Lesson 13 01/11/09

1hrs Pattern work

Finally, back in the air!

All morning I was expecting a no-go on today's lesson, but at an hour before my lesson was scheduled to begin I hadn't heard from my CFI, so Matti and I hopped in the car. I was really hopeful for this lesson, because I've not flown in three and a half weeks, and it would be the first time that Matti would be able to come along since my first intro flight over a year and a half ago.

The ceiling remained at 2000ft, so we were able to spend at least some time in the pattern. Usually pattern work has been at Aurora or McMinnville which are much larger, but today would be all at Twin Oaks which is more difficult.

I went through the pre-flight with Matti, explaining what I was doing and looking for as we went.

My first takeoff and pattern felt great, and I happy that I still felt comfortable after a little time away. My first landing was very smooth. Great!

My next few times around were not as great, and I felt a little behind. My turns were a little steep, my altitude varied some, and I'd tend to be a little close in the pattern not giving me a lot of time for stabilized approaches. Being rather small, Twin Oaks still throws me off a bit, and I think I'm getting farther out and higher than I truly am in the pattern. One time around I was high and fast, and went around. This was also good practice, since the forward pressure on the yoke and right rudder required always surprises me. But I was able to complete the go-around cleanly, and make a much better pattern and approach.

The last few times around were improved, and I felt much more ahead of what was happening, and was really enjoying myself.

So a total of 6 landings, some good, some okay, pretty happy in the end with my performance after a little time off. A good day out.

Matti took some great pictures of Twin Oaks, and of himself. In one picture some of the flooding from the Tualatin river can be seen.