1.25
Solo: 0.0
No comments:
Post a Comment