Flight 12, N824LB, 1.5 hours (18.6 total) takeoff and landing, no flaps landing.

Today's lesson was scheduled for 9-12, but I had to move it to 3pm because parents' flight yesterday was cancelled and I had to send them to SFO again this morning.

I went to the airport early to get pre-flight done before Mark is back from his previous flight. Turned out the plane wasn't refueled after its last flight (that's what pre-flight is for :) ), and I got to call the fuel truck by myself. Fortunately I got a little brochure I took from the pilot's store next door that had the fuel truck's frequency on it. The guy was a bit slow to come over but Mark wasn't back yet so it didn't delay me.

Today's goal was to do more landings. I was hopping to stay in close traffic at PAO so I could get more landings in, and that's what we told ground when we started taxiing. But PAO was pretty busy and Mark thought it'd only get busier as the day came towards an end and people started coming back to land. We changed our departure request to left Dumbarton departure for Half Moon Bay Airport (HAF). We didn't spend any time for extra maneuvers and flew directly to HAF. HAF is an uncontrolled airport and there were a couple planes in the pattern when we got there. We flew along the ridges, then turned and descended to pattern altitude to enter downwind at 45 degrees. A lady was turning crosswind at about the same time and later made a remark that we had cut her off. Mark thought she could have extended her upwind since we had been announcing our intentions since we were along the ridges, but we didn't say anything back. First landing I came in high and flared high, and bounced quite a bit but still landed. The following ones got a lot better. Especially the 3rd one, which Mark thought was my best ever. I was very please with that one, too. Good timing for the flare, held the flare long enough for the plane to slow down, and very gentle touch down. After 4 normal landings we did a no-flaps landing. The approach speed is 5 kts higher. Since no flaps were used, I had to slow down by holding a higher than normal pitch. It actually didn't feel much different than a normal landing, the extra pitch didn't seem to bother me much. We turned off the runway after this landing (previous ones were touch-and-gos) then taxied back for a downwind departure back to PAO. It's worth mentioning that I handled radio communication around HAF quite well. Last time I tried this was at Wasonville and it was more than I could handle while flying the plane. After that flight I practiced radio calls at uncontrolled airports by myself (while driving) and the effort showed this time :) My calls came naturally and I could also picture where other planes were in the pattern. There weren't many other planes in the pattern, though. The grumpy lady left after our second landing, and another plane that was there turned off the runway and parked. So we had the space for ourselves almost the entire time.

PAO was indeed busy as Mark had anticipated. tower actually sent us over to SLAC to wait out. After a minute or two we were called in to make left traffic. On downwind tower told us we were number 4 after someone turning right base. We didn't see that traffic so we kept flying downwind until what felt like half a minute later when we saw the plane flying right base. It was a lot farther out than normal base legs, and we extended our downwind a bit more for spacing. The airport was indeed busy today. Since we had extended downwind by so much, we kept patter altitude through base and well into final, making it felt like a straight-in landing. My landing at PAO wasn't bad, either. came in a bit slow but still not too bad. The tower was apparently eager to get more traffic going and rushed us off the runway. "4LB, you are holding traffic" was what they told me when I didn't make the first taxi way :P

All in all another good flight. I wish I were able to get more landings in. We were planning to get a power off landing but the busy traffic didn't allow it. I'm getting a pretty good feel for landing now. Just need to work on my consistency.

Flight 12, N2407N, 1.5 hours (17.1 total), slow flight, stalls, forward slips, steep turns, landings

The weather wasn't as beautiful as yesterday, but when I got up to check the ceiling was pretty high and visibility was good. I came in early and by the time Mark arrived I've already finished pre-flight. We were heading to the coast area to practice some maneuvers, then I'd get us to San Carlos Airport (SQL, funny name) and practice landing there. SQL is very close to PAO and will be my backup landing airport when I solo and PAO is to be closed for any reason.

Runway 13 was in use today so we did a left 270 departure towards the coast. Sometime during flight Mark noticed my strobe light was off. Oops, missed it during my run-up checklist. In the coast area the clouds were tiered: few at 3400 then scattered at 11000. We initially flew at 4500. For the slow flight I pulled back power real quick, and we were at 55 kts in no time. Marks comments were "that's the fastest I've seen it done". But of course there were more than a couple bones to pick: I lost 200 feet of altitude in the process (should have pulled back more and faster, and probably add power back in earlier), I didn't put in full flap until my speed was already down to 60 kts (could have done it much earlier). In my second try I did it slowly and maintained altitude better. I then tried two forward slips. The last time I did it (which was also my first time) was quite ugly: the plane didn't turn enough, I wasn't losing much altitude and got drifted off course quite a bit. This time we were doing it at altitude and that took away the stress factor. I did much better this time. Seemed like I tend to bank too much so I still drifted, but I remembered to push down. At altitude pushing down during a slip isn't scary at all. Next we did a power off and a power on stall. I got more comfortable with stalls, and again was reminded of how hard it actually is to get into a stall, especially a power on stall. Next I did a left 360 steep turn followed by a right 360. The left one went better. I maintained altitude and flew back into my wake to get that little bump. I lost 200 feet in the right one, though. It's a bit odd because people usually gain altitude in a right steep turn, as the plane appears to be going down even when it's in level flight. I should have started pulling back earlier, just as I got into the turn. I was late on it and the plane was already descending when I tried to correct it.

I found SQL on the GPS and set a direct course to it. On our way there we chose to go under the low clouds. It got a lot bumpier this way, but still not bad enough to make me feel sick. SQL tower required me to read back the runway number for each request, which is different than PAO tower. e.g., they: "Cessna 2407N, cleared for landing at runway 12", me: 'cleared for landing, runway 12, 07N". I forgot a couple of times and they reminded me to always repeat the runway number. I wonder why they are different. We crossed midfield at 1200 the descended to pattern altitude at 800 and turned downwind. On final there's an obvious crosswind, and I got a crash course on cross wind landing. I also came in high so my freshly practiced slipping skills got a chance on the center stage, which worked out relatively well: I lost enough altitude without increasing airspeed and didn't drift off the centerline. crosswind landing felt like a handful, though. I had trouble finding the correct crab angle, so I kept adjusting till the last moment. Then when I straightened the plan I had trouble finding the right banking. All this extra work threw off my flare timing and I landed a bit hard and bounced a bit. We taxied back to try again. Something funny happened this time: my headset got loose during the takeoff roll and fell off just as I was lifting off. I continued flying till Mark took over and I could adjust my headset. The 2nd landing got better. We came in with only 20 degrees of flap and that felt easier in the crosswind. We tried one more time then took off for a straight departure for PAO. The two airports are really close to each other. We just climbed to 1000 feet and stayed there. It felt like less than a minute before we were cleared for a straight in final. It turned out to be one of my best landings. I controlled speed pretty well during final, and held the flare long enough, then just pulled a bit more to ease the plane down. It was a gentle touch down and Mark was very happy with it. I just need to do it a dozen more times then I'd be quite confident in my landing :)

Flight 11, N14008, 1.3 hours (15.6 total). emergency landing procedure. light drizzle

It had rained non-stop for a week and my Monday flight got cancelled. Going into the weekend it still didn't look good. I fell asleep last night listening to rain drop on the roof, and praying for a clear morning. Well it didn't quite clear up but when I checked weather in the morning the ceiling was at 4500 feet at PAO, and visibility was surprisingly good, so it was still VFR and I could fly. I was worried that it might get bumpy with the rainy weather, but after being grounded for a week (and looking at possibility another week of rain), I was willing to brave it.

Wind was right down runway 13 and constant. Taking off on the wet runway didn't feel much different than any usual take off. In fact it was one of my better take offs. We did a "left Leslie Salt" departure. PAO tower uses all these local landmarks to designate the departure routes, like left/right Dumbarton departure. Leslie Salt is two big piles of salt across the bay from PAO, quite easy to spot from the air. A Leslie Salt departure is just a crosswind departure towards Leslie Salt.

The cloud was at about 3000 feet over Sunol Pass, so we stayed at 2500 and went for San Antonia Reservoir. Mark asked me to pull the power all the way back over the Reservoir, pitch for best glide speed, then find an emergency landing spot. We were not that high above the ground and the area was hilly. I picked a smooth slope but by the time I got the pitch right for best glide speed there wasn't much altitude left. We went full power and climbed up to 4500 to try again. This time we were over Livermore. BTW the hill tops were all covered with snow, even some of the lower hills. It's certainly been cold lately. The terrain was nice and flat here, and the extra altitude gave me plenty of time to get the pitch right, and select a good landing field. By the time I established everything I was still so high up I had to do a full 360 circle to lose more altitude. Gliding with an idle engine felt surreal, and a bit eerie. It was so quiet (with my noise cancelling headsets), it felt like i was flying with my own wings. Someday I'll have to try a sailplane. On the other hand, gliding to the ground with an idle engine is a bit scary. What if the engine didn't rev back up when I needed it to? After I turned final Marked asked me to put power back in and climb up to 3000, and the engine cooperated nicely :)

On our way back to PAO the rain came back. Flying in the rain is not that different actually, just with reduced visibility. I called in to PAO tower over Leslie Salt, and got cleared for the option. But I had trouble locating the runway. I didn't figure out where it was until over half way over the bay. I came in a bit high but adjusted for the landing. A bit less flaring than ideal but still not a bad landing, and in a light drizzle, none the less :) One thing I need to improve on my landing is the airspeed. I came in a bit slow today. I usually don't have enough attention to spare on the instruments when landing. As I get more comfortable with it I will be able to check my airspeed even close to ground.

Saw flocks of birds today when flying over Sunol Pass, hundreds of feet below my feet :) That's what flying is about :)

Flight 10 N824LB, 1.4 hours (14.3 total). stalls, steep turns, landings

Another beautiful day for flying. The weather is going to turn next week so this may be the last flight in a week. Today's plan was to do steep turns and stalls over Los Gatos, then some landing practices at SJC. I took us to Los Gatos all by myself - well, almost all by myself. On the ground I heard the squawk code wrong and Mark had to correct me :P He also reminded me of radio communications at various points. But I almost felt I was flying by myself :P

Today we are doing 45 degree bank turns. When the turning gets that steep the perspective from the pilot's seat is skewed. Since the pilot's seat in the 172 is on the left as opposed to in the middle, when you turn left you get below the nose of the plane and it looks like the plane is in a climbing attitude when you look at the nose and the horizon. It's the opposite when turning right, when it looks like the plane is headed downward. I had to referred to the instruments several times during the turns to make sure I have the correct attitude. The G force is also quite evident during the turn, while it's almost non-existent during normal turns. This is probably what it feels like to be in a roller coaster :P Another thing to remember in steep turns is to add power in the turn, since quite a fraction of lift is used to make the turn.

I did a full 360 to the left than a full 360 to the right. I actually managed to control altitude relatively well. Steep turns are fun. I felt a bit like a fighter pilot :P The fast turning rate actually made a a little dizzy, well, just a tiny teeny bit :P and I told Mark I wanted to do another one. The 2nd time when I level out from the left 360 turn, I felt a little bump, the tell-tale sign that I just flew into my own wake. Yeah, a perfect cirle! The following right turn didn't do so well, though. I lost about 200 feet after the turn. Proof that the altitude control in the first one was coincidental :P

After the turns we did some power off and power on stalls, and a turning stall. Still took me a long time to get the plane into a stall, while Mark kept telling me "pull back more, some more, some more..." It takes a lot to get the 172 into a stall. Well, that's a good thing :)

For landing practice Mark asked me to fly low over the runway. I entered left base directly for runway 30L, and flew a normal final approach, but in the end instead of reducing power to idle Mark asked me to add some power and fly down over the runway. Flying so close to the ground without touching down is hard. I kept pulling up and Mark kept asking me to push down. We went around and did it again. This time I flew even lower and at one point actually touched the ground. It would have been a very soft landing if I had intended for it :) The 3rd time we were going in for a touch-and-go. But this time there's a jet coming in for landing and ATC asked us to do two right 360 turns for spacing. I kept my altitude very well during the turns, dead on at 1000 feet. During the turns Marked pointed to me where Valley Fair is. I tried to find our house from there but failed. The touch-and-go went well, too. It's certainly nice to have a long, wide runway to practice landing.

We departed left crosswind towards Palo Alto. When SJC tower asked me to contact Moffet tower I put in the Moffett frequency, pressed the switch button and request transit to Palo Alto, to which I got this response "4 Lima Bravo, this is still San Jose Tower, please contact Moffett at 119.55". Oops, damn the sticky switch button :P Moffett handed us to Palo Alto quickly and I got cleared for straight in landing again. Again I came in a bit high, but not too bad and I managed to get the plane down with a little bounce. The perfect final flare still eluded me. But now I am quite relaxed during landing. Couple more lessons and I should be able to land consistently in calm wind.

flight 9 in N2407N, 1.1 hours (12.9 total) take off and landing, go-around and slip

Wind at 31 kts at 3000 feet today, so we didn't go to the practice area as planned, since the turbulence behind the mountains would be quite bad. In fact, there were two pilot reports, one from an A319 reporting moderate chop, another from a Beechcraft B55 reporting severe turbulence. The A319 is a big Jet, even the B55 is twice in weight to my Cessna. If they think it's bad, it'll be a lot worse for me.

So the decision was to stay in close traffic and practice more take off and landing. Even near ground there's a 15 kts wind gusting to 21kts. Mostly headwind, though, so not a big concern for me (the Cessna can only take 15kts crosswind). I'll also get a taste with slips, which I had seen Mark demonstrating, and felt awkward even watching him doing it. We'll see how that goes.

Taking off in the wind wan't a problem at all. Climbing felt normal but the wind was quite evident. When I turned crosswind at my normal altitude I was significantly closer to the runway than I normal was. I also didn't reduce power fast enough and got 100 feet above pattern altitude. I made adjustments and brought the plane down for a landing, then did a go-around at about 10 feet above the ground. The 2nd time Mark asked me to fly in high, and demonstrated another slip: so you give full rudder in one direction, then bank in the opposite direction to compensate, in the meanwhile reduce power to idle while pushing down. Another go-around and now it's my turn. I did pretty much everything wrong my first try: didn't give enough rudder, didn't bank a lot, did reduce much power, and didn't push down enough :P. I didn't feel the plane was slipping and losing altitude much, and I ended up being 10 feed above the ground, and completely off to the right side of the runway, another go-around ensued... :P

Next we practiced normal landings. I did mostly OK, a bit rough but brought the plane down all but once. The wind didn't cause much trouble on final, but did push the plane around a little for the the last 10-20 feet. In the one failed attempt I got too much off center than I liked and was too close to the ground so I decided to go-around. Before my final landing I tried another slip. Not much better than the first one. The biggest problem was that I wasn't pushing down enough. I admit I was a bit scared to do it. It is counter-intuitive to push the plane down when you are already close to ground. Next time I'll have to forget about the fear and trust physics, as I always do :) The final landing was a bit rough, too. I believe I landing on one gear first :P. But hey, I walked away from the landing. Plus I didn't feel any sickness at all today. So another great day of flying for me :)

flight 8 in N2407N, 1.9 hours, take off and landing

Today was more take off and landing practices down at Wastonville (WVI). I came fully prepared this time, with two plastic bags in my pocket, and Mark brought some, too :). We did a left downwind departure and got handed off directly to NoCal Approach. I was able to recognize 280, 85, and Stevens Creek from the air. Next time I should try to find my house :). Air was pretty calm until we got to the coast area, where it got bumpy all of a sudden. Good thing it got calm again after we get close to WVI. Landing in bumpy air would have been a lot more stressful. WVI is an uncontrolled airport, and I found the radio calls a huge distraction to me. Mark ended up handling half (or more) of the calls. It's also hard to have a clear mental picture of where everyone is when there's more than a couple planes in the area. I was getting a bit better at controlling the plane while listening/talking to on the radio, but there were times when I checked the altimeter and found out I was more than 100ft off where I though I was. My landing kept improving. I did 4 in total. The first couple bounced a little but the last one was quite nice. WVI's runway is longer and wider, which helped, too. Extending my sight further down the runway before touching down, and flaring, became more natural. I was also significantly less tense. My last landing was a full stop (all earlier ones being touch-and-go's), we then taxied back and did a 360 at the hold area. That was a first time me. It's to check for planes in the patter before taking the runway at an uncontrolled airport. We then took off and headed back to PAO. There was near 40kt of headwind on the way back and Mark tried to slow the plane down to get zero ground speed. The wind wasn't quite strong enough for that but he got pretty close. We got cleared for a straight in approach. For some reason long final approaches throw me off. Last time we did this I ended up high, and I did so this time, too, and we did a go-around. Again we got an extended downwind to almost Moffet Field, so another long final approach. I had trouble adjusting altitude again. I managed to land with a little bounce, but far less nice than I did in WVI. This is really interesting. A longer final means more time to adjust which intuitively should be a good thing. I don't know why it doesn't work for me that way.

flight tracks from flight 7

Mark plotted the flight track of some of my maneuvers from our last flight on maps. They are interesting to look at, ant quite revealing :P

The rectangle. The red line is the reference rectangle and apparently I wasn't flying as parallel to it as I though I did :P Turns weren't of a fixed radius, either...

The S turn: the entry should have been steeper. Not too bad for the first time, though :P

Turning around a fixed point. This was the worst one. The red dot was supposed to be the center point of the turn and the effect of the wind is obvious. I did get progressively more and more nauseating during this move, though, so that's my excuse... :P

First landing pattern back at PAO. Doesn't look too bad actually. Altitude control on downwind was pretty good and the descent was smooth. Of course as I mentioned in the last post, I flared too early at the last moment and bounced a little bit.

flight 7 (aka vomit comet): ground reference maneuvers and more landing practice, in N824LB, 1.8 hours

Well, today's flight was, umm, interesting...

So the plan was to practice rectangular flight, s turns across a road, and turning around a spot. The point of these practices is to control your ground track in wind, so we needed some wind for them to be meaningful. The wind wasn't strong but strong enough. 25 knots of wind really should be nothing. But when it blows over the ridge you are trying to fly over it creates enough turbulence to throw the plane up and down quite a bit -- bad news for someone who's prone to motion sickness, e.g. me.

We made right Dumbarton departure, then headed towards Sunol Colf Course and San Antonio Reservoir. I had planned this course into the G1000 on the ground so following it in air was quite straight-forward. From there we headed towards Byron Airport (C83) through Livermore Airport(LVK)'s airspace. We could have overflown it but chose to go through it so I got to talk to tower for permission, a little practice on radio communications. We then passed Brush Peak to the flat terrain near C83. There're some rectangular fields on the ground that made good references for ground maneuvers. We descended to 1000 feet and practiced the maneuvers. I did OK tracking the rectangular lines, crabbing about the proper amount. The turns I did less well. The changing wind made it hard to make smooth changes in banking.

As we were getting ready to do some landing practices at C83 my airsickness caught up to me. I was trying to ignore it since we flew over Sunol pass but it's getting worse and I got the feeling that I was going to throw up. I asked Mark if he had any plastic bags with him but he didn't. I gave control to him and fought my urge to throw up for a couple minutes. Finally I couldn't hold it any more and threw up in my mouth, and swallowed it back (yes, yuk), which of course induced a bigger one that I manged to swallow back, too. A couple minutes after that I was well enough to take controls back from Mark. Meanwhile he had climbed the plane to 5000 feet where the air was smoother. We aborted landing practices at C83 and headed back. I recovered quite fast though so we decided to do the landing practices at PAO. The first landing was a bit bumpy. I flared a bit too early. The 2nd one was even more bumpy, and I did a go-around before Mark asked. I think he was going to try to save the landing actually :P but I already went ahead with the go-around. The 3rd one I still flared too early and it felt as bumpy as the first one. I also overshot my turn to final consistently. But I was still quite happy with those landings. I didn't feel tense as before and I remembered to extend my sight forward as I got close to ground. I think that's good progress. Next time need to remember to turn to final earlier and flare just a split second later.