Some 'thoughts' from someone who just recently completed my PPL, posted the journey on a blog with links here on these forums, as well as videos to receive the aforementioned advice/criticism. While you might not agree with all of the advice/criticism on this forum (I don't), much of it is excellent and should not just be dismissed out of hand.
Don't be in the habit of a specific number of turns on the trim. I also trained in 140's and a 180. The school has four of the 140's and the trim in each one is just a bit different. One turn of the trim does not move the trim the same amount from plane to plane. I was taught 'pitch, power, trim.' You pitch the plane, adjust the power, and then trim to remove pressure for whatever flight attitude you are looking for. That particular plane may be 3 turns on the pitch, but it is a lot easier to just remember to trim to relieve pressure than remember which plane you're in and how many times to turn the handle. (There are enough other numbers to remember when flying)
pburger has it right on taxiing. Keep your left hand on the yolk, even when taxiing. This is even more important when on a grass strip as it keeps less weight on the nose wheel. You will not ever ride a wheelie down the taxiway doing this (assuming you aren't taxiing at high speeds...) and you will be glad to have that extra inch or so clearance in the front when you hit some bumps in the field so you don't have a prop strike.
Congratulations on the solo, keep flying, keep learning, and keep having fun.
Good information. I quiet obviously don't know everything about flight. I am only 18 hours into my total flight time.
During take off I raise the nose as to not cause a prop strike. During taxi I do not raise up. The only reason I am adamant about not having my left hand on the yolk during taxi is that my CFI asked me not to. He wants me to associate the turning and braking to my feet.
I can see how it would be important to relieve some pressure on the nose gear during taxi but I will continue to take my CFI's advice and possibly just ask if there are any alternatives that I could decide to use.
Good luck if you ever taxi in real winds, or fly a different airplane. And with that nosewheel planted firmly like that, one gopher can ruin your whole day. Even on pavement, there have been cases (several at my own airport while the county was still neglecting it) where a nosewheel hit a pothole, resulting in a prop strike. You minimize that risk by slowing down and pulling back on the yoke. You will not pop a wheelie at taxi speed unless you taxi FAR too fast or with a LOT of power. If you do, SLOW DOWN.
Honestly, if you can't fly the airplane without the iPad at this stage, you're not ready for solo. You don't need it and shouldn't need it.
All of James' comments in that post are good ones.
Maybe you should try taxiing in a wheelie. Then you might understand that much of your turning even on the ground is with the rudder. Less so in a Piper than a Cessna, but it's still doing quite a bit. The rudder is by far your most reliable flight control. It works even when all the others don't (e.g., deep stall). When you learn to do soft field takeoffs, you'll have to learn this lesson well. You'll lift the nose as soon as you go to full power, and if there is any crosswind, you'll need that rudder.
I can fly the plane without the Ipad. I would only need paper versions of my checklist. Unfortunately, I can't take your advice on flying without my ipad as my CFI mandates that I fly with my Ipad. He requires all of his students to do so.
My ipad does my weight and balance. Fuel usage, check points, GPS, weather. When i touched my ipad during this video all I was doing was essentially flipping the page of my checklist to the next section. During flight off the ground I shouldn't have touched it at all. I don't believe I did but if I did this was an error. I have no need for the ipad in the pattern work that was displayed here.
As for the taxing I will casually bring it up in conversation on my next flight. I understand the importance of protecting the plane from a prop strike.
Yeah, every post here is asking for a bunch of other people to pile on and tell you why your wrong. That's why I try to stick to boobs. I'm not here to critique you as I am pretty new here myself, but some of the points above are valid.
Don't know your strip but taking some pressure off your nose wheel on grass seems like sound soft field advice!! My PPL DPE drilled that in big time. Like over and over, although he did go on to say, "well its your airplane, so do whatever you want, I'm just trying to save you some money."
Regarding trim, you will eventually get away from the pattern and trim should become second nature and not just 3 turns. There will be times when the wind is different and the plane will fly different, so maybe start at your three but trim for pressure as suggested above instead of just a number.
I'm a gadget nerd and love the G1000, iPad, iPhone, toys, boobs, booze, and all that stuff. But learning without it may save your life one day. I have been critiqued for wanting to use all that crap and really didn't listen. Now as I am transitioning into other planes, kind of wish I just flew that damn plane with no gadgets. They are awesome to have, but should be used to build on a sound foundation. Who cares if all of that stuff fails, if you can fly the damn plane!!
In any event, post a video, you will take a beating, post a picture on final, take a beating, tell everyone you love boobs, take a beating.... Just keep coming back for more.
Congrats!!
Thanks for the advice. I'll keep this in mind. I feel I have a decent understanding of how to fly the plane. I think people are getting hung up on the fact that my checklist was digitized and they prefer to have paper copies. I can understand that. I have backup paper copies in my flight bag in case my Ipad quits.
I am 23 years old and a software engineer. I understand the importance of knowing the actual process' of gathering and understanding this information. I was just raised in a generation where technology has replaced books. I apologize for my generation.
Agree, put the iPad away for now and just fly the plane. The iPad can/will cause you to spend more time looking inside the plane than outside, that's a bad habit to pick up when you are just starting your training. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my tablet and all the electronic gadgets and gizmos I can get my hands on. They make life easier and provide a lot of information. However, I never used it in the plane until I was doing cross country solos, and even then I still had a paper flight plan on my knee-board that I referred to more than I did the tablet. Learn to fly without the iPad and then when you do start using it you will be that much better a pilot. (And that day that it overheats on you and shuts down, or runs out of power at least you won't panic because you know how to fly without it...)
I keep paper backups of my sectionals a/fd's and checklists in my flight bag for just such an occasion. Thank you for your advice!
When I was learning to fly, iPads were WAY off in the future, so were EFBs. Even when I started training for my instrument, foreflight was JUST coming on the market. I learned with a sectional and a paper nav log. Most of the trainers didn't have a panel mount GPS, so everything was pilotage and VOR. Please heed the advice given here that paper doesn't suffer from dead batteries, or overheating (below about 400*F). Enjoy training and looking out the window for now, and add in the electronics as training progresses. Just my 2 cents.
I agree and the FAA mandates that I have a paper backup of anything that I will use electronically. I have all my sectionals A/fd's and checklists in my flight bag for just such an occasion. Thanks for the advice!
I did my first solo on grass too... Haven't seen it mentioned here, but looked like you weren't holding the yoke, at least on your initial back-taxi on 27... You should be holding back on that thing to take some weight off that poor nosewheel. By the way, my grass runway was 9-27 too...
Nice east west baby! Yeah, as previously mentioned I am going to casually slip this into conversation on my next flight. I keep the nose up during takeoff to prevent a prop strike but my CFI never instructed me to raise the nose during taxi. I believe that is because of the low speeds.
Also I was originally taught not to have my hands on the yolk because it wont have any affect on the ground. I think that this was meant to teach me to taxi with my feet and throttle. Thanks for your post, solid advice!
You may change your mind on that when you start flying in stronger winds or fly a tailwheel.
You are probably correct. You know how it is when you are taught something you take it as the word of god. I think anyone who is a pilot always is going to believe there way is right. Since I am new I am going to leave my ego at the door and just assume with so many of you posting on the same issue that you are all probably correct.
I am going to casually bring it up with my CFI on my next flight. Thanks for your advice!
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