We recap the last lesson, talk about what we're going to work on in the next few weeks, and then talk about today. The main thing today to handle first is to get our sightline down. Last lesson I was coming in for landing on the left side of the runway, pointed left. Seemed correct at the time. We go out and taxi, and stop. He points the plane in the direction I was, and it suddenly looks very crooked and to the left. We head out to the runway, and the crosswind started to come in. Ugh.
I'm doing most of the radio calls "Cleveland Regional, 60045 departing runway 3, Cleveland". I asked if he wanted Cleveland regional or Cleveland traffic, he said regional. So regional it is. I ask if we should be saying the type of plane. He says I can, but most people don't know what a Skycatcher is.
First take off, stick to the left in the crosswind. Speed's alive, checking pressures, keep right foot on, not bad, and take off. That was smooth. Then it goes a little bad. The air is gusting a little and bumpy, so all of a sudden I'm out of coordination and can't see how my alignment is. It feels like my first day in a plane all over again! I turn cross and then down, and now the wind's pushing us back to the runway. I crab to the right, and it's an ugly first pattern trip. Not so shockingly, I'm pinching towards the runway. He tells me to extend us far downwind. Says he wants me to set up alignment much further back. We go further out, turn base and then final. Looks like we are about 10 miles out.
I line up much, much better, and he says keep that sight picture. That seemed to help a lot.Now we come in to land. He has me put left wing down to counter the crosswind. And now right rudder to keep straight. He's mostly on the controls and I'm following along. I feel like we are at a 45 degree bank, and my body is pressed against the door. A little ugly landing, but because he's on the stick it comes out ok. He says that's what a landing is like in cross wind. Up we go again.
Each takeoff is a little easier, and by the third or fourth, the pattern work is pretty smooth. My tendency is to want to keep the speed up around 70-72 after takeoff so I can see the runway over my nose and make sure I'm not drifting. But he says get the nose up, let's get closer to 62. So up it goes. We want to get 500 feet above runway so we have choices in case of engine failure.
Downwinds get progressively better, and by the last one I'm crabbing in the downwind, almost looking and feeling like a real pilot. The third landing in crosswind I would say I'm sharing the controls, with the instructor doing some nudging. But pretty good.
By the time the last pattern is done, I've got takeoffs, cross, downwind, and base pretty solid. And I'm feeling more comfortable, which is key. Taking a deep breath and shaking off tension on the downwind prior to getting abeam the numbers helps release the strong grip on the stick and relax the shoulders.
Two mistakes today. First was when we decided to do a go around, (unplanned) as I came in high and fast. He says let's go around, carb heat in and full throttle. Instead of going throttle first, I push the flaps down, and he says "Full throttle"! I apologize and immediately push in throttle and carb heat at the same time. He said we will deal with the flaps after the throttle is taken care of. Wasn't a dire situation, but for some stupid reason I was worried about removing full flaps.
But the worst part of the day was the crosswind landing where we got a little extra gusts coming at us, and I just couldn't compensate. It wasn't a disaster, but the instructor had to take the controls and walk me through the proper way to handle it. I'm trying to pay attention listening to his explanation of what I did wrong as we're taxiing , but between being mad at myself and being frustrated, it's hard to hear his explanation. I ask him to repeat it after the lesson, so it sinks in better.
We head back, do all our post flight checklists and tie down the aircraft. He said he was happy with my sight picture, and we didn't have to deal with that alignment issue today. He said crosswind landings are difficult to get, but glad we did them and thought it was a good start and I made progress today.
So although it sounds like I had a terrible lesson, all in all it was a good day, as the crosswinds, small gusts and bumps were challenging. I did have some frustrations, but that was because I was dealing with something new.
1.4 on the Hobbs, now at 18.1 total.
