13.Jun.2017
Flight 14
2.4 flight hours
0.5 solo hours
2.4 instructor hours

What we did today:

• Steep turns
• Pattern work
• Solo
• Wait, what??? Solo???
• Yes...solo!

What worked today:

• Taxiing went really well today.
• Takeoffs were much better. I managed to keep the plane pretty centered on the runway instead of swerving left and right.
• Steep turns were OK but nothing to write home about. My altitude management was a bit off but not horrid.
• Apparently, I can land well enough that Rick was willing to risk the plane and his license on my abilities. 3 landings at Winder (KWDR). Kept the nose wheel up. Got the plane down without breaking anything. Done!
• Chair and simulator flying seems to have been a big help. The weather was good today and several of my landings were centered and controlled down to the threshold, nearly picture perfect stabilized approaches (followed by picture perfect total suck approaches...damn this is hard). I'm still over-compensating when I get into ground effects but not as bad as I have been. A bit of cross-wind gave me some trouble getting lined up just before touchdown and I was still side-loading the wheels.

What dinna woik:

• Landings. Even though I got my solo endorsement, I was doing some stupid stuff. One landing I forgot to put in carb heat. Another one, I failed to raise the flaps after I landed. Neither one bit me in the butt however I need to make sure I do the routine stuff.

What I need to work on:

• Keep up the chair/sim flying.
• Back to ground school. Next phase is cross-country so I need to complete those lessons and get good with the E6B computer.
• Really start memorizing all the aircraft systems and acronyms (holy FSM, pilots love acronyms....).
• Loose weight...

Prep for next session:

• Going back up tomorrow so not much specific except maybe a chair/sim flight tonight.

The shirt says:
A good landing is one you can walk away from.
A great landing is one where you can use the plane again

Donna will embroider the airport, runway, and date on to the cutout and add them to my 'tee shirt quilt'. Pretty cool!