17.Apr.2017
Flight 3
1.6 flight hours
2.0 instructor hours

What we did today:

• We always do almost everything we did in the previous lesson so the lessons are additive.
• We started the day with an engine failure right after takeoff. Rick is the kind of instructor who believes you should train for days when the SHTF. He also believes in training real scenarios so he'll never hit me with something he hasn't had to deal with in real life. The bad news...he's been flying for 30 years so there's next to nothing that he hasn't had to deal with...ohhhh joy! Actually this is pretty awesome. I'd rather be ready for disaster than try and figure it out while the ground is rushing toward me.
• Landings. We did one touch and go (the emergency landing) and two to a full stop.
• The beginnings of navigation, specifically how to get ready to land at another airport. I could not wrap my head around how to get the plane set up for a landing based on the current wind and the airport layout. All of the airport diagrams show north as up. We could be flying in any direction or heading so translating the wind direction I can see into which way is the 'downwind leg'...oh my.
• Visiting another airport. Turns out, one of the fun things about flying is landing at some random place and having a snack.
• Steep turns. Just like a regular turn except the plane wants to fall like a rock out of the sky or start to spin.
• Started discussing what I'll need to know for my exam. TL;DR: Lots.

What worked today:

• The call and response system helped a lot.
• I was able to spend lots more time looking out the window and less time inside the cockpit. Still too much time watching the displays but better today.
• Holding speed and altitude. I took my cheat sheet with me but never used it; turns out just building the sheet helped. I think it also helped that today's flight was early in the day and there were very few thermals tossing us around.
• Takeoff/landing. I'm doing most of the takeoff myself and managed one of three landings mostly in my control. Rick is willing to let me make mistakes but he's not willing to die to make a point so whenever I was out of control, he just muscled the plane away from me.

 What didn't work:

• Figuring out which way I should be landing at an airport. (see above)
• Still don't quite have the 'what thing controls altitude or speed' down yet. You can fly a plane at any given speed and altitude using an almost unlimited combination of throttle, pitch, and flaps. Getting to the most efficient combination can be a challenge.

What I need to work on:

• Holding speed and altitude in both normal flight, slow flight, and in turns. I tend to loose altitude when turning and that's not good.
• Spacial awareness. I need to be able to rotate maps in my head and figure out the correct heading for whatever is next. The plane has an amazing GPS but the idea is to learn how to fly without it for those times it fails in flight.
• I also need to be more strict about running the checklists. I always seem to leave one item off and that is bad.

Prep for next session:

• Map/Navigation skills practice.
• Revise cheat sheet based on today's drills.
• Start memorizing some of the material I'll need to know for the test.