A little wind = good training
After last nights storms and waking up to overcast skies I thought for sure that I would not be flying today. When decision to fly time came up it turned out to be just a little on the windy side. Winds from the NNW at 16knts gusting to 19 at takeoff time. Which was okay because we were using runway 32R I remembered to keep some right rudder today at takeoff but just a bit too much. Today I think my biggest challenge was keeping the plane within 100ft of my target altitude. The whole trip was very bumpy due to the wind and just kind of nasty bumps. I think I did all right though. We reviewed some slow flight which was well interesting with the wind. We went on to work some more ground reference maneuvers, today starting with turning around a point, S turns and finally a bit of traffic pattern work. Here the wind was actually a great training tool as it really helped me to understand exactly what kind of bank needs to happen in relation to the wind. Once we finished up our ground reference training we headed back for the Barn. Since we were flying north of the cities and the active runway was 32R we got to put the traffic pattern stuff into practice. Did my first landing with a downwind leg, base and final, not just a straight in landing. Coming in was not too bad and again I needed some help from Will to get the plane squared off right before we touched down. Taxied back to the hanger, fueled and called her a day. Sounds like next week we are going to focus on some stalls, reinforcing what we did this week and working on takeoffs and landings. I can’t wait! I am really really enjoying this and it is a really great feeling every time I fly. I am so far always looking forward to my next flight! Until next week!
