It has begun................
Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:43 pmI took my first Instrument lesson today. [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]
It was a perfect day to start, it's been snowing and blowing here the last four days, and it's supposed to do the same for the next four days, but today, the overcast was at 5500 ft, with a scattered layer at 3000 ft, and no noticeable wind or precipitation. I'm taking lessons in the aircraft I've been flying, N3477E, and my instructor is the owner and namesake of the airport, which made me a bit nervous to go flying with him, but he's really nice, and a great instructor, so it all worked out. We took off, and climbed up to 2000 feet (1000 AGL), and contacted Madison approach for traffic advisories, and once we were clear of the Class C airspace, the hood went on, and I was logging instrument time. We started off by trimming for 90 knots, and I flew the airplane using only power and the rudder, which I'd never done before. It really amazed me how little you would actually need the yoke to fly. We did climbs, descents, and turns, all only with rudder and power, never touching the yoke or trim, so we would maintain 90 kts the whole time. Once we had flown around a bit more, I was able to use the yoke again, and we intercepted the 76 degree radial 20 miles out from the Madison VOR, and flew a VOR approach back to the airport. I was allowed to take the hood off to fly the approach, because by this time, we had flown into the lower cloud layer, and we were flying in and out of some smaller puffy cumulus type scud as we approached the airport. We broke out of the side of a bank of clouds about 2.5 miles from the airport, and at 2500 ft, and I was able to enter the pattern and make one of those landings where the only indication that you've landed is the wheels are suddenly rolling. I couldn't have asked for anything better, and I can't wait until we go again.
It was a perfect day to start, it's been snowing and blowing here the last four days, and it's supposed to do the same for the next four days, but today, the overcast was at 5500 ft, with a scattered layer at 3000 ft, and no noticeable wind or precipitation. I'm taking lessons in the aircraft I've been flying, N3477E, and my instructor is the owner and namesake of the airport, which made me a bit nervous to go flying with him, but he's really nice, and a great instructor, so it all worked out. We took off, and climbed up to 2000 feet (1000 AGL), and contacted Madison approach for traffic advisories, and once we were clear of the Class C airspace, the hood went on, and I was logging instrument time. We started off by trimming for 90 knots, and I flew the airplane using only power and the rudder, which I'd never done before. It really amazed me how little you would actually need the yoke to fly. We did climbs, descents, and turns, all only with rudder and power, never touching the yoke or trim, so we would maintain 90 kts the whole time. Once we had flown around a bit more, I was able to use the yoke again, and we intercepted the 76 degree radial 20 miles out from the Madison VOR, and flew a VOR approach back to the airport. I was allowed to take the hood off to fly the approach, because by this time, we had flown into the lower cloud layer, and we were flying in and out of some smaller puffy cumulus type scud as we approached the airport. We broke out of the side of a bank of clouds about 2.5 miles from the airport, and at 2500 ft, and I was able to enter the pattern and make one of those landings where the only indication that you've landed is the wheels are suddenly rolling. I couldn't have asked for anything better, and I can't wait until we go again.
