Greetings Everyone;
This was a long time coming, but today was the day. Aviation has always been a great interest to me. I've spent a lot of time reading about aviation, watching the sky, and trying to beg a few GA rides where I could. Recently, the better-half suggested I quit talking and do something about it.
Today, I put the first 1.1 hours in the logbook on the way to my PPL. Weather at DCU was clear, sunny, with a light wind. My lesson was at 1300 today (my choosing) and I've had my first experience with afternoon thermals! It was a little bumpy which made, not my first GA flight, but first training flight a fun ride. My instructor had me fly from the time we left the pattern until we returned to the pattern; I really wasn't expecting that during my first lesson. I guess I expected a little more "watch me" instead of "do this" although I prefer how it happened versus what I expected. I will be training in a 1975 Grumman TR2 which "rides" much differently than the Cessna's and Piper's I've flown in before. The bubble canopy and crisp controls really do make you think "fighter" instead of trainer.
My long range plan is to get my PPL and start working my IFR rating as soon as it's practical. Of course I will probably not be able to resist having a lot of fun flying after being minted a new pilot. In the short term I'm planning to fly twice per week if weather and schedules hold out. There are many excuses: work, young family, mounting costs, but I really hope to stick to the schedule.
I will try to update this thread from time to time with my thoughts and experiences on training because I really enjoyed reading others journeys as I prepared to begin mine.
This was a long time coming, but today was the day. Aviation has always been a great interest to me. I've spent a lot of time reading about aviation, watching the sky, and trying to beg a few GA rides where I could. Recently, the better-half suggested I quit talking and do something about it.
Today, I put the first 1.1 hours in the logbook on the way to my PPL. Weather at DCU was clear, sunny, with a light wind. My lesson was at 1300 today (my choosing) and I've had my first experience with afternoon thermals! It was a little bumpy which made, not my first GA flight, but first training flight a fun ride. My instructor had me fly from the time we left the pattern until we returned to the pattern; I really wasn't expecting that during my first lesson. I guess I expected a little more "watch me" instead of "do this" although I prefer how it happened versus what I expected. I will be training in a 1975 Grumman TR2 which "rides" much differently than the Cessna's and Piper's I've flown in before. The bubble canopy and crisp controls really do make you think "fighter" instead of trainer.
My long range plan is to get my PPL and start working my IFR rating as soon as it's practical. Of course I will probably not be able to resist having a lot of fun flying after being minted a new pilot. In the short term I'm planning to fly twice per week if weather and schedules hold out. There are many excuses: work, young family, mounting costs, but I really hope to stick to the schedule.
I will try to update this thread from time to time with my thoughts and experiences on training because I really enjoyed reading others journeys as I prepared to begin mine.
We flew out to the practice area and went through turns to a heading, configuration changes, and slow flight. I really need to work on not fixating on the instruments and getting my head out of the cockpit. When I hear "turn to heading X and slow to X knots" I clear the turn, start the turn, and put my head down. I'm also hearing a lot of "look outside" from the right seat. 
I also realized that I'm griping the yoke to death with one hand which is causing me to 'bounce the nose' ever time my grip changes tension. Relax, relax, relax! We turned back towards the airport and I started my descent to get under the Class C shelf. I kept waiting to hear "I have the controls" but it never came. The instructor made the radio call and we crossed over midfield to the downwind. I kept waiting to hear "I have the controls" but it never came. Made the configuration changes and turned base and I'm still flying this thing. I think he's going to take it at any moment, but he has me turn final I finally accept he's going to have me land this thing! Well, I didn't bounce but we arrived. 
Turns to heading, climbs and descents, slow flight all accomplished with the foggles on. I have to remember to ask "clear right" and "clear left" before turning with a safety pilot. In actual IMC it would probably feel much different, but I liked instrument flying. We got off the ground a little late this morning because I took a little too much time asking questions during our ground lesson so the next part of our flying lesson was abbreviated. You can read about stalls, see animations of stalls, and even watch demonstrations on YouTube. But to actually experience one in a training airplane is downright disconcerting. I knew what to expect and I was still surprised by what it felt like as we entered the stall. My instructor demonstrated the Power-On, Power-Off, and Trim stall. After each demonstration I had a chance to do the recovery on my own. My first attempt was the Power-Off stall and I was way too lazy on my rudder and too overzealous on the yoke push. My instructor can get the airplane to stall and have both wings stall simultaneously; I however got the right wing to drop on my first stall and it scared me enough that I slammed the yoke into the instrument panel. That's a no-no for those following along; release back pressure, full throttle, and don't get uncoordinated and the airplane will recover. After the stalls it was time to head back so we found a hole and ducked under the cloud layer. I guess the stalls really shook me up because I was all over the place on the way back to the pattern. I was 100 feet too low on my midfield cross, late on my downwind turn, way too late on my final turn. My instructor was able to salvage my poor setup and he still had me land as he assisted. We get slowed down and make the runway exit and after landing checklist. Then I almost completely forget how to taxi.
