Let's try and get 1,000,000 replies to this post

Number 6 said:
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Oh dear...
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Just a bunch of random shit tossed together for "wtf" or "how bizarre" comments.
 
Now that I've got back home, settled down and had a little to eat, I'll tell a bit more about today's flying lesson. The first one where I really got to practice proper maneuvering of the aircraft.

Started out by doing the preflight while my instructor had a chat with some other members of the club. Found during the preflight that there was hardly any fuel at all in the tanks, thus the obvious start to my lesson was to start up and taxi to the fuelling station, and fill up the tanks. Thus I got to practice the start-up and warm-up checklist - and taxiing - a bit more. As we taxied towards the runway, we stopped and tried to communicate with another taxiing aircraft, a Cessna. My instructor showed with sign language to the Cessna pilot that we couldn't hear him. A bit later, as we were doing the run-up, the Cessna pilot called us again and explained that he had found out one of his radios wasn't working (the other one was OK). My instructor complimented me on paying attention to the radio talk from another pilot who came in for landing (although I struggled to actually spot that plane until it was on final).

OK, time for takeoff. Engine instruments green, airspeed alive, 50 knots, rotate and climb at 70 (not exactly a Spitfire, I know). Then after reaching 2200 ft, turn south for the practice area. We changed frequency and suddenly the radio came alive with all sorts of chatter.

The next 45 minutes was spent practicing combinations of climbs, descents, turns and direct transition between them. All the time trying to look out as much as possible, with only quick glances at the instruments. It's bloody easy to stare too long at instruments!

Finished off the maneuvering by an introduction to stall. My instructor showed me first, then I repeated. Throttle to idle, maintain altitude until the nose drops. Down elevator, use rudder to keep plane straight, open throttle.

After this, flying back to the airfield was rather uneventful. Rather than flying a pattern, we usually fly direct to final on this field when we arrive from the correct direction, so I did the pre-landing checklists and talked a bit on radio to notify other pilots of our arrival. We had to sideslip a little to compensate for sidewind until we reached 200ft AGL, where the wind calmed down. My instructor gave us a very soft landing (I followed on the controls) and finally we taxied back to park outside the hangar.

Next lesson scheduled on Friday, then it's time for more slow flying exercises.
 
Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
Now that I've got back home, settled down and had a little to eat, I'll tell a bit more about today's flying lesson. The first one where I really got to practice proper maneuvering of the aircraft.

Started out by doing the preflight while my instructor had a chat with some other members of the club. Found during the preflight that there was hardly any fuel at all in the tanks, thus the obvious start to my lesson was to start up and taxi to the fuelling station, and fill up the tanks. Thus I got to practice the start-up and warm-up checklist - and taxiing - a bit more. As we taxied towards the runway, we stopped and tried to communicate with another taxiing aircraft, a Cessna. My instructor showed with sign language to the Cessna pilot that we couldn't hear him. A bit later, as we were doing the run-up, the Cessna pilot called us again and explained that he had found out one of his radios wasn't working (the other one was OK). My instructor complimented me on paying attention to the radio talk from another pilot who came in for landing (although I struggled to actually spot that plane until it was on final).

OK, time for takeoff. Engine instruments green, airspeed alive, 50 knots, rotate and climb at 70 (not exactly a Spitfire, I know). Then after reaching 2200 ft, turn south for the practice area. We changed frequency and suddenly the radio came alive with all sorts of chatter.

The next 45 minutes was spent practicing combinations of climbs, descents, turns and direct transition between them. All the time trying to look out as much as possible, with only quick glances at the instruments. It's bloody easy to stare too long at instruments!

Finished off the maneuvering by an introduction to stall. My instructor showed me first, then I repeated. Throttle to idle, maintain altitude until the nose drops. Down elevator, use rudder to keep plane straight, open throttle.

After this, flying back to the airfield was rather uneventful. Rather than flying a pattern, we usually fly direct to final on this field when we arrive from the correct direction, so I did the pre-landing checklists and talked a bit on radio to notify other pilots of our arrival. We had to sideslip a little to compensate for sidewind until we reached 200ft AGL, where the wind calmed down. My instructor gave us a very soft landing (I followed on the controls) and finally we taxied back to park outside the hangar.

Next lesson scheduled on Friday, then it's time for more slow flying exercises.
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An excerpt from What Does This Button Do? by Dr. E. Wingman.
 
I didn't expect you to be practising stall recovery so early in your training. But it is kind of one of the most useful things you'll ever need to know. :p Sideslipping isn't the most obvious newbie thing to do, either.
 
More likely stall recovery with different flap/engine settings :D

Brigantium said:
Landing is good to learn.
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Well, yes, but before you can land all by yourself you need to be able to properly coordinate throttle/pitch to maintain a steady descent, using small throttle adjustments to fine-tune the descent rate while using pitch to control speed. When that's OK, there's the art of a proper landing flare.

The "A" block of lessons, covering basic maneuvers, is expected to be about 10 hrs flying time - and landing technique isn't on the syllabus until block "B", so basically the instructor does the landings unless he's certain the student is up to it (but my instructor has told me he wants me to do as much as possible, every time, so he only helps out with the most critical moments).
 
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