| Lesson 29:
Date: 4/13/2008 Where: UZA to UZA Aircraft: Cessna 172N N517DL Instruction: 1.6/.2 hours (air/ground) Dual Instruction with Derek Alter Soft Fields and Short Fields again� Just like last week, I was supposed to fly on Saturday, but the weather wasn�t looking good. I was supposed to fly from 12 � 2. I spoke with Derek and since I could see the weather rolling in, I cancelled the lesson. It ended up pouring down rain for the next few hours. Good call. Sunday was beautiful. I arrived at the flight school at 1545. Derek briefed me on today�s lesson. We were going to be doing short field and soft field take offs and landings again as well as review stalls, turns around a point and S-turns. I went out and completed my pre-flight, then jumped into the cockpit and waited for Derek. I checked the weather and the wind was changing direction on us. I taxied to runway 20 for takeoff. Derek asked me to do a soft field takeoff. I put in 10 degrees of flaps and rolled onto the runway with no brakes and the yoke in my chest. Once in ground effect I lowered the nose slightly and then I climbed out at Vx. Once in the air, I climbed to2,500 feet and we headed towards Chester. We were going to practice my turns around a point and S-turns. Derek a picked out a small cow pasture with a tree in the middle. I started my turn. I had been trying to keep the point lined up with the center of the wing, however, with wind, this maneuver was going to be different. I knew what direction the wind coming from and Derek explained how I�d need to steepen my turn at certain points of the turn because the wind would be blowing me closer or further from my point. I made about 6 or 7 circles around the tree. I think I did well. Derek said that we could move on. I climbed back to 2,500 feet while both Derek and I searched for a railroad track so that I could practice my S-turns. It took us a bit, but we finally found it. On the way we flew by a set of parachutists over Chester. I flew parallel to the tracks for a bit and then started my S-turn. An S-turn is basically a turn around a point except you�re changing directions half way. The wind played a big factor again in this maneuver. I had to make each turn more shallow or steep depending on the direction of the wind. I did this well, except for the altitude loss/gain. When I complete my checkride I only have 100 ft +/- to play with. I figure I just need to get the maneuver down first, then I can perfect it. Derek had me head back to UZA so that we could practice the short and soft field landings. We checked the weather and the wind was still out of the 300. That meant we were going to use runway 20 to land. I maneuvered for the 45 and made a call. �Rock Hill traffic, 5-1-7 delta lima, is 4 miles out maneuvering for the 45 for landing on runway 20.� I heard some traffic to our 5 o�clock. There were two planes about 10 miles out separated by about 3 or 4 miles. I knew we had time to complete our landing. Derek wanted me to do a short filed landing. I set up for a normal landing, dumped in full flaps, and made a steep approach. We touched down and I lifted the flaps and pushed hard on the brakes. They squealed and Derek had me ease up. In a short field landing you want to land in a full stall. I anticipated the flare too early and we ballooned up slightly. I was able to save the landing, but the landing wasn�t great. We taxied off the runway to make room for the two aircraft in the pattern behind us. According to the windsock it looked like we should move to takeoff on runway 2. We made our way to the runup area and watched the two planes land. The pattern was now clear, so I made a call and rolled onto the runway for a short field takeoff. I put in flaps and held the brakes while I fire walled the throttle. I checked the engine instruments and released the brakes. We were rolling. Once we climbed out Derek pulled the power on me to simulate an engine out. I turned back to the airport. I dropped in full flaps and nosed over the drop altitude. Derek helped me slip the plane in and I lined up for landing on runway 20. We came in smooth and I knew I could land. I put the plane on the runway and slowed to a stop. I taxied back to takeoff on runway 2 again. This was going to be a normal takeoff. Once we were at pattern altitude I made a crosswind turn. Derek again pulled power and I again turned towards the airport. I dumped in full flaps and began my descent. I tried to slip the plane, but my hand caught my kneeboard and cut the top of my hand. Suddenly the wind changed direction and about 15 feet above the runway we experienced some low level wind shear. This can cause a momentary loss of airspeed and lift. The plane quickly shifted to the right of the runway. Derek grabbed the controls and announced that we were going around. After a positive exchange of controls, Derek said that we were going to practice stalls. I performed a power on and a power off stall with no issues. Derek now demonstrated an unusual stall. He wanted to show me that the plane could stall at any speed if the load factor is increased. Derek put us into a very tight turn and pulled up slightly. My face started to droop as the g-forces increased. We kept on turning and turning. I heard Derek say that we might not stall. Finally, I heard the stall warning just before I felt a slight stall. We were at 70+ knots when the stall occurred. It was my turn. I put the plane into a turn and pulled back on the yoke at the same time. This time the plane stalled much faster and I recovered just as if it were a normal stall with power. I am not sure how the next maneuver started or why, but with speed, Derek pulled the yoke back and the plane started a steep climb. I looked outside and could swear the wings were perpendicular to the ground. As my eyes came back inside the plane I saw my syllabus floating by Derek�s face. WHOA! We were weightless. Finally the plane stalled and Derek recovered. Wow. That was the most intense stall I had encountered. Nice. It was time to head back to UZA. We checked the weather and the wind was favoring runway 20. We also heard another pilot call Rock Hill Unicom and ask about airport conditions. The response was that the windsock was blowing towards 010. That meant that the winds favored runway 2 for landing. Derek was going to have me do a straight in final. I made a call. �Rock Hill traffic, 5-1-7 delta lima, is 5 miles out for a straight in final on runway 2, Rock Hill.� The other pilot said, �Rock Hill traffic, CAP (garbled) Mike Yankee is 10 miles out following Delta Lima for final on runway 2, Rock Hill.� As we were making our approach, we heard, �Rock Hill Traffic, 8-1-8 sierra papa, is departing runway 20 to the south, Rock Hill.� They were heading right for us! Derek jumped on the radio and made a call, �Rock Hill traffic, 5-1-7 delta lima, is altering course to left downwind for landing on runway 20, Rock Hill.� Derek�s call was followed by the Civil Air Patrol pilot, �Rock Hill traffic, Mike Yankee is amending last call and will be following delta lima to a left downwind for runway 20, Rock Hill�. We swung left in preparation to enter the pattern. I watched at about 11 o�clock low as sierra papa, rotated and climbed off of runway 20. We�re not sure why he didn�t hear our call or the other pilot�s call about landing on runway 2, but either way, he made a decision to takeoff from runway 20, in our direct path. Our landing was an uneventful crosswind landing. We taxied back to the ramp and parked the plane for the night. Conclusion: I am good at flying the airplane, I just need to practice the small things. I have the soft and short field takeoffs down, but like all of my landings, I need to practice both the short and soft field. I also need to make sure my kneeboard is not in the way of my hands when maneuvering. What I learned: Don�t anticipate the flare on the short field landings. Unusual stalls. S-turns and turns around a point will vary with the wind direction. Try to stay the same distance away from my point at all times. |