hey lads and ladettes i thought I would keep you posted with my exciting 3rd lesson.
After 6 yes 6 cancelled flights over 4 weeks due to weather it was just about flyable today so i seized the opportunity to get up there. There was a strong crosswind just within the aircraft limits of 15kts.
After being introduced to my new instructor I told him what I had learnt etc and off we went. taxiing was fairly difficult getting to the runway as It takes me about 5 minutes to get used to each time. after snaking to the runway startpoint I pulled up at 60knts and we climbed bumpily to 3k ft and levelled out. this lesson was all about straight and level flight and what a difficult task it was with the wind bumping us about all over the place. I managed to master it but it was very hard to know if we were rising or falling as the 'picture' was moving up and down and left and right by about 30 degrees constantly. the instruments were swinging around all over the place and the altimiter needle jumped over 100ft up and down. maintaining a specific aaltitude was very difficult but im glad i had the experience in these kind of conditions because it will be a better test in the long run.
To my surprise the instructor suggested that we could still cope with a bit more turbulence! I had a firm grip on the controls at first trying to over compensate the sharp gusts of wind but later learnt that its easier to use just one hand to fly and hold the yoke loosely rather than with white knuckles.
Time to enter the left hand circuit and upon making the final turn we realised that the wind had pushed us way past the runway so we crabbed our way back and had to make a rapid descent so as not to miss it. I had a go at keeping level on the way down but left the rudder to the instructor. it was really strange to be flying towards the runway facing 30 degrees out of alignment and just on Q the instructor took full control at 30ft and whipped off the rudder to bring us in alignment a mere second before touching down.
I enjoyed the lesson and found the added wind made things a lot more tricky. every time i feel like I didnt do enough though. maybe others feel the same at the early stages and its just typical trigger happy newbie syndrome???
After landing I taxied much more accuratly back to the parking spot and ran through final checks.
Then I took a chance at my met exam. feeling I had nothing to loose and I PASSED!! all those cancelled lessons kept my head in the books/CD rom over the past few weeks and it paid off.
finally I settled the bill of £264 for 1hr flight, exam, kneeboard, logbook, checklist, and membership...Then I cancelled sundays lesson through lack of funds
