Hour 14
I was lucky to have booked my flight for 1630 today because when I woke up in the morning, there was nothing but a blanket of cloud at about 700ft with constant drizzle. I was preparing for the worst, but when 1530 came it had eventually cleared and there was only the occasional cirrus cloud around, plus the wind had dies to around 4-6 knots.
So off to the airfield, a very happy chappy indeed. There was a lady before me who had just done her first solo, and it all went very well, so congrats to you if you are reading! It just made me look forward to mine even more! I had the last flight of the day and it was quite calm (which would change during the course of the session). The runway lights had been turned on just as I was doing my checks; I had not flown before and seen such an amazing view of the glowing runway, quite spectacular. So off onto the first circuit. There wasn’t that much wind at this point, so not a lot of crabbing needed. The tower had asked us to perform an immediate left turn after takeoff, so once we passed the tower, that’s exactly what we did – kind of like a diagonal line from takeoff to crosswind. This one went quite well, good landing without any problems. One thing I need to start doing is putting my checks into action – what I mean is, rather than just pointing to the fuel gauge to see its ok, actually change to the fullest tank and make use of the check.
On one of the landings I flared a little too high, so it took a little longer to float down and we had to make corrections as necessary. I done this a couple of times, so on the next one, I was determined to get it right – well, what can I say, I now left it a little to late, which meant we were a little too fast, and lets just say, so far, it was the roughest landing I have done – nothing to get worried about, it just made me a little frustrated that I was getting it wrong. What helped me get around this was what my instructor said to me. He pointed out that we are not trying to PUT the aircraft down by any means of force, we don’t need to force it down, just get a good speed, nice easy flare, hold it, hold it, hold it and let it smoothly touch down, let it land itself………basically, I was putting too much effort in getting the thing down, rather than let physics do it for me. This time, I was definitely going to get it right, I was determined!
Getting the right approach and descent is crucial, it sets you up for a beautiful landing if you get it right. I have a tendency to be too high, and keep the nose in a high attitude because the runway looks closer than it actually is, therefore sometimes I am too slow and require more power, which means the flare can cock up. It’s like a chain of events unfolding. Anyhow, my last landing was one of the smoothest yet – I remembered what I was told and just let it float down and it gently touched the runway, lots of right rudder and left aileron – such a big buzz getting it right, it truly is. I only hope that with practice I can get used to the right attitude and make safe, smooth landings. Instructor did say that after a while I will be able to judge it better myself.
Safe flying,
Lee.