Flight training, day two.

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
08/20/2018 at 00:03 • Filed to: None

Today was an upgrade of sorts. We flew a Piper Archer which is a bump in space and in horsepower. It is equipped for a/c, but the a/c wasn’t blowing cold air today. End result, I was a sweaty mess.

This morning, we worked on ground reference maneuvers. Basically, we identified objects on the ground and used them as reference points for maneuvers. We started by flying in circles.

It seems like a simple thing to find a point on the ground and fly around it, but the wind really complicates matters. We had winds of 20+ mph today, so it was challenging. But I did ok for the first time. I had a little trouble maintaining altitude and I’m pretty sure my circle looked more like an egg, but the instructor was pleased.

After that, we did some S-Turns over a linear object. The wind really makes it difficult to keep t he turning radius consistent, but I managed to do ok here too. After we did that, we did a little cross-country over to the airport at Brenham. On the way, we passed near the glider club and I got to see a few of them in flight. Neat. What was supposed to be a touch and go at Brenham turned into a full stop. My instructor was having some digestive issues and had to take a break. :)

That cool plane in the background with the gull-wing doors is an RV-10.

After we left Brenham, my time was up, so we made a beeline back to our home airport.

We met again in the early evening . This would be my fourth flight, second instructor, and third plane of the weekend. This time around, we took out the Piper Warrior (see a theme here?).

The plan for the day was to practice touch-and-goes and flying in the pattern. The winds were fairly high and out of the west/southwest, 10 to 20 degrees cross to the runway. That made for some challenging landings! But I managed to get the hang of using cross-controls to point the plane straight down the runway while dealing with the wind. My instructor was quite pleased. We wrapped up the day by scaring up a flock of birds right at the beginning of the runway and having to go around to avoid a bird strike, then with me hitting a nearly perfect landing. A perfect end to a perfect day.

Next time we’ll be working on radios! Hope your Aviation Day was as good as mine!

DISCUSSION (8)

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > TheRealBicycleBuck
08/20/2018 at 10:18

Very nice, keep at it. T He cheapest way to make progress is to fly a lot without taking time off so you don’t have to spend time relearning. Sounds like you are doing it right. Get used to being sweaty in the summer and cold in the winter (aside from your toes), that’s the GA experience.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
08/20/2018 at 10:48

I’m evaluating software so I can practice on the nights I can’t fly. Any suggestions? So far, I’ve been testing the demo version of X-Plane. It’s been great for familiarizing myself with the airport.

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheRealBicycleBuck
08/20/2018 at 12:27

Y es! I had an amazing flight. Far too short. Now I need to go around to the different schools and find one I like

TheRealBicycleBuck > CaptDale - is secretly British
08/20/2018 at 12:43

Excellent! I’d suggest starting at AOPA . They conduct an annual experience survey and award schools based on feedback from the students.

Kinja'd!!!

Keep in mind there are two types of schools based on the federal regulations - Part 61 and Part 141. You can get the same license from schools chartered under either program, but part 141 schools are held to a higher standard. Read more about it here: https://www.flyingmag.com/pilot-technique/new-pilots/flight-school-part-61-or-part-141

Good luck and welcome to the club!

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheRealBicycleBuck
08/20/2018 at 13:12

Cool thank you! I already signed up for the AOPA student membership

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > TheRealBicycleBuck
08/20/2018 at 23:53

I’m not really sure, it’s been a long time since I did it. The only thing I’ve messed with recently is Aerofly Pro and my Oculus Rift. Even with a regular joystick it is close enough that I could teach you how to fly including proper pitch and power settings that you could go out and successfully solo your first time in the actual plane (at least with the Cessna 172 model I tried). All the key points and things to look for with configuration changes were dead on.

Beyond that I’m not sure you’re going to get much out of a desktop sim unless you get the nice yoke and throttle to make it a quasi FTD. Once you progress to instrument flying it is a HUGE help, but now it’s more about feel and getting used to looking around.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!!
08/21/2018 at 00:10

I do fairly well with the feel. I’m more worried about familiarizing myself with various airports and dealing with the radios. Be prepared.

I’ll have to look into an Oculus (and a new PC to support it) after I finish private and I’m ready to move up to IFR.

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > TheRealBicycleBuck
08/21/2018 at 08:07

Cool. Just about anything with a realistic panel would probably work for you then. Once you move past private the Oculus Rift wouldn’t have much impact anymore, still a fun toy though.