Phew, a better lesson than before my hols!
I enjoyed it. As many have said, some things improved but consequently some things sort of slid out of my brain again to make room for new stuff
Several minor firsts today
- I noticed a couple of things on the walk round but knew I could easily forget to mention them when Instructor came out so I jotted them on my kneeboard along with fuel dips etc. We went over them together. All OK but really useful to find out more, and also reiterated how absolutely safety conscious he is and I aim to be.
- I saw both manhole covers this week so steered round BOTH!
- AGS not operating today but I forgot and used station name Tatenhill Radio. Doh. Should have been T. traffic. As we have a specific frequency I didn't need to bookend the call but at least I thought about it (thanks @Irv Lee
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- Got shown how to refuel: static line, step ladder, paperwork etc.
- After chasing a spider round the cockpit a couple of times we decided it could come for the ride
My take off was decent, checks fine, climb to 3,500' clearing turns all OK.
HASELL check, then power off stalls were good for 3 out of 4. I messed one up by recovering too soon, as the objective was to actually stall
. It's amazing how one can stay in the air at 40 knots sort of hovering. Felt the mush, heard the warner, waited till it got louder, nose drop, check forward, apply full power. I thought it would be hard to persuade myself to push forward when instinctivly one may want to pull the nose up but I had no hesitation doing it. Felt good.
Did a few 180° clearing turns, nicely level. I chose to turn right for practice
Approaching CAS warning on Nav so Instructor decided to reposition by 45° AoB, full power. All well and good except....I heard that little click again. My door came unlatched. Now this week I was doubly sure to bodycheck it before TO and I know it was secure (I was only 99% sure I'd checked last time). Assume the 45° was enough to drop the latch out. They are going to check it.
Had a complete mental block with any heading that included the number 3!! So HDG 330, 030, 300, all melded together in my small brain. So my usually good rolling out on given HDG was not so good. Harrumph.
Then the classic Instructor trick - OK do you know where the airfield is? Nope. When told we were north west at least I knew which way to go until I located a familiar landmark.
It's very inconvenient when they knock down a bliddy great power station 2 days before your lesson
I did a FREDA check while flying a turn 'to save time', although obvs waited to synch DI until S&L
2 circuits of varying quality. Better than last time but not exactly good. First one as a go around, fine, second one overshot turn for Final a little due to being slow getting my ducks in a row but salvaged it and was pleased to be able to stabilise approach.
Still in remedial class with regard to landing
Looking forward to Wednesday.