| Lesson 16 | |
| Flight time logged: | 1.5 hours |
| Total flight time logged: | 22.7 hours |
| Total takeoffs/landings: | 85 |
| Total cost to date: | $3800 |
Today was an introduction to turning stalls. In past lessons, I had to perform power-off and power-on stalls keeping the airplane coordinated and from turning to the left or right. Now I had to tack on the addition of banking five degrees to the left or right. Banking the airplane before stalling does not feel natural, and it is very difficult to make yourself do.
After practicing stalls, I practiced steep turns again. My instructor complimented me on my steep turns. It's nice to get compliments that make you feel like you're making progress.
Engine failure! Well, not exactly... my instructor pulled the power on me to simulate and engine failure. I was at 3,500 feet (2,500 feet or so above the ground). I immediately setup the plane in a 65 knot glide and started looking for a place to land. My instructor reminded me that I need to turn the plane in order to look 360 degrees around my location. As soon as I turned 180 degrees, I found a runway. It just happened to be Monroe airport.
After lining up with the runway, I ran through my checklists. First I tried the engine restart procedure. Then I ran through the engine out procedure. As I was approaching the runway, I could tell I was still too high. I needed to lose altitude. I had already extended the flaps fully, so a forward slip was out of the question. I performed a 360 degree turn to try to lose altitude. After the 360, I was right upon the threshold. I touched down gliding from 3,500 feet. It was a nice feeling.
I spent the rest of my lesson time practicing short and soft field takeoffs and landings at Monroe. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it now. Practice makes perfect though.
