Flight 13, N14008, 1.7 hours (20.3 total), normal/no flaps/180 power off landings

The past week was a bit frustrating in flying, in that I didn't fly at all. The forecast called for rain almost all week, so I didn't schedule any class during the week. Then as it turned out, everyday was good enough for flying, and the rain was coming in on the weekend. Fortunately this morning was still nice for flying. Rain won't come until tonight.

Today's plan was simple, fly out to Hayward Airport (HWD) and practice landings. We talked about the plan in the airplane and was airborne earlier than ever. The departure was a right 45 degree departure, aiming at mid-span of the San Mateo Bridge. HWD has a long and wide runway 28L, but it's close to the Oakland Airport (OAK) and its pattern lies right beneath OAK's final approach path. As a result the pattern altitude is only 650 feet, lower than any airport I've flown to.

The first two landings were normal ones. On the first one I flared a bit two early, but I soon realized it and kept the plane floating a bit longer. So the touchdown point was a bit far down the runway, but the landing was still smooth. The second one went better. I think I can pretty consistently make OK landings in good weather. There's little wind today which helped a lot. Another thing about HWD is that the end of runway 28L almost touches OAK's airspace, which means we had to turn crosswind before we reach the end of the runway to avoid entering OAK's airspace. That's usually at or below 300 feet, which was a bit unusual, too. I also overshot the pattern altitude most of the time. 650 feet doesn't take long to reach, and the tower always gives me clearance when I was just about to level off, then by the time I finished talking to them I was already above 650.

Next we were going to to more no-flaps landings. There was a Leer Jet ready to takeoff as I was turning going downwind, and he just sat there, motionless, even as I was turning final. I wasn't sure what to do. The jet finally took off and I found myself too high, too fast. After an attempt to slow the plane down and lose altitude, I was already past the runway threshold and still maybe 50 feet in the air. Time for a go-around. The 2nd time we extended the downwind to give me more time to slowdown and lose altitude, but I still came in too high. This time I did a forward slip, and the plane lost altitude nicely. Leveled out and flared. The plane floated down the runway further than normal because of the extra speed, but touched down nicely. Probablynot within 400 feet of the runway number as we had wanted, though. The next time I started slowing down as I was turning base, and slowed down to 70kts shortly after turning final. This time I was able to touch down closer to the numbers.

Last to practice was power off 180 degree landing. In order to do so we needed to ask the tower for a short approach. It may not always be approved at a busy airport, but HWD had very little traffic and we got approved every time. I pulled engine back to idle on downwind past midfield, and trimmed for best glide. I was about to glide forward when Mark asked me to turn base. We were not even abeam the runway threshold yet. But it was instantly obvious why he asked me to turn. In fact we already didn't have enough altitude to make the runway. I got pretty low soon and I wasn't even lined up with the runway yet. Time for go-around number 2 of the day. The 2nd time I kept the downwind closer to the runway, so my base didn't need to be long. In fact, there's barely any base to speak of. I pretty much just turned a 180 from downwind to final. It's very different from normal landings. I felt like I was about to touch down and there's still 30 degrees of turn to make to line up with the runway. The actual touchdown wasn't bad, though, and I did another one afterwards.

We then took off again for a crosswind departure back to PAO. We got cleared for another short approach at PAO. It felt easier at PAO, though, because of the higher pattern altitude, giving me more glide distance. It's hard to judge when to make your turns when gliding, though. I was about to turn base soon after I pulled engine to idle, but Mark asked me to hold longer. As I was turning final my airspeed was a bit low at about 60kts, and my altitude was a bit low, too. We would probably still have made the runway if I proceeded. But there's no need for unnecessary danger in practice :) I added some power and landing normally. Mark said we'd have been OK if we turned based when I wanted to. I think his timing was right, if I were able to maintain best glide speed of 68kts. PAO is busy as always. As we turn off active runway, another plane was making its landing and another one was behind him on a half mile final.

My landing is definitely getting better. I feel pretty confident to land on a calm day like today. Still need to work on emergency situations like no power or no flaps, though.