| Lesson 21:
Date: Sunday 3/02/2008 Where: UZA Aircraft: Cessna 172N N517DL Instruction: 1.5/0.5 hours (air/ground) Dual Instruction with William Grannis Pre-Solo? It's a beautiful Sunday. Blue skies with light wind. I arrived right on time and went out to complete my pre-flight on Delta Lima. I couldn't find the fuel tester, so I had to make some trips between planes and finally found one. Jill had used Delta Lima's testor to check the fuel on another plane and left it there. No biggie. When I finished my pre-flight Bill joined me. We had a brief discussion regarding today's lesson. What I needed to do was make 3 takeoffs and landings that were consistent. If that was accomplished, then I would solo repeating 3 takeoffs and landings. We headed to runway 20 for take off. I reviewed my checklist, completed my runup, and took off. I made my radio calls and began my approach for final. Right before I touched down, Bill said, "go around". I applied full power, pushed in carb heat, turned slightly right of the runway and retracted the flaps 10 degrees. "Good job", Bill said. I turned for crosswind, then downwind, base, then final. On final I was really high, so I decided to go around again. Not starting off well today. Long story short, after 15 take offs, 2 go arounds, and 13 landings I was just not consistent enough to solo. There was nothing wrong with my take offs or go arounds. I know my emergency procedures, but landing has been my issue. Let me help to explain why. Since I started flying, the only person to walk me through a landing is Derek. Nothing against Derek, because he's a great instructor, but after he left, for his hiatus, I've only practiced landings for one hour with Bill and no one else. Bill's never said, here's what you're doing wrong and here's what you're doing right. When Derek was teaching me, I never wrote anything down (I was busy flying the plane). Throughout the flight, today, Bill didn't speak. I understand why, because if I was flying solo, I couldn't just look over and say, "Bill, what should I do now?". That's understandable, but maybe around landing 9 or 10 he should've said, "OK, you're not going to solo today. Here's what you're doing wrong. Let's try to correct these things by doing this and that, etc...". So after my 13th landing, Bill decided that it wasn't my day. I was landing the plane, bouncing on one, dropping out of the sky on another, and slipping off to the right on one. Every other landing was good. Not a big deal, just not my day. We sat in the cockpit and walked through the landings and the complete landing procedure. Here is what I've come up with: 1. When you are 1/4 mile from the runway, turn downwind (make a call). Slow the plane to 80 - 85 knots and power back to around 2000 rpm. 2. When you are abeam the runway numbers, pull on carb heat, power back to 1500 rpm, and extend 10� of flaps. Lower the nose to begin a 500 fpm descent. Airspeed should drop to 75 knots. 3. When the threshold of the runway is 45� behind you, turn left base (make call), and apply another 10� of flaps. Your airspeed should be down to 70 knots. 4. Turn Final (make call). Use power to control your altitude, and pitch to control airspeed. Approach at 60 - 65 knots. When you are on short final, extend 10� more flaps, and aim the plane for the threshold. Do not let the plane go below 60 knots. Use the rudder pedals to keep the plane aligned with the runway center-line. 5. When you are a few feet off the ground, gently power back and raise the nose, and allow the wheels to settle onto the runway. Power back all the way, apply full back pressure on the yoke, and brake if necessary. Maybe next weekend I'll do this and be consistent. I really hope so. Conclusion: Work on landings. Make them more consistent. Follow the steps above. What I learned: Follow the steps I outlined above when landing. Control the plane all the way to the ground. ALL THE WAY! |
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