15.May.2017
Flight 10
1.8 flight hours
2.2 instructor hours

What we did today:

• Short field takeoff. This assumes you're on a..well...short runway. You go full power with the brakes on then let 'er rip. You rotate at 50 knots but keep your speed low for a bit, gain some altitude, then increase speed. It's as close as a drag race as you can get in a plane. Of course, my plane is more like a Vespa than a top fuel funny car but still...
• Engine out landing
• Slow flight
• Power off stall
• Power on stall
• Traffic pattern entry
• Touch and go

What worked today:

• Basic flying. I managed to hold speed, heading, and altitude most of the day. The 'go' after 'touch' was better for most takeoffs. I managed to use a light touch on the rudder and keep the plane centered on the runway. I'm also not choking the stick (no entendre intended) which allows for greater control without jerking the plane around. I had to learn this on motorcycles; a relaxed upper body results in better control and fewer neck/shoulder aches.
• Landings. We did 8 and it turns out I actually did two of them without help (didn't even know).
• Everything else was good enough that Rick said I'd have passed a check ride. 
• Note to self, I really never want to make an emergency landing. Finding a safe place to put down when an airport isn't around really sucks. I think I'd have walked away from our practice fake engine out today but it's still not a good place to be.
• Attitude is making a real difference. I'm more relaxed in the cockpit and that is allowing me to spread my attention out and even enjoy the flight a bit.

What dinna woik:

• One takeoff was a bit gnarly. I let the rudder control get away from me and we wound up going waaaay left, then waaaay right. Rick took the plane and kept us from saying hello to the trees.

What I need to work on:

• Relaxing my hands and shoulders.
• Round out on landing. I have this aversion to smashing into the ground and am rounding out too high then pitching the nose down to get back to the runway. Pitching down when close to the ground = bad idea. If I round out high, just let the plane settle...it'll find the ground all by itself.
• Flaring on landing. Because I round out too high, I then find myself pitching up/down/up/down trying to get back to the right landing attitude. Just pitch up a bit and the plane will land by itself.
• Rudder control on the round. Screwing one takeoff out of 8 sounds pretty good but one takeoff into the trees EVAH is a bad statistic. Gentle, easy, small touches. Never a big rudder movement.

Prep for next session:

• Nothing specific. I'm slightly ahead on ground school.
• Remember to bring iPad kneeboard. I forgot it today and had to stuff the iPad into the center console. A real PITA to get out when needed.
• Remember to take the iPad out of the aircraft when we're done...If I have the knee pad, this is easy to remember. Today I was ready to come home when I remembered the iPad...long walk back to the airplane to get it.

Comments:

• Today's debrief included several 'There I was at 20,000 feet when...' stories. I think pilots must be like emergency workers. They accumulate stories and love to tell the nubes all about 'that time I had to land on an ice covered short runway in the mountains and some doofus walked into my spinning propeller...and lived...'. The rational part of me wants to run screaming into the night. I have to remember that Rick as flow for 30 years in all kinds of planes in all kinds of weather and has been exposed to pretty much every bad thing that can happen. I will be flying a well maintained aircraft for relatively short distances in nearly perfect weather. Stuff can happen but most likely won't.