Finally restarted my flying lessons.

I had the pre-solo check ride Friday. It was a great learning experience, and I need to learn more before I'm ready to solo. My basic airmanship skills seem to be OK, but I need to work on situational awareness: having the big picture of traffic near me, and airspace awareness. Also, consistently using checklists.

I was supposed to have a lesson tomorrow, but the plane I had reserved is in Montana and won't be back until tomorrow night. I'm leaving on a 10-day vacation, Tuesday. and the runway is closed for repaving for a week so the earliest I can fly would be the 31st. (Edited to change the date.)
 
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Crashnburn said:
I had the pre-solo check ride Friday. It was a great learning experience, and I need to learn more before I'm ready to solo. My basic airmanship skills seem to be OK, but I need to work on situational awareness: having the big picture of traffic near me, and airspace awareness. Also, consistently using checklists.

I was supposed to have a lesson tomorrow, but the plane I had reserved is in Montana and won't be back until tomorrow night. I'm leaving on a 10-day vacation, Tuesday. and the runway is closed for repaving for a week so the earliest I can fly would be the 31st. (Edited to change the date.)
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I had my first lesson in more than a month yesterday. The weather was severe clear and light winds. I had a new (to me) instructor. I did a power off stall, a power on stall, 6 touch and goes and one landing to a full stop, with almost zero input from my instructor.

Funny thing, on my first landing, I had the plane in the flare for what seemed like forever, which is what they've been trying to get me to do forever.

I bounced one landing because I didn't start my roundout soon enough, but much better, AFAIC, than too high.

I'm starting to make noises about doing a leaseback at Vector Air. I have the contact information of the person to talk to about it. If he's not interested, then that'll be it. I have read Cap'n Jack's leaseback advice.

I'm not trying to make money with a leaseback, just take care of some of my rental costs, and most importantly, have a plane that has a schedule I can depend on. At the beginning of the week, I had a lesson scheduled for M - F. This morning, Tuesday's and Wednesday's lessons have been cancelled.
 
So when is the new projected solo date? Sounds like you are ready!
 
Randomskylane said:
So when is the new projected solo date? Sounds like you are ready!
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Thanks, I don't know. I flew again yesterday. If anything, my landings were better than they were when I left off last week.

I dropped every landing in last week. Yesterday, I flared, the stall warning horn started mewing, and the wheels went chirp, chirp, and I was right on the center line.
Wind was 13004 and no turbulence. If you can't land in those conditions, you can't land. The rest of my landings were in that ballpark.

It was dusk when we quit. I'd made 6 landings but noticed and mentioned to my CFI that it took a lot more effort to brake right than left so we called it a day. I felt like I could have done at least 6 more and been fine making night landings.

Also, I'm getting better at situational awareness and checklists.

I'm scheduled for the same plane this afternoon, I hope it's fixed by then.

Patrick, the guy at the desk, Garran, my CFI, and I were joking about what bad luck I have with weather and airplanes.

I think it was Thomas Edison who said "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". For me, I would add in a healthy amount of perseverance.
 
I might be down to the last few mouthfuls of elephant as far as soloing goes.
TLDR: I flew well enough on my (unexpected) pre-solo check ride today to solo.

I flew yesterday afternoon and evening, and made 8 touch and go landings, and two full stop landings. When we were done, my CFI, Garran, offered some tips on how to set up for going to another airport, weather first, then comms, then the GPS. (That came in handy today.) After we landed, he said he'd try to get me set up for a pre-solo check ride this week. (What I thought previously was a pre solo check ride wasn't. Just as well, I wasn't ready then.)

Yesterday's flight started late in the afternoon, and it got progressively darker as time went on. It was still officially daytime my last landing, but dark enough to be night, and I nailed it.

Today, I was partly through the pre-flight when Garran came out and apologized. He said he had planned on flying with me today, but another CFI's student had cancelled, he asked Levi, the CFI, if he was willing to give me a pre solo check ride, and he said "yes".

So, after a while Levi came out and we introduced ourselves and I let him look through my logbook. I finished my pre-flight and managed to remember everything on the check list. We were supposed to stay in the pattern for the option, and he also wanted to see a forward slip.

I flew the pattern, and on final, he had me do a forward slip. I had full flaps in and had pulled the throttle when he told me to go around, which I did. It was no big deal, as it wasn't my first go around. He said he did that to try to see how I did under stress. That stress was about the size of a pimple on an elephant's butt compared to what I've been through!

Then, we flew to Longmont where I did some touch and goes. After that, we flew to the practice area and did some steep turns, a power on stall, and some slow flight. I wasn't happy with my first attempt at a steep turn as I was out of practice and spent too much time looking at the instruments. The second one he blocked the instruments and it was much better because I watched the horizon on the IP. I tried the one to the left again, and it went much better. He said my first attempt was fine, even though I got really close to 60 degrees bank.

We flew back to KEIK, and I shot two landings in the dark. I hadn't had the experience of landing in the dark w/o working up to it for almost 20 years, and each time I flared a little late, but the 2nd was better than the first. But Levi said he wasn't going to flunk me because night landings weren't part of the syllabus for that flight.

At the end of it, Levi said he couldn't clear me to solo, but that wasn't his decision. He said he wouldn't have any objection to me soloing. The decision is up to Garran.
Levi also said I found some traffic before he did.

I fly with Garran tomorrow, plane and weather permitting.
 
I was expecting to kick off my training wheels yesterday, but Garran said he didn't want to leave me up in the dark, alone, so I didn't solo. However, we flew to Longmont, and I made a lot of touch and go landings, including one short field landing (it was more like a spot landing).

When I flew with Levi, my first two landings the wheels chirped, and then I was back to normal. Yesterday, I don't know how I did it, but my first two landings they were so smooth the wheels didn't even chirp. After that my landings were back to normal.

I've discovered my landings are better if they are at least somewhat stabilized, and I'm not having to salvage them on short final. I didn't have to salvage any of them last night, and they were all pretty good. I'm thinking now that if I'm trying to salvage a landing at the last minute, especially after dark, it's time to go around. That's what everyone has been saying since airplanes were invented!

The runway is closed for painting today, so assuming good weather and the plane is available, I'll fly with Garran tomorrow. He said on one downwind he was going to solo me Friday and wear a shirt I don't like because he is going to cut it off me. The only shirts I don't care about much that I have available are T-shirts, so that's what he'll cut off me.

I feel a lot better about soloing now than I did what was it, two months ago?
 
I didn't fly Friday. The runway was closed so they could finish painting. I have a lesson scheduled at 3:30 Monday, and another one at 1:30 Tuesday.

I now have an endorsement to take the FAA knowledge exam from Garran. I've been scoring in the 90's on practice tests, so I think I should be good to go.
 
Last night's flight was canceled due to a weather trifecta. The wind was coming up, the clouds were moving in, and the ceiling was getting lower. I decided to cancel before my CFI turned into a no-show. Also, on the way home, we started getting freezing drizzle. If nothing else, I'm getting good at ADM and choosing the "no-go" option.

I woke up to a light dusting of snow, but it's sunny and bright. I'm hoping the weather holds until my flight this afternoon.
 
I actually flew this afternoon. The wind started out weird and didn't get much better. Neither of the three windsocks agreed with each other, nor AWOS. We decided on 16 for the first three flights. The second landing I encountered wind shear just as I was about to flare. Surprisingly enough to me, I felt the plane start to bottom out on me and it seemed like it was descending too fast, so I mightily hauled back on the yoke and made a decent landing.

The third landing we had a crosswind at pattern altitude and a 30-knot tail wind on final! I figured I would need more of the runway than usual and didn't try to force the plane down.

After that, I made a couple circuits on 34 until the direct crosswind got to 15G19 knots. That took a major crosswind correction. It felt like I was doing a forward slip just to stay lined up with the runway. I don't have the reactions Ethan does (yet), so he kept the plane over the runway during the flare. On final, I decided that this was getting a little too gnarly for me; before I said anything, Ethan said that this would be the last flight of the day. I agreed with him.

This wasn't a pre-solo check ride, but he said that I'm ready. I fly with Garran on Thursday; plane being available and weather permitting.
 
Sounds like a first solo might be imminent! Just out of curiosity, how many hours are you up to now? @Crashnburn
 
I must be missing something here: 30 knot tailwind on final?

Anyway good luck tomorrow
 
Crashnburn said:
I actually flew this afternoon. The wind started out weird and didn't get much better. Neither of the three windsocks agreed with each other, nor AWOS. We decided on 16 for the first three flights. The second landing I encountered wind shear just as I was about to flare. Surprisingly enough to me, I felt the plane start to bottom out on me and it seemed like it was descending too fast, so I mightily hauled back on the yoke and made a decent landing.

The third landing we had a crosswind at pattern altitude and a 30-knot tail wind on final! I figured I would need more of the runway than usual and didn't try to force the plane down.

After that, I made a couple circuits on 34 until the direct crosswind got to 15G19 knots. That took a major crosswind correction. It felt like I was doing a forward slip just to stay lined up with the runway. I don't have the reactions Ethan does (yet), so he kept the plane over the runway during the flare. On final, I decided that this was getting a little too gnarly for me; before I said anything, Ethan said that this would be the last flight of the day. I agreed with him.

This wasn't a pre-solo check ride, but he said that I'm ready. I fly with Garran on Thursday; plane being available and weather permitting.
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Your perception of wind shear as a pre solo student is amazing!
 
Thanks, all.

Ethan said 30 knots. I wasn't watching ground speed, and after I cut power, I just paid attention to the landing. He saw the ground speed and air speed difference.

I'm right around 200 hours.

I didn't perceive it as wind shear, more like my descent rate was to high so I needed to pull back on the yoke more to arrest the descent. BTDT already.

There's a very light breeze and it should be around 48 degrees F when I fly early this afternoon.
 
I was ready to solo Dec 13, last year, but I hadn't gotten much sleep after winning a Texas Hold'em poker tournament, and the winds were swirly. I'd landed a few times but each landing seemed to be worse than the one before, so I deferred until the following Monday.

The weather was great, the winds calm, I was well rested, and my job interview was over, so I was READY!.

Then I got a text from my CFI. He said he'd told the Chief Instructor that I had turned into traffic multiple times (true) and had trouble finding traffic in the pattern (also true) and that they didn't want me flying with that FBO in the interest of safety. I didn't blame them; I had been hoping there wouldn't be much traffic when I soloed. My CFI said that proper training could resolve those issues, but his hands were tied.

I recently started flying with Aero-Sphere in Longmont. It seems wrong I drive by KEIK on my way to KLMO, but them's the breaks. However, I feel that my Erie CFI, as well as my KRHV CFIs were shortchanging me, in that they weren't having me fly a square pattern, adjusting flaps, throttle, and airspeed abeam the numbers, turning base, and turning final.

I had almost a two-month layoff, and my landings weren't very good to start, but now they are coming back, after three lessons.

Also, I'm getting a lot better at finding traffic in the pattern, and as I can find them, I won't be turning into them.
 
Crashnburn said:
However, I feel that my Erie CFI, as well as my KRHV CFIs were shortchanging me, in that they weren't having me fly a square pattern, adjusting flaps, throttle, and airspeed abeam the numbers, turning base, and turning final.
Click to expand...
So, just what exactly WERE they having you do?
 
Crashnburn said:
…….
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Crashnburn said:
Then I got a text from my CFI. He said he'd told the Chief Instructor that I had turned into traffic multiple times (true) and had trouble finding traffic in the pattern (also true) and that they didn't want me flying with that FBO in the interest of safety. I didn't blame them; I had been hoping there wouldn't be much traffic when I soloed. My CFI said that proper training could resolve those issues, but his hands were tied.

……….
Click to expand...

If your situational awareness is this deficient at 200hrs, you should consider that not everyone is cut out to do this.

No shame in this. You have your home simulator for fun.
 
Crashnburn said:
... I had turned into traffic multiple times (true) and had trouble finding traffic in the pattern (also true) ...
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Why do you think this happened? Vision? Hyper-focus on the instruments? Poor scanning technique?

This is one place that a home sim can really build bad habits. In a busy pattern at an untowered field, you have to be watching in all directions - something that you can't do in most sims.

What's your plan to address it?
 
Crashnburn said:
...I didn't perceive it as wind shear, more like my descent rate was to high so I needed to pull back on the yoke more to arrest the descent. BTDT already...
Click to expand...
I've had to take a hiatus on my lessons, but if your descent rate is too high wouldn't you just add power to arrest it while keeping speed as needed to contend with wind shear? Every takeoff and landing I've had, EVERY one, has had significant crosswind and turbulence. In a couple cases my CFI cautioned me about wind shear and said to maintain a higher airspeed (+5-10kts). Did your CFI want normal or increased approach speed with wind shear? This is something I will do further inquiry. I'm a low, low timer student.
 
I’m sorry you had another setback. I don’t personally know your flying, but there’s definitely a pattern established here and I doubt I’m the only one that sees it. If it’s bad enough that this FBO fired you for the reasons you say, and you’re sitting well over 200 hours pre-solo, there’s got to be more to the story. As an outside observer hearing only your side, it feels like this centers on hyper-fixation.

So many aspects of flying are interconnected. It’s all about the juggle - dividing attention while still repeatedly performing tasks with a modicum of precision. In this very long thread there is a lot of textual hyperfocus and fixation on individual tasks, paraphrasing: “this happened because I did this” or “I just need to fix this little thing, so I (overanalyzed it and) did it 100 times.” Trying to fix problems is technically correct, but it’s still sequestered into little silos, as if drilling and fixing this one little thing, then the moving on to next thing as if it’s unrelated, is a magic bullet.

At some point all of these things have to be recognized and executed as an interconnected, fluid endeavor that requires constant vigilance and competence. It has to “click” and it all has to become second nature, not a bunch of individual, disconnected events. By no means am I saying executing the little things aren’t important, but take a step back and look at the big picture: Where are you, where is everybody else, what are you doing? Then do the thing and let people know you’re doing it. Fly the plane. If the result is not perfect (as long as it wasn’t dangerous), know that nobody is - we all have landings we want another shot at. We all have make comms that require another sip of coffee before pressing the PTT. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

But if you can’t see yourself doing that, and you’re continuing to be a hazard to yourself and other traffic, maybe reconsider shopping for instructors/schools that are just going to keep doing this dance.
 
BMan said:
I've had to take a hiatus on my lessons, but if your descent rate is too high wouldn't you just add power to arrest it while keeping speed as needed to contend with wind shear? Every takeoff and landing I've had, EVERY one, has had significant crosswind and turbulence. In a couple cases my CFI cautioned me about wind shear and said to maintain a higher airspeed (+5-10kts). Did your CFI want normal or increased approach speed with wind shear? This is something I will do further inquiry. I'm a low, low timer student.
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Yes, they've all addressed the subject. Essentially add 1/2 the gust factor to the final approach speed.
 
Flying Keys said:
I’m sorry you had another setback. I don’t personally know your flying, but there’s definitely a pattern established here and I doubt I’m the only one that sees it. If it’s bad enough that this FBO fired you for the reasons you say, and you’re sitting well over 200 hours pre-solo, there’s got to be more to the story. As an outside observer hearing only your side, it feels like this centers on hyper-fixation.

So many aspects of flying are interconnected. It’s all about the juggle - dividing attention while still repeatedly performing tasks with a modicum of precision. In this very long thread there is a lot of textual hyperfocus and fixation on individual tasks, paraphrasing: “this happened because I did this” or “I just need to fix this little thing, so I (overanalyzed it and) did it 100 times.” Trying to fix problems is technically correct, but it’s still sequestered into little silos, as if drilling and fixing this one little thing, then the moving on to next thing as if it’s unrelated, is a magic bullet.

At some point all of these things have to be recognized and executed as an interconnected, fluid endeavor that requires constant vigilance and competence. It has to “click” and it all has to become second nature, not a bunch of individual, disconnected events. By no means am I saying executing the little things aren’t important, but take a step back and look at the big picture: Where are you, where is everybody else, what are you doing? Then do the thing and let people know you’re doing it. Fly the plane. If the result is not perfect (as long as it wasn’t dangerous), know that nobody is - we all have landings we want another shot at. We all have make comms that require another sip of coffee before pressing the PTT. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

But if you can’t see yourself doing that, and you’re continuing to be a hazard to yourself and other traffic, maybe reconsider shopping for instructors/schools that are just going to keep doing this dance.
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I see myself doing that. It's an extension of division of attention. It seems like, due to be raised in a large household and having a job that requires extreme focus, I have reverse ADHD.
 
Crashnburn said:
Yes, they've all addressed the subject. Essentially add 1/2 the gust factor to the final approach speed.
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That is a good way to fly an approach in gusty conditions. However, wind shear is not the same as gusty winds. Wind shear is a situation where there is either a change of direction or wind speed or both near the surface. You may encounter a rapid change of airspeed and turbulence when you go through the boundary.

For example, at our airport, we may be using runway 31 with winds 290 at 12, with wind shear 1000 feet AGL where the wind is 240 at 45. You may be crabbing on downwind but it will all change when you descend.
 
I've had a
StraightnLevel said:
Why do you think this happened? Vision? Hyper-focus on the instruments? Poor scanning technique?

This is one place that a home sim can really build bad habits. In a busy pattern at an untowered field, you have to be watching in all directions - something that you can't do in most sims.

What's your plan to address it?
Click to expand...
I'm addressing. While between flight schools, when walking and when driving when it's safe, I've started scanning the sky looking for traffic. Sometimes I have to remind myself to start, other times I automatically start my scan.

My most recent lesson was Friday. We were the only ones in the air at Longmont. I made all the calls and verbally called out while I was looking for traffic whenever I was ready to turn.

On an early landing, I inadvertently made a perfect short field landing. I accidentally had the flaps at 40 degrees and touched down pretty smoothly. The 172N only has a 10-degree flap notch. The others need to be by sight. Anyway, I got better at getting the flaps to 30 degrees on final, and my 4th landing was nearly perfect.

I've had two flights cancelled since, due to weather, and there's a good chance that tomorrow's will be cancelled due to extreme cold. That's OK, I'm still moving into my new house and there's a lot of unpacking still to do.
 
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