Well, I went for my first lesson yesterday in a C-152. It was, shall we say, very interesting!
The A check took a lot longer than normal, as it was different to the Katana that I normally fly and my first impressions are that it was a bit beaten up but it looked like a pretty strong aircraft. It was much easier to taxi than a Katana and during the take off felt more "damped" but it climbs out nicely and I did notice that you have to bob the nose down more frequently to get an idea of what is below you. The view of the ground is much better with the hight wing but I prefer to have a better view of the air around me, I have to say.
Did some stalls and I was, as usual a bit nervous, wanting to restore power and attitude as soon as possible. I did a few of these and got the hang of it, which gave me a lot more confidence.
Wow, did I learn something though. You can hold the yoke back for as long as you want and
provided you control the yaw with the rudders, it ain't going to do anything nasty. I was pleased that I instinctively counteracted any yaw with opposite rudder - again a morale booster. I've not noticed this before with the Katana, probably because it's so benign.
So, to the spins.
The instructor demonstrated the first one and I nearly freaked out!
I thought my days were over but luckily this guy is so laid back he's virtually comatose so he inspires confidence.
The second one he demonstrated and I started to see what was happening and my brain was "slowing" things down so I could get an idea of what to do.
Did I do one? Nah, I wussed out. Having said that I want to do things at my own pace and I reckon on the next lesson, I'll get him to demonstrate one more and then I'll have a go. I've also asked him to include wing drops so that I can get proficient at them as well.
Got back to Redhill and I was amazed how easy it was to do a power on approach through base leg and onto final - from memory, I used 1500rpm and left it there until the threshold (actually, I forgot to chop the power as I was so amazed
) - much easier than a Katana as I find that I'm constantly adjusting the power at this stage. The instructor made a few compliments about my flying (probably to get me back
) which was nice but my eyeballs still hurt as a result of the spins. They feel a bit like the time I did a Bungee jump - I guess staring out in wide eyed terror with a bit of G doesn't always work - best close my eyes next time!
To sum up, I totally recommend to anyone who hasn't done any - Spin Training is definitely a good idea.
I'll keep you posted. I have a feeling that my first spin recovery may be as memorable as my Solo X Country.