Debrief - 29 Jan 2011

Lessons learned / reminders as a result of YATPL (yet another traffic pattern lesson). Main issue this lesson, base.. everything about it.

• Maintain straight track after numbers, for some reason I was drifting left after the numbers
  
• For my typical timing to work need approximate 2300 rpm on downwind, much slower will be much lower than usual and will have to fix that
  
• No need for steep turns to base or final w/o high winds - unless, on extended downwind and doing the turns at higher power settings because too far from runway to do power off landing - in other words, bank angle of turns onto base and final must take winds and airspeed into account
  
• Square off base and final turns - Keeps timing right if on standard power off approach (otherwise you'll be too high), also helps with ATC timing
  
• Need to apply correct level of power to address too low situation (How do you get too low? Too slow on downwind, allowing too much descent after pulling power, diving turn to base or final.)
  
• Remember to use flaps or forward slip to correct for too high (how do you get too high? Turn base or final too early. Not managing base/final glide angle right.)
  
• If on power on approach add flaps first, then reduce power
  

Contributing Factors

• aircraft: 93K - no issues
  
• weather: winds calm, overcast at 3500-4500ft, cool
  
• airport: Rwys 31L and 31R, moderately busy, 4 planes in pattern sharing two runways
  
• pilot: I - 0, M - 0, S - 2, A - 0, F - 7, E - 4 (10 is worst, 0 is best) Fatigue - heavy period night before and ran 10 miles that morning, was more tired than normal, Emotion - had expectations for very good flying because of last lesson
  

Adjustments for Next Time If the weather is promising for next Saturday I will try not getting up early (before 6AM) and running long before the lesson. Instead I will sleep in, run 6 miles near home, then go to the valley to fly. I seem to have worse lessons on Saturdays than week days, the commonalities between these Saturdays have been long runs (resulting in increased fatigue) and higher expectations because of good lessons during the week.

Of Security and Flight...

This is a very good article on a couple levels... for one I totally agree about General Aviation and the amount of security required and the amount of "risk" GA poses to the general public. It is written by Lane Wallace and published in The Atlantic.

Second... hidden in the middle of the article is an awesome section about why we, the GA pilots who are not employed to fly, fly. Very good reading. I will quote that section here:

So why do pilots sacrifice and scrape together the money to fly, if not for a useful purpose? The reasons vary, of course. But for many, many pilots, it has to do with remembering something we all used to know, back when we were still young enough to believe that anything was possible and dreams could come true. "Three year olds," I once wrote in an essay on the subject, "may not know much about physics, investment banking, literature, or even the meaning of life, but they understand something very important about living.... [They understand] that life is in the ever-changing moment of the present, that joy is more important than possessions, and that dreams are the lifeblood of a heart and soul."

Unfortunately, as we grow older many of us find, or are told so many times that we start to believe it, that anything is not possible and dreams are for dreamers; irresponsible luxuries not related to putting food on the table. We live long enough to know the demons of disappointment and the restrictions of life's boundaries. Little by little, we lose that three-year-old belief in magic, dreams, and possibilities. And little by little, an important piece of our hearts dies.

And that is why many pilots fly. The exact incidents that draw future pilots to airports differ widely. But for many of them, the reason they stay is that in some way they can't even quite articulate, airplanes and flight bring that piece of their heart back to life. After all, flight itself a metaphor for freedom and possibility. A couple thousand feet up in the air, all the limits and disappointments of daily life fade away beneath an endless horizon and the thought, remembered again, of how unbelievably beautiful and vast the world is; how full of possibilities and roads still untraveled.

So, there you go. I hope someday you, too, can taste that freedom.

"More of That"

Today's debrief... "more of that" :) Finally, today, I put together a 100% whole solid very good pattern. I danced the edge all the way around. Kept my airspeed constant during the climbing turns and finally (yet again) listened to what he meant when he kept saying to check the extended runway center line against the instrument panel to know if I'm high or low on base. The last two pieces finally came together. He even said the word "perfect" today about my climb out and turn and leveling off on downwind. I never thought I'd hear him utter that word.

Oh, not to say I didn't screw up too... first time around the pattern my climb pitch was wrong.. the warmer weather required a different pitch and I refused to believe the instruments, then I was WAY too low on base because of an extended downwind and didn't fix that quick enough. Second time too low again... Third time around the climb out and through downwind was perfect, but I screwed up final, came in way too high and did a go-around (which was almost done right... cram, CLIMB, clean!). Fourth time blew past pattern altitude by 100ft, but fixed it.

My landings weren't as incredibly awesome as they had been.. bounced twice on the first landing, flat on the second, third.. go around.. fourth, actually landed and exited on Delta for a change. Fifth I could have made Delta, but, my CFI was so happy about how good that pattern was he decided to end on a high note.

But it was so cool... I finally danced the whole pattern. That same feeling that got my landings good... those many many little adjustments throughout the process that made it very good. Made it good enough the debrief was simply "more of that" and we both smiled.

I'm smiling still.