Lesson 22 - Monday April 19th

Five or six more.

Only five landings today.  At least I think it was five, but we both lost count, Tanya though it was six, I felt like it was less, so we settled on five.

Really a very similar day to yesterday, winds about 12 knots.  I've got a tendency to be too high when I turn base, so a lot of the approaches were too steep, or too much time was spend in adjusting the glide path.

Tanya was trying to be increasingly hands-off as the landing progressed, I could see her nervously reach for the yoke several times, and I new that was my cue to do something.

I think I've got the taking off, and turning crosswind and final pretty nailed.   I still drift in a bit on downwind - must keep to the right of the Hollywood sign.

I'd read on the internet somewhere that the yoke lifts a bit as you pull it fully back.  I though "mine does not do that", but then I tried it before takeoff, and it does indeed lift a bit.  But first there is a bit of friction, and I'd been stopping my flare at this point, as it gets a lot stiffer in flight.  Once I new this, I improved a bit, but I still have to remember to pull the yoke all the way back (and up).

On a couple of landings I ballooned a bit, meaning I pulled back to far, too soon, causing the plane to start to rise nose up, when I should be going into level flight a few feet off the runway.  The solution is to add a bit of power to regain control, and lower the nose back to a level flight attitude, then cut the power and flare as "normal".

I fear it might take me a bit of practice.   I wish there was a really good simulator, where I could just practice final and landings a few hundred times without the ten minutes needed between each practice as I taxi back, takeoff, and go around the pattern.

Still, I guess while I'm getting acceptable with my final approach and landing, I'm perfecting my takeoff, and my pattern.    And it's not like my base leg is anything more than barely acceptable.  So I suppose it's all good practice.

Tanya says in a lesson or two we will go and practice landings at Van Nuys airport.  That should be interesting, flying into an unknown airport.   I might drive over there first to check it out and listen to their radio traffic.