Like Starting Over

Lesson 39
5-7-13
1.0 hours logged
47.3 hours total recorded in logbook

The weather has been really beautiful this week--in the 70's, sunny, clear--it's perfect. The grass has come up thick and green, there are tiny leaves on the small trees and buds about to burst on the hickorys. The tulips budded almost overnight and are now in full bloom. It's beautiful. Beautiful flying weather too.

Preflight complete, we taxied out, this time to Runway 9 on the opposite end from 27. Having completed our pre-takeoff checks and run-up, we had to continue to hold short of the runway for a few minutes. Apparently we were not the only ones who thought it a beautiful day for a flight. We had to wait for two planes to land before we could take the runway. Reminding the controller that we were still holding short of the runway, he cleared us for takeoff. At last we were on our way.

Waiting to take off as a Cessna 150 comes in for a landing.

We weren't going far today though. We stayed in the pattern the entire time doing stop-and-goes. Jim handled the radio in the pattern so I could focus on flying and this was just as well. I had all I could handle just slowing the plane down enough to land. Even keeping the plane slow while flying the pattern, though tough, is essential when sharing it with slower aircraft.The RV-6 was not designed for pattern work and so is not ideal as a primary trainer but I view it this way: If I can fly a Cub at one end of the performance spectrum and the RV-6 which is toward the opposite end as far as single-engine airplanes go, I figure it should be fairly easy to fly the 150s and 172s that fall in between in their performance characteristics.

Jim flew one landing with me and then let me try. I'm sure I flew the pattern far too fast and was very much behind the plane the entire approach with the consequence that my first landing was a total wreck! Well, not literally. I had made the somewhat bitter discovery that it is possible to make a bad landing in that plane. I was so disappointed in myself! I thought my days of making those kinds of landings were over! How wrong I was. A few more landings were a considerable improvement over that first one but I still had trouble slowing it down in the pattern. It seemed that all I'd have to do was glance away for a second and I'd suddenly be coming up on 100 mph!

Contemplating the day's lesson

When at last we made the final landing and exited the runway, I told Jim it's like starting out all over again and, in a way, I am. It's a totally different airplane than the Cub. But still, I found the thought rather depressing. I've already been at this so long and a part of me feels I should have been done with my flight training long ago even while I keep trying to tell myself it doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the end as long as I get there. Why is it taking so long?  Jim tried to tell me I'd improved greatly in that lesson but I felt keenly my lack of confidence. I'd hoped to solo the RV-6 at OSH before June 15, the date the tower is set to close, but I could see this hope quickly fading. Solo seemed months away! The discouragement with which I have often struggled throughout the course of my training was weighing heavily on me as I taxied to the fuel pump at the close of the lesson.

Back at Weeks, Jim again pointed out the progress I'd made in the day's lesson and assured me that I will continue to improve. I hope so. It feels like I've such a long ways to go.