Flight journal: Flight 32- first stage check-pt 1

[beaky]

03-30-96
1986 C-172P

STAGE CHECK:
TEB
Local

1.6 dual
1 landing

"Stage 1 check- slow flt, stalls, emerg. proc."

T. and I spend a few minutes talking about my experience and the upcoming stage check.
He's very different from J.: ex-Air Force, and a large, keyed-up guy, more direct and emphatic in his speech.
He seems to have learned to temper that with a sort of polite gentleness, and is quick to agree or comment positively. This is something that will come in handy during this flight.

He asks me to repeat the preflight, which gives me an opportunity to relax a bit and gather my wits.
I don't feel very nervous, but deep down inside I'm concerned about that lack of tension. Maybe I'm too spaced-out from this cold, I think. Shouldn't I be nervous?

The airport is now teeming with aircraft, and all runways are being used. We're initially cleared to hold at 24, but after almost 15 minutes, we're told to taxi to the end of Runway 01, which is almost a mile away. With delays at intersections along the way, this takes another 15 minutes. Then we hold short of 01 for at least 10 minutes!!
 As I finally get clearance for takeoff, I try not to dwell on the fact that I just spent about $60 on... nothing! I think instead that I will never fly out of this airport again for a training flight.

My takeoff is pretty good, but as I climb through 1000 feet T. scribbles in his notebook and says "Look at your centerline."
I quickly glance back. 6FR has drifted right... I'm tracking more or less parallel, but it's no good.

"I've got no crab", I reply, wondering why I have worded it just that way.
"That's right."
 Already, I'm truly worried about the outcome of this stage check.

Things go better for the next few minutes, although the area is crowded with planes like bees around a hive. TEB Tower has a separate frequency working for radar only, and that controller is yammering like an auctioneer.

"Sixfoxromeocautiontraffic- twomilesyourtwoo'clock, Cessna, southbound..."

As soon as I acknowledge that I see the other plane, I see another. Tower radar warns me at almost the same moment, so I must reply... at this rate, I think, I'll be too busy looking out and talking to Radar that I won't have time to do any maneuvers!

"Let's get out of here", says T. "Head west, away from the reservoir."
I steer 6FR to the left, and after a moment, T. says "Okay; let's try a little slow flight."
I'm ready for that, and I talk my way through it as I begin.
"OK; carb heat on, throttle back t0o about 1900..."
"Hold on- you forgot something."
I am suddenly at a loss. Surely that is correct... what... what could he mean? I wonder.
I turn to look at T, after I throttle up a bit. He is smiling condescendingly.
"Clearing turns. Especially on a day like this", he gently reminds me, as I turn back to see another aircraft crossing our windscreen.
Well, now... I could just about die. It'd be easy: maybe just put the plane into a spin, or try to roll her on her back and dive until the wings came off. But I have to go on. It ain't over yet. That is a major screw-up, very important stuff... but it will be my last, at least on this flight, I assure myself.

It isn't.

We continue NW after I do my MCA stuff (with clearing turns). T. asks to see a power-off stall; I ask if I should do more clearing turns. He shakes his head, so I show him a good stall. He's happy that I use more rudder than ailerons in my recovery.
AS I start to demonstrate a power-on stall, he stops me again, this time to remind me that it's not neccesary to slow down to normal takeoff speed first. He also comes out with the best tip so far on establishing the proper pitch to provoke a power-on stall: "feet on the horizon." E., my first instructor, was very keen on "second row of instruments on the horizon", which is about the same thing, but I find T.'s concept works better for me, only because I can visualize where my feet are without looking down at them, unlike the panel. The eyes must be outside as much as possible.

So I'm bouyed up a little more- T. seems unperturbed by my little blunders, and is also being very helpful.
I try to prepare myself mentally for the next task. It's not easy, because I am out of sorts. My cold is bothering me, the sun is blazing into the cabin, and T. is a large, unfamiliar presence in the right seat. I'm not thinking "I'm intimidated", but I'm feeling it.
Then it happens.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot..." T says as he pulls the carb heat and throttle. Time to simulate an engine-out approach.
Stupidly, I waste precious seconds watching him do this, instead of looking for a place to land.

"Okay," I say calmly, glancing at the airspeed, "I establish best glide- about... um... 65 knots... then I head downwind to a place where I can land..."
"Okay; good. Where?"

Route 23, all six lanes of it, is just to the left. I could easily slip down on a left base from here (1500 feet and one mile) to land into the wind. I inform T. of my decision, and he shakes his head.
"Look at the traffic. It's rush hour. Besides, there's all kinds of poles and cables down there. That stuff'll kill you. Look over here..."
Next: Flight 32, part 2

[Brett_Henderson]

I wanted to wait until this episode ends to comment, but this is a good place to share a thought.

I did my BFR recently -kinda like a stage check- and remembered some advice given to me a while back.

Go into the whole thing as if you're the checker, and he's the checkee. If your mindset is  that you're  the one showing someone how to fly; rather than flying with a blank mind, waiting to follow commands, you'll do better. You'll feel a bit more confident and find that showing someone how to fly a maneuver goes smoother than demonstrating that you're able.

When the examiner says, "OK, give me power-off stall" ... Start thinking like he's never seen one, and you're gonna teach him.  Instead of trying to go through rehearsed steps, you'll feel it just coming to you.

[beaky]

I wanted to wait until this episode ends to comment, but this is a good place to share a thought.

I did my BFR recently -kinda like a stage check- and remembered some advice given to me a while back.

Go into the whole thing as if you're the checker, and he's the checkee. If your mindset is  that you're  the one showing someone how to fly; rather than flying with a blank mind, waiting to follow commands, you'll do better. You'll feel a bit more confident and find that showing someone how to fly a maneuver goes smoother than demonstrating that you're able.

When the examiner says, "OK, give me power-off stall" ... Start thinking like he's never seen one, and you're gonna teach him.  Instead of trying to go through rehearsed steps, you'll feel it just coming to you.

True, all true... I have since learned that, but this flight was my very first stage check; I think I had less than 25 hours at the time.

Also... when you read Part 2, you'll see that even then I occasionally taught instructors a thing or two...