Closed traffic, 12 takeoffs and landings, just to brush up on basic landing and flaring techniques. I tried to work on the following basic "good habits" today:
* Being aware of the wind and flying a "correct" rectangular pattern with crab and awareness of the different turns.
* Consciously looking forwards for pitch even when "busy" in the pattern.
* Being aware of speed on takeoff roll, and rotating at 50 kias rather than waiting on the ground.
* Holding 55 kias on final, not allowing speed to decay.
* Paying attention to eye position on flare, looking at the horizon.
* Flaring less early, and when I do flare, not ballooning.
* During taxi, keeping both feet on the pedals, heels on the hinge and toes on the brakes, and using "taps" to turn rather than dragging the brakes.
* Remembering "lights, camera, action!" checklist prior to taking the active every time.
* Using proper wind correction during taxi.
I managed to do most of these things.
The flares got better as time progressed, but were not perfect. It was a bumpy day so there was a tendency to over-control as the wind shifted during my descent. I'd say my last 2 landings were pretty okay.
Due to traffic, almost every pattern was "weird" in some way, so I came in high or low lots of times. I managed to get good landings out of all of them, but on several of them, I did not have a stable 55 kias approach established early enough. On a couple of the approaches, I had to slip to burn energy.
Overall, I'd say I did okay and [re]gained useful skills. It was a quiet, warm day, with very little to no crosswind, so things were fairly relaxing and I could concentrate on just getting better.
* Being aware of the wind and flying a "correct" rectangular pattern with crab and awareness of the different turns.
* Consciously looking forwards for pitch even when "busy" in the pattern.
* Being aware of speed on takeoff roll, and rotating at 50 kias rather than waiting on the ground.
* Holding 55 kias on final, not allowing speed to decay.
* Paying attention to eye position on flare, looking at the horizon.
* Flaring less early, and when I do flare, not ballooning.
* During taxi, keeping both feet on the pedals, heels on the hinge and toes on the brakes, and using "taps" to turn rather than dragging the brakes.
* Remembering "lights, camera, action!" checklist prior to taking the active every time.
* Using proper wind correction during taxi.
I managed to do most of these things.
The flares got better as time progressed, but were not perfect. It was a bumpy day so there was a tendency to over-control as the wind shifted during my descent. I'd say my last 2 landings were pretty okay.
Due to traffic, almost every pattern was "weird" in some way, so I came in high or low lots of times. I managed to get good landings out of all of them, but on several of them, I did not have a stable 55 kias approach established early enough. On a couple of the approaches, I had to slip to burn energy.
Overall, I'd say I did okay and [re]gained useful skills. It was a quiet, warm day, with very little to no crosswind, so things were fairly relaxing and I could concentrate on just getting better.
No comments:
Post a Comment