Alecs Blog

Well, just an update since I missed a day.

Today we went over to Wasilla to do touch and goes because of high winds here in Palmer. When we returned to Palmer, we had a 15 knot crosswind. We nearly got blown off the runway here due to the winds. We watched a Super Cub hover in place, and then turn.

Yesterday was a busy day also. We worked on touch and goes, and did teardrop returns, forward slips and unexpected requests by ATC. It was an overwhelming day. We did 1.1 hours in the morning and .5 in the afternoon.

Today was a review of what I have learned so far. We did slow flight, power on and power off stalls, S-turns, steep turns, and turns around a point. It went pretty darn well. S-turns, and turns around a point were much easier today. I still need some work on stalls and steep turns.

On another note, the weather man doesnt like me. It was flat calm this morning. As soon as I stepped out to preflight the aircraft the wind picked up. It wasnt so bad, but on the way back, we got some pretty good up and down drafts.

Today we continued our practice of ground reference maneuvers. We were getting some pretty good winds off of the mountains, which made it harder than it should have been. I found S-turns to be pretty simple once you get used to them, and turns around a point werent much harder. Probably the easiest for me was the rectangular course. Its just like flying a regular traffic pattern.

The weather wasnt bad today. We just had some strong winds out of the Knik valley. When we came back to land, the winds were reporting 180/18. So the landing on runway 16 was a bit bumpy.

The Palmer airport is a fascinating one to learn to fly at, especially with the State Foresty aviation division being based here. We share the patter with Beavers, Twin Commanders, Pilatus PC-7s, and soon the DC-6 firebombers.

Ok, as an update I am on lesson six of my training.

Here is a brief outline of the lessons.

Lesson One: An introductory flight where the instructor taught me the fundamentals. We did climbs, descents, and turns to headings. I also got to do the takeoff, which was fun.

Lesson Two: This lesson basically consisted of the same stuff as lesson one, but we added climbing and descending turns. We also did some touch and goes. The turn from downwind, to base, to final was the hardest part. I had a hard time not pulling back during the turns.

Lesson Three: This was the funnest, and most educational lesson yet. I went under the foggles. I was only able to see the instruments. It gave me a better understanding of handling the aircraft.

Lesson Four: Lesson four was slowflight and stalls. Slowflight was a blast. Stalls, however were quite nerve racking at first. However they were much better when I was in control.

Lesson Five: This was by far the most stressful lesson yet. Emergency maneuvers. The instructor would pull the engine back to idle and make you glide to the runway. Between running checklists, staying coordinated, and achieving the glide speed, it was hard.

Lesson Six: This was steep turns and ground reference maneuvers. My left handed steep turns were ok, but my right hand turns left alot to be desired. My S-turns also need some work. However the weather was awesome. Not a breath of wind. Warm, and sunny. The rivers were flat calm. It was a great day to be flying.

I will keep this updated as I go.

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