| Lesson 22 & 23:
Date: 3/08/2008 & 3/09/2008 Where: UZA Aircraft: Cessna 172N N517DL Instruction: 1.8/2.0 hours (air/ground) Dual Instruction with William Grannis Solo Pilot! It's early on Saturday. I'm scheduled for a 9AM flight, but the winds are high. I called AWOS and the winds were 16 - 24 knots, gusting to 37 knots. A bit too high to fly. When I arrived at the flight school, it was empty except for David's daughter my instructor, Bill. Skytech had parked all of their planes in their hangars due to the high winds. I knew I wasn't flying so Bill gave me a ground lesson on airplane performance. Great lesson, with a lot of information to review and absorb. After two hours, I headed home for the day. Sunday was a different story. It was a bit cold, but the winds were calm and the sky was clear. As I was driving in, I saw Delta Lima in the sky flying over my house. When I got to the flight school I saw Delta Lima coming in for a landing. Good thing, since I was flying in Delta Lima today. My long lost instructor, Derek, was actually giving a lesson in Delta Lima. I was flying today with Bill, however. I went out and completed my pre-flight and was soon joined by Bill in the cockpit. This was going to be an exciting day, Bill reminded me. I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I checked the weather and taxiied to runway 2 for takeoff. We were going to fly to the practice area to go over stalls and emergency procedures. I took off and headed west. After climbing to 3,000 feet, Bill had me enter slow flight. Slow flight is a portion of an airplane's performance envelope above the speed at which the plane will stall, but below the aircraft's endurance speed. This part of the performance chart is also known as "the back side of the power curve" because when flying in this area, more power is required in order to go slower and still maintain straight and level flight. A large angle of attack is required in order to maintain the altitude of the aircraft. At such low speeds, aircraft flight control surfaces begin to lose their effectiveness. Ailerons, in particular, are susceptible. The rudder remains the most efficient flight surface and the adverse effect of yaw which alters pitch is useful for altering the direction of the aircraft without the need for aileron inputs. If the ailerons are used excessively it is probable one wing will stall (due to the increased angle of attack) and send the aircraft into a spin. Again, I was nervous thinking of the solo flight that may be coming up. I slowed the plane to 60 knots. Bill chastised me for not being slower. We should've been closer to 45 - 55 knots and we were losing altitude. Bill took the controls and slowed us down further and then gave control back to me. I did a few turns to headings while in slow flight, then Bill asked me to do a power on stall. We were basically configured for a power on stall, I just had to apply full power and pull back on the yoke. Once the stall came, I released back pressure and reduced power to cruise. The nose fell off left, a bit, and I tried ailerons to correct. Big Mistake (always use rudder) as this creates a cross-controlled situation that could put us into a spin. It did not, this time, so Bill showed me what it'd look like. He took the controls and put us into a cross-controlled spin, that was actually a nose down spiraling dive. Wicked. Bill recovered and we resumed level flight. Bill pulled power and I started going through the engine failure procedures. I established a 65 knot glide and started to look for a place to land. I checked the fuel, mixture, carb heat, primer, & mags. I made a mayday call and Bill pointed out a grass strip below us and I began to maneuver for it. I was doing well, but I forgot one thing...flaps. I was lined up with the field, but by the time I was low enough to land I was halfway down the strip and the trees were approaching. Bill pointed out that I forgot about the flaps. Had I used them, I would've had a great landing. We regained altitude and headed back to UZA. This was it. We were going to do some landings and Bill was going to look for consistency. I entered the pattern and made my approach. I made a great landing. I stopped the plane on the runway and we took off again. This time, Bill pulled the power on the downwind leg. I immediately turned towards the runway and established a 65 knot glide speed. When we were close to the runway I decided to make 360 degree turn to make the runway. That seemed to work, but I again forgot flaps again. There was enough runway that I could have made a good landing, but Bill had me go around. We entered the pattern again and Bill pulled power again, just before I made my crosswind turn. I, again, aimed for the runway, established 65 knots and waited. I put in flaps :-) and we made a safe landing. Bill turned the plane around on the runway and we again took off. I flew a full pattern this time and totally greased the landing. I even got a compliment from Bill. "Nice landing!" he said as I brought the plane to a stop. We took off again, and came around for yet another landing. Another good one. Bill had me taxi over to the school and he asked for my log book. YES!! I was going to solo. After making the proper endorsements, Bill said, "OK, taxi back out there and do three takeoffs and landings to full stops. I'll be monitoring you on a handheld radio and I'll help you if you get into trouble." Cool!! This was it. I taxiied to runway 2 and audibly went over my checklist. I made a radio call, "Rock Hill traffic, Cessna 517 Delta Lima departing runway 2, staying in the pattern, Rock Hill traffic." I taxiied out to the runway and engaged full power. I was rolling. I took off and entered the pattern. The plane was really light and responding to my inputs much better than usual. I guess not having the instructor in the plane made a big difference. I took a moment and looked around, realizing that I was alone in the plane. Amazing. I got into a cruise configuration, with my head on a swivel looking for traffic. All of a sudden the radio was so busy I could hardly get a word in edgewise. I was now abeam of the numbers. "Okay, power back, carb heat, trim" I said aloud to myself, and the airplane slowed. "Flaps, 10", and soon I was at 75 knots and beginning my descent. I did my turn to base, "Flaps 20..." then final. I was a little high, so I pulled the throttle to idle, and came in to land. My speed got a bit low - down to just over 60 - and I could hear Bill's voice from previous lessons - "put the nose down...keep holding 65", so I did, and held 65. The landing was pretty good - nearly a greaser, and on the centerline. I switched off carb heat, retracted the flaps and stopped the plane. I didn't hear Bill on the radio, so assumed I could head out again. So off I went again. I firewalled the throttle and took off again. The second time around was pretty much like the first, with plenty of chatter on the radio. I watched a plane land and another take off while I was in the pattern. My landing this time was just a smooth as the first and it was on the centerline. I stopped the plane and prepared for another takeoff. Off I went. This was really cool. I couldn't believe that things were going so smoothly. It was nice. I was now on final approach and just before I touched down I got a bit of a left to right crosswind. I pushed in more power and corrected back left to the centerline for a slightly harder landing. I had done it!! I taxiied back to the school and saw Bill standing outside directing me to park Delta Lima. As I climbed out, I saw Derek and Bill approaching with camera and scissors in hand. I shook their hands and took off my outer shirt so that Bill could cut off the shirt tail (basically the entire back) of the long sleeve undershirt I was wearing. In aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot's shirt tail is a sign of the instructor's new confidence in his student. In the days of tandem trainers, the instructor would tug at the students� shirt tail whenever he was getting himself into trouble. After the first solo, the new pilot is competent in the air and does not need this safety device. After a few photos they headed in. I stayed outside to secure the plane and then followed them inside. My first solo had come and gone. Conclusion: I've done it! I soloed! I thought the claims of how the airplane flies after the instructor has left would be exaggerated by people's excitement of the first solo. Not at all - it really makes quite a difference losing about 200lbs of instructor. I only weigh about 155lbs, so the airplane was carrying quite a bit less. What I learned: Review emergency procedures. Next time I'm in the air, practice emergency landings and stalls. |