flight Journal: flight 11

[beaky]

Flight 11
03-13-95

1986 C-172P
TEB
Local

Inversion at 3500; light haze; wind 260/05; temp 61F

1.4 dual
1 landing

"Norm t/o and lndg, slow flight, pwr onn/off imm and full stalls, coll. avoid., steep turns"



The 150 is grounded today for work on its flaps, so it's time once again to try out a bigger cousin in the Cessna family- a C-172.
6FR is roomier and has a more powerful engine than the 150, but I have misgivings this morning about dealing with a strange new machine. The front seats are fully adjustable, which actually causes some inconvenience at first as I try to figure out how to set mine properly.

Today I'll also be taking aloft my first passenger: K., a new instructor, is coming along to observe. The weather looks good, except for the hazy horizon. Takeoff goes well, but the larger plane feels stiff and unresponsive, and this becomes a distraction. I'm also still a little peeved about 86S (it was supposed to be ready yesterday), and a little depressed by the fact that F. will be leaving after this lesson. I'll miss him, but more importantly, there will be a new instructor, and more review... another setback.

I'm not quite up to speed with the mental checklists and the critical speeds for this plane, and the unfamiliar panel has me spending a few seconds too long looking at the instruments each time I scan there.

Then, somehow, despite my eyes and those of two flight instructors, we get way too close to a turboprop commuter of some kind as it roars overhead.  Whoops...that might have been a problem had I been climbing!

We're soon over Lake DeForest again, and this time I find myself looking for my father's house. Still can't pick it out in the brief moment I have before getting to work on maneuvers. I consider that when I lived there, I never dreamed I'd someday be flying a plane over that very spot. One thing I do recognize is a small island near the north end of the lake: I flash back on a very cold winter day long ago when my brother and I walked all the way up there from the house on thick ice, the lake completely frozen over.

There's another interesting thing about this flight: all day I've been feeling the onset of the flu, but on takeoff, the symptoms seemed to disappear. Even during the steep turns, I feel quite comfortable. But... my head is a little fuzzy, and it's not helping... all in all, it's not a very fruitful lesson, if not a waste of time.

One saving grace is the final segment: I call tower and receive a straight-in for 19. About four miles out, in haze, yet, I spot the airport easily- something I've been having trouble with. I come in high (again!), but touch down reasonably well, despite the 172's tendency to float in the flare.

Most useful debrief comment so far: F. explains proper use of rudder during stall recovery  by suggesting that I imagine my right foot and right arm are joined together, so that whenever I apply more power, I should apply the correct amount of right rudder to compensate for the effects of the rotating prop and crankshaft.
I like the way F. explains things... I'm going to miss him.


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