Up, Up and Away

Wow, this is..........different

Today started out with beautiful clear skies, 40 degrees and dead calm winds. “Great day to fly” I thought.

Since Kary, my instructor, works evenings at his “real job” (well, he’s a UAW member, so “job” is the only term I can think of to nicely explain “away from home”) I have to do most of my flying on weekday mornings when I can tear away from work.

That’s been my problem as of late, I can’t seem to get the weather, my and Kary’s work schedules and life in general to come together for a lesson or two every week. Like I mentioned in my last blog, it had been 5 weeks. Now, I’ve let another 2 go by and still no flying.

Well, “not today!” I say. I decided to take my Dad up on an offer he had made to fly with me just to get the extra time in. I know this early in my flying it could be argued that I don’t need the “confusion” of flying a different plane (My brother was up in my normal one), but I figured after 7 weeks and one lesson, ANY flying is better than no flying.

So, I meet up with Dad at LUG a little before 4:00pm and the weather is still great. Scott was making some Touch-and-go’s in 51F that I got to critique (that would come back to haunt me). We loaded up in Charlie Charlie (Dad’s 172) and I immediately realized how different things can get. ALL of the instruments are in different places, the rudder pedals have “safety rails” and even the yoke “feels” different.

I flew in CC with Dad a few months back and realized it was different then, but I’ve been in 51F so much lately and I’ve been doing so much more in 51F, Charlie Charlie just seemed….weird.

After the runup and taxi out, I realize the first difference is in the power. CC has a 160hp Lycoming engine while ours has a 145hp Continental. The difference isn't dramatic but, since I’m used to 51F, I immediately felt the extra 15hp.

Another interesting thing is that in CC, you actually have to pull to rotate off the ground. 51F has an aftermarket STOL (Short Take-off and Landing) kit on it, so the handling at slow speeds is different. During takeoff of 51F, you just kinda “think” about rotating and the plane comes up and doesn’t try to settle back into the runway. With CC, you have to pull a little to get the nose in the air and then push it back down to keep from rearing all the way up. Not a big deal, but….again….different.

We climb out and start doing the circuits around the pattern. And oh, my. We managed about 15 landings in an hour+, so I had plenty of time to work out my issues…..

Landing 1 – Too close to the runway on downwind. Let the quartering tailwind push me in and by the time I was turning base, I was sort of on an “anti-final”. Made the turn in and was high. Dad threw in 30 degrees of flaps and I made my first full flap landing….was….different. (seeing a trend here?)

Landing 2 – Again, too close to the runway, but better. Extended downwind and turned in this time a little high. Killed the power and dropped like a brick….I really miss my STOL kit.

Landings 3 thru 8 – More of the same. I fixed the pattern and squared it off with the wind….doing better. Now I’m getting frustrated because the plane WON’T fall for me. Before, it sank much faster than 51F, now I can pull power and we just lumber up there forever. More 30 deg flap landings and I'm sure Dad is getting tired of hearing me say "wow, that's different"

Landing 9 – Again, high on base/final turns. This time I get smart and say “Hey, I’m gonna slip this thing down to where I should be”. I’ve done slips many times in 51F and they are quite fun. For those of you who don’t know, a slip is simply a way of making your airplane a rock. You Cross-Control the airplane (e.g. Left Aileron, Right Rudder) and this turns the side of your plane into the relative “wind”. Imagine driving a boat at 30 mph in the water and then suddenly being able to turn the boat slightly sideways in relation to the way you are going. This drag of the water (air in a plane) really does a number to slow you down and help you drop very fast.

Well, in my attempt to slip Charlie Charlie, I failed to take into account what I had already commented to Dad about. CC’s rudder is considerably “heavier” feeling than 51F’s. Meaning that to accomplish the same thing, I have to push harder on the pedals in CC than in 51F.

So, here we are…300ft higher than I needed to be on final….needing to come down fast, but not gain speed. I drop the nose, add left aileron, push right rudder and…….nothing…..the tail ain’t moving. Meanwhile, while I’m trying to discern what I’m doing wrong, we’re gaining speed….. lots of speed. We recover withought breaking anything and I'm sure at this point Dad is thinking “How much does Kary charge you for these “lessons”?”.

My mind is reeling, trying to figure out what just happened….then it dawns on me. It’s a moment not unlike Einstein’s understanding of the theory of Relativity. The Franks Equation!

Nose Down + Left Aileron + Right Rudder = Slip

Nose Down + Left Aileron – Right Rudder = Strafing Run


Note to self: If the pedal ain’t moving, you ain’t pushing hard enough.


Landing 10 – The turning point. On this landing, like most all of the ones today, I was high and fast. I was determined to get my altitude issue fixed and was letting the speed get out of whack in the process. Dad had told me to just use the same speeds I use in 51F for climbout and approach. The problem was that as I was working the altitude, I was off my airspeed. So while I am always trying to nail 70 mph in 51F, I can let it slide to 75ish on short final without any problems. I just float a little in the flare and we land…….

Well, back in Charlie Charlie, on this landing I let my speed hit about 80 on short final since I was trying to lose the altitude that I had screwed up. No big deal, I think…we’ll float a little. Well, I round it out, and wait……and wait……..and wait……there goes the midway turnoff….and I wait…..”hey Dad, look….it says runway 20 on this end!” …..and wait…..there goes Chapel Hill….still floating….."look kids! Mammoth Cave!"..........squirp……..we’re on the ground.

WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?! I’m totally confused as to why I’m floating so long. I understand that extra speed isn’t what I want, but a few MPH extra shouldn’t do THAT to me. That’s when Dad reminds me…..Charlie Charlie’s airspeed indicator is in knots….not miles per hour. Quickly my internal calculator goes to processing…I crossed the numbers doing 80 (KNOTS mind you)….that’s 92 MPH!!!! No wonder I’m floating! I’m on short final doing 51F’s cruise speed!

Note to self: Nail the airspeed and know the units of measure your dealing with.


Landings 11-15 – Nothing too great to report about these. I worked hard to fly a 65 kt (that’s 1.15 X 1 MPH, in case I haven’t mentioned it) approach, but still managed to be waaaay high on every one of them. I’m not talking a little high, I’m talking WAAAAY high. I’d like to blame it on the plane differences, but it was me. Dunno why, I’ve never done it like this before, but hey. I got to see the airport from a whole new vantage point.

All in all, I’m really glad I went. I picked up on several things that I do in 51F that I had to do differently in CC, but that was good. It made me “feel” for the rudders and what they were doing more, it helped me realize the “whys” as much as the “whens”.

Things like the different view out the window and the different cowling on the engine played with my perception, but I liked it. Once I got used to it, it helped me understand by making me accomplish the same goals by doing it “differently”.

Was good. And a great time flying with my Dad. Can’t beat that!

jf

posted by Jeff Franks @ 10:00 PM