Monday, July 30, 2007

Lesson Three

Wow, this was an exciting lesson. We did mostly slow flight today and practiced stalls. The really interesting part was when we were practicing the power-on stall. I knew from my readying, and what Mike had told me that, as the angle of attack increased, and with the really slow airspeed I would need quite a bit of right rudder to counteract the p-factor, gyroscopic effect, corkscrewing slipstream, and torque reaction. What I didn't know, or rather forgot, was that it is important to release that right rudder once the break happens. Well of course with the right rudder, and then I inadvertently turned the ailerons into the direction of our dropping wing, we started to spin. The caused a lot of pucker factor in my case and started saying, "mike, Mike, MIKE!". Of course, he calmly recovered from the spin I put us into, but he did say "that was the first for me with a student!". I think it was only 1/2 a spin but it got my attention at any rate. At least I better know what to do in a stall now, use the rudder to keep the wings level.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

First Lesson

I had my first flying lesson today with Mike. It went very smoothly although the ride was a little bumpy. We covered the basics, four fundamentals of flight, best rate & angle of climb, cruise decent, and what it means to be in the pattern., Mike also showed me how to tune in the VOR and we even flew over it to see what a VOR looks like. More to come!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Condor Aero Flying Club

Thanks to a new friend I made on a recent dirt bike riding trip, who just so happens to be a private pilot as well as an excellent rider, I have now signed on as a member of the Condor Aero Club. After looking around at some of the other schools in the area, this one appealed to me the most, mainly because:
  • one of the few flying clubs around (maybe the only one?)
  • club has been in operation since 1957
  • as a member, you actually become a part owner of the airplanes
  • top notch CFIs and maintenance
  • lower rental rates than any school I've seen
  • 2 Cessna 152 trainers, 4 Cessna 172s, and 1 Piper Arrow - should be no shortage of planes to rent
I just went to the first meeting where I had my first reading as a prospective member. I also met my future CFI for the first time, Mike Woods. Very different guy from the CFI I flew with at Airquest, for one he talks. I think we'll get along fine.