iWantWings
Pre-takeoff checklist
In my most recent (as well as first) flight review, my CFI asked me to do something that no prior CFI asked:
1. Trim for level flight on a westerly heading
2. Close my eyes
3. Make a left 270* and level off when I would *think* I'm on a northerly heading.
4. Maintain altitude and airspeed.
I kind of laughed and said "OK" as long as he keeps his eyes open.
The moment I closed my eyes it was all very "unnatural" and very odd because, although I've never done any IFR training (besides the basic recovery from unusual attitudes while under the hood), i did not even have instruments to figure this:
a.) How much pressure to I apply on the yoke to get something no more than 30*?
b.) Once I get a constant bank to the left, for how long do I keep the bank, to get through 270* left turn (and end on a 360* heading)
c.) How do I keep my altitude and airspeed in check?
So I did what "felt right", and here's what happened.
While maintaining what I thought was some constant bank, all seemed good until after about 15-20 seconds when I began hearing a slight increase in wind noise and maybe engine noise - that was a sign airspeed was increasing, which meant I was pitching down (since i wasn't playing with the RPM) so I pulled on the yoke "a little" until the engine and wind noise began going back to whta was previously "normal", and then I pitched slightly forward agai and held it there, waiting for more change in sounds. The sound "seemed" to have stabilized, so I maintained what I thought was a left turning bank at constant altitude.
What about the left 270* turn? I so blew through it... and I told my instructor I must have gone past the northerly heading because I began feeling the heat of the sun on my arms, so I guessed I must now be going on a westerly heading, so I stopped my bank and moved the controls to what I thought was wings level.
With my eyes still closed, he asked me now to do a right 180* while, again, maintaining speed and altitude, and leveling off when I thought my 180* has completed.
And so it went for about 4 to 5 minutes. When I opened my eyes, for a few seconds I had no idea where the heck I was or which way I was pointing. A few seconds later I figured I was 180* off from where I thought i was (and who knows if I had passed through it by a number of revolutions, likely so), but the good thing is that I was at about 300 feet highter than the 3000MSL i started at (surely with ups and downs).
This was an "eye opener" for someone flying with the literal "eyes closed". It was amazing how the only things I could rely on were the sound of the wind going past the fuselage, the note of the engine RMP, and the heat of the sun on my face and hands.
You gotta love and kiss those instruments
... or the ability to see the sky.
1. Trim for level flight on a westerly heading
2. Close my eyes
3. Make a left 270* and level off when I would *think* I'm on a northerly heading.
4. Maintain altitude and airspeed.
I kind of laughed and said "OK" as long as he keeps his eyes open.
The moment I closed my eyes it was all very "unnatural" and very odd because, although I've never done any IFR training (besides the basic recovery from unusual attitudes while under the hood), i did not even have instruments to figure this:
a.) How much pressure to I apply on the yoke to get something no more than 30*?
b.) Once I get a constant bank to the left, for how long do I keep the bank, to get through 270* left turn (and end on a 360* heading)
c.) How do I keep my altitude and airspeed in check?
So I did what "felt right", and here's what happened.
While maintaining what I thought was some constant bank, all seemed good until after about 15-20 seconds when I began hearing a slight increase in wind noise and maybe engine noise - that was a sign airspeed was increasing, which meant I was pitching down (since i wasn't playing with the RPM) so I pulled on the yoke "a little" until the engine and wind noise began going back to whta was previously "normal", and then I pitched slightly forward agai and held it there, waiting for more change in sounds. The sound "seemed" to have stabilized, so I maintained what I thought was a left turning bank at constant altitude.
What about the left 270* turn? I so blew through it... and I told my instructor I must have gone past the northerly heading because I began feeling the heat of the sun on my arms, so I guessed I must now be going on a westerly heading, so I stopped my bank and moved the controls to what I thought was wings level.
With my eyes still closed, he asked me now to do a right 180* while, again, maintaining speed and altitude, and leveling off when I thought my 180* has completed.
And so it went for about 4 to 5 minutes. When I opened my eyes, for a few seconds I had no idea where the heck I was or which way I was pointing. A few seconds later I figured I was 180* off from where I thought i was (and who knows if I had passed through it by a number of revolutions, likely so), but the good thing is that I was at about 300 feet highter than the 3000MSL i started at (surely with ups and downs).
This was an "eye opener" for someone flying with the literal "eyes closed". It was amazing how the only things I could rely on were the sound of the wind going past the fuselage, the note of the engine RMP, and the heat of the sun on my face and hands.
You gotta love and kiss those instruments
... or the ability to see the sky.
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