13.Apr.2017
Flight 2
1.3 flight hours
1.7 instructor hours
What we did today:

• Takeoff
• Climb-out
• Straight and Level
• Climbs
• Descents
• Turns
• Practice the landing pattern while up in the air away from the airport so flying slow at a specific altitude, making left turns, adding flaps, and getting slower and losing altitude.
• Landing for realz. We did one touch and go and one actual landing to a full stop. Nobody died and we didn't scratch the paint.

What worked today:

• Some of my turns were good. I maintained speed and altitude and came to about the righr heading

 What dinna woik:

• I am still 'behind the plane'. In fact, I don't think I ever got near the plane today. One step forward, two back...
• When flying, you're supposed to spend most of your time looking out the window and glance at your instruments periodically to confirm what you already know. Today, I spent most of the flight looking at the instruments and very little looking out the window. I could not set the plane to a specific speed or maintain a specific altitude. If I was able to maintain one item, the other went to hell.
• After the flight during the debrief, it turns out that the primary reason was related to my failure to understand the two modes of control.
• If you're flying slow, altitude is controlled by the throttle and speed by the attitude. Want to go up, more throttle. Want to speed up, drop the nose.
• If you're flying at cruise speed, the behavior is totally flipped. Altitude is controlled by the attitude ant speed by the throttle. I was mentally locked into slow speed flight so as the plane went faster, I was essentially fighting the plane. Consequently, my speed and altitude vs what was intended would look like a sine wave function...target in the middle, actual performance low, then high, then low, then high.
• Thermals are still giving me fits also. Just about the time I'd be dialing in the correct speed, altitude, and heading the plane would be pushed 50 up or tipped to the left...wheeee....roller coaster in the air!

Rick is a saint. If I'd been the instructor, I'd have tossed the idiot student out the door...he pretty much let me screw up and kept us out of trouble. He was on the rudders and yoke and would just correct my settings when they were at a point of 'we don't go there'. As I progress, he'll do less and less...at least that's the plan.

What I need to work on:

• Remember to use the right control for the right function in both slow and cruise flight.
• Stop fighting the controls. 
• Relax. I was super tense today and tight shoulders, arms, and hands don't help with control.
• Look out the window more...enjoy the scenery
• Keeping numbers straight. He'd give me a speed, altitude, and heading all at one time...Oooooo Kay...I am getting a kneeboard and hope to jot down the 'do this' so I have a reference. As I get more comfortable, I shouldn't need the memory minders.

Prep for next session:

• Climb/Descend with turns
• Change speed from slow and cruise flight
• Stay at a defined speed, altitude, and heading
• Level off from climb/descent
• More 30 degree turns
• Maybe do 45 degree turns

Planning:

• The plan, moving forward, is to try and get three sessions in a week so I'll shoot for Monday/Wed/Friday mostly in the morning since it's going to be getting hotter and the thermals will be worse as the summer kicks in.
• Doing more flights more quickly actually saves money since you progress faster and don't have to repeat lessons. 

Time to start the second set of ground school lessons and prep for the next session.