Yesterday I had one of my best flights yet. Not only did my girlfriend Christina come up flying with me, but I was able to do a number of procedures I’ve been practicing and nailed most all of them.
Before flying, James and I went over the different procedures we were going to run through which was short and sweet. I remembered most everything I needed for the maneuvers, however there were some parts I missed. One thing I have stored in my brain is the beginnings of a maneuver; C-RITE:
C – Clearing turns – Turn 180 degrees checking for objects that could get in the way
R – Reference point – what is my point of reference whether on the ground or in front of me
I – Instruments – check the settings of the instruments
T – Talk (radio what is going on)
E – Emergency field – where am I going to land if things go awry.
C-RITE is another checklist to run through to make sure that I’m setup to correctly run through my maneuver and so that I am able to take care of myself if an emergency occurs. The instrument check is to get my heading, airspeed, altitude, and angle of turn values known so that when I make my maneuver, I keep within the valid values (heading +/- 10 degrees, airspeed +/- 10 KIAS, altitude +/- 100ft, and angle of turn +/- 5 degrees).
Though it was Christina’s first flight, and she is extremely afraid of flying, she did an excellent job riding in the back of the plane. I didn’t hear her freak out once (though she probably was).
We ran though the following with her on-board:
- IFR hood training
- Steep turns
- Slow flight
- Power-off stall
- Power-on stall
- Simulated engine failure (emergency procedure)
- Turns around a point
- S-turns
- and then landings
All of this was done in 1.3 hours of flying. I was quite happy with the amount accomplished and it was all done with success. Some better than others, but overall I was really happy with the results.
After landing I was able to get some shots of me and Christina. What a great lesson and I look forward to the soon-to-come day of flying solo.
Logs
Flight Time: 1.3 Hours
Ground Time: 0.3 Hours
IFR Hood Time: 0.4 Hours
Yay!!! Fear accomplished! Although…You candy coated everything. You forgot to elaborate on the fact that the plane basically STOPPED mid flight and started to descend!!!!!!! 🙁 I was soooo freaked and saw my whole life flash before my eyes! My jacket was over my head! lol. I CANT WAIT TO GO AGAIN! 🙂 It was sooo much fun!
Yeah, I guess that did happen. Oh well. Next time, you should comment using your info, not mine! 😉
Way to go, both of you!
(BTW – I hear that vertigo is a great aphrodisiac)