Sunday, August 29, 2004

All by myself

8-29-04 Two high solo flights, no club members at the field as it was a Sunday. I got there rather late, so the lift was gone. That's OK, the first time I went to 4000', boxed the wake, and did stalls, focusing on full opposite rudder in turning stalls. That went OK, although I think I was just a tad slow in pulling out, sometimes getting quite a bit of speed.

Practiced steepening turns beyond 45 degrees and flying faster.

Great landings! Right in the first part of the first box. I could probably aim even closer and not cut it close to the line. With a 12-18 kt wind from 40 degrees left, stopping was really fast. The first time I closed spoilers and pushed it into the second box. The second time, I stopped in about 150'. Although I fully compensated for the crosswind on the downwing and base legs, the first time I forgot about it on final. No problem, my crab/correction seems to be instinctive. But the second time I consciously kept the left wing low.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Very nice

8-21-04 Two patterns with B. Both times, landed in the right spot, fairly early in the box. First time, he pointed out I was going too fast, and we rolled rather far. 50 kt is fine in the pattern, but slow it down close to the ground. Also, I need to get lined up on final earlier (further out) and not be turning as I'm getting close to touchdown. Second landing earned a "very nice" from B.

Saturday, August 07, 2004

Practice, practice

8-7-04 Three solo patterns, working on accuracy. All three pretty good. First touched down just before the line, second perfect, third just overran the second box by 3-5 feet.