MBDiagMan
Final Approach
I haven't been here in quite a while. My life underwent massive change in 2016. Very early in the year my lovely wife of 42 years passed away unexpectedly three days before my last day of work before retirement. I had thought that retirement was going to mean LOTS of flying, but it hasn't worked out that way. LOTS of things have kept me from flying very much, so the expected result was imminent. My flying is getting rusty.
I was moving toward buying a Mooney and stepping up. I have located a beautiful Mooney and am probably within a few days of making an offer and having them ferry it to my home field. I have a great instructor there with lots of Mooney time. My plan was to fly with him until he signs off my complex endorsement and start doing some traveling.
I spent lots of time on this forum in 2011 while I slogged through the Tailwheel training after buying my Cessna 140. To get everyone up to date, I passed my checkride and now have about 325 hours total time with about 300 of those hours Tailwheel.
At this point you might think it sounds as if I am ready to step up to a faster, retractable aircraft. The Mooney instructor who did my BFR a year ago says I am ready because of how he remembers me flying during my BFR and since I have made it through all the tailwheel time without a ground loop(for whatever that is worth.) of course I am rusty sice that BFR, so he doesn't know my flying skill or lack thereof at this point.
I was comfortable that I was ready to move up to the Mooney until today.. CAP had been courting me to come back to CAP and take my first Form 5 flight. I went for a familiarization flight today. I have never flown a 172 before which is no big deal. The panel layout and everything was much different to what I am used to, so I was trying to get used to where everything was located. Normally, no big deal. Throw in, however that the wind was variable and from 12 to 20 gusting to 25. It was 2:00 in the afternoon and really rougher air than I am accustomed to. Since I fly tailwheel I just don't fly in winds like that especially if there is much of a crosswind component.
The check pilot kept wanting me to land by crabbing with the rudder and straightening at the last second, but that is just not what I am used to. I land by keeping the plane parallel with the runway using the rudder and on the centerline with the ailerons. I had lots of trouble getting decent landings although I don't think I was ever in any serious danger, only the landings were not at all graceful.
Yesterday morning I went flying in my 140 in reasonably good conditions. I didn't do the best flying of my life, but I didn't fly too bad although I know I have been sharper in the past.
Okay, all that said, I really felt rusty and not very confident after today's flight. Am I making a mistake stepping up to a Mooney at this point? My thinking is that even if I spend a bunch of duel hours in the Mooney to get back in the saddle again, surely it won't be the ordeal that I went through to get my private in the taildragger.
So all you CFI's and old salt pilots, what say you?
Thanks in advance for your comments and advice.
I was moving toward buying a Mooney and stepping up. I have located a beautiful Mooney and am probably within a few days of making an offer and having them ferry it to my home field. I have a great instructor there with lots of Mooney time. My plan was to fly with him until he signs off my complex endorsement and start doing some traveling.
I spent lots of time on this forum in 2011 while I slogged through the Tailwheel training after buying my Cessna 140. To get everyone up to date, I passed my checkride and now have about 325 hours total time with about 300 of those hours Tailwheel.
At this point you might think it sounds as if I am ready to step up to a faster, retractable aircraft. The Mooney instructor who did my BFR a year ago says I am ready because of how he remembers me flying during my BFR and since I have made it through all the tailwheel time without a ground loop(for whatever that is worth.) of course I am rusty sice that BFR, so he doesn't know my flying skill or lack thereof at this point.
I was comfortable that I was ready to move up to the Mooney until today.. CAP had been courting me to come back to CAP and take my first Form 5 flight. I went for a familiarization flight today. I have never flown a 172 before which is no big deal. The panel layout and everything was much different to what I am used to, so I was trying to get used to where everything was located. Normally, no big deal. Throw in, however that the wind was variable and from 12 to 20 gusting to 25. It was 2:00 in the afternoon and really rougher air than I am accustomed to. Since I fly tailwheel I just don't fly in winds like that especially if there is much of a crosswind component.
The check pilot kept wanting me to land by crabbing with the rudder and straightening at the last second, but that is just not what I am used to. I land by keeping the plane parallel with the runway using the rudder and on the centerline with the ailerons. I had lots of trouble getting decent landings although I don't think I was ever in any serious danger, only the landings were not at all graceful.
Yesterday morning I went flying in my 140 in reasonably good conditions. I didn't do the best flying of my life, but I didn't fly too bad although I know I have been sharper in the past.
Okay, all that said, I really felt rusty and not very confident after today's flight. Am I making a mistake stepping up to a Mooney at this point? My thinking is that even if I spend a bunch of duel hours in the Mooney to get back in the saddle again, surely it won't be the ordeal that I went through to get my private in the taildragger.
So all you CFI's and old salt pilots, what say you?
Thanks in advance for your comments and advice.
