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slipstreamsurfrToday we met and called for the weather. I went to preflight the plane while my CFI tried to find out why our other plane was currently missing it's pilot side window.
The preflight was uneventful, and so I walked over and had a look at our other plane to see what was up. Part of the hinge was broken and gone. The window had departed rather suddenly it seemed.
My CFI came out and we buckled up and started running the engine start checklist and he told me a bit about what had happened to the other plane. One of the guys had rented it yesterday and took it for some ariel photo's. Apparently they were going too fast, or something because the window departed the airframe. Best guess by us was that he must have not throttled back before he opened the window. Not real sure when the window will be replaced. I've got that plane scheduled for a lesson on Thursday morning.
So we launched from runway 16 in GKY doing a short field takeoff. Now that was fun. It sure had torque once the gear came off the runway. This procedure will need a bit of fine tuning on my part. We departed the pattern southbound, heading towards Midway. We set up and did some S turns across the freeway, first one way, then turning it and heading back the other way. I did much better at these than I did on turns around a point. There may yet be hope for me on ground reference maneuvers.
We cleaned up from the S turns, climbed back up and headed for Midway. We had a pancake breakfast to go to after all. :) It was really busy in the airspace around Midway this morning. It was a good exercise in watching, see and be seen. We joined the pattern on a 45 and I brought 501 in for a landing. A little help towards the end, a lot of talk on the headset, but it seemed far better than the ones I had done just a few days before. I followed the folks with the batons and we parked the plane and had a look around before we got in line. A lot of planes were to be seen this morning, there were several T28's, a big Antonov parked there, and even a Tiger Moth biplane! You can bet which one I was lurking around a lot. It was a pretty biplane. It was a bit smaller than I had imagined it to be. I'm glad I got to see one up close today.
So we sat and had our pancakes, talked a bit about the different airplanes. We talked a bit about landings over our breakfast, going over what Craig had had to say about forward slips on crosswind landings as opposed to the crab first, then pull it out and crank in the aileron. All in all, a good visit, a good breakfast, and a good walk about the airplanes.
A quick preflight and we were ready to taxi out and take off. On our way down the taxiway we heard the DC3 that is out there announce they were taxiing for takeoff. It was the biggest thing I've ever had taxing behind me before. Even if there were a plane or two between us. We did our takeoff and climb out, turned to the north, then back to the east a bit so we could parallel the runway from a few miles out and watch the DC3 take off. They started their roll and their tail came up VERY fast, then we watched it as the mains left the runway and the shadow and the aircraft began to separate. She was quite a pretty sight to see. A very stately lady as she made her climb from the runway.
We headed back to GKY as the plane was due back at noon and our pattern was deserted. We didn't have time for a lot of touch-n-go's so we decided to shoot the first one as a full stop. I flew the pattern, made 'most' of the pattern calls, and flew in a front slip for crosswind correction. My CFI was busy talking on the headset, but things were going well, I'd see it when I overcorrected, eased up and out on things a bit, small corrections, staying almost ahead of things, and just as the mains touched I heard the stall horn start to bleat. The mains were down, and I kept flying it, holding it up until the airspeed bled off a bit more and eased the nose gear onto the runway. I was managing to keep it centered down the runway mostly this time, started to feed too much rudder and we would start to weave a bit before I'd settle down on the rudders again. Then we slowed and I turned off the active.
We pulled past the line, and cleaned up from the landing and my CFI said... very good. I didn't touch any of the controls that time. You did that one on your own. :) He talked me through it though. No doubt about it. But, I might just, figure out the landings again. If the winds aren't above 5 knots. ;)
The most interesting thing though about the landing is that my CFI covered most of my instruments. He said fly the plane Mitch. You know what it looks like outside, you know what it sounds like. You know what 1700 RPM sounds like, you know what the plane sounds like at 80 knots, at 70 knots. You know when you need to pull out the power. You don't need these. Listen, look, feel. Fly the plane... I won't let you get too slow or do anything wrong.. fly the plane...
Not sure about my next lesson, rumor has it 501's owner is pulling her off the line later today. 508 is currently missing a pilot side window. 956 currently has a transponder that is inop. The diamond DA40 is too expensive for me to want to train in, and the 152, is too small for me and my CFI. Maybe the transponder will be fixed today, or they'll go find a window/hinge for 508. :)
All in all, a GREAT lesson, and a LOT of fun. A short field takeoff, S turns, a busy unicom field, mixing in with a diversity of traffic in the area, taxiing following CAP folks directing us with batons, a couple of landings. oh, and food! ;) What more could someone want?
--1.2 hours
--2 landings
The preflight was uneventful, and so I walked over and had a look at our other plane to see what was up. Part of the hinge was broken and gone. The window had departed rather suddenly it seemed.
My CFI came out and we buckled up and started running the engine start checklist and he told me a bit about what had happened to the other plane. One of the guys had rented it yesterday and took it for some ariel photo's. Apparently they were going too fast, or something because the window departed the airframe. Best guess by us was that he must have not throttled back before he opened the window. Not real sure when the window will be replaced. I've got that plane scheduled for a lesson on Thursday morning.
So we launched from runway 16 in GKY doing a short field takeoff. Now that was fun. It sure had torque once the gear came off the runway. This procedure will need a bit of fine tuning on my part. We departed the pattern southbound, heading towards Midway. We set up and did some S turns across the freeway, first one way, then turning it and heading back the other way. I did much better at these than I did on turns around a point. There may yet be hope for me on ground reference maneuvers.
We cleaned up from the S turns, climbed back up and headed for Midway. We had a pancake breakfast to go to after all. :) It was really busy in the airspace around Midway this morning. It was a good exercise in watching, see and be seen. We joined the pattern on a 45 and I brought 501 in for a landing. A little help towards the end, a lot of talk on the headset, but it seemed far better than the ones I had done just a few days before. I followed the folks with the batons and we parked the plane and had a look around before we got in line. A lot of planes were to be seen this morning, there were several T28's, a big Antonov parked there, and even a Tiger Moth biplane! You can bet which one I was lurking around a lot. It was a pretty biplane. It was a bit smaller than I had imagined it to be. I'm glad I got to see one up close today.
So we sat and had our pancakes, talked a bit about the different airplanes. We talked a bit about landings over our breakfast, going over what Craig had had to say about forward slips on crosswind landings as opposed to the crab first, then pull it out and crank in the aileron. All in all, a good visit, a good breakfast, and a good walk about the airplanes.
A quick preflight and we were ready to taxi out and take off. On our way down the taxiway we heard the DC3 that is out there announce they were taxiing for takeoff. It was the biggest thing I've ever had taxing behind me before. Even if there were a plane or two between us. We did our takeoff and climb out, turned to the north, then back to the east a bit so we could parallel the runway from a few miles out and watch the DC3 take off. They started their roll and their tail came up VERY fast, then we watched it as the mains left the runway and the shadow and the aircraft began to separate. She was quite a pretty sight to see. A very stately lady as she made her climb from the runway.
We headed back to GKY as the plane was due back at noon and our pattern was deserted. We didn't have time for a lot of touch-n-go's so we decided to shoot the first one as a full stop. I flew the pattern, made 'most' of the pattern calls, and flew in a front slip for crosswind correction. My CFI was busy talking on the headset, but things were going well, I'd see it when I overcorrected, eased up and out on things a bit, small corrections, staying almost ahead of things, and just as the mains touched I heard the stall horn start to bleat. The mains were down, and I kept flying it, holding it up until the airspeed bled off a bit more and eased the nose gear onto the runway. I was managing to keep it centered down the runway mostly this time, started to feed too much rudder and we would start to weave a bit before I'd settle down on the rudders again. Then we slowed and I turned off the active.
We pulled past the line, and cleaned up from the landing and my CFI said... very good. I didn't touch any of the controls that time. You did that one on your own. :) He talked me through it though. No doubt about it. But, I might just, figure out the landings again. If the winds aren't above 5 knots. ;)
The most interesting thing though about the landing is that my CFI covered most of my instruments. He said fly the plane Mitch. You know what it looks like outside, you know what it sounds like. You know what 1700 RPM sounds like, you know what the plane sounds like at 80 knots, at 70 knots. You know when you need to pull out the power. You don't need these. Listen, look, feel. Fly the plane... I won't let you get too slow or do anything wrong.. fly the plane...
Not sure about my next lesson, rumor has it 501's owner is pulling her off the line later today. 508 is currently missing a pilot side window. 956 currently has a transponder that is inop. The diamond DA40 is too expensive for me to want to train in, and the 152, is too small for me and my CFI. Maybe the transponder will be fixed today, or they'll go find a window/hinge for 508. :)
All in all, a GREAT lesson, and a LOT of fun. A short field takeoff, S turns, a busy unicom field, mixing in with a diversity of traffic in the area, taxiing following CAP folks directing us with batons, a couple of landings. oh, and food! ;) What more could someone want?
--1.2 hours
--2 landings