Lesson at Shelton

Wednesday evening I had a lesson with Joel, and we decided since I am signed off to solo to Shelton that I'd fly up there to pick him up. We planned to meet there at 6:15 and even though we both agreed I'd take as much time as I needed to get there, I pulled up in front of his hangar at 6:17. Better to be lucky than good!

The flight was my first with my new video setup. The results were much better than clamping the camera to the front right seat...the view is over the cowling with minimal blockage (in fact, with it zoomed in a bit, you can't even see the cowling.) Only one remaining thing to fix: turn autofocus off! I'm thinking I need a little checklist for the video setup...will have to work on that.

The video is out on the YouTube channel; direct link is here.

After I picked up Joel we worked on high performance takeoffs and landings. These tasks, required for the private pilot license, simulate taking off and landing at short fields (where the runway is short and/or there is an obstacle in the way) and soft fields (muddy, snowy, grassy). It took a couple of times, but I eventually managed to perform each one within standard limits.

We then went out west of Shelton to practice stalls. A stall is a maneuver where the pilot intentionally raises the "angle of attack"--basically, the angle between the wing and the wind--to a critical level, so that the wing stops flying. Obviously, outside of aerobatics, this is not something that's part of everyday, ordinary flight, but practicing the maneuver helps pilots be aware of what causes it, and therefore how to avoid it...and also how to recover, should one occur.

Prior to the lesson, I was not 100% comfortable doing stalls solo, but the lesson gave me the confidence to do so. Hope to get that practice in on a near-future solo flight.

After an hour, I dropped Joel off at his hangar and flew back to Olympia. We reviewed the remaining things I needed to do before my test--and there aren't that many. It's mostly a matter of proficiency and comfort level at this point.