Lesson 25 2/27/09

.5hrs ground - Reviewing towered airport operations and planning for my long cross country.

.5hrs - Class D practice

We spent .5hrs reviewing class D airspace, communications, and ground operations.

We also discussed my upcoming long cross country. Right I have a few possibilities in mind, each of which includes a class D airport, all stops but one are airports I've not been to, and all are places I'd really like to go to. Very exciting.

The first would be 7S3 (Twin Oaks) over the Cascade Range to PDT (Eastern Oregon Regional at Pendleton), back along the Columbia River to DLS (The Dalles), and then through the Columbia Gorge back to the Willamette Valley and home at 7S3.

The second would be 7S3 over the Cascade Range to RDM (Redmond) in central Oregon, then south to S21 (Sunriver Resort), and back across the Cascades to S30 (Lebanon), then home to 7S3.

The third is to head north to OLM (Olympia) at the south end of the Puget Sound, then over to the coast to HQM (Hoquiam), and home to 7S3.

The fog had cleared, and the ceiling was now high enough that we could head out to Hillsboro for some class D practice.

As we we began to taxi, it felt as though we were beginning to get a little carb ice, so I pulled the carb heat. At first it seemed to bind a bit, then moved freely - too freely. The cable had come off the carb heat.

We taxied up to the maintenance hanger, and I walked down to begin pre-flight on 04H. This was the same 172 that I struggled with a few lessons ago, so this lesson was would be more interesting than I originally thought.

We left Twin Oaks and headed the short distance north to Hillsboro.

My communication with the tower was much smoother, and made two touch and goes, but still struggled some with this 172. My landings were okay, but at the airspeeds typical in the pattern, the controls feel a little mushy compared to 4KU. So far in my training, when the controls begin to feel mushy, bad things to have happen in the pattern are close to happening, so I fly the pattern while focused on the feeling that we are on the verge of a stall, and not as aggressive as I need to be.

I plan to schedule one of my next lessons with 04H, and just work on stalls, steep turns, and pattern work. I'll be flying 04H in the future, whether during a lesson, or after I earn my certificate, so I really need to become comfortable with it.

We were short on time due to the fog, and the carb heat issue with 4KU, so we turned towards Twin Oaks.

My CFI had me quickly find a few VOR's for him in route, and we soon arrived at Twin Oaks.

I was a little high on final, but a brief slip dropped us quickly to where we needed to be, and the lesson ended nicely. I still need a little work on slips too.

My next will be a night lesson, this time to PDX (Portland International), which is a class C airport. That should be very cool, but probably won't be for more than a week due to weather forecasted to move in, and some other obligations. So, I'll be focused on studying for my written that my CFI would like me to complete in the next week or two. I've been scoring in the upper 80's (passing is 70) on practice tests, so I have a ways to go before I feel ready.