Up and Down...

It has been a few weeks since I updated this but I have been doing a lot of the same things. The last few weeks have been full of take-offs and landings. I have not mastered them and probably never will, there is a reason why they say a pilots license is just a license to learn. Last week I was only able to fly twice due to a wedding we went to back in Iowa. On July first the weather was almost perfect very light to no wind which made it very ideal to do 12 touch and go's. My main issue was visualizing the landing and getting the sight and how it should look down as well as responding to the decent. After a couple I started to get it down and was really doing well. The fourth was a great morning for another 10-12 (I just got done mowing and am too lazy to check my logbook but it is around that number) touch and go's. Most of them were really good and I am getting more and more confident about how I was doing. At that point my instructor threw in simulated engine out landings. Now the key to that statement before my mom freaks out is SIMULATED the engine is at idle. The first step to this (in this case) is to trim for best glide which is 75 knots (about 86MPH) in the 172. The next point is to choose a landing point. We did these at different points in the pattern so the runway was always my landing point. The main thing to remember when doing anything while flying is to never stop flying the plane. The first simulation we did he cut the power when I was on the base leg of the pattern (I can dive more into the different parts of the pattern if requested but for now I will just include this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Airport_traffic_pattern.jpg), the second one we did on the base turn from downwind and the final one was on downwind. They all went very well and I actually enjoyed the added challenge of it and the break from just going around and around. On Saturday we had a little crosswind which was great for where I was at in my learning. The crosswind turned out to be about an 8 knot quartering crosswind. Crosswind landings are a little tricker but the same principles are in place you just add a step at take-off and landing. You want to keep the upwind wing low to minimize the wind pushing you around the runway as well as to keep it from flipping, turning and pretty much having it's way with you. To do this you add in aileron (directional control surface on the wing) in the direction of the wind and rudder in the opposite direction. This cross-control when applied correctly will keep you going straight while lifting off safely. ON landing you do the same thing while flaring. At the end of our lesson on Saturday my instructor said that as long as everything goes well with weather and my performance this week I can probably solo at the end of this week. I am currently planning on flying Tuesday (severe weather may not let this one happen) and Wednesday night as well as sometime during the day on Friday and Saturday. It is another hot week with temps around 100 down here so if I am not flying or at work I will probably be at the pool...thinking of you all of course! Let me know if you have questions!