5-16-00
Cessna 150
Instructor: Dave

    First official flying lesson today, in a Cessna 150. The plane wasn't much to look at during the pre-flight, but I figured the instructor doesn't want to die either. May as well go up.

    Dave had me do nearly all the flying during the lesson, with mostly verbal prompts. I flew last week with my friend Fred, so I knew what to expect from taxiing, which was a challenge the first time.

    In retrospect, the takeoff was the most unsettling part of the lesson. Being at such a slow speed, with fairly wide yaw variations as you leave the ground, it almost seems that the plane could stall and fall like a rock. Felt better on climb out.

    Practiced some turns and straight & level flight, which is quite challenging. Was a little bothered by the throttle control, which is a push/pull. I've gotten used to the lever on my sim controls (and my friend Fred's plane). Kept retarding the throttle when I meant to increase it. Although straight and level improved toward the end of the lesson, for the most part I found it difficult to maintain altitude within +/- 200 ft. I hope this will improve as I become accustomed to the plane's RPM settings.

    I asked to do some stalls, because I'd heard some students quit after doing them. I figure, may as well get it over with and save money by quitting now. But it wasn't bad at all. The first one scared me - sort of an over-the-top of the roller coaster feeling. But once I knew what to expect, it wasn't so bad. It went pretty much like the textbook says. Reduced power, pulled back to bring the nose up, the airspeed dropped, and the controls started to get mushy. Then the warning buzzer started, and the plane noticeably died in the air. I dropped the nose (wheeeeee!!!), added power, and gently pulled up to recover.

    Interestingly, I found it difficult to actually produce a full stall. The first two times I initiated the recovery when I heard the warning buzzer, and the plane did not fully stall. Then Dave helped me with it, and whoosh, were headed downstairs in a hurry! Once I got the feel of it, I was able to recover from a full stall having lost less than 200 feet altitude.

    Descended to 1000 feet AGL as we entered the downwind leg and then ran through the landing checklist. Throttled down to 1000 RPM, air speed to about 65 knots, put the flaps down one level. He had me do essentially the entire landing, with minimal help (so he said). Made the turn to final slightly late, same as I do on the sim. Wasn't too far and was able to line up properly without trouble. Had difficulty estimating the glide path, as the Wurtsboro runway has no VASI lights. But I got lucky and put it into a fairly decent glide path. Dave helped me mainly with keeping the nose wheel off the ground.

    I was surprised at how the landing went. Felt pretty good. I know now that we well overshot the numbers, but not too badly.

    Very good lesson, cant wait to go up again.

 5-26-00
Cessna 150
Instructor: Dave

    There was a brisk crosswind when I arrived at the airport this afternoon. Dave had just landed with another student, and they both remarked on how choppy it was below 2000 feet. We stood outside and mulled over the conditions for a while, until Dave said, "Lets fly." So up we went, and things quickly got very interesting.

    Had to continually work the rudder during takeoff to track the runway properly. I was pleased that I improved my technique on climbs today. During my last lesson I was wimpy about pitching the nose up. But today I took note of the optimal climb rate for the plane (68 knots), and kept it there with good results.

    After climbing the road smoothed out a bit, and we practiced turns. My 30° banks were OK, but I had trouble with banks of 45°. When I looked to check the angle I would gain or lose altitude without realizing it. So Dave had me look at the attitude indicator to set the bank, then look at the horizon over the engine cowling. That way I knew what the angle should look like, and could keep the nose from pitching. That helped a lot, and I was starting to have success. But then, I started getting sick.

    I am not prone to motion sickness of any kind, so this took me by surprise. But as I got the hang of the heavily banked turns, Dave had me do several in succession. With all that turning (and inadvertent altitude fluctuations due to imperfect technique), it all started getting to my stomach. Although I didn't come that close to vomiting, I was close enough that it was very uncomfortable. At about this time Dave said to begin practicing stalls, so I told him the problem and we agreed to put it off until next time.

    Instead of stalls we practiced slow flight, which was mercifully devoid of sudden turns and altitude drops. Turn on carb heat, throttle down to around 1500 RPM, and try not to lose altitude. This puts the airspeed at just above the stall speed. If you hear the stall warning, just drop the nose slightly. Started to hear the warning twice, and it stopped with a very slight drop of the nose.

    We'd been in the air nearly an hour at this point, and I was definitely ready to be back on the ground. Although I felt a bit better during slow flight, the trip down to pattern altitude quickly became unpleasant. Below 2000 feet it was very bumpy, and our landing was quite an experience. At one point I asked Dave, "Are we supposed to be flying sideways?" It looked to me like we would have to go around, but Dave put it down. While the landing on my first lesson was serene and even easy, I walked away from this one not really knowing how we got there. Crosswind landings are going to be a challenge.

    While I was at the airport a British plane from 1950 came in. It was beautifully restored, and made the C150 I'm flying look like a turd. I noticed Dave had a look of envy too.

6-3-00
Cessna 150
Instructor: Rich

    Went up with a different instructor today, partly out of curiosity, partly because I just wanted to get some air time. Rich's plane was cleaner and nicer than the one I previously flew, but I don't think Rich is my kind of instructor. I can't really say exactly what put me off; maybe I just like Dave better.

    The seats in his plane were a little higher than the other plane. I found it easier to look over the cowling. We did some turns, straight & level, and stalls (power on and off).

    The stalls we did were very aggressive compared to when I do them with Dave. He kept telling me not to use ailerons to level the wings once into the stall. I finally had to take my hands off the yoke and just use the rudder. Really, we were doing spin entry and recovery. I found this a bit scary. We pulled an extra G or two when pulling out of one of them. Rich finally demonstrated one that was VERY aggressive. I was handling it OK until then, but that one scared me. Really felt like we were about to auger the thing in.

6-9-00
Cessna 150
Instructor: Dave

    Did 90 minutes in the air today, and it was very productive. I did the preflight, taxi, and takeoff myself. Only minor help from Dave, and all of the takeoff was mine. There was a crosswind and I had to crab to maintain a straight ground track.

    I sat on a cushion to raise my view a bit, and I think it helped a lot. Feels more comfortable to have a decent view over the engine cowling.

    Practiced 360° turns, and I am getting better. I wasn't afraid to bank the plane over, and after some practice I was making good turns with minimal altitude change. I don't think I would pass a check ride right now, but I'm improving.

    Did some more stalls, and they went much better. I was hesitant going into them at first, probably because of my experience with the other day. So Dave demonstrated one to show me what he expected and then I did some that were much better. No spins.

    Did a touch and go at Orange County that could have been much better. I misjudged our approach, and Dave had me put down full flaps. That made us drop like a rock and we had to add some power to keep from falling too fast. Ended up coming down at the middle of the runway.

    Went back to the airport and Dave had me do the entire approach and landing. He told me he would try to be quiet and let me work the whole thing. I asked questions as I went, and sort of narrated my actions so he could comment or make suggestions. I overflew the runway 1000' above the pattern, and noted the wind coming right down the runway. Dave said it was gusting and would probably be a crosswind by the time we got down there.

    Made a wide loop around so I could enter the downwind leg at the proper 45° angle, and by that time I had dropped to pattern altitude. I think my practice on the computer may actually have helped at this point because the scenery and airport layout seemed so familiar. I've flown this approach lots of times on the simulator.

    I announced our downwind leg and intention to land with full stop, and then ran through the checklist. Dave reminded me a couple of times to keep an eye on my airspeed, and also OK'd my plan to take a long downwind leg so I could have a longer final approach. I wanted the extra time to adjust for the expected crosswind.

    The descending turns you make in the pattern are tricky at that low airspeed, but I did manage to make them relatively square. Was on base for a very short time (which I think is correct) and then turned final. This is much easier in real life than on the computer. I can actually see where I'm going. Made a good turn, and I was lined up fairly well for final. It again took me a little extra time to confirm in my own mind that we were on a good glide path and headed for the numbers. I knew then that I could make the runway, pulled the power, and just worked the rudder a lot to keep a straight track. I put it down fairly well, but with some side load on the gear. Didn't make such a good transition to ground control though, and Dave had to help me control and straighten the roll out.

    I was very pleased when Dave said it was an excellent landing, and that I had controlled for the crosswind component very well. I wasn't really aware of that part - I wasn't thinking much about the wind. I just felt that I was keeping it lined up. He told me that he didn't touch the controls until after we were on the ground! I walked away with a major buzz from my first real landing!!!

6-20-00
Cessna 150
Instructor: Mary

    Went through the preflight and learned some new things. Where the static ports are, and the inspection ports where one can see into the wires and pulleys that go to the empennage.

    On takeoff I noticed the airspeed wasn't indicating anything. We turned around, landed, and that was it. Mary said that had we been on a cross country flight or something, she might have covered up the gauge. Better to see nothing than erroneous information, she said.

    Can't say I really cared for Mary's teaching style either. I didn't know when I was supposed to be doing things and when she was. On the landing I finally gave up and said, "You have the plane, Mary."