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
#1828936
I have just read a very quirky book by a retired pilot. Written almost as if he's sat next to you reminiscing, not really in chronological order, a few humorous rants, some personal philosophy.

It's mostly an autobiography but he includes extremely brief summaries about some aspects of flying (originally to calm nervous flyers). I loved this paragraph -

"To land: choose another long bit of concrete. For your first go, a very long bit (say, two miles).
Steer the plane towards it and slow down as you get nearer.
As you get nearer, get lower. So it’s nearer, slower, lower.
And then, when you’re very low and very slow you’ll find that, at the moment the wings run out of lift to support the plane (if you time it correctly), the ground gets in the way to stop it falling any further. "

(from "The Other Side of Fear ... A Pilot's Life " by Captain Keith Godfrey

Simples :lol:
AndyR, Spooky liked this
#1829161
T6Harvard wrote:To be honest I am still at the comedy taxiing stage so the proposed first take off is worrying me more!


Taking off is far easier than taxying.

Genuinely.

There’s only 1 throttle setting... full!
The aircraft only veers one way, you just use your right foot to stop it.
It flies itself off the runway. There’s no big “rotate” in light aircraft. (There’s a bit of back pressure).
Set best rate of climb speed and relax for a while.
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#1829173
Hopefully, one of the instructors will be along soon to tell us all how to do perfect landings. I can’t tell you that, because I’m not an instructor, but, this is how I try to achieve them (sometimes it works)!
Turning base to final, at, say, seven or 800 feet, lined up with the runway, and using about 1600 RPM, I trim for the right speed. For the typical Cessna-Piper type, this is usually around 65 kn. When the trim wheel has been wound back enough that I no longer need to pull or push on the column, or indeed, touch it at all, and the aeroplane is descending at about 65 kn, I fixed my gaze on the numbers. So long as they stay about one third of the way up the windscreen, everything is fine. If I get too low, I add a little more power. If I’m too high, I reduce power. As I pass over the fence, just short of the runway and numbers, I reduced the power to almost idle, but not quite. At this point, my gaze is fixed on the very far end of the runway, or just beyond. I slowly and progressively and gradually raise the nose so as to keep flying towards that point. It is very important to keep the aeroplane flying, and not to let it land. When I am about halfway down the runway, I realise that the aeroplane has actually been rolling along the ground for some time. At this point, I can reduce the power to idle, and maintain or increase the back pressure so that all the weight is on the main wheels. This makes it more efficient applying the brakes, should I need to do so.

Some people also suggest glancing through the side window of the aeroplane in the round out, so as to gauge the height above the runway a little better.
This technique works for me (mostly). But your instructor will be able to show you the right way to do it!
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#1829236
Cessna571 wrote:
mick w wrote:" The aircraft only veers one way, you just use your right foot to stop it."

Or maybe your left Foot ,depending on Prop rotation :wink:


Yeah, I was keeping it simple ;-)


or neither! some twins, jets and contra-rotators, but I doubt you'll be in any of those (yet!)
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1829238
@Cessna571 , yep, it's a right footer! Thanks for the reassurance. My instructor said I'll be 'attempting' the t.o. on my next lesson. For some reason he chuckled when he said 'attempting' 8)

@A le Ron - thank you for the super write up of a proper landing!

In my head I'll be able to do it just fine but I know full well that the finesse will be a good while developing.
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By GrahamB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1829239
mick w wrote:" The aircraft only veers one way, you just use your right foot to stop it."

Or maybe your left Foot ,depending on Prop rotation :wink:

Or significant left rudder and possibly a dab of left brake in a strong crosswind from the right.

You have to be prepared for every takeoff being different to the last.
T6Harvard, T67M liked this
#1829649
The invisible ratchet is great - provided you are already very close to the ground.

I had a tendency for my round-outs to be a little high (surely better than a little low!!) but then would apply the 'do not allow the stick forward' maxim whilst still 2 or 3 feet off the ground, possibly more with a bit of a balloon, so when she stopped flying there was a bit of a drop.

After the first 'coarse' roundout to make sure you miss the ground, there's still some work to do to be skimming along close to the surface, taking the last of the power off and making sure you land on the mains.
Mark1eyeball, T6Harvard liked this
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1829660
Charles Hunt wrote:I had a tendency for my round-outs to be a little high (surely better than a little low!!)

Much better. Very, very much better.

but then would apply the 'do not allow the stick forward' maxim whilst still 2 or 3 feet off the ground, possibly more with a bit of a balloon, so when she stopped flying there was a bit of a drop.

Personally, as I've opined here before (and got thoroughly excoriated for it), I think that is a rubbish maxim, since as you say, you end up unnecessarily crashing from 2 or 3 feet, and you have to save it with a bit of power - or a lot more power for the go around.

If you react quickly, there's absolutely nothing wrong with moving the stick forward a bit, to correct for having pulled it back a bit too much.

Although I never encountered it back in the day, the maxim is there to stop the thoroughly ham-fisted from, having heaved back too much and consequently going skyward (albeit only momentarily) at stall speed, then heaving forward too much and boring a hole in the ground with the prop like the Mole in Thunderbirds. Because crashing once on the main gear is better than crashing three or four times on the nosewheel.

But not crashing at all is even better, and learning not to be thoroughly ham-fisted is an important part of developing the finesse to achieve the not crashing thing. Small corrections are fine, and if you really need a big one, it's probably better to go around anyway.

If you correct forward too much, hopefully you'll hear in no uncertain terms from your instructor.
Charles Hunt, T6Harvard, David Wood and 1 others liked this