Finally restarted my flying lessons.

Crashnburn said:
I'm scheduled out until the first week of October. Most of my flights are with one particular instructor (that I've already flown with), but I'll fly with just about any CFI. I just updated my preferred CFI to him.
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Do you plan on passing your "Stage 1 Check" by then?
 
I had a short (for me) lesson yesterday with another new instructor. Liam was a member of the San Jose State Precision Aerobatic team. I learned a lot from him, and recalled something my very first instructor, from 2001, taught me and no other instructor has mentioned, since. I had another good landing, but since I only had 10 degrees of flaps, I floated a long way down the runway. At this point, I don't think that's all that bad, as the more time you spend in the flare, the faster you'll learn to control the plane in the flare. I'll be adding more flaps to minimize float time, soon.

Anyway, is there a reason, besides demonstrating control of the airplane, for turns around a point?
 
Keep plugging away at it and you will get your ticket. Best of luck and have fun!
 
Crashnburn said:
I had a short (for me) lesson yesterday with another new instructor. Liam was a member of the San Jose State Precision Aerobatic team. I learned a lot from him, and recalled something my very first instructor, from 2001, taught me and no other instructor has mentioned, since. I had another good landing, but since I only had 10 degrees of flaps, I floated a long way down the runway. At this point, I don't think that's all that bad, as the more time you spend in the flare, the faster you'll learn to control the plane in the flare. I'll be adding more flaps to minimize float time, soon.

Anyway, is there a reason, besides demonstrating control of the airplane, for turns around a point?
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Recognizing the effect of changing wind on groundspeed, drift, and the resultant ground track. Associating bank angle and rate of turn with radius of turn to manipulate the ground track to be a precise geometry.

All while remaining level, coordinated, and dividing attention amongst everything else.

Which correlates with what you do in the pattern.

Honest question, have your instructors ever mentioned the words application or correlation in your training?
 
Crashnburn said:
I had another good landing, but since I only had 10 degrees of flaps, I floated a long way down the runway. At this point, I don't think that's all that bad, as the more time you spend in the flare, the faster you'll learn to control the plane in the flare. I'll be adding more flaps to minimize float time, soon.
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Floating down the runway is caused by excessive speed i.e you are going too fast. More flaps (drag) will help bleed the speed off but speed management is the key ...

Good to see you getting back at it!
 
I was going to start this post about the Ides of March not being so bad for me, but that was yesterday.
TLDR: I finally! passed the stage one check, finally, and am more then ready for stage two.

I've been doing a lot of flying and working on the stage one check requirements with Liam. He said I was a lot better than the typical stage one student a couple of times, and I agree. I'm glad for Frank, and me, that he got a job flying 206's and 208's in Alaska, and I got an even better instructor to replace him. I've had several flights with Liam, once the weather finally cleared up.

I had 98485 booked for both today and yesterday. The Garmin 696 worked fine for us the whole flight. When I landed, I'd forgotten planes have mass, and thus inertia, so I put the final flaps in too late and we floated quite a bit, and had some gentle bounces. I just tried to keep the plane over the center line and heading in the right direction until it decided to land. The 696 worked fine through shut down, but I guess it broke the next flight.

I got to the FBO, expecting to use 98485, but it was down checked. The earliest I could fly with Matt was today at 4 PM. He had to move a ground school student around, but we made it happen.

98485 is a P model, we flew 9027H, an M model that used knots, and also has a GPS.

I landed the plane, myself. The first thing Matt said after I landed was something like "Why wasn't this your stage 2 check flight?" Later, he said the landing was impressive and good enough to pass the stage 2 check.

I have 3 hours booked with Sergey tomorrow, so I expect I'll be doing a lot of pattern work, I think mostly trying to stay in the middle of the runway.
 
I had my flight with Sergey.I made 8 landings. At least one full stop; the rest touch and go. I'm almost always pretty close to the centerline, not off to the left like I used to do. There are several areas of improvement to work on.

Am I a jinx? The first flight after I landed 98485, its Garmin 496 went out, so I flew 9027H. I went in this morning and saw I had 968RC and thought about switching over to 27H because 8RC has been the plane from Hell, but I didn't because it had a flat spot on a tire. I didn't brake hard, so I don't think it was me.

I wonder if 8RC, which I flew today, will come down with an issue tomorrow.

The first landing was the least acceptable. I touched down 3 times, the third, according to Sergey, was a good landing.

Good things: My round out height was fine. My approach speed was fine.
Things to work on: Don't over-rotate when rounding out. Fly the plane until all the weight is on the wheels, not just until the mains touch. Figure out when to put flaps in so I don't have to add power to stay on the glideslope, and don't speed up. One thing I've thought about is flying slower than best glide speed. I'll go down faster without gaining speed, and there'll be more time to stabilize after I get on the glide slope and let the plane go back to best glide.

My next lesson is Saturday. That'll give me time to study my aviation knowledge and get caught up on things around the house.
 
Crashnburn said:
Fly the plane until all the weight is on the wheels, not just until the mains touch.
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The saying goes: Fly the plane until you tie it down. That’s a bit of hyperbole, but you certainly should while you are on the runway or taxing.

Crashnburn said:
Figure out when to put flaps in so I don't have to add power to stay on the glideslope, and don't speed up.
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This sounds like maybe you have a misconception. You can easily add power to increase lift without speeding up. It’s how I hold glide slope pretty much every landing. Think about it as: power for altitude, pitch for speed while on final.

PHAK page 9-1 for use of flaps. 9-31 for use of power to slow a descent.

Crashnburn said:
One thing I've thought about is flying slower than best glide speed. I'll go down faster without gaining speed, and there'll be more time to stabilize after I get on the glide slope and let the plane go back to best glide.
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Best glide has nothing to do with landings unless it’s an engine out landing. 1.3 x vs0 is the target number for final. PHAK page 9-3

 
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Crashnburn said:
One thing I've thought about is flying slower than best glide speed. I'll go down faster without gaining speed, and there'll be more time to stabilize after I get on the glide slope and let the plane go back to best glide.

My next lesson is Saturday. That'll give me time to study my aviation knowledge and get caught up on things around the house.
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When you're working on aviation knowledge check out rate of descent when below best glide speed — it should be slower not faster. Of course, I know what you meant. You mean "steeper" rather than "faster". But it's a fine point you don't have much use for at your level. Are you dropping into a really short sod strip over some tall trees, for instance? IFR pilots don't do that to "get on the glideslope", either; they pitch to it. Using the elevator is quicker, and dawdling while getting back on glideslope is a sin. Your game is maintaining an attitude that gives you a constant airspeed. A little tweaking of power here and there, especially if you're following somebody in the pattern, with coordinated adjustments of attitude, is all you need. To THAT point, following another plane, who says you should start descending at the normal place? Wait until on a normal glide angle for YOU, then start down. But keep the other guy in view. ;)
 
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Interesting. The hills on the straight in approach to 31L/R are about 2000 MSL, so we need to be about 2500 MSL to stay at a legal height. That puts me above the glide slope when I can start my descent. I do know about power for altitude, and pitch for airspeed, but increased power puts more air over the elevator, so it will tend to pitch the nose up, to slow the plane down (there's also a lever effect because the engine is below the wing in a Skyhawk. I don't know how much each contributes, but I do see and feel a difference.). That's for a straight in approach. The 31 L downwind is close to the runway because the KSJC Charlie airspace is really close. So, if I turn base when the numbers are at a 45-degree angle, there isn't much distance to lose 1000 feet of altitude. Of course, I can always extend my downwind.
 
@Crashnburn , has your instructor taught you slips? That sounds like a perfect place for a slip, and it solves your altitude problem beautifully.
 
Crashnburn said:
Interesting. The hills on the straight in approach to 31L/R are about 2000 MSL, so we need to be about 2500 MSL to stay at a legal height. That puts me above the glide slope when I can start my descent. I do know about power for altitude, and pitch for airspeed, but increased power puts more air over the elevator, so it will tend to pitch the nose up, to slow the plane down (there's also a lever effect because the engine is below the wing in a Skyhawk. I don't know how much each contributes, but I do see and feel a difference.). That's for a straight in approach. The 31 L downwind is close to the runway because the KSJC Charlie airspace is really close. So, if I turn base when the numbers are at a 45-degree angle, there isn't much distance to lose 1000 feet of altitude. Of course, I can always extend my downwind.
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You’re way overthinking this. There are some ~1500’ hills about 6.5 nm away on a straight-in. Those require a *bit* steeper approach, maybe 4° (incidentally, that’s what the PAPI are set to, so I don’t know what glide slope you’re talking about being above), but that that’s nothing a 172 can’t handle and they drop away pretty quickly to be a non-factor within several miles of the airport. There’s no regulatory need to slam dunk from 2500MSL unless you’re coming in from the east, but that’s a different, non straight-in story.

And as a *general* rule, you shouldn’t still be at 1000’ AGL when turning base. Please talk to your instructor.
 
Flying Keys said:
You’re way overthinking this. There are some ~1500’ hills about 6.5 nm away on a straight-in. Those require a *bit* steeper approach, maybe 4° (incidentally, that’s what the PAPI are set to, so I don’t know what glide slope you’re talking about being above), but that that’s nothing a 172 can’t handle and they drop away pretty quickly to be a non-factor within several miles of the airport. There’s no regulatory need to slam dunk from 2500MSL unless you’re coming in from the east, but that’s a different, non straight-in story.

And as a *general* rule, you shouldn’t still be at 1000’ AGL when turning base. Please talk to your instructor.
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A forward slip to get down to the glide slope is a great idea. Thanks.

I'm very familiar with forward slips. The last time a CFI commented on one of my forward slips he said it was fine. I did one to get down fast enough to make the runway when I did a simulated engine out during my stage one check and the CFI didn't say anything. '
 
Crashnburn said:
A forward slip to get down to the glide slope is a great idea. Thanks.

I'm very familiar with forward slips. The last time a CFI commented on one of my forward slips he said it was fine. I did one to get down fast enough to make the runway when I did a simulated engine out during my stage one check and the CFI didn't say anything. '
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You shouldn’t need it. There’s nothing in the normal pattern or a long straight in a RHV that would require that. You could do it for practice, use one coming from the east, or if ATC keeps you high for whatever reason. But as I said, proclaiming the need to get that draggy on the regular at RHV is an overstatement. Different story if you mismanage your energy and end up high, but that’s a correction, not a plan.
 
My goal is to be on the GLIDE PATH, 75 knots, 20 degrees of flaps, and descending at 500 FPM before I get to the airport fence, Just before the fence, go to 30 degrees of flaps and throttle at idle, if not before. That will slow me down to about 65 knots, especially if I don't let the nose come up. Then I can gradually round out and transition into the flare. I did it right one landing on Sunday. And, once the mains are on the ground, keep the nose up until it comes down on its own.
 
Crashnburn said:
My goal is to be on the GLIDE PATH, 75 knots, 20 degrees of flaps, and descending at 500 FPM before I get to the airport fence, Just before the fence, go to 30 degrees of flaps and throttle at idle, if not before. That will slow me down to about 65 knots, especially if I don't let the nose come up. Then I can gradually round out and transition into the flare. I did it right one landing on Sunday. And, once the mains are on the ground, keep the nose up until it comes down on its own.
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I understand wanting to be exact and control as many variables as possible, but to be frank, I think you are thinking about this way too hard. At some point, you should be able to transition to barely even noticing the numbers and just fly the plane down to the runway - and I actually got better, more consistent landings once I stopped trying to chase certain numbers, especially on final. The only number I ever look at on final is airspeed to make sure I'm not close or at stall speed, and once I have the runway made, I don't even look at that anymore. I couldn't tell you what speed I start bringing the nose up, because it's not the speed that matters. It's the location and height above the ground that matters. Same with throttle and flaps. Some landings, I have throttle in almost to the ground and some I pull it to idle as I turn final; sometimes, I have 30* flaps in right away on final, sometimes, I land with only 20*. I am paying attention to how the "energy state" of the plane feels and adjusting based on that. I didn't solo until I had 33 hours, but by the time I did, my CFI had already taught me to feel the plane - and it really does make a huge difference in consistency.

Maybe try having a pilot friend or CFI that you know is a good pilot fly you, in the plane(s) you're training in, around the pattern a few times and simply concentrate on how the plane feels. Not the numbers, not even what it looks like, but how it feels. Then try paying attention to how everything looks and correlating that to how it feels. It will help you if your instrument panel ever goes wonky, but it will also help you understand and know on a more instinctive level what the plane is doing and what you should be making it do. I think you're a numbers guy and you fly like it, but there is an aspect of flying by feel that is extremely important as well. You have to know how the plane feels once it hits the numbers you want, because if you wait for the numbers to read on the instruments, it will be too late and you'll be past those numbers once you straighten out or lower the nose or fill in the blank. The numbers are inherently a little behind and if you fly solely by the numbers, you will be chasing the plane the whole time you're in the air.

Just my two cents, worth what you paid for them or less!
 
One of the first lessons from my instructor was learning that chasing the ASI was a foolish thing to do as they are very hard to catch. The attitude of the nose in reference to the horizon, the sound of the airplane, the feel of the controls, and what my behind was sensing should give me most of what I needed to know ...
 
Thanks for your inputs. I make sure my airspeed is within a 10-knot window, and don't worry about it anymore. I've already made sure the aiming point is stationary in my windshield, and if there's a VASI or PAPI that I have half white and half red lights. I try to wait to put full flaps in and pull the throttle when it looks like the runway is made. I might add a little throttle if it looks like the plane might touch down before the displaced threshold.

I might repeat, the CFI who gave me my stage one flight check said after I landed that it was good enough to pass the stage two check flight (preliminary to solo). In fact, he asked me after I landed why that wasn't for the stage 2 flight. (And that wasn't one of my better landings)

There's always room for improvement.
 
Crashnburn said:
Thanks for your inputs. I make sure my airspeed is within a 10-knot window, and don't worry about it anymore. I've already made sure the aiming point is stationary in my windshield, and if there's a VASI or PAPI that I have half white and half red lights. I try to wait to put full flaps in and pull the throttle when it looks like the runway is made. I might add a little throttle if it looks like the plane might touch down before the displaced threshold.

I might repeat, the CFI who gave me my stage one flight check said after I landed that it was good enough to pass the stage two check flight (preliminary to solo). In fact, he asked me after I landed why that wasn't for the stage 2 flight. (And that wasn't one of my better landings)

There's always room for improvement.
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That’s good! My commentary was in response to the 2500’ MSL stuff you mentioned earlier, which was a bit… off, in a few ways. The way you were describing it could lead to a lot of hunting and chasing.
 
I've had five flights since I passed stage one. I've flown with three different instructors, so far. I think what works best for me is to pull the throttle to idle abeam the numbers, then when the runway is at a 45-degree angle turn base and add 10 degrees flaps. Then when I turn final if I'm too high, go to 20 degrees of flaps and adjust my speed for 65 knots. Some-time before the fence, when I have the runway made, go to 30 degrees of flaps and retrim for 65 knots. If I'm a little low, I use power to stretch the glide.

I did at least 3 crosswind landings with the wind 50 degrees off the runway heading and gusting to 16 knots. The works out to be about 12 knots crosswind. It took me three tries to get it. The first two I kept leveling the wings just before I touched down. The third time I kept the bank in until the plane touched down. I had to force myself not to level off the wings. My CFI told me that was a better crosswind landing than he'd done all day. I've messed with crosswind landings before, but not that much wind speed.

At the end of the flight, he told me that all my landings were good enough to solo, and that they were better than some who've already soloed. I still need to check off air work and aviation knowledge boxes to be ready for my solo flight.
 
Crashnburn said:
I've had five flights since I passed stage one. I've flown with three different instructors, so far. I think what works best for me is to pull the throttle to idle abeam the numbers, then when the runway is at a 45-degree angle turn base and add 10 degrees flaps. Then when I turn final if I'm too high, go to 20 degrees of flaps and adjust my speed for 65 knots. Some-time before the fence, when I have the runway made, go to 30 degrees of flaps and retrim for 65 knots. If I'm a little low, I use power to stretch the glide.

I did at least 3 crosswind landings with the wind 50 degrees off the runway heading and gusting to 16 knots. The works out to be about 12 knots crosswind. It took me three tries to get it. The first two I kept leveling the wings just before I touched down. The third time I kept the bank in until the plane touched down. I had to force myself not to level off the wings. My CFI told me that was a better crosswind landing than he'd done all day. I've messed with crosswind landings before, but not that much wind speed.

At the end of the flight, he told me that all my landings were good enough to solo, and that they were better than some who've already soloed. I still need to check off air work and aviation knowledge boxes to be ready for my solo flight.
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That, and your medical...
which requires a doctor, not an online form.

Dec 23: "When I did my Stage 1 Ground Check Friday, I found out my old combination medical and student pilot certificate are no longer valid. I spent some time on my own over the weekend trying to get it straightened out on my own, with no joy. I called FAA this AM, waited a few minutes and got through. I was able to complete a new application for a new student pilot certificate and the FTN is in my CFI's hands so he can review, and I hope, approve the application."
 
4RNB said:
That, and your medical...
which requires a doctor, not an online form.

Dec 23: "When I did my Stage 1 Ground Check Friday, I found out my old combination medical and student pilot certificate are no longer valid. I spent some time on my own over the weekend trying to get it straightened out on my own, with no joy. I called FAA this AM, waited a few minutes and got through. I was able to complete a new application for a new student pilot certificate and the FTN is in my CFI's hands so he can review, and I hope, approve the application."
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I have my Basic Med and the plastic Student Pilot Certificate came in the mail Saturday.
 
So, here's another life event happening. I've decided to sell my house and move to Colorado. The awesome hangar home my sister found went on contract, then back to active in a few days. I'm hoping to be able to make an offer while it's still active.

I have at least one flight's worth of money at the FBO and will probably have a second flight to finish my account off. Then I'll suspend my membership and finish up in Colorado. I'll keep studying aviation knowledge in my spare time.
 
Crashnburn said:
So, here's another life event happening. I've decided to sell my house and move to Colorado. The awesome hangar home my sister found went on contract, then back to active in a few days. I'm hoping to be able to make an offer while it's still active.

I have at least one flight's worth of money at the FBO and will probably have a second flight to finish my account off. Then I'll suspend my membership and finish up in Colorado. I'll keep studying aviation knowledge in my spare time.
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Will you sell the simulator or move it?
 
4RNB said:
Will you sell the simulator or move it?
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I'm moving it. It's not all that elaborate. I have rudder pedals, 2 Saitek radio boxes, an auto-pilot box, and a switch box, along with a yoke*, and throttle quadrant. I also have a Track IR Pro and have Remote Flight set up so I don't have to squint to see the instruments. All this hooks up to my desk top computer, which has way more computing power than I need, but I figured it was better to buy a little more performance than what I needed than to by twice because I didn't get as much performance as I needed.

I have my bucket-list monitor: A curved 38" Alienware monitor. I wasn't sure if I was going to keep it before I used it. As soon as I used it I knew there was no going back!

*I have a CH Products yoke that I currently use. I wore my Honeycomb Alpha yoke out before 5 years were up, but the invoice is in my late wife's Amazon account and I'm working on getting access to it. I wasted most of yesterday getting access to her email so I could get the One Time Password they sent to the email. Then they sent another OTP to her phone, and it's been disconnected for a year. Now, I'm trying to go through Amazon's bereavement department.

If I can't get the yoke repaired under warranty, I'll probably go to M$F$2020 (which I have) and the Turtle Beach yoke, which uses Hall-Effect sensors.
 
Crashnburn said:
I've had five flights since I passed stage one. I've flown with three different instructors, so far. I think what works best for me is to pull the throttle to idle abeam the numbers, then when the runway is at a 45-degree angle turn base and add 10 degrees flaps. Then when I turn final if I'm too high, go to 20 degrees of flaps and adjust my speed for 65 knots. Some-time before the fence, when I have the runway made, go to 30 degrees of flaps and retrim for 65 knots. If I'm a little low, I use power to stretch the glide.
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A couple pointers from a recent 172 student:

The 172 is a merciless punisher of excess speed and rewards it with a seemingly never-ending float.

The rote 'set throttle at this point and forget it' ensures mediocre landings.

Flaps: 10• midfield downwind, 20• after base turn, 30• level on final.

Your windier days net better landings. Why? Because you can't avoid using the throttle on final and you're actually using all the controls including throttle.

Pitch for airspeed, power for altitude will not work for you if you take the 'power' part away from yourself. Stop doing that.

The sag you get on final off the papi is a function of the drag from 30• flaps. They're doing exactly what they were designed to. Modulate the throttle to maintain a stabilized approach.

And keep your hand on the throttle once you make your final power cut over the numbers or wherever. You're not done with it. Just as you start to settle to the runway, give it a 50 rpm blip, similar to the soft-field technique. That very slight blip will settle you to the runway light as a feather.
 
FancyG said:
A couple pointers from a recent 172 student:

The 172 is a merciless punisher of excess speed and rewards it with a seemingly never-ending float.

The rote 'set throttle at this point and forget it' ensures mediocre landings.

Flaps: 10• midfield downwind, 20• after base turn, 30• level on final.

Your windier days net better landings. Why? Because you can't avoid using the throttle on final and you're actually using all the controls including throttle.

Pitch for airspeed, power for altitude will not work for you if you take the 'power' part away from yourself. Stop doing that.

The sag you get on final off the papi is a function of the drag from 30• flaps. They're doing exactly what they were designed to. Modulate the throttle to maintain a stabilized approach.

And keep your hand on the throttle once you make your final power cut over the numbers or wherever. You're not done with it. Just as you start to settle to the runway, give it a 50 rpm blip, similar to the soft-field technique. That very slight blip will settle you to the runway light as a feather.
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Thanks. I add a little power if the aiming point starts rising in the windshield, and I have my hand on the throttle the whole time. My most recent 9 landings were all closed throttle (except for when I was too low) from abeam the numbers. Three of them were perfect. Three, not so good, and 4 acceptable.
 
Crashnburn said:
So, here's another life event happening. I've decided to sell my house and move to Colorado. The awesome hangar home my sister found went on contract, then back to active in a few days. I'm hoping to be able to make an offer while it's still active.

I have at least one flight's worth of money at the FBO and will probably have a second flight to finish my account off. Then I'll suspend my membership and finish up in Colorado. I'll keep studying aviation knowledge in my spare time.
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Where in colorado? There’s lots of POA here and we can provide direction to the better CFIs….
 
murphey said:
Where in colorado? There’s lots of POA here and we can provide direction to the better CFIs….
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Heading to Erie, CO. About 35 minutes north of Denver. CFI recommendations are greatly appreciated.
 
Crashnburn said:
Heading to Erie, CO. About 35 minutes north of Denver. CFI recommendations are greatly appreciated.
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I’m sure there will be many willing to take your money. The bigger of the challenge will be picking up where you’re leaving off. Starting with a new school and instructor will only inhibit forward progress that much more until you get your footing.
 
I had another lesson yesterday, I worked on Stage 2 Airwork, which I mostly am doing when I land.
Slow flight with 30 degrees flaps. Power off and power on stalls, again with 30 degrees flaps.

Almost new to me (I did them with Frank about a year ago) were accelerated stalls, left and right.
The technique is to a normal lead up to a power on stall - throttle at idle until VR, then full power. At that point, a coordinated left or right turn with no more than 10 degrees of bank.
It wasn't hard to stay coordinated going left. I didn't think much about it, but I had a lot of opposite aileron cranked in to keep from overbanking.

The left accelerated stall wasn't all that exciting, but the right one was.
I got a hard break to the left and Liam was going for the controls and starting to say "My controls" but I used my quickness and burst of adrenaline to stomp on the left rudder just enough to level the wings before he was able to finish what he started to say.

I told him on the way back that I would be moving soon, and he said that after one ride with me at any other FBO they would probably be ready to solo me.

I had a good landing. The plane ballooned a bit when I rounded out, but I'm so used to ballooning I let the nose lower a bit, then resumed landing. I was so focused on keeping the plane in the middle of the runway and headed straight down it that the plane landed when it was ready, a bit before I thought it should be landing. Liam said that was a good landing several times.

I have enough money for at least 2 more flights in my account. If I have a fair amount left, I'll go for a third and add what's needed to give me a small balance, then have them suspend the account.
 
RyanB said:
I’m sure there will be many willing to take your money. The bigger of the challenge will be picking up where you’re leaving off. Starting with a new school and instructor will only inhibit forward progress that much more until you get your footing.
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Most likely, but my flying career seems to be nothing but starts and stops, so nothing new. It seems every time I get a new instructor, I learn something new.
 
I'm a student pilot out of KAPA (Centennial). Not sure if that is too far for you travel for your lessons but I've been very happy with the school I'm working out of. They also have a school up at KBJC (Broomfield).
 
strikes2k said:
I'm a student pilot out of KAPA (Centennial). Not sure if that is too far for you travel for your lessons but I've been very happy with the school I'm working out of. They also have a school up at KBJC (Broomfield).
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Thanks
 
Here's a quick recap of my 3 most recent lessons at Aerodynamic Aviation. The first lesson was stage 2 air work. Did a couple of steep turns. It was bumpy so it was hard to hold altitude, airspeed and bank angle but I wasn't far off. Next were slow flight and stalls with 20 and 30 degrees of flaps. It was a good introduction; except I use flaps most of the time when I land.

The next lesson was at San Martin. I only got three landings there in, plus the landing back at KRHV. I mostly worked on bringing the nose up high enough when I flare. I did a no-flap landing at the home drome. I was a little high on very short final, so I did a forward slip to get on the glide path and made a good landing. I'd been told before that the airplane will be more sensitive in pitch with no flaps, and it was. I was able to adjust my inputs enough to make a good landing but offset from the center line.

The most recent lesson was closed traffic at KRHV. I got 9 landings in. We started with normal landings, and it took me a while to get used to pitching enough on the flare, again. One landing I bounced pretty good (but not dangerously). I had a good pitch attitude, so I just let the plane settle back to the runway and flared. Noah said that that second landing qualified for a landing all by itself. I don't know if my nine landings included the second landing.

After that, I worked on no flap landings, and short approaches. Those are commercial requirements, but Aerodynamic Aviation requires them for solo. Noah didn't say anything about landing on the numbers, but that will come in time.

We were taxiing down Yankee for the last takeoff and landing of the day and there was a plane stopped on Yankee facing us. It seemed like we waited 15 minutes until the pilot got his radio working. ATC had us turn around on Yankee and hold short of 31L on Bravo. Eventually, he cleared us to back taxi on 31L and to take off. That got us ahead of a long line of planes wanting to take off.

I had my choice of short approach or no-flap for the final landing, so I chose no flap. That was what I needed the most work on, mostly because recently I've pretty much mostly been attempting to do short approaches ever since I passed stage 1. Anyway, everything clicked. I flared at the right time, and enough. I kept the plane over the center line and pointed down the runway. As I flared, the stall horn started mewing, as Sergey (another CFI) would say. I felt a few small bumps as the plane touched down. As the nose went down on its own, I couldn't help myself and I said "And that's how it's done!" Noah said it was a very good landing.

That was a great landing to end the lesson, and lessons at Aerodynamic Aviation, at least for the foreseeable future.
 
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SFDukie said:
Why not solo here? Then when in CO, it’ll be easier not to restart from scratch.
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If life were ideal, I would, but its not. There's a hangar mansion on the market in Erie, CO and I need to get the best price possible for my house. The silly selling season ends around Memorial Day and the prices slump until Labor Day. The Silicon Valley housing market is in a bubble, which will burst, and I want to get out before that happens. I also want to make an offer before it goes under contract. Right now, I'm taking a giant leap of faith.

(My in-laws didn't sell when the housing market hit its peak in Las Vegas years ago, and the house eventually went underwater. I don't think that will happen to me, but it can lose value.)

I won't be starting over. Two local CFIs have told me it will only take a few flights to solo at any other FBO. When I was getting ready for my stage 1 check, my first Aerodynamic Aviation CFI (Sergey) told me I should be getting ready to solo, and the CFI who gave me my stage 1 check asked why I wasn't doing my stage 2 check (so I could solo). He said my landing was good enough, and they're a lot better now. That was in March, and my fourth landing since before Christmas.

When I first flew with Sergey, in 2021, he couldn't believe it had been 12 years since I'd last flown. I dare say I have a good chance of retaining what I've learned.
 
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