Lesson 6 - improvement and doughnuts.
Warning of strong winds at East Mids (nearest TAF) so I rang before driving 90 mins to airfield. Office said all instructors were aloft so off I went.
My lesson was scheduled for 1.30. Instructor was running late so I was sent to start the walk round, instal my cushion
, pull seat forward and choose sunnies or ordinary glasses. My choice turned out to be wrong because the very low, bright sun nearly blinded me later.
So today - more straight and level, to be sustained for more than 30 seconds.
In fact I was greeted by the sarcastic "Today we'll go over S & L. The key is in the title, T6Harvard, S & L."
Start up and vital action checks are flowing much more now.
I was rusty in the air and after a few poor minutes I got told to stop wallowing round the sky and keep to the datum attitude!
I soon settled to lighter hands and also a better scan. I did manage turning, anticipated correctly, rolling out onto headings pretty much on the nose. No idea how I got the timing right but it was sort of instinctive, I was pleased. Except for the instance when I just plain forgot what heading I'd been given and overshot! (a lesson there on repeating instructions
)
I have never felt the slightest bit scared, nervous or anxious on any lesson but I noticed that I was somehow more relaxed today.
Slow flight and altering flaps was OK, am happy with what will happen and what to do, but was still too slow putting on full power afterwards. I was again surprised by how much pressure was required to hold the attitude before trimming. This, I think, I'll get next lesson.
Instructor was far less exasperated throughout, except when he said, "You started that well but...."*sigh* as I lost concentration on one early manoeuvre.
I also got half a bo******** when I didn't get my checklist out to do rejoin checks until I pointed out that I was told to learn airborne checks so I had. Luckily I nailed that and the other 2 main lists. A Brownie point?
During the lesson we turned out of the sun as much as poss, and we drifted north and east on the S.westerlies.
As a consequence I saw more of the scenic area that side of the airfield, which was very nice
It also meant we had a longer journey back. Sooooo, I got to strut S&L!
I actually relaxed and sustained it for a decent time. Phew.
On landing I taxiied the backtrack better and after giving way on the apron we entered a narrow taxiway so I could do a tight turn for parking. I thought, 'demo looks easy but one wrong move and I'm through the fence'....
Managed fine.
So, another first for me, doing a doughnut in the 152
I really enjoyed the lesson. Far from perfect but it felt better and to be fair one of my not-so-level turns was only +/- 50' - that was the one I overshot the heading because I was concentrating on centering the ball
I did notice that my instructor is quietly introducing more info each lesson. Not just the demos, more snippets are thrown in without any fanfare, matter of fact and this works well for me - my brain just accepts them as straight forward, no big deal.
Sometimes I only realise a while after the lesson
Oh yes, apparently my trimming was good. A rare accolade in my cockpit!
Weather for next lesson, Wednesday, was forecast wet and windy but I was asked to go anyway and we do a longer briefing to cover climbing and descending. I have homework. Homework involving lots of diagrams and the new-to-me concept of forward / rearward component of weight. It's been a while since I studied O Level physics.....
Still loving it