Learning to fly, or thinking of learning? Post your questions, comments and experiences here

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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908289
:lol: :lol: :lol: , yep, that was me! I don't believe it.

If you're there tomorrow try not to point and laugh at me 'jumping' up to dip the tanks!

Hope it's going well.
By ericgreveson
#1908333
What a great week of aviation antics! Sounds like your lesson went well too, 5 weeks seems like a long time "off" so wouldn't be surprised if it took some time to get back into the swing of things... although I suppose you had plenty of non-lesson flying recently to keep current! Hoping the weather will be OK this weekend since I've had 2 weeks off now and that feels like a very long time already...
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By WelshRichy
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908419
T6Harvard wrote:
> :lol: :lol: :lol: , yep, that was me! I don't believe it.
>
> If you're there tomorrow try not to point and laugh at me 'jumping' up to
> dip the tanks!
>
> Hope it's going well.

Yes I'll be at the airfield today...

Don't worry I can't laugh at anyone trying to inspect C152 wing tanks as you haven't seen me trying to jump up onto the wing to check the C152 Aerobats fuel situation before my first spinning session on Monday... right wing not a problem but trying to heave myself up for the left wing took some doing! Reminds me of trying to bounce on one leg whilst foot in the stirrup trying to get on a horse from the ground! Not that I've done that but my wife tries regularly, usually ending up looking for the mounting block. Now there's an idea... ! :lol:

I'll need to update my thread this weekend whilst down in Cardiff visiting my parents but the phrase of the day yesterday was slow down in both briefings and air demonstrations. Give the aircraft time to settle, it's not a sprint race but a. (walking pace) marathon. The penny dropped and instantly things improved somewhat. Oh and only use the words on the briefs... they are there for a reason. Yup, work in progress.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908425
Ha,ha,ha. Yeah, starboard is much harder to get for me too. I'm going to have to preface flying the chair with exercises for better hoiking up to tanks :lol:

Just about to leave home.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908510
Not much to say about today's lesson apart from * Aggggh *.
It just didn't feel right and I couldn't shake it.

I was too low on approach and then flared just too high most times, then chased the landing attitude, rinse and repeat. I was totally fed up by circuit 5, just stuck doing the same wrong thing :oops:

Previous lesson I was full of confidence and I enjoyed it even though it wasn't perfect by any means.

There was no logic to it. I was not concrete shy, I just couldn't judge the height to begin transition.

Eventually came the last circuit, much to my relief...

I had a stern word with myself, to the effect that I can do this so just shape up.
I suspect my poor Instructor was wishing he was elsewhere but he remained patient, encouraged the correct glideslope and the final landing was, thank goodness, nice and silky.

Instructor - "So what was different about that?"
Me - "I listened to what you said this time." :roll:

Whinge over.

(It was quite thermally in parts during the last 30 mins so my main consolation for today is that all the bobbling around didn't make me queasy!)
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By ericgreveson
#1908513
Ah well - just one of those days I guess! It was pretty thermally today (I was out this morning) which always makes things a bit more challenging. It does sound like you did 5 successful circuits though (all wheels still attached) and a good one to finish is always nice! On the plus side, it sounds like you were mostly not happy just with the approaches and landings themselves - which suggests that the rest of the circuit is now going well / second nature? If it helps, I tend to flare too high quite a lot as well... I tell myself it is a common mistake and try to catch myself doing it and then avoid fully flaring until I get to the right height, if you know what I mean.
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By FlyingBoot
#1908522
Not sure what the wind and turbulence were like for you but I find that in winds/turbulence my first few landings are better and then get worse as my concentration begins to wane. Seems like you may be the other way round, or just fluked the last one.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908527
Tbf, I think the thermals added a bit to the workload and distraction, although I flew them OK I was muttering about them being a nuisance :lol:
Circuit was fine.
Approaches stable and nicely lined up (except the first when I failed to allow enough for wind drift, sorted next time round :) ) , corrected for unexpected turbulance at about 300' on one circuit, still lined up nicely.
I even got the into wind aileron sorted when needed.
Just too flat on most and useless at seeing the height to transition :roll:

The last one was just determination not to end so badly, combined with good encouragement from RHS as I seemed to grasp the nettle, I think. As I was handling those last 10 seconds or so I knew it felt and looked right. Then I kicked myself for mucking up the previous 5. Grrrrr.

(Thinking about it, maybe I just relaxed for the last one *shrugs*. )

I know full well that I'll have learnt plenty today, it'll just take a few brain-video re-runs to work out what :lol:
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By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908532
T6Harvard wrote:

> Just too flat on most and useless at seeing the height to transition

Interested in what might be going on here.

Was the ground suddenly there and it took you by surprise? My belief is that acquiring the depth perception you need involves looking around in the near distance (forward out of the side windows if necessary, but not fixating on anything) as well as just down the runway as commonly taught.

Or were you too fast and not landing by where you thought you should? The temptation to put it down anyway is strong in that case, and the cure is to be more patient, and aim at not landing.

I don't have enough information to have a view, here, but I'm curious.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908537
Hmmm, well...
Nope, everything was happening at a nice steady speed, all felt under control, no surprises. No compulsion to just put it down.

First one I thought 'this is going to be good' but....then I was just a bit too high and so ended up wrestling to find the correct nose attitude as lift decayed.

The oddest was when my Instructor said the nose was too high as I held off but I was looking to the horizon and from my perspective it was just right, closing to just below the horizon, and as I put it there I was satisfied with my control and with the perspective. The landing from that was not too bad so maybe that played on my mind - why was he calling it out and why did I think it was OK?

I did plonk one down, the other poor ones were just messy not bone-jarring :lol:

What I was disappointed about was that I repeated the same mistake 4 times. It was crazy. I've done decent landings so it makes it worse today.

OTOH :mrgreen: I have already taken my copies of 'Making Perfect Landings' and 'Stick and Rudder' off the bookshelf to engross myself in them tomorrow. There's one particular illustration in S and R that always grabs my attention as giving a really good perspective for landing.

Tbh, I haven't looked to the side. Not sure I have the capacity to do that without it all going to pot :lol:

I think I'll just get my Instructor to fly the first approach and landing next week and I'll watch like a hawk. Just got to get my eye in :roll:
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908540
T6Harvard wrote:
>
> Tbh, I haven't looked to the side. Not sure I have the capacity to do that
> without it all going to pot :lol:
>

Just glances. Not fixating.

I have no idea if what follows is right, so take it with a pinch of salt - all I know is what I do.

But I've never understood this "look all the way down the runway" thing. I can't perceive my height above the ground where I am by looking at a point hundreds of yards away. And I can't rely on the picture from my peripheral vision until I've done it right so many times that the picture becomes subconsciously available.

And even then I approach at all sorts of angles, to all sorts of runway lengths and widths, so the peripheral vision picture is different every time, so how can it ever work like that? I find myself looking in lots of places - just glances, but down the runway, off to the side, back down the runway again. It's not conscious, but I can feel the picture building up as I look around.

I also think it's about paying attention. All my worst landings are on runway 25 at White Waltham, which is home base and the runway I use most. Everywhere else, even at fields I've never been to before, I almost always land well though I says it myself :oops: . Familiarity breeds lack of focus, I think. Maybe you should go to Halfpenny Green and do a few circuits there, just for a change. It would get you out of the circuit for a bit, possibly a good thing in any case.

The other thing I always recommend is practising slow level flight. At a decent height, obviously, start from cruise speed, and gradually reduce power. But stay level as you slow down. Don't lose or gain height. Once the stall warner is on, notice how high the nose is, and once you've flown level like that for a bit, add power gradually and speed up again. Repeat that cycle several times. It really builds familiarity with the nose-high attitude and low airspeed you're looking for in the last few seconds before touchdown. It was getting an ex-GF to do this that enabled her to land my Cheetah after three actual instructors at Biggin had given up on her.

Anyway, just some random thoughts. Take from them anything or nothing.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908544
Thanks for the suggestions. All good.

I particularly like the idea about going elsewhere. I think I've had enough of just going round and round.
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By Milty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1908548
I found going elsewhere was a great experience (by coincidence, Halfpenny Green). Daunting to start with, but great to feel tat you can do it. Don’t really recall if landings were any better there than at Glos if I’m honest, but it certainly helped as a break from the monotony of circuits at Glos. As with learning to drive, it’s a very intense experience. Since you started driving, how many times do you do all of the things you learned in an hour? I’d bet rarely. I found learning to fly was similar until we flew somewhere and there were just a few minutes available to indulge in your new found skills before the circuits started again.
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By low&slow
#1908553
Some people tend to fly the aircraft towards where they are looking. If they are looking at the ground over the nose as they round out they tend to land the aircraft flat. If they have been told to look at the far end of the runway when rounding out they tend to round out too much, too soon & end up holding off at 10' agl until running out of energy. That might be what your instructor means by the nose being too high as you hold off; you're at the landing attitude when you should still be slowly descending.

If you are one of these people the solution is to change your "aiming point" as you get lower, the closer your wheels are to the ground the further down the runway you look.
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By Miscellaneous
#1908558
One thing I have found myself thinking, [usermention=23363]@T6Harvard[/usermention] (but have refrained from saying as I think you may be at risk of being bombarded with advice :wink: ) is that leaving circuits alone for a couple of lessons and moving on to cross country and nav could do you the world of good. It would be something different to focus on and get excited about and may just re-energise you. I can't help but think there must be a little apprehension creeping in as you head off for yet another lesson of circuit bashing? Stopping flying for a wee while is not really a good option, IMO. However, continuing to have hands on flying experience by breaking new ground I'd suggest may be worth a try. :D

Who says the lessons have all to be done consecutively? :wink:
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