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

Moderator: AndyR

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By lobstaboy
#1869369
All instructors are Skygods of course and would be able to instantly rescue you if things were going badly wrong.
How I wish that that were true. But topcat is right - he was letting you see what a difficult one looks like.
Also - all instructors will try to instil the belief in you that if you're not comfortable with the approach you should go around. That's fundamental.
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By leiafee
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1869372
lobstaboy wrote:Also - all instructors will try to instil the belief in you that if you're not comfortable with the approach you should go around. That's fundamental.


And for ever…

I’ve chucked loads away over the past few months while getting used to new aircraft and not being very current!

Always easier to explain why you DID than why you DIDN’T!
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By MidlifeCrises
#1869489
Struggling to stay level on the hold off as well, using quite a bit of muscle to keep level means it's hard to do tiny adjustments!


If you can get fully trimmed on final, it will minimise control forces required in the round out and hold off. Easier said than done when you first get in the circuit, I know.
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By jcal
#1869493
MidlifeCrises wrote:If you can get fully trimmed on final, it will minimise control forces required in the round out and hold off. Easier said than done when you first get in the circuit, I know.

It is definitely something I need to work on for sure, but still good to know it will help the round out. Given that I'd be trimmed for a descent I didn't realise it could also help at the round out which is effectively "level" flight.
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By lobstaboy
#1869502
jcal wrote: Given that I'd be trimmed for a descent I didn't realise it could also help at the round out which is effectively "level" flight.


That's not quite right. The aeroplane is trimmed for a particular airspeed. That means there will be no, or very little, pressure required on the controls to fly maintaining that airspeed.
Whether or not the aeroplane climbs, descends or flies level at that trimmed speed depends on the power setting.
You should always try to have the trim right for the speed you need as this will mean you don't have to have a continuous pressure on the controls to which you need to add or subtract if you want to manoeuvre (like round out) which makes life hard.
A big secret to flying is doing things to make life easy for yourself. Being in trim all the time really helps with that.
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By jcal
#1869510
lobstaboy wrote:That's not quite right. The aeroplane is trimmed for a particular airspeed. That means there will be no, or very little, pressure required on the controls to fly maintaining that airspeed.
Whether or not the aeroplane climbs, descends or flies level at that trimmed speed depends on the power setting.
You should always try to have the trim right for the speed you need as this will mean you don't have to have a continuous pressure on the controls to which you need to add or subtract if you want to manoeuvre (like round out) which makes life hard.

That makes a lot of sense! This is why I love these threads, it's such a great complement to the lessons and the reading! While I understand that trim is to relieve pressure and have less things to do, putting it in the terms that it's for a particular speed helps put it together with the other controls.
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By akg1486
#1869639
At some point, if not already, your instructor will teach you to control the speed with the pitch (or trim!) and altitude with the thottle/power. It’s the same thing as was just pointed out.

It’s counter intuitive in the beginning for someone used to control the speed of a car with the throttle. But you’ll get it!
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By jcal
#1869662
akg1486 wrote:At some point, if not already, your instructor will teach you to control the speed with the pitch (or trim!) and altitude with the thottle/power. It’s the same thing as was just pointed out.

It’s counter intuitive in the beginning for someone used to control the speed of a car with the throttle. But you’ll get it!

Yeah, I have been taught this already, but sometimes being told the same thing but in a different context, or just with a different phrasing helps bring it home! And it certainly doesn't hurt being told again and again until it really sinks in :lol:.
By jcal
#1870154
Lesson 12 & 13

A busy weekend!

First lesson we're back doing stalls, I thought the cloud cover was way lower than was ok for stalls but my instructor was fine with it, we just had to dodge clouds. It was my first time really in the middle of them and while it was a beautiful sight it's quite stressful!

Stalls are fine in principle, but I do find I fluster when there's so many things to do at once in such a short time. I think it just takes practice and muscle memory. But overall I'm fairly happy.

The landing first day was my best one yet! A bit of crosswind even but I straighten it out at the end and manage to hold off just enough for it to smoothly touch the tarmac, was very happy! Now just to keep doing that consistently :lol:.

---

The second day is probably my favourite flying day so far. The weather was perfect. We're consolidating stalls training so we've got a bit to fly to our training area and the way there feels like we're not even in the air. So smooth flying, not a single gust and the a/c needs barely touching and it just goes where you want it to.

Would've stayed in the air for hours, but we're on the clock so we do some recap on stalls. I try them all again and find that just having slept on it has improved them. The recovery is a little quicker and little more instinctive. My FI is happy enough with stalls that we go back to the airfield to spend the rest of the hour doing a couple of circuits.

The first landing is a little rough, but ok. I do come down slightly on one of the main wheels first and don't hold off quite enough, also the approach felt a little rushed, I overshot the runway and had less time to get a good glide down.

The rest of the circuit goes well, but I can tell it's going to take a lot of practice for sure, and I need to get better at the downwind checks, still struggle to memorize every step.

The lesson ends with a better landing than the last, well, more importantly a better approach, probably the best one yet! The weather was insanely forgiving today so I wont give myself too much credit, but it does feel like small improvements every time. And more importantly I haven't let the rough one from last week weigh me down :).

I've not got a lot of lessons booked for the rest of September but it's a good opportunity to really get studying and knock out Air Law. I've got plenty of lessons to go before going solo but might as well get ready for it. 8)
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1870166
@jcal Excellent!
Thanks for the report and well done. Isn't it funny how just sleeping on things somehow works?!

I've been revising like mad today.
Have 2 exams tomorrow. Long drive to the airfield in forecast torrential rain so I'll set off in good time :D

Also, new instructor txtd to say he managed to book another slot for friday so 2 hrs if wx OK.

I may need to spend Saturday in bed to recover from this lot!
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By jcal
#1871369
Lesson 14

Not much to report tbh, a full hour of circuits, a few kinks to iron out but pretty happy overall!

Had to do one go around as we had another aircraft landing ahead of us and we didn't have quite enough margin to land for comfort, so that was a first! Pretty straight forward, same process at 200ft as when we practiced them at 2000ft :).

I really need to pick up the pace on Air Law revision as my instructor said he's happy enough with my circuit work and was moving on to abnormal circuits next time, EFATO, glide approach and flapless, which means solo might be a lot closer than I thought!


On slightly bittersweet news, I might have to change my instructor before long. With the travel restrictions opening up soon my FI is hoping to get back to his airline job from before Covid. Obviously happy for him, but secretly hope I can get as many lessons out of him before he does :mrgreen:.
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By Milty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1871381
Sounds good. Hoping to get some circuits in this Friday so I can see what I need to work on (I suspect a lot given the few landings that I have done so far).

Interesting point re instructor. I was advised to try to find a ‘career’ instructor which I have, but I suspect they maybe in the minority. I understand our school is struggling to find additional instructors at the moment and I suspect the opening up of travel is not going to help that.
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By jcal
#1871383
Honestly I had no idea that he was an airline pilot normally. Maybe I should've done my homework, but given he's such an excellent instructor I only assumed he must be a full time one! I guess he's just a natural then. :)

Until he actually tells me he's leaving the school I'll continue business as usual. At this point it's only speculation.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1871396
jcal wrote:Holy *!&@ it's hard work :lol:.


:lol:

jcal wrote:Struggling to stay level on the hold off as well, using quite a bit of muscle to keep level means it's hard to do tiny adjustments!


You may be approaching too fast, and thus are trimmed for a faster speed. Some instructors like to get students to come in faster to give a bigger margin over the stall, but it doesn't help with the flare. What aeroplane are you flying and what speed are you trimmed for on final?

jcal wrote:We had quite a bit of crosswind so was crabbing maybe 10-15 degrees and I think I gave myself too much work to do in final, wasn't aligned at all to the centre line so had to do lots of last minutes adjustments. I pull up not particularly level and we land on one of the main wheels first, slightly sideways, twisting the plane around and down on the ground.


Maybe get the instructor to teach you the wing down method of crosswind landings. This way you're aligned with the runway and deliberately land on one wheel first, but it should at least be landing in the direction the tyre wants to go!

jcal wrote:Now just to keep doing that consistently :lol:.


I sense hope rather than expectation! :D
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1871403
Great lesson @jcal . Sounds really promising.

Yes, crack on with Air Law! Sorry, I've forgotten, have you got your medical?

I've had lots of practice at go arounds :lol: , only one was by necessity but it does give you confidence to do it for real, which is the point of course. I forgot when I did my lesson write up, I did a glide approach last week and 20° flaps rather than full.

Our school is short of instructors now and my new one told me he is temporary due to pending house move. While I was waiting another new student was signing up and they had no availability until November!

Who'd a thought it?
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