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The Weather in Scotland
Feb. 16th, 2006 03:44 pmI went flying today for the first time in 5 months. That's the longest by FAR that I've been grounded since I started flying 4 years ago. While I would not agree with my instructor that it is exactly like riding a bicycle, I was pleased to discover that I could still manage steep turns and stalls--my stalls were a ridiculous thing, as the last time I tried any was in the States last summer, where they make you do a simulated "stall on climb-out"--basically you point the plane straight up in the air and wait for it to try to topple over. Sheesh. They don't make you do that in Britain, but as a result of having done it in the U.S. I was overdoing it a bit. What fun. (I might add that I do not enjoy this exercise.)
I failed to do a reasonable landing without power over the trees and onto the short runway… we tried at least 3 times and I didn't once lose enough height to make it down. It was very annoying and humiliating, because I'd just done my best ever "practice forced landing" where you pretend you are landing in a field with no power. Finally I begged to be allowed to land on the long runway, with power, in spite of the crosswind; because the clouds were closing in to the point where you couldn't see the horizon, and the windscreen was covered with rain. Just like being in school again. (I vowed that once I had my license I would only go flying on sunny days--HAH.)
Oh, and the other excitement was that while we were up, somebody out there sent out an "urgency" call which turned out to be of no consequence, but startled us into high alert for a moment or two; and my instructor mistook a skein of geese for a military jet and wrenched control out of my hands for a moment. The birds in V formation did look a bit like a Tornado as they passed below us, quite close by.
I failed to do a reasonable landing without power over the trees and onto the short runway… we tried at least 3 times and I didn't once lose enough height to make it down. It was very annoying and humiliating, because I'd just done my best ever "practice forced landing" where you pretend you are landing in a field with no power. Finally I begged to be allowed to land on the long runway, with power, in spite of the crosswind; because the clouds were closing in to the point where you couldn't see the horizon, and the windscreen was covered with rain. Just like being in school again. (I vowed that once I had my license I would only go flying on sunny days--HAH.)
Oh, and the other excitement was that while we were up, somebody out there sent out an "urgency" call which turned out to be of no consequence, but startled us into high alert for a moment or two; and my instructor mistook a skein of geese for a military jet and wrenched control out of my hands for a moment. The birds in V formation did look a bit like a Tornado as they passed below us, quite close by.