Best part yet?

I am now approaching 12 hours flying in the US. Currently working on stage 2 of my flight training. 

So far, my favourite parts have been:

1. Hood work and unusual attitude recovery.

2. First solo away from the airport.

3. All landings :)

I am dreaming of that IFR ticket before I return to Europe in 2013. Recovering from unusual attiude recovery with the hood has to be the most fun I have had in an aircraft. I have read for many years about spatial diorientation. Now I can appreciate the comment "trust your instruments". I have recovered four times from unusual attitude and each time I had no idea what attitude I was flying in until I looked at the instruments.

No Podcast

Looks like I can't get this iTunes issue resolved for a while. Apple are trying to help, but the iTunes software is not robust enough to cope with different laptop settings (Firewalls, LAN connections etc).

Instead of making a podcast, I will blog about my flights and then put a direct link to the MP3 audio file in the blog entry.

Lesson 11

DATE: 13th February 2012
AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288  
ROUTE: CHD -> {Southern Training Area} -> CHD
DURATION: 1.1 hour
LANDINGS: 3
TOTAL TIME: 11.7 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)


Lesson Summary - Departed 22R for the south training area. Practised slow flight, stalls and steep turns. Hood work and unusal attitude recovery under the hood.  Two touch and goes on 22L and 22R with x-winds.

Key Learnings - Good flight today. Finally grasped the technique of "catching" the stall. Approaches and landings were good. Good focus on maintaining the centre line with the rudder whilst using aileron into the wind. During the unusual attitude recovery, need to first focus on the airspeed indicator. Increase or decrease will determine the probable attitude. Also learn how to remember the control direction on the tarmac for windy days "climb into, dive away".

Next Lesson - Planned for the 16th February 2012. Will be a full solo flight with the plan to practise stalls, steep turns and slow flight.

iTunes Issues

I have pulled episode 1 of my podcast until I resolve an issue with iTunes. Hope to have it resolved over the coming days.


In the mean time, I will re-post the audio in a separate blog entry.

Solo 2 - away from the airport

Today was my first solo flight away from CHD. Performed two touch and goes with my instructor before being released to the training area. What an amazing experience. 


I climbed to 3500' and performed some gentle turns. Wind picked up, so I headed back for a full stop landing. My instructor had requested two touch and goes, but I made the decision for a full stop landing rather than circuits (went from calm to 10kts at 60degrees off the nose).

DATE: 8th February 2012

AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288

ROUTE: CHD Circuits --> Solo Southern Training Area

DURATION: 0.5 DUAL / 0.6 hour Solo PiC

LANDINGS: 3 / 1

TOTAL TIME: 10.7 DUAL / 1.0 hour Solo PiC (+ 45.5 JAA)

Lesson Summary - Circuits followed by first solo away from the pattern.

Key Learnings - Again, again.

Solo 1 - first FAA solo

After passing the stage 1 check ride last week, I was expecting to  solo at some stage this week. However, I wasn't expecting it to happen today. 


I performed four Touch and Goes with my instructor. The flight was perfect. Zero wind. Zero traffic. Then he told me I was ready. 


Within a month of commencing my FAA training, I flew two Touch and Goes followed by a full stop. I will save the details for my up and coming podcast.


DATE: 6th February 2012

AIRCRAFT: C172P N54288

ROUTE: CHD Circuits

DURATION: 0.7 DUAL / 0.4 hour Solo PiC

LANDINGS: 4 / 3

TOTAL TIME: 10.2 DUAL / 0.4 hour Solo PiC (+ 45.5 JAA)

Lesson Summary - First solo flight in the US.

Key Learnings - I can fly!

Lesson 10 - Stage 1 Check

DATE: 1st February 2012

AIRCRAFT: C172N N734HC 

ROUTE: CHD -> {Southern Training Area} -> CHD

DURATION: 0.9 hour

LANDINGS: 1

TOTAL TIME: 9.5 hours (+ 45.5 JAA)

Lesson Summary - Departed 22R. Stage 1 check ride. Slow flight, stalls, steep turns and simulated engine out.

Key Learnings - Had my first experience of leaning the mixture. Taught the method of 100F rich of peak EGT. Couple of issues with my stall recovery which I need to work on. Other than that, it was a successful stage check.

Cockpit audio sample #1 - http://tinyurl.com/7rlqzx9

Cockpit audio sample #2 - http://tinyurl.com/7ml99ua