Sunday, January 30, 2005

First passenger

1-30-05 M and I went up for a flight, a nice clear day with light breezes and 625 lift forecast. No one seemed to be staying up long so I opted for a 4000’ AGL tow. She was OK with the flying around, but got sick after just a few circles (and my banks weren’t very steep). After throwing up she was better, so when I found some lift we worked it back up to 3500’ AGL and then gently flew around. I think the lift was a shear line because it was very spread out.

We saw a hawk at about 2500’ AGL.

I flew to the north end of R canyon and then when I got there started hitting some sink. Nothing too hard, but it made me really nervous about getting back to the field. I ended up at the IP with about 300’ to spare, but that’s closer than I would have liked – much more sink and we would have been sunk.

Notes:

1. I can’t fully engage the flaps from the rear seat – it’s too stiff.

2. Remember to think more about wind on base and final. There wasn’t any, but I didn’t check to see.

3. Remember to keep the airbrakes on all the way to the ground, don’t let go of them to pull the wheel brake until firmly down. I think I ballooned just a bit.

1 comment:

Roger Worden said...

The flaps aren't supposed to be that hard to pull from the rear seat. Duing annual inspection they got lubed and are MUCH easier to use now. I thought that's just the way they were.