AvGas

Today’s lesson went well…Karl was running a bit late and I did the pre-flight checks on my own…nothing missed. It is pretty clear that Karl prefers for me to take the initiative in determining airworthiness, i.e. “Karl the airplane is pre-flight checked and we are ready to go” as opposed to “Karl, did I miss anything?”. I think it works out to be a good method…requires more careful thought on my part. Today we were out in N2321M, the last of the three WVFC Piper Warriors. Taxi was a bit rough…N2321M didn’t want to idle below 1000RPM and it was a bit difficult to keep it on target. On takeoff approach I nearly went off the runway and Karl had to help out…but, it allowed me to get practical understanding of differential braking. Takeoff was not so hot again…I think I am trying too hard for the perfect takeoff. I think next time I just need to relax a bit more and it will flow better.In flight today we practiced slow flight…my slow flying took us down to about 60 kts…and it really felt ‘almost-fall-out-of-the-sky’ slow to me…especially with the pitch attitude required to maintain altitude. Karl got us down to about 48 kts with controlled slow flight manuevers…and demonstrated both power-on and power-off stalls. The stalls were not the most exciting part of my day…but I’d better get used to them according to Karl.

Steep turns were the best part of the lesson, and certainly the part in which I did the best. No landing approach this time…Karl took over as we got down around 1000 feet.

All in all a good lesson. I certainly don’t feel like a natural with this…which makes me want to work harder. I am looking forward to the next outing on 7/5.

Today was my second lesson out of SQL (San Carlos)…bright and early at 0730. Weather was good with marine layer over the coast, and scattered clouds over the Bay. All in all, pretty good VFR weather. Our takeoff wasn’t quite as good as last time…we were on runway 12 this time, and I think I am a bit paranoid as to how much back pressure to use on the yoke during takeoff (too much reading on stalls). I am hoping that the takeoff will be smoother during our next lesson with less of Karl’s help. Today we were in Piper Warrior N81024…which Karl described as a bit “aenemic”…although at $65/hr., it is a pretty good deal compared to the other two $89/hr. Warriors. To be honest, I didn’t notice a bit of difference, and was happy to save $20.Our flight path today took us out over the Bay, past the sunken ship, and paying close attention to staying below SFO Class B airspace restrictions. The majority of our time was spent near Livermore airport, with a number of slower speed (75-80 kts or so) turns…paying close attention to pitch attitude and maintaining proper altitude (which I suck at). I am much more comfortable with the manual trim control on N81024 than the electric trim on N8449Z…trim in general was much more intuitive this time…and I think that it made my flying much more relaxed.

Turbulence/wind still freaks me out…but as Karl keeps pointing out when he makes me take my hand off of the yoke, the plane really does want to fly straight and level.

I got my WVFC membership set up today, so I can now schedule aircraft and Karl’s time online, which makes things easier for me.

My new headset (DRE-6500) was great…not too much clamping action (Note: Headset was later returned for headache-inducing clamping action) and really good active and passive noise reduction with good sound clarity…I’m glad (so far) that I chose this particular set. I am looking forward to the next outing…even after just reading AOPA’s study on student pilot accidents.

Today’s flight time: 1.1 hrs.
Total flight time: 2.2 hrs.

Oh…and don’t think that the cargo door will stay open on its own…it won’t, and will fall back down to smack you squarely on the head.