Eblo

Solo #3

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Today when I got out to the airport, the sky was clear and there's was only the slightest whisper of a breeze. I was finally going to get to solo again, provided the plane behaved. It had been over a month since my first and second solos, so I was getting anxious. My CFI was still out with another student, so I did the preflight and waited for him. I was so excited, I just about had the engine started before he jumped in.

The lesson started out interesting enough. What little breeze there had been left the wind sock indicating wind right down 270. The TWEBs I'd gotten on the phone called for 260-280 degree winds of about 3 knots. Everyone else using the airport was pretty happy with Runway 27, so that's what I headed for. As I pulled off the tarmac onto the taxiway, there was a twin maneuvering away from the fuel pumps to depart the airport. I figured he was going to whip a 180, and follow me down the taxiway to 27.

I stopped at the hold-short line, did my run-up, was checking for any incoming traffic, and was just about to make my radio call indicating my departure into the pattern when a voice pre-empted me. "Campbell, mutter-mutter-mutter-mutter depart niner." So there, at the far end of the runway, is the twin rolling for a slight tailwind takeoff. I guess the guy didn't want to have to wait for a lowly Warrior. Welcome to the be-on-your-toes world of the non-towered airport. At least he used his radio, I guess. And he looked pretty cool retracting his gear and whipping by 50 feet above and in front of us. My instructor muttered something about, "That guy . . . trouble." The intercom didn't pick it all up.

So I looked for any more traffic, called my departure, rolled out onto the runway, and was off. If you've read any of my recent posts about flying there's one 4-letter word I've used a LOT lately - "wind." I've had crosswinds, headwinds, gusting winds. Just lots and lots of wind. But not today. And I realized something important about a total lack of headwind - you don't need as much power from base down final. I set up perfectly for my first landing, had all the flaps out, and got about halfway down the runway before the plane even considered setting down. Time to go around.

I realized after the go-around and the first actual landing, that I had been leaving my speed up around the 70+kts we'd been using for the crosswind and gusty days, not the 65kts I should have been at. I continued to make adjustments to power and approach airspeed until I had hit three acceptable landings. After those three, I kicked my CFI out of the plane, and I was on my own again.

I did 4 more landings. The first two were OK, but not great. The third was the best. It was so gentle, I wasn't convinced I had actually touched down until I tried out the nose wheel steering - yup, she was down. The last one was set up to be just as nice, and then the first hint of breeze of the hour decided to rise up and cause me to float a little. I hung in there, though, added a bit of power, and settled it right in. I checked the hobbs, saw my hour was up, and parked the plane.

Weather permitting, we're going to work on VOR work again tomorrow, then next week, I'll spend an hour or so doing takeoffs and landings all on my own. Yikes!

Posted by oblivion at December 2, 2003 09:57 PM | Technorati Tags: