[T6Harvard]

OMG, don't say that about the Nav exam!
I think I'm going to bite that bullet next

[Milty]

Stop whinging, you’ll walk it

[T6Harvard]

Stop whinging, you’ll walk it

I can get lost driving to the nearest town
Still, I started all this for the challenge and it's living up to my expectation

[Milty]

You may be able to get lost doing it, but I bet you could draw a line on a map to the nearest town.

Life should be full of challenges. I’ve been really enjoying (most of the time) being pushed well outside my comfort zone. It makes me feel alive again.

[T6Harvard]

Ssshhh, don't tell anyone but I think I'll enjoy Nav. Well Nav Planning anyway. I do like a good plan

Yes, yes! It is a brilliant challenge, mind, body and soul.

How lucky we are.

[Duncan M]

Congratulations on another exam pass T6.
Just the easy ones left now

[akg1486]

Congratulations, @T6Harvard. With the proper motivation and some available time, there is nothing that stops anyone from successfully finishing the exams. All students posting here seem to have motivation in spades.

I'm coaching the students in my club in Flight Planning and Performance right now: we're about halfway through. Being a teacher and preparing for the class has been even more fun than I thought it would be: it makes one think twice about one's own planning practices. I have a background in engineering and maths, but the science behind calculating the centre of gravity or the crosswind component isn't well-known to students in other lines of business. But so far, so good, I would say!

Teaching motivated students is always fun, of course. It's something we all do both at work and at home.

[T6Harvard]

A good lesson today, hooray! After my mini strop the other week I got my act together today In fact both my Instructor and I were grinning by the end of the slightly extended lesson.

I think the flight with my mentor on Sunday had me calmer.
My chat with my Instructor on Monday also paid off. Bless him, he took it all onboard and we worked really well today.

The wind was straight down the runway but that didn't prevent some turbulence on Climbout a couple of times, causing me to mutter a bit as I slightly wrestled us back into position.

The first climbing turn was a bit jiggy ​too, as a gust caught us but it was only momentary.

I managed my best effort at keeping the track, allowing for drift. I also got all the turning points spot on, have done before but suddenly it was natural, not a series of inner questions!

Height keeping was good throughout and I also lined up well on all but one Approach. Again, have done before but this came easier

I did slightly lose the glideslope on one Approach so I had to work extra hard in the minor turbulance. A quick prompt from my Instructor about how little to work the throttle and when to add it back in got us right.

Overall landing varied from 'fine' to 'good', except for one when I rather 'plopped' us onto the runway. No drama but definitely more of an arrival than a landing [ETA, not as bad as @Milty on Friday though ]

All too soon my Instructor said the hour was up but he quickly added that I could do one more circuit if I wanted. You bet!

So I flew round again and did my best landing to end the lesson. 

As I shut the aircraft down my Instructor said it was a really good lesson.
In fact we were both noticeably grinning about it

As we did the paperwork I asked if I could have an hour's groundschool with him because there is no time for proper briefings and I need to go over the next few exercises.
He said, yes we'll do it 'next time the weather is pi** poor, because when it's good we'll be flying'.

Another small corner has been turned

[Milty]

Sounds brilliant. So pleased for you. Great feeling when it feels ‘natural’.

[T6Harvard]

Flying felt like a bit of a chore today but it seems I may have misjudged it.

I was in my not-favourite aircraft but I can tolerate it now. Weather was poor, no visible horizon, and the Direction Indicator was all but useless (wandering) so my first tracks were equally as poor. Tried synching it a few times but gave up and relied on the Mark I eyeball with ocassional peering at the compass.

My first circuit was a bit ragged and then I flared slightly too high. I could have added in a little power and set it up again but my Instructor was on it quickly. Obviously he wasn't sure I'd catch it

Next circuit was better. Landing was OK but my Instructor pointed out that I'd dragged us in and I still felt it was a bit ragged all round.

Next time I nailed the Approach, dealt with consideration of a back-tracking ac, landing was a bit squirrely.

Anyway.... to cut the story short, it got better over the lesson, much tighter all round and thankfully my last landing felt and indeed was pretty good

Debrief picked up on a couple of things to concentrate on and I was asked how I thought I'd done. I said I felt it was a bit ragged and I was disappointed with some of the landings. My Instructor said the landings were all good, except the first, and I was being too hard in myself .

He then said that as I am improving he is getting more picky and the tolerances are tightening but he's happy.

I should be glad I'm landing reasonably consistently but something was a bit 'off' today. I expect it will be fine next week

[ericgreveson]

Good stuff! Getting more consistent landings must be pleasing. Poor visibility and a useless DI must have made the circuits a bit harder. In the C152s I fly there are Garmin G5s so we don't even need to sync the DI... feels like cheating!

[Paul_Sengupta]

the Direction Indicator was all but useless (wandering) so my first tracks were equally as poor. Tried synching it a few times but gave up and relied on the Mark I eyeball with occasional peering at the compass.

Training aeroplanes are teaching aids. This one taught you something today.

[Milty]

@Paul_Sengupta agreed, but it’s still really annoying and distracting when you have a particularly badly behaved DI. One of the aircraft at our school seems to be set and forget. The other one it’s almost not worth the time to set it.

[TopCat]

I said I felt it was a bit ragged and I was disappointed with some of the landings. My Instructor said the landings were all good, except the first, and I was being too hard in myself .

He then said that as I am improving he is getting more picky and the tolerances are tightening but he's happy.

Sounds to me like you're both getting more picky as you improve. That's no bad thing.

I'm disappointed with how well I fly nearly all the time

[T6Harvard]

I said I felt it was a bit ragged and I was disappointed with some of the landings. My Instructor said the landings were all good, except the first, and I was being too hard in myself .

He then said that as I am improving he is getting more picky and the tolerances are tightening but he's happy.

Sounds to me like you're both getting more picky as you improve. That's no bad thing.

I'm disappointed with how well I fly nearly all the time

Well your 'show off' take off was the talk of the Club last week