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Old 5th Sep 2001, 23:35
  #11 (permalink)  
tacpot
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: South Yorkshire
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Another two penny's worth:

1) Don't expect to fly more than two hours a day and learn very much, unless you are less than 20 years old. (And make sure you are rested between each flight)

2) My experience is that it is darkest before the storm breaks! I've just gone solo again for the first time in 15 years, and had exactly the same "Am I ever going to learn how to land" feelings, as I was working up to the solo standard. The closer I got to going solo, the worse my judgement on my performance was (even if each landing was generally better than the last)

3) Try a flight simulator if you have access to a high spec PC. It isn't entirely like the real thing, but it's close enough for you to rehearse your landing procedure, i.e. Attitude for Airspeed, Power for Rate of Descent, when to flare, the rate of pull required, when to transfer vision from the aiming point to the side of the a/c where you can judge your height from. (This was a major step forwards I noticed in my landings - suddenly I was able to change focus from straight ahead to out to one side, to straight ahead again, without it being a struggle to do so)

4) Another step forwards was being of a positive mind. I had periods when I thought I could see the instructor's hand inching towards the yoke - at that point I think I must have subconsiously been thinking "you can sit back now, the instructor thinks you've botched it, he wants control, so let him do the landing". Once I accepted that I could, and must land the a/c correctly, despite the contents of the right hand seat, it all came together quite quickly. (Believe me, if I can be taught to land a plane, then 99.99% of the population can)

5) Accurate flying, especially with respect to the approach speed will pay dividends. Alot of this is practise. Landing is a skill: it has to be learnt, and practised, and only when you have done both of these will it become a comfortable exercise.

6) Stretch yourself at every stage of the flight. Climb at exactly Vy, make your calls as close to the correct positions as RT traffic allows, level out from the climb correctly, trim properly, judge your drift in the circuit. The more you do, the more value you'll get from the flight, and the easier it will become - if you're 100ft above circuit height as you turn onto base leg, your got to use additional brain power to manage your descent properly. Fly accurately and you'll arrive over the threshold with mental capacity in reserve.

But, most importantly stick with it. It's definitely worth it. When you start doing solo cross country's, you'll suddenly find yourself with the a/c at exactly the right height, heading in exactly the right direction, knowing exactly where you are and having had intelligible communication with an ATC unit you have never spoken to before, and you will marvel at: the view, the emptiness of the right hand seat, the pleasure of flying, and the sheer correctness of the world. (Just don't marvel for too long. I shall be coming in the other direction, flying VFR just as you will be. See and avoid eh? )

Best wishes, tacpot
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