Today's lesson was all about ground reference manuevers -- rectangular flight, S-turns, flight around a point. I didn't think I would get to fly today, as the front closed in on North Texas. As it turned out I got my flight in just before the storms broke on 52F. I was again in the Sports Star with Ron P. The wind was pretty neutral at the airport, so some were leaving on 17 and others using 35. We chose to leave on 35 and head on out to the Justin area. The winds weren't heavy, but there seemed to be a lot of potholes in the sky today compared to my first flight. We were bouncing around pretty good, and were watching the rain showers over towards Denton. Ron picked out a field and we worked on the rectangular course. Surprisingly, my biggest problem is that I don't think of 30-40 degree turns as a high bank angle. I was turning way too steep in almost every turn. Too many games of "Crimson Skies" I suppose . We worked on those for a while, and then decided to leave the folks in the mobile homes alone. Off to highway 380, and working on the S-turns. I'm better at these, but still have problems picking the right bank angle and correcting it as the plane shifted across the wind. Back and forth and back and forth and so on.... Then pick a point and circle it. Do the same on the other wing. These I'm pretty good with, just a matter of keeping the target in the right spot and let the plane do its' thing. Back to 52F, the weather's coming in so Ron handles the landing and we get back to the hanger. As it turns out, Ron's next student doesn't get to fly Things I know I need to work on -- maintaining flight level in maneuvers, proper choice and control of bank angle. My biggest bad habit is pulling back on the stick while turning -- suggestions on how to avoid that are appreciated. In some ways I wish the plane were simpler. Ron spent some time trying to show me how to set up a tailwind using the GPS before the ground reference maneuvers, but frankly I couldn't read the little screen and was FAR more interested in making sure we were still flying and no traffic was headed my way. I'm sure later I'll love the tool, but for right now all I want to deal with is an altimeter, horizon and airspeed indicator. I handled the radio calls on the ground (so if you were out there, I apologize for the gaffs) and taxiing. I'm horrible at taxiing, but at least I'm not trying to use the stick to steer the thing. I did notice a tendency to stab the left rudder pedal when I was going too fast -- can you tell I drive a car with a standard transmission? Hopefully I'll get back up soon. Next lesson is on stalls Time today 1.1 hrs/Total 1.7 hours
..and needle/ball. While I am not an instructor, I think it is important in this day and age of high (and distracting) technology to keep your eyes outside and always fly the airplane using the basic instruments as you are - especially during training, but really for always. That's one reason why Champs and Cubs made so many good pilots. I think you are quite wise.
You will NEED to "pull back" on the stick when in turns to maintian level. The trick is to gain the "feel" for how much back pressure to use. My suggestion to you is to think in terms of "pressure" rather than movement so as to keep the point on the horizon where you want it to be. Try and avoid using the vertical speed indicator as your feedback instrument as its trend lags the actual aircraft movement and all you'll wind up doing is chasing it. Your eyeballs are your primary instrument for attitude with the gyro horizon as the back-up. The altimiter is your primary instrument in this case for vertical deviation while your vertical speed indicator is the back-up. Don't worry, you'll get it before you even realize that you're doing it correctly. Remember... "Pressure" Planeflyr
