PPL training - Basic maneuvers 4

The first attempt at this lesson was cancelled due to IMC, so it was nice to see clear skies above the airport!

There’s something new on almost every lesson, and this time I submitted my first flight plan. We had do submit a flight plan even though we were only going to the training area due to entry requirements in Sola TMA (limited staffing because of Corona).

After fueling the airplane we got a rather late start, and another crosswind departure. The main focus for this lesson was steep turns, slow flight, stalls, and the usual maneuvers including a new one: turns around a point.

The first steep turn (to the left) was really good. Pure luck, because none of the rest were even close to the first one.

As with the previous lessons, I still struggled to maintain the altitude. And I still used “the placebo” (ginger candy). But I felt a lot more comfortable in the airplane now!

I needed a couple attempts before I understood turns around a point, even the simplest things can become hard when you’re up there doing maneuvers after manuevers. But I eventually managed to get it done, even though I lost some altitude when I fixated too much on the point.

I got to do stalls in several different configurations. Forcing the airplane to stall with full flaps almost felt like stepping on the brakes to stop mid-air. Then things happen very quickly when you have to remember both flaps, carb heat, nose down, and power to recover. So it felt awesome when I was able to handle it!

We still had crosswind when we returned to land, so this was in no way a beautiful landing. Way off center, with a rather lengthy float. But I’m happy that I at least get to try as much as I safely can!

We departed slightly after schedule, which also meant we arrived a bit later. So I had to put some more fuel in the airplane for the next student. There is no AVGAS or MOGAS available on ENHD, so we have to do this using plastic cans and a homemade filter…

Gallery

• PPL
• Flight training