The weather was awesome today with that feeling of early fall where the sun is still warm, but the air feels a little cool. It felt as though it would be a crime to not go for a quick flight.
I am working with an instructor and getting ready to fly the last of my requirements for the instrument rating, which means that it is possible I could have that rating completed within the next couple of weeks.
The next big step for me is to get my commercial, so anytime I am out flying by myself, I try to get in a couple of the maneuvers that must be demonstrated during the commercial check ride.
For this flight, I did a couple of Lazy 8’s, which are more S’s than 8’s, but that is what they call them. Then I started climbing up high so I could do one of the more fun maneuvers, a steep spiral. The idea of the steep spiral is that it is a good way to lose a big chunk of altitude in a small amount of space. All that you really need to do is put the airplane into a steep bank, keep it coordinated, and within maneuvering speed while you do 4 turns.
After that, I did a really poor impression of an 8 on pylons. Which was my first attempt at, and I did a poor job selecting my pylons.
Back in the pattern, I experimented with another maneuver, a power off 180 to a landing. Here is a quick video of one of the landings where I was way long on the landing. One of the skills of this maneuver is learning to adjust for varying wind conditions to touch down at a pre-determined spot. This is not a good example, as I was too tight in the pattern, and didn’t get enough flaps in soon enough to get down.
