N162HG 1.2 Bob

Closed traffic at KPAO, 2 full stops and a bunch of T&Gs. I had some reasonable landings and some bad ones.

We had a pretty stiff but steady crosswind towards the later part of the lesson, which gave me a good feel for the need to crab, and the need to change to a slip at the end. I also got more feel for the way the airplane's yaw is sort of "heavy" and has a lot of momentum, so once it gets swinging one way or the other, it's hard to swing it back without serious fighting. So again, the thing to remember is: Lots of high frequency, firm but not excessive adjustments, and stay alert and don't let the plane get away from me in the first place.

Need to rotate gradually on takeoff, starting just under the 50 kias required. Do not wait till rotation speed then jerk backward -- I did that once and the stall horn squeaked momentarily.

In turns in the pattern, I let the nose wander higher. Pay attention!

On very short final, when I'm in my "oh crap crap crap I'm off center and not lined up" maneuvering, I have a tendency to be like, "but wait, I'm not ready to land yet!" and raise the nose. Do not do that! Keep the nose low all the way until touchdown.

Once touched down, keep back pressure until the elevator is full nose up!

N162HG 1.9 Bob

Long-ish training flight from KPAO via the KSJC Charlie (I went through the Charlie! Yay!) to South County (E16). Did a few touch and goes, a couple of them with Bob managing the engine while I tried to stay on the runway centerline. Did one full stop so I could park the plane and go pee in the Port-A-Potty. Got back in the air, made a straight out departure to a straight in at KPAO.

I had maybe one good landing. The rest were questionable. But I feel like I'm getting better at mastering the plane near the ground. I realized that some of my problems are due to the plane yawing right when I cut power right at the end. My flares are not as good as they should be yet. My landing at KPAO was rather weird given that I didn't have the normal pattern setup. I tried a slip to burn energy on one of my approaches and it sort of worked, except that my speed got too low. I slipped in the "wrong" direction -- to the left so I could not see the runway! -- but hey.

We shared the pattern with an Embraer Phenom who was doing a straight-in landing at South County, and we passed by a Zenith CH701 STOL homebuilt parked there on the way out. From the cowling, I suspect it had a Corvair engine. There was a banner tow advertising Trojan condoms over KPAO when we were coming back, and Moffett and Palo Alto told us to report traffic in sight and avoid them. (It was not all that hard....)

I keep forgetting carb heat. I skip checklist items sometimes. I have trouble with leveling out if I am in any way distracted by anything. But when I'm calm, things go well. I just need more practice, but I guess I'm making progress. The main thing today was to get to the point where I could stay on the runway centerline, and I think I'm doing okay at that finally (with some wobbliness when I cut power, like I said). I reminded myself to "dance" on the rudder pedals, which is something I was able to do okay in the C152 when I switched to the Flycatcher. I guess this is just the cost of switching to a new airplane early in my training.

One thing I find annoying about the G300 is that the speed and altitude "windows" just wobble around like crazy with numbers going every which way. They tend to attract my attention, so it's hard for me to focus on the plain tapes, which give a broader and more stable view of what the values are. I wish they got rid of the stupid windows with the rolling numbers and just had a pointer on a scale.

N162HG 1.8 Bob

I haven't been flying for a while due to a combination of work and family pressures. I would really like to push forward to solo at the moment, taking lessons at least 3 times per week, but it's been really hard to make the time. Bob also travels often. So anyway, we do what we can.

Today we took off a little before 10am and flew for quite a while, doing a whole bunch of landings. A few of the approaches were reasonable and I'm getting the hang of capturing my altitude and speed as I buzz around. I think I'm finally sort of getting close to where I was back when I was flying the C152.

I had a couple of approaches where speed control was abysmal, and a couple where things were set up really nicely. For the most part, I think that part of things is coming together. The next thing is learning to maintain centerline and forward direction as we approach the runway, and that's really hard for me right now.

Bob agreed we should find a quiet runway for our next lesson to buzz down and practice controlling aircraft position and heading.

N162HG 1.6 Bob

I had an email conversation with Bob where I asked for more "checkride rules" lessons -- talking between maneuvers but letting me dig myself in ;) so long as we remain safe. He was cool with that, which is great! I then came up with a list of exercises that I believed would help me gain more basic skills in looking out the window rather than fixating on the wibbly wobbly instruments in front of me. I made a "kneeboard format" list of the exercises, reproduced below:

Level cruise	90 kias, 2350 rpm
Straight & level	level cruise - altitude
Cruise descent	level cruise ↓ pwr - 90 kias, heading anticipate, ↑ pwr, level
Max climb	level cruise ↑ pwr to max Vy = 62 kias - 62 kias, heading anticipate, accelerate, ↓ pwr, level
Cruise turn	level cruise pick point abeam - bank 30, altitude anticipate, roll out check altitude
Dogleg turn	cruise turn both ways entire time
Practice final	carb heat ↓ spd to 100 / 85 / 70 kias flaps full ↓ spd to 55 kias - 55 kias, hdg, pwr ↑/↓
Practice slip	practice final - 55 kias, hdg, slip ←/→

Good habits pattern	carb heat ↓ spd 100 / 85 / 70 kias flaps full ↓ spd to 55 kias on final on horizon 55 kias to threshold CFI - “airspeed” / “check ASI”
To runway pattern	good habits pattern forward/horizon timing of base → final turn sideslip to threshold
Landing pattern	to runway pattern keep up speed near runway cut to idle gentle flare maintain pressure

The idea was to "gamify" the training a little bit. Each step is a little game to see how well I can maintain the parameters of the maneuver by visual reference to the outside alone.

Result: I love this approach and think will keep trying to do these (and similar) exercises after solo!

We departed KPAO to the West and flew over the mountains towards the coast. The coast was covered in clouds, so we flew over them and out over the ocean, then turned back, and maneuvered around some more West of Hwy 280 and South of Palo Alto. We came back and did 1 touch and go and one full stop landing and called it a day.

It was very windy and bumpy, which was a good challenge for the air work but, in the landing pattern, was a total pain in the neck. Both my landings left very much to be desired. The first one, I ended up on my right wheel with a left crosswind on the right side of the runway, and my CFI took the airplane.

My biggest problem is probably the level-offs where I need to remember what to do. After the descent, just add power and let the plane come up to speed; the plane actually descends nicely with cruise trim when power is cut. After an ascent, I need to be more decisive yet gentle about the level off and remember to cut power as the plane accelerates. But overall, I'm getting the "feel" of a lot of maneuvers that I felt were in the bag with the C152 but are not so much so with the Flycatcher.

As Bob noted to me, I get stressed out once in the pattern and all the stuff I was able to do more or less okay (the stuff in the first "page" of the list above) flew out the window. I was --

• Not managing my descent properly -- sort of put down flaps in one fell swoop rather than in a clean sequence;
• Over-banking -- I tend to under-bank when I'm calm, but in the pattern, I whip the plane around in 40 degree banks;
• Not handling the crosswind properly -- I still need to practice the crab / slip maneuver (start slipping about 1/4 mile out);
• Overall doing a slapdash job in the flare.

I think I consider today to have been a good learning experience, though. I certainly have learned to look out the window more and trust that I can do a more or less okay job of maintaining my speed. I believe I would like to do the "second page" exercises next time. In particular, it may be good to actually try a "pattern" (with turns) at altitude, just to ingrain into my mind the process of slowing down and adding flaps.

N162HG 1.5 Bob

Took off from KPAO around noon on a very busy, very windy, but beautifully clear day. Went to KLVK where we did a few touch and goes, then returned for a full stop at KPAO.

The Flycatcher is squirrely and hard to trim. And I'm still not used to the digital instrument. I think, for what it's worth, that the ASI is somewhat under-damped; it wobbles all over the place and is hard to keep straight. I also get confused about where we're at in altitude -- I see the 40, 60, 80, ... numbers swing by and I'm confused about whether I'm going towards or away from my target altitude. ;)

My landings were not very good, I'm afraid. I was having trouble maintaining altitude in the pattern, and kept having trouble with directional control and flares. Overall, I felt very wobbly. Even though the plane itself is a total blast to fly!

The KLVK controllers always seem a bit unsure of things. This time, when we reported in, they told us to stay out of their airspace, so we circled around Lake de Valle for a while. Then they let us in, but kept asking us for our position over and over. It's not like we don't have a transponder, folks!

I loved flying but did not feel good about how my landings went. I think here is what I really need:

* Bob needs to stop correcting my actions / outcomes and instead correct my technique. Rather than saying "keep the nose down," he should be reminding me to keep my eyes on the horizon. Rather than telling me when to turn in the pattern, he should be reminding me to keep my eyes pointed forwards.

* I worry constantly about whether Bob is going to tell me what to do, because that makes me sort of dock myself a point in my mental "how Ihab is doing" chart. I sort of like it when an instructor just lets me do my thing then comments on the final result and how I got there.

* I would really like it if Bob were to say more nice things about when I do a good job. :)

N162HG 1.3 Dave

(This flight was actually yesterday.)

Because my medical might end up being a pain in the neck, I've decided to go for a Sport Pilot license in the interim. I chose Advantage Aviation at KPAO, and I'll be flying their C162 Skycatcher. I booked a flight with an experienced C162 CFI to try it out.

Generally a lovely little 'plane. Nice and new inside compared to the old C152 I was flying earlier. Ergonomics are pretty good and visibility is stupendous.

Ground handling was difficult since I'm not used to the differential braking / free castering nosewheel, but I got better at it as time went on. The key is to stay on the throttle.

The rudder has a very strong return spring. That's a bit counter-intuitive and is really my only complaint with the aircraft.

It's hard to get used to the digital instruments -- I need to get accustomed to seeing numbers and imagining overall ranges.

We went out over SLAC and did some air work, then returned for 5 landings. I tried some Dutch roll coordination exercises till I got sick to my stomach! :)

The plane is hard to trim in pitch -- partly due to the rather touchy electric trim.

In general, I think I did okay with the landings. Still tending to raise my nose when I'm not paying attention, and it's hard to maintain speed control on final with that trim and those digital numbers!

N94565 1.5 Carol

Trying a new instructor while Bob is on vacation.

Carol did not help with as much things -- drove me in the car to the aircraft, let me out to preflight, got in for the flight, then got out and got into the car, waited for me to secure the aircraft, and drove me back to the club. So I got the full experience of airplane preparation, pushing the plane back onto the blasted rubber pad that the right main gear has to sit on, and all that.

Carol is much more laid-back about procedures. Pre-landing checklist: you already have everything figured out; just apply carb heat. Carol also let me do my touch and goes myself: Flaps up, carb heat off, throttle full, and go. Not even a re-trimming, which surprised me, but then that was never an issue since I'm not really all that much out of trim when I land, and I watch my speed as I climb.

I called in "Student pilot" and did practically all my radio work. The pattern was pretty quiet. That helped quite a bit. A few times we took off expecting right pattern and were directed to turn left crosswind, which was interesting because the left pattern altitude is 200' higher (Carol quietly reminded me...).

We did -- oh -- 15 landings? After a few, Carol said, I'm just going to let you do the next circuit without saying a word. That was great!! I was able to "anticipate" things and be much calmer and feel much more in control. There was not a lot of critique of my landings so much as just general encouragement and pointing out the things I did wrong in the flare. The last landing, Carol said, "that was awesome!"

Carol is a rudder person. Use rudder with ailerons. Keep them linked in your mind!

Cross-wind takeoff: Ailerons full into the wind, then let out as you pick up speed, then when you take off, you slide a little and then you can level off and you'll be correctly crabbed. Also, look behind me at the runway to see how I'm lined up with the centerline.

One time, on short final, I let my speed drop way down! The stall horn squeaked and Carol said, "More power please!!" Very scary and I'm not going to ever let that happen again!

Tried to focus more on the sight picture and less on the ASI ... I need to practice that more and more still.

What I learned today: Basically to relax, and that I do well when I'm allowed to make my own mistakes (so long as they are not deadly).

Carol said I am "excited and conscientious" about flying!