Lesson 8

My last lesson was a progress check and a flight-by-instruments lesson that went pretty well. Afterwards my instructor told me that my next lessons would focus on flying the pattern and landing.

So this afternoon, I arrived at Monarch about 20 minutes early to find that my plane was available. So I got the key and did a leisurely-paced preflight. This really helped to calm my before-lesson nerves. Today I was flying 2160Q, which is the plane I used for my first three or four lessons. I didn't find any squawks but I did notice that at one point it had one of the cowling fasteners and the surrounding metal repaired.

My instructor, C, arrived and did a quick preflight of his own before we hopped in. He told me we'd fly up to Denton Airport to do some pattern work and that today would really just be an introduction to landings, nothing too strenuous.

Before C got there and after my preflight was done I sat in the cockpit and walked through the steps to start the plane. And so when we were ready to go and I started the engine it went like a piece of cake. The practicing had helped. I might do that again ... maybe before a morning flight when I know no one else is going to have the plane ... get there early and do some "dry" runs with the checklist, etc. I had tried "chair flying" before but this was one step better! ha

Today the weather was beautiful ... temp 12-degrees C, winds 350 at 9 knots, clear skies, no clouds below 12,000'. We've got an area of high pressure sitting on us, the altimeter was 3052.

So, I taxied us out to runway 33 and we took off and turned to a heading around 320 to go to Denton, which is not far. I was pretty proud of myself on the way out there. I was able to get to altitude, level off, trim the plane and hold the heading without thinking about it all too much. The hardest part was when C asked me to point out the Denton airport. I really had a hard time spotting it. Considering that I haven't done much airport spotting from 2000' before I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Eventually I got it and we called the tower and got permission for touch and goes.

We were instructed to enter the base leg from the right. C took the controls and demonstrated a landing and takeoff and the pattern. When we were turning final for the second touch he trimmed the plane for the descent and handing over the controls. I wasn't too nervous because C kept his fingers on the control wheel just in case. It went pretty well though it all seems a blur now. After touchdown I put in full power and we went back up.

From then on we just went around the pattern (standard pattern) about 7 or 8 times (we put 7 in the logbook). To tell you the truth it all went pretty easy. The runway at Denton (KDTO) is oriented 17-35 so the wind was coming right down the runway at first. Toward the end it started to change a bit because I was having to move the controls more to keep the centerline. I guess the weather was cooperating to give me a good day to learn landings.

Instead of listing what all I did ... as you know there's a lot going on in a short amount of time ... let me tell you about the things that I need to work on.

1) Adding right rudder when doing the takeoff. I mention this because (to me) I was not getting this right consistently. Just about the time I rotated we'd be drifting to the left off the centerline.

2) Keep an eye on the vasi. I would notice it when I turned onto final, but then I wouldn't pay any more attention to it. Instead I would keep my eyes glued on the runway itself to see if it was changing shape or if my "spot" was moving up or down (or sideways).

3) Scan for traffic, don't depend on the tower. I was looking but usually it was after C made the comment "clear of traffic on the 45", etc. Perhaps I was just too absorbed with everything else since it was new. I guess like scanning for traffic during the straight-and-level portion of the flight it'll get easier and feel more natural the more comfortable I become.

You may recall that one of my earlier lessons was with another instructor who took me to McKinney Airport (KTKI) where we flew the pattern and did two touch-and-goes. At the time it wasn't really to teach me how to do it but just to introduce me to the pattern. I just remember that it seemed like everything happened really fast and my brain couldn't process it all.

This time, however, everything just seemed to happen at the right pace. I suppose it was a combination of there being little crosswind, little other traffic, and my having time to do a leisurely preflight so I was comfortable and ready to go by the time my instructor arrived.

On the way back, C told me that he was surprised that I did so well the first time. He really only meant for me to do a couple of touch-and-goes because that's normally how the first time goes. But since I seemed to have the hang of it we kept going until the sun was going down. The fun really begins when we get a healthy crosswind to work with, he told me.

C did show me a short approach landing (which the tower asked us to do to clear traffic) and on our last run he took the controls to demonstrate ground effect. This was a blast. C came down on a low approach, picking up speed until we were in the yellow arc and we flew down the entire length of the runway sitting on top of the ground effect cushion. I was a bit surprised to find that I really could feel it ... and it really did feel like a cushion. At the end of the runway he pulled up into a banking turn out of the pattern and back toward Addison. Not something that I intend to do myself but it was fun.

My next lesson is tomorrow morning at 8 am and the forecast is for clear skies, lots of sun and no clouds and the wind stays out of the North. However, it's going to be a bit colder and the wind a bit stronger. So I probably still won't have a crosswind but it'll be a perfect day for a beginner like me.

BTW, I picked up a copy of "Stick and Rudder" by Wolfgang Langewiesche and it is fascinating. I highly recommend it.

This flight: 1.5 hours
Total: 10.8 hours