Aileron

I had my fourth lesson Friday evening at N51, but with a different CFI from the last time I flew there. I'll describe the lesson a bit and then go into the result of my airport/instructor decision.

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We began with a fairly detailed review of basic maneuvers and how the control surfaces act upon the plane, followed by a preflight inspection of the 1977 Cessna 152. I flew a takeoff for the second time, this time with much improvement since I was able to anticipate the plane's left-turning tendency, but it was still not quite a straight takeoff run since I had to experiment a bit to get a feel for the required rudder pressure. We then climbed to about 2000 ft. as we headed to the Round Valley practice area. It was a perfect evening for flying. The air was absolutely calm and evening was settling in. I saw a hot air balloon as we left the airport and one other small plane at the practice area. We practiced turns, climbs, and slow flight.

I'm feeling better about my level turns because, again, I'm more able to anticipate how the plane will react. I also learned that the attitude indicator has convenient tick marks for a 30° turn, 45° turn, etc. (smart people, these aeronautical engineers), and this made holding a 30° bank much easier because I didn't have to memorize a sight picture. I also learned to pick a reference point on the engine cowling directly in front of me instead of on the centerline of the plane so that the reference point remains the same distance from the horizon regardless of the turn direction. And I made a 360° turn that was level enough to hit my own wake for the first time, which was pretty cool; it meant that I arrived back at exactly the same spot where I started the turn.

I also tried controlling the plane in slow flight for the first time, which is where the plane is flown level very near the stall speed, maybe 40–45 kts for the 152, by using a high angle of attack. This is what's known as mushing, when the wings are not so much riding on the air anymore but are rather plowing through it. It's an inefficient, brute-force way to generate lift. And the plane is much harder to control at this speed; there's a strong tendency to roll to one side and I needed large aileron inputs to hold a bank.

Finally, bracketed by the sun dipping below the horizon and the rising full moon rising, I flew most of the landing pattern back at N51 until about 30 ft above ground (AGL) at which point my CFI took over for the actual landing.

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So at this point I have flown at three airports with four instructors in two models of aircraft. In picking an airport/instructor, I considered the (a) distance from my house, (b) aircraft rental rate, (c) instructor rate, (d) available aircraft, (e) schedule flexibility, (f) runway length and obstructions, and (g) instructor teaching style, where teaching style was given the most weight.

All of the instructors recognized that I've already done a lot of reading on my own and suggested training would be accelerated because of that, which was good because I wanted to capitalize on the time I've already put in.

I found I prefer the high-wing 152 over the Cherokee because it gives an unobstructed view when I look down. Also when I've fantasized about flight training before, it was a Cessna that flew around my head, so that unfortunately ruled out Somerset (KSMQ), even though all the people there were extremely friendly. KSMQ also has a shorter runway at 2739 ft. (vs. 3510 ft. at 47N and 3735 ft. at N51). One should not plan on overrunning a runway, but I do make mistakes and it's probably a good idea to build in some padding. KSMQ also seemed reluctant to schedule evening lessons after 1700.

For the remaining two airports, both 47N and N51 have Cessna 152s, although N51 is cheaper. N51 also has the longest runway surrounded by open ground (i.e. no trees). Finally, the CFI I flew with Friday placed the most emphasis of the four instructors on theory. He constantly quizzed me and didn't hesitate to point out my mistakes during flight. N51 it is. I've scheduled two more lessons there for this week, Friday and Sunday. I am now, dare I say, a student pilot.

I'm pretty excited the selection process is done with, since each flight so far more or less started over from the beginning. I feel like having the same instructor will allow me to actually build upon what I already know and make progress in my flight abilities. My goal is to schedule two or three lessons per week moving forward, although that's easier said than done, because of work travel, planning for my wedding, i.e. life, but we will see.

• Flight Hours: 3.5
• METAR KSMQ 312353Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 26/14 A2979 RMK AO2 SLP086 T02610144 10322 20261 56007

Labels: Flight Lessons