Small Improvements...Simple Joys

Lesson 11

5-18-12

1.4 hours logged

12.7 hours total recorded in logbook

Another ten landings in 1.4 hours! I flew with Steve Krog today for the first time and really like him as an instructor as I do Joe also. He seems to have seen just about every mistake a student pilot can make and remained totally unfazed even when my landings weren't so good--and again many of them weren't.

Steve fuels the Cub before takeoff

My first takeoff and three or four of the others were what I would call (based on Steve's comments) very good. I need to pull the stick back a little more, he said, so the tail doesn't come up quite as much just before liftoff but that's a minor adjustment. Landings? They still have a ways to go, but my confidence was greatly boosted when, on only the second one, Steve asked as we rolled out "Did you do that one or did I?" with obvious approval in his voice. I didn't answer, just laughed an elated laugh. I was afraid to take too much credit for it--Steve talked me through it the whole way.

The real test came when after about five or six landings (I can never keep it straight--they all run together) Steve told me, "Okay, I'm not going to say a word this time--show me a good approach and landing!" My heart leapt into my throat and I caught my breath not sure if I'd heard correctly. On my own?! Only  then did I realize how much I'd relied on Joe and Steve's coaching me verbally through the landings. Well I knew what to do in theory. I did my best--and bounced. When Steve asked me what I would've done differently, I knew right away. "Get the stick back," I said. I was right. That still seems to be my greatest trouble. I just need to keep it coming back smoothly all the way. My tendency now is when it bounces, to let the stick come forward with each bounce so I'm actually subconsciously moving it back and forth. Not such a good idea. Again, I know when I've got it and feeling all three wheels touch together is wonderful but how do I do that consistently?

Well my last landing was another good one and on that note Steve said, "Next time we're going to pick up right where we left off and it's only going to get better form there, right?" It took some prodding but finally I gave him the answer he was looking for: a self-assured "Right!" I didn't feel quite so confident.

My approaches are getting a little better. I can almost always tell if I'm too high, too low, or right on now and I can feel if we're rising or sinking. Today was a good day for that. It being later in the day, I experienced thermals rising off the plowed field on approach as well as bumps caused by the treeline which parallels final to one-eight. "Every approach here is a little different," Steve said, "because the air is constantly changing." I get the idea you have to be prepared for anything. There was already a breeze blowing so the air wasn't as smooth as glass but it worked out okay and I got to practice using a wind correction angle in the pattern. As far as pattern work goes, I noticed even yesterday that now, I am able to do several things at once that, a week ago, were individual steps. For instance, climbing, levelling and making power adjustments while turning. It's good to mark improvement even in little things like that.

We sure had a beautiful day for flying again today despite the extra bumps. It was warm enough to fly with the door open and no jacket on the entire time! How good the wind whipping at your face and clothes feels! Today I had the entire pattern to myself--except for a bird here and there. What a wonder to see a buzzard flying slightly below us just as if we were another bird! That's a birds-eye view if I ever saw one! I like that about my flight training. At every lesson, no matter how tiring it may be there is always something, even if they are little things, to remind me of the joy of flying!

Some aerial shots of the airport and the nearby town of Hartford