Lots of Updates: 2) Flying

[cjsmith]

Saturday's lesson was less stunningly wonderful than last Sunday's, probably because my instructor kept failing everything on me. Soft field takeoff! Short runway for landing - with an obstacle sitting on the numbers! Oops, your flaps don't work! There goes the engine! I'm surprised he didn't find a way to fail the gear.* My landings were not as beautiful with all this going on.

However, I was (in his words) "perfectly safe, and that's what matters". He had no critical comments after our lesson, and that's a compliment.

Sunday we were weathered out. The storm system we'd thought we would see in the late afternoon arrived earlier than predicted. SJC's TAF indicated it would be heavy enough to bring visibility down below VFR minimums, and while PAO (my home base) wasn't bad YET, we weren't sure when we'd get closed out. We said forget it.

My homework for this week is to complete my flying club's annoying aircraft checkout questionnaire. Weight and balance calculations... fuel used during climb to 3,376 feet on a 71.2 degree day... bla bla bla. Not hard, just takes time. I get to show that to my instructor this coming Saturday.

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* This plane does not have retractable gear. He did fail the brakes, in a sense -- on the "soft field" takeoffs and landings we didn't use them.

Comments

[ckd]

"Zero Charlie Kilo, say status of gear."

"Three down and welded."

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Exactly! :-)

[chiefted]

Wow! This sounds like the STAN team was out from ATC Mobile.

IP: "Ok you have lost your engines, auto rotate"

CG6537 ti Humboldt Air confirm postion in the pattern, wheels down for auto rotate ovr

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I admit auto rotate scares me a bit. If you don't catch it quick...!

[gdmusumeci.livejournal.com]

The mention of soft field landings reminds me. Cows get very upset with you if you swoop into their field and land near the herd on a forced landing.

Mother cows in particular.

"Moooooooo! MOOOOOOOOOO!"

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They also, I am told, may attempt to graze on a fabric wing. Oops! This is tough for me to imagine, but I must admit I have very little experience with cows.

[tmc4242.livejournal.com]

Cows are great grilled over an open flame with a baked potato and a salad.

I strongly recommend you avoid all other contact.

The area around KSLR has LOTS of cows. I've had plenty of up close experience with them, including helping shoo them off the runway a few times. Big, stupid, and occasionally dangerous.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow. The biggest thing that's ever wandered onto a runway I was about to use is a coyote. (Well, not counting Cessna 152s.)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

My landings were not as beautiful with all this going on.

Isn't there a saying that any landing from which you can walk away is a good one? ;-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

And any landing after which you can use the aircraft again is a great one!

I've had one good landing.