Up, Up and Away

They call me "Han Solo"

Well, after another 3 week layout, I managed to steal away from work today to get in another lesson with LittleMac. As "enlightening" as my first solo was, I had not been able to get together with Kary since then and I was getting concerned that I might start loosing what little skill I had.

I met up him during lunch today. When I got there he was pulling 51F out of the hanger (how's that for a CFI!!!). I do the preflight, we discuss what our plan is and start her up.

The first thing that I notice is that the AWOS sounded funny. Turns out they were actually installing a new unit today and the voice was different. Not only that, they moved the timing on the information (wind info is FIRST!!!). Got me all messed up. Then Kary pointed out that they are now giving temperatures in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. What the crap is that all about?!?!? Did our government get invaded by some Euro-trash? Celsius? Well, I'll be danged if I'll ever give out my altitude in meters.

Anyway, we move along and Kary tells me the plan is that we'll try a couple of Touch & Goes and then we'll just see how we both feel about doing another solo flight. After the runup, I take the runway, set the DG and add full power....or what I think is full power. I push harder on the throttle stop.....I look at the Tach and, yes, we're turning at full-power RPM's...but we're not going anywhere fast. It's amazing what training in cold weather will do to your expectations of performance. It was 82 (that's FAHRENHEIT!) so, the plane wasn't exactly jumping off the runway. But after we get going, we still rotated just past the 1000ft marks and off we go....slowly....climbing. (on a hot 98 deg August day, this plane fully loaded will make a good go-kart). I guess I just got spoiled.

Well, we make our first circuit and there is a reported 6 kt crosswind coming from about 60 degrees right of runway 20. I setup, and do the deed. Left rudder, right aileron, right wheel down, nose wheel down, left wheel down. (ok...not EXACTLY right, but no screaming from the right seat). We go twice more and they're all pretty much repeat the first. There was some light turbulence coming from the heat of the day, but nothing exciting. Just enough to make me have to stay on the controls.

I still seem to be trying to do the "high base turn" thing again, but I'm dealing with it. After the thrid landing, we discussed how we feel about it and I tell Kary I'm good to go. So, I start to taxi back to the end of Runway 20. Kary says "Just take me down to the end, I'll walk back" (ok...remember that statement...it gets funny in a few minutes). So, we do another run-up and I drop him off at the north end of the field. I taxi out, add the power and away I go.

On my "solo" flight, I didn't notice a huge weight difference during takeoff, but today it was more pronounced. As I started to slowly rotate, the plane was all but jumping off the ground. So, I eased it on back and up I went....alone....again. I climb out, still a little slower than I'm used to, and make the pattern. As I was getting to the end of the runway on downwind, I realized that I was getting pushed too far in on the runway. So, I just decided to extend my downwind and base turns a tad just so I would have room to line up with the runway. The chop and turbulence wasn't too bad at this point, so the approach was looking good.

When I got about 1/4 mile from the end of the runway, I realized I was starting to sink faster than I liked, so I added a touch of power to slow the fall. Apparently, I didn't add enough, because I was still sinking and I was getting much lower than I liked. My immediate reaction was to "pull up", so I eased back on the yoke, and there went my airspeed....right through my 70 and heading down to 65. I immediately thought to myself "power moron!", so I tapped the throttle again and dumped the nose. Now, don't get me wrong, this all took place in about 2 seconds and I never got anywhere close to the stall speed of this plane (STOL equipped C172), but when I saw that airspeed dropping and I was still 150 ft off the ground, it.....concerned me. I never dropped below 65 (which is actually best glide speed for this plane), but I didn't care to see it falling away like that. I was glad that I recognized it and was able to fix it quickly, but it was enough to rattle my cage.

With the airspeed now fixed, I put it on the ground and made it a full stop landing. As I taxied back by Kary, he asked me if everything was ok, and I just told him I had gotten a bit slow and I wanted to taxi back to have time to think about what had just happened. All was good. One of those learning moments, I guess....

I went ahead and did two more circuits. The heat turbulence was getting a little more "bouncy", so after my second trip around, I was glad to get it on the ground. But, I figured, this was a good time to stretch my comfort zone, so I added power and took off again. One funny thing that I noticed while taking off this time was that the flag at the terminal was hanging limp. I had just beat myself up for making an "ok" crosswind landing, but to my chagrin.......the wind was calm. I've never heard of a "PICW" (Pilot Induced CrossWind). Oh well, even AWOS was reporting calm.

The next final was better setup. A little lower, power right, speed right, just a tad bumpy until 50 ft agl. Flare and land. I'm done. It's hot in the cockpit and I'm tired of fighting myself on the controls.

As I exited the runway, I was in deep thought about the whole "slow" approach business. I stopped at the taxiway and waved toward Kary to see if he wanted a ride back to the terminal. (later found out he didn't see the wave). "Oh, well", I thought to myself "he said he'd just walk back". So, off I go. I taxied back to the fuel pumps, shutdown and locked up.

Meanwhile, 1 mile down the runway, poor ole (almost retired) LittleMac is hoofing the distance to the terminal. About the time I get everything locked up, I realize....when he said "I'll just walk back", he meant he'd walk down from the end of the runway (where I dropped him off) to where he was standing when I was landing....." OOPS. Only a difference of about 4000ft. This would be a good time to find a courtesy car.

Soooooo, I sheepishly met him on the taxiway with hat in hand. He seemed to be enjoying the walk....at least the first half-mile, but I'm 100% positive that I haven't heard the last of this one. Can't blame a man who has flying on his mind ;)

jf

posted by Jeff Franks @ 7:55 PM