Flying the circuit

[Rocket_Bird]

Recently, ive been learning to fly... now im 15 hours down the road... learned most of the aerial maneuvers with no problems whatsoever but the thing thats bringing me down to me knees (almost literally, feel like crying

[beefhole]

Ahh, the TP.  My advice?

LOOK OUTSIDE

God, I wish my instructor had really barked this at me early on.

As for the approaches, they're really just practice-getting used to the proper pitch/power combos.  I've always been excellent with approaches-its the ****ing flare that i still don't have down pat.  If you're really stuck, i strongly recommend going here.  This is MarcoAviator's website, and it has been an invaluable resource to me over the course of my training.

STAY WITH IT, read up on the technical aspect of it, and then execute.  That's all flying is-reading, interpreting, then doing.  It's the "doing" part that can take some-well, doing.

[Rocket_Bird]

I understand the theory of it all, for the most part thats not the problem.

[beaky]

I'm not sure what you mean by flaring on turn from base to final;???,  flaring is technically when you pull back a bit just before touchdown. If what you mean by flaring is that you're rolling out of that turn off-centerline, that certainly can be common, esp. with wind.
Here's some things I've learned, with the discalimer that I am not  a CFI, and if you're not asking your CFI for some extra help with this stuff, you're wasting your money. The CFI's role here is not to be amazed with your natural gift for flying: he or she is there to teach you. Don't be ashamed to say : "I need more help". And please don't go to your CFI with "but Rottydaddy said..." if any of my advice contradicts what they're telling you. I AM NOT A CFI! If you suspect your CFI is not teaching you properly, ask another CFI for advice.
Anyway, here's my two cents' worth; probably stuff your CFI has already mentioned:

Beefhole is right: EYES OUTSIDE. You need to glance at the instruments to detect trends in airspeed, vertical speed, etc. but you should be looking ouside for landmarks to use as heading reference on each leg of the pattern, as well as looking to see your relationship to the runway. You should also know what relation the horizon should have to the top of the panel or whatever during the various types of turns, etc., so you can keep your eyes outside and still be aware of your attitude.
One nice tip I got once was to practice imprinting the image of each instrument in your mind as you quickly glance at it- sort of a mental HUD. If you relax and focus, you'll be able to "see" that VSI or whatever as you look outside. It's a memory exercise...and remember, you're looking for trends, not specifics. If you're supposed to be going down, and that VSI needle is deflecting up, it doesn't matter how many fpm it says... don't stare at the instruments. Ever.
 Back to being too high on final... I went through a phase long after earning my PPSEL when I was consistently turning base too early, and not getting that good sink rate going right away on base.For some reason, I was psyching myself into thinking i was gonna get too low on final, but really if your airspeed is not excessive and the engine's working properly, you won't get yourself into trouble, even if you get a bit below the desired glideslope. The key phrase here is "a bit". I won't contradict your CFI, but he/she should be having you reduce power a little during that turn to base and starting your descent from TPA right away. That's how I learned it, and it's worked fine for me.  As for altitude, I was told to just stay above 500 feet AGL on base and I'd be fine.  If you're still  too high at the top of final, and it's not so bad that you need to go around, chop the throttle and slip. Not with more than 10 degress of flaps, though!!! A good wing-first slip will help you dump some altitude without speeding up. And remember, the goal is to make a good landing, not just any landing, so by all means go around if you aren't happy with how things look at the top of your final leg. Making desperate, hunting approaches and "can't believe I made it" landings won't teach you anything, really. Going around is not a failure- it's a smart move!!! Nothing, and I mean nothing, takes priority over a good, safe landing!!! To overcome this "too high" thing, I did a lot of go-arounds until I got over my mental block.
  But yes, timing that turn is critical. Too soon, and you're too high. Too late, and you're dragging it in at a low altitude, adding power to stay aloft when you should be coming in almost at idle. Embarrassing, and sometimes dangerous.
 As I mentioned before, pick a landmark, preferably something off to your right (or left, if the pattern goes left). When that landmark comes up, make your move onto base.
 As for rolling onto final on-center, you have to be aware of the wind. A decent crosswind will make a big difference, and you have to time your turn to final accordingly. In a no-wind situation, you should turn to final when your touchdown point is about 45 degrees off the nose, and make a normal turn. If your base leg is into the wind, you can either wait a bit longer to turn, or just make a shallower turn. The opposite works the same way if the wind is behind you on base. And again, go around if you're too far off!! You'd be amazed what good it can do...
And above all, don't be discouraged! Just keep trying, and concentrate on what you've been taught and what goal you're after, rather than flogging yourself. A good pilot always thinks of him or herself as a student, no matter how many hours are in the logbook.

[Boss_BlueAngels]

[quote]Its frustrating.

[Rocket_Bird]

Just went up this morning, winds were about 6-8 kts, so it werent too bad.  Like a lightning storm I was thinking about it all night.  Think i figured it out now, at last!  I think before I kept turning base too early (before that 45), and thats what constitutes a high approach.  Still a bit bumpy when it comes to the crosswinds, and even as I crab in, I get thrown off the center line at times.  But it went good surprisingly, next day my instructor is pulling an engine loss on me in the circuit, so hopefully that goes well...  Hopefully that solo comes in the next 2-3 flights  ;D

[beaky]

OK, between me and Boss you're all adviced-up. LOL, I remember that first time the CFI unfolded a chart across the whole panel and said, "no more instruments for you...". Did some very good flying that day, just feeling and listening, jockeying the throttle and looking outside.
 Good point, Boss, about slipping small Cessnas: I remembered that wrong. The placard in most C172s says: "No slips with full flaps", not "more than one notch". And slipping just to drop a little at the top of final should be a mild slip, that's for sure.
Good to hear you're doing better, Rocket: don't worry about wind bumping you around- got to deal with it, but don't fight it. You'll lose. If you're paying attention to what the wind's doing, you can have your correction ready before the bumping or drifting is over.
And when the CFI "pulls the plug" to simulate engine failure, the one thing that I had to learn was to look for a place to land as you trim for best glide, not afterwards.  And don't overlook something that might be right under you. One time I set up an engine-off approach to a small meadow- in a real forced landing, it would've been survivable, but nasty- and my instructor said, "didn't you see that golf course that was right under us?"  :D  I'd been obsessed with how far I could glide, and looked too far for a place, instead of starting my search closer...

[Boss_BlueAngels]

That's a good thing you realized, with the turn to base constituting the high/low approach.  And man, those X-winds can be tricky... geting the proper alignment, while maintaining a continuous track--it's a lot to think about.

Speaking of which... the other day I went on a ridealong with another instrument student and it was the craziest thing... she was doing an ILS approach with a very hefty cross-wind.  The crazy thing was, sitting in the back-right seat, I was watching the runway approach out of the front right window.  She had about a 20 degree crab in and was tracking perfectly down the glideslope and localizer.  When she reached DH she had no idea where the runway was, because it was way off to the right...  I've got a few pics looking over the instructors shoulder, through the right hand window looking right at the runway.  Now, do that VFR and I would be very impressed!  That plays a lot of tricks on your brain doing something like that.  The winds were obviously about 20 knots.  i'll try to post the pics tomorrow or something.


Oh and simulated engine failures...  like rottydaddy said, don't forget to look under you.  One thing my instructor always told me was that no matter where you decide to set her down, MAKE THE APPROACH END!  ie.  if you see that you're going to have to hit something (really short field)...make sure you hit it while you're on the ground... and try and hit it with a wing.  They just tear off and disipate a lot of energy.  I've seen many Cessna crash test videos... DO NOT hit anything head on our you'll be eating spark plugs, seriously.  Impacting the ground wheels first is fine...those wonderful tubular main wheels will just spring back up.  On one test the main whels were completely parallel to the ground, and the belly of the plane hit the ground, but bounced right bck up to their normal position (with one wheel missing though).  And if you hit a tree/telephone pole/ whatever while in air, you then have to worry about a second impact completely out of your control.  

And as for golf courses... watch for the sand traps!!!! LOL  


LOL yeah, i'd say we've 'adviced him up' quite a bit. lol  But hey, it's fun ain't it?  

[beaky]

Yeah, we'd better lay off, or his instructor's gonna wanna kill us...
I'm really looking forward to getting back into the air this year, but I know I'm gonna be sweating.... gonna have to learn everything all over again, to some extent.
But I'll have to remember the last flight I took, again after being stuck on the ground for over a year. I did surprisingly well, although the wind was very favorable that morning. I've done worse when flying every weekend...

[Rocket_Bird]

Every bit of it helps of course  :)

[beefhole]

Well, glad you got the TP all right, now if I could only get the stupid flaring thing... (not looking for an onslaught of advice here guys, lol just sayin)