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Half Fast

Half Fast

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Half Fast
Had my first two lessons today at First Landings in Apopka, FL. Turns, climbs, descents, and power on stalls over two sessions totalling 2.4 hours together. Fun, but very intense and I'm pretty much whipped. My instructor was quite complimentary but I take that with a big grain of salt; nobody making his living at flight instruction is going to tell a student he sucks on his first day. :D At least there were no screams of "OMG!" or "Holy s..t!" over the intercom.

The Tecnam Bravo seems like a nice plane but I'm going to have to take a cushion with me tomorrow so I can see over the cowl. Today I had to put two cushions behind me to reach the pedals comfortably, and I'm still too short to see out well so I'll need another cushion under my butt. I was having to depend on the instruments too much because I couldn't see the horizon well, but still did okay.

I'm off to a start in any case. Two more sessions tomorrow, then two on Monday. Three days off, then I'm scheduled for another two sessions per day next Fri, Sat, and Sun.

Tips and advice will be most welcome!
 
No monetary tips for students. Sorry. :) Congrats! And stalls on second lesson? Wow!

David
 
Sounds like fun...it is indeed a physically and mentally exhausting process especially when you are starting out.

The left seat in my primary trainer sucked...best thing I ever bought as a student was a gel seat cushion!
 
Awesome, congrats on getting started. How short are you? I'm 5'8", I was surprised how high the panel was when I first started, in a 172. I don't think you're supposed to see too far down in front, I think most people try to set their seat height so they see about 4 finger width of horizon above the panel when straight and level cruise. Its a lot different than a car where you can see the hood and a good bit of the road down in front. I put the seat as high as i can crank it then crank it down a few turns, I like it higher than most so I get more below the horizon in my view, but I can see how it can make doing level turns a bit more tricky. Here is a thread about http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/sight-picture-and-level-flight.68791/

Keep up the pace, you'll catch up to me, and i've been at it for a while, haha.
 
I'm 5'3". Bought a cushion tonight to put under me tomorrow. Hope it helps.
 
Half Fast said:
Had my first two lessons today at First Landings in Apopka, FL. Turns, climbs, descents, and power on stalls over two sessions totalling 2.4 hours together. Fun, but very intense and I'm pretty much whipped. My instructor was quite complimentary but I take that with a big grain of salt; nobody making his living at flight instruction is going to tell a student he sucks on his first day. :D At least there were no screams of "OMG!" or "Holy s..t!" over the intercom.

The Tecnam Bravo seems like a nice plane but I'm going to have to take a cushion with me tomorrow so I can see over the cowl. Today I had to put two cushions behind me to reach the pedals comfortably, and I'm still too short to see out well so I'll need another cushion under my butt. I was having to depend on the instruments too much because I couldn't see the horizon well, but still did okay.

I'm off to a start in any case. Two more sessions tomorrow, then two on Monday. Three days off, then I'm scheduled for another two sessions per day next Fri, Sat, and Sun.

Tips and advice will be most welcome!
Click to expand...

Only advice I might give is if you are finding yourself fatigued and feeling like you are doing really bad on your second flight of the day compared to the first is maybe give up the "2 a days". Oh yeah. Get as many pillows as you need to see out. Glad to see you already know that "depending on the instruments to much" is not good.
 
Congratulations on your first day, a few years back when I was looking for a flight school I did a discovery flight at First Landings and was really impressed with their set up, but I opted for a school elsewhere as First Landings appeared more geared up for Sport ticket students rather than Private. In fact at the time they only had sport aircraft in the hanger. One being a shiny brand new Czech Sportcruiser which I took my discovery flight with, nice little bird, pity Piper fell out with the Czechs on the US marketing deal.
Good luck with your training
 
Congrats and good luck on your training.
 
Well, we only got one flight today, but that was fine. Spent some time repeating yesterday's power-on stalls, then worked on a few power-off stalls. I'll need more practice on those. Plan for tomorrow is to start ground reference maneuvers.

On the way back to the airport after the lesson, I had just returned control to my CFI at ~3000' when the engine began to sputter. We had been flying on one tank to balance the loads. When the sputtering started, my CFI saw the fuel pressure was low and he immediately switched on the fuel pump and went to both tanks and the engine cleared up. Fuel looked clean when I checked the sump during the pre-flight; we speculated an air bubble, but it still might have been a bit of crap plugging the line and the electric fuel pump provided enough pressure to clear it.

I'm not sure I would have had the presence of mind to switch on the pump and go back to both tanks. I should probably start doing some mental "what if" rehersals of problems and solutions. I have lots and lots to learn.

I had a second flight scheduled for today, but a couple of the loaner headsets had crapped out and the remaining ones were in use by other students, so we did a ground session and reviewed the maneuvers we did yesterday and today and the ones planned for tomorrow.

I need to shop for my own headset. Anyone have any experience with the ASA headsets? The reviews look very good for such an inexpensive headset. My thought is that it might be adequate through training, then later when I want to upgrade it could become a passenger headset.

As always, all thoughts and suggestions will be appreciated.
 
Half Fast said:
Well, we only got one flight today, but that was fine. Spent some time repeating yesterday's power-on stalls, then worked on a few power-off stalls. I'll need more practice on those. Plan for tomorrow is to start ground reference maneuvers.

On the way back to the airport after the lesson, I had just returned control to my CFI at ~3000' when the engine began to sputter. We had been flying on one tank to balance the loads. When the sputtering started, my CFI saw the fuel pressure was low and he immediately switched on the fuel pump and went to both tanks and the engine cleared up. Fuel looked clean when I checked the sump during the pre-flight; we speculated an air bubble, but it still might have been a bit of crap plugging the line and the electric fuel pump provided enough pressure to clear it.

I'm not sure I would have had the presence of mind to switch on the pump and go back to both tanks. I should probably start doing some mental "what if" rehersals of problems and solutions. I have lots and lots to learn.

I had a second flight scheduled for today, but a couple of the loaner headsets had crapped out and the remaining ones were in use by other students, so we did a ground session and reviewed the maneuvers we did yesterday and today and the ones planned for tomorrow.

I need to shop for my own headset. Anyone have any experience with the ASA headsets? The reviews look very good for such an inexpensive headset. My thought is that it might be adequate through training, then later when I want to upgrade it could become a passenger headset.

As always, all thoughts and suggestions will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
I bought a pair of the ASAs on ebay and they work just fine. I later bought a used david clark set. I would swich off between the 2 and honestly the david clarks are more comfortable, but the ASAs aren't uncomfortable if that makes sense.

The left speaker in the ASAs stopped working about the 3rd time I wore them (they were used when I got them) and after an email conversation I sent them in and was sent a brand new pair to replace them at no charge.

Bottom line, I would give them a thumbs up.
 
Half Fast said:
Well, we only got one flight today, but that was fine. Spent some time repeating yesterday's power-on stalls, then worked on a few power-off stalls. I'll need more practice on those. Plan for tomorrow is to start ground reference maneuvers.

On the way back to the airport after the lesson, I had just returned control to my CFI at ~3000' when the engine began to sputter. We had been flying on one tank to balance the loads. When the sputtering started, my CFI saw the fuel pressure was low and he immediately switched on the fuel pump and went to both tanks and the engine cleared up. Fuel looked clean when I checked the sump during the pre-flight; we speculated an air bubble, but it still might have been a bit of crap plugging the line and the electric fuel pump provided enough pressure to clear it.

I'm not sure I would have had the presence of mind to switch on the pump and go back to both tanks. I should probably start doing some mental "what if" rehersals of problems and solutions. I have lots and lots to learn.

I had a second flight scheduled for today, but a couple of the loaner headsets had crapped out and the remaining ones were in use by other students, so we did a ground session and reviewed the maneuvers we did yesterday and today and the ones planned for tomorrow.

I need to shop for my own headset. Anyone have any experience with the ASA headsets? The reviews look very good for such an inexpensive headset. My thought is that it might be adequate through training, then later when I want to upgrade it could become a passenger headset.

As always, all thoughts and suggestions will be appreciated.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't unport a fuel input while operating within limitations. Does this airplane limit single tank operation to straight and level like Cessnas? Were you flying straight and level?

You might have a failing mechanical pump. Did you try operating without the boost pump later?

Some airplanes are prone to vapor lock, though it's much more likely on the ground. Though if it's going to happen in the air, low power right after a power on stall is a likely time due to low cooling and high heat. An engine vacuum leak can behave similarly.

I don't buy that a boost pump will suck through a plugged line.

I'd squawk the plane down and let a qualified mechanic tell me it was pilot error, if it was. It's important not to self censor safety reports.
 
MAKG1 said:
You shouldn't unport a fuel input while operating within limitations. Does this airplane limit single tank operation to straight and level like Cessnas? Were you flying straight and level?

You might have a failing mechanical pump. Did you try operating without the boost pump later?

Some airplanes are prone to vapor lock, though it's much more likely on the ground. Though if it's going to happen in the air, low power right after a power on stall is a likely time due to low cooling and high heat. An engine vacuum leak can behave similarly.

I don't buy that a boost pump will suck through a plugged line.

I'd squawk the plane down and let a qualified mechanic tell me it was pilot error, if it was. It's important not to self censor safety reports.
Click to expand...


We did squawk it.

My apologies - being tired yesterday evening after a long day, I was apparently too brief in my posting and I omitted details.

The problem occurred in straight and level flight on the way back to the airport just after the CFI reduced power to begin our descent, but it was after about 45 minutes of repeated stall work. Yestereday was a hot day here in central Florida, in the mid to upper 90s F on the ground. We were working on stalls at 3000' so the air temp there was likely in the upper 80s F.

When we got back, the CFI reported the problem. Sumping the fuel didn't show any debris or water. He had the mechanic check the engine and the mechanical fuel pump. Everything checked fine. The CFI then took the plane up, leaving the electric pump on during take-off, then switching it off at altitude. He flew the plane for about an hour, putting it through a variety of maneuvers including a dozen 60-deg banked turns in each direction as well as a series of stalls (but not 45 minutes worth). No problems.

Based on all that, the mechanic concluded that the problem was induced by continuous stall work on a hot day, much the situation you described in your post.

I agree 100% about not self-censoring safety reports and as an anal-retentive engineer I want to understand the cause of ANY problem, safety-related or not. I just didn't take the time last night to explain in detail. Next time I'll wait to post until I feel like writing an in-depth report so that I don't mislead anyone. Sorry for any confusion.
 
Well, I finished out my first weekend with two lessons today, 1.1 hr and 1.4 hr. This morning there was clean air at 3000 so we decided to take advantage of it and defer the ground ref maneuvers for this afternoon. We did some more stall work and my power on stalls are getting decent but power off will need more work. We then worked on some slow speed flying for a while; I'm having a little trouble maintaining altitude in slow turn, so more work to come there.

This afternoon we hoped to do more slow speed, but when we got up we saw a line of thunderstorms moving in from the NW that hadn't been on radar when I checked 20 minutes before the flight. We decided to stay out of their way and start on ground reference work a few miles from the airport so we could dash in if the wx started to crap out. I flew rectangular patterns first to the left and then to the right (left was better, but both okay). We then did turns around a point for a while, then moved on to S turns over a road. I'll need considerably more practice there, as I'm not doing great about holding my altitude. We were also getting kicked arounds a bit by winds leading the t-storms; wind kept changing direction and was also gusting a bit. We decided it was time to set her down before the wx arrived.

All in all, a decent first weekend. I got 5 flights for about 6 hours total Hobbs time, started on a variety of skills, and got some of the willies worked out. My instructor also signed me off to take the written based on my practice test scores, so I'll try to knock that out this week before doing more flying. My next two lessons are scheduled for Friday.
 
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