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Jerry's 36th Lesson: Monday, 5/14/96Was Yesterday. Normally, I try to write my journal right after the lesson when it's fresh, but Lesson 36 seemed to be an awful lot like the previous umpteen ones; I couldn't think of anything to say ( now imagine that!:-). After a bit of cogitation, I did think of stuff to say.... It was a fairly typical lesson - 0900, sunny, very light variable winds ( "Winds Calm" ). We went out to HWD, I performed a series of lackluster touch and goes. Mostly, I was too high. When I'd try to slip, the ship would slide irresistably sideways. Have to work on those slips. One trick I thought of was to start the slip off to the other side. One of the T&G's stands out in my mind: I was abeam the numbers, clear for the option, and the tower cleared somebody else for takeoff just as I turned base. "What do I do!?!" "Just Fly the Plane, don't worry about it! There's plenty of time! Just fly a nice square pattern..." But I reflexively slowed the plane way up anyway.... It turned out he was right, of course. There was plenty of time. I guess that kind of instinct just comes with experience. To know how far ahead another plane is, relative to how fast you're going, and whether there's plenty of time, just enough time, or not enough time... Just like in a car on the freeway. Hey, wait a second... We descend and approach at 65-70MPH, which is normal freeway speed! Maybe "car instinct" will work after all. We came back to Palo Alto, I had an "interesting" landing there. My wind correction got messed up near the ground, I was trying to search for it and flare at the same time, we were at a crazy angle all flared up and tilted sideways, and *SQUAWK* we were down. And swerving! Grimly, I fought the plane down the runway for about 5 seconds, applying full right rudder to counteract the swerve to the left, then full left rudder before it developed into a swerve to the right... Twenty hours ago I wouldn't have been able to do that. Probably in XX more hours, I won't have to. Landing progress seems to happen in fits and starts. Some lessons better, some worse. Just like the stock market! But there's a general trend upward. Even the bad ones now are better than the good ones ten lessons ago. I guess one judges progress mostly by the bad ones... The good ones are fun, they're educational, they point the way to the future, but the bad ones show what can be done NOW. I got an interesting email from somebody who learned in a Citabria, at the same airport, but with a different CFI. In fact, this was the first CFI that I interviewed, the one I decided I couldn't afford. That guy soloed at 47 hours. So I guess I'm not so far out of line. What a relief. Kind of like finding out you're not retarded after all. Somebody else emailed me about an "early solo" guy who just landed on top of a hangar. This is serious stuff, and there really is no room for ego-thumping. - Jerry "51.4 Hours" Kaidor |