Lesson 11 – Flying Low

After still another ground school session last Thursday, I finally got back in the air on Sunday afternoon. The ceiling was a little low but no problem for the ground reference maneuvers we had planned. In general, they went pretty well. We started with rectangular patterns, then S-turns and finally turns about a point. The first couple times around each course were shaky but, they got better as I did it more.

My biggest problem with the rectangular course was altitude control. The turn from crosswind to upwind would pop me up 100 feet. I did finally figure out how to anticipate when it was going to happen and how much forward pressure I needed to better hold my altitude where it should be.

I though the S-turns were my worst maneuver. The first two turns in each direction were very sloppy. After a few more, I was getting the radius closer to equal but still had some trouble with rolling level just as I crossed the road. Still, my CFI said they were good for the first attempt.

Turns about a point went much the same as the other maneuvers. The first couple times around were sloppy but I got better and better with repetition.

Overall, I was happy with how the lesson went. Getting better with practice is what it is all about and that is exactly what happened.

The next couple flight will be to practice everything I have learned so far in preparation for my first stage check. If the weather holds, that stage check flight might happen next week.