The Emergency

Compared with last time, this flight was even more benign, even though we practiced engine failures and emergency landings. Due to extra time on the ground and a general lack of wind, we didn't review ground reference maneuvers, which are on the syllabus for today. And we also only had time for two practice emergencies and then a couple of patterns.

The engine failure scenario in this plane is very low-key. The large glide ratio means that if you can manage to maintain a constant 73 knots (which I did NOT do very well) then you can make just about any field that you can clearly distinguish. I didn't do a good job on speed on the second try, since I was so busy just trying to go over and ingrain the habit of scanning the controls and instruments - something you would do in a true emergency to make sure you didn't inadvertently pull the throttle, cut your fuel, or some other "silly" mistake. The result of going too fast or too slow is that you descend faster, which in this case wasn't a problem, since we had picked a field that was fairly close.

We fly our practices in a very rural area, which a lot of ranches and pasture or fields. This makes for pretty easy pickings when scoping for a place to land, but it was a good lesson about the things that pop into view when you are a few hundred feet up and not near an airport. Irrigation sprinklers, power lines, cows, and subtly uneven terrain suddenly make your chosen field not so nice. It's a good lesson to keep the eyes open for things close by, since that distant field - while technically within range - may not end up being all that great.

On our return to the pattern, there were several planes in the air, so it was good practice to be watching for traffic, monitoring the tower, fiddling with the GPS (at the instructor's direction - I think he was making sure I could do a few things at once, like the test will be), and flying the pattern. Rather than enter the pattern and go around, the tower had me enter a right base directly to get in front of some other traffic. That also was different, and it negates all the nice visual references you get used to during the regular pattern.

Normally, there are specific points at which to reduce power, lower flaps, make turns, and descend. This time, all those cues were gone, so I had to wing it and we came in a bit high and fast. We were only going to perform a touch and go anyway, so it wasn't a big deal, but we ended up just flying a low approach and then climbing out again. Then, we had to extend our pattern to make room for a regional jet coming in. Keeping it in sight, we were communicating with the tower to provide enough room and allow his wake turbulence dissipate while we came around for another low approach.

By the time we came through again, there was another plane landing behind us, so we did another low approach, and the crosswind was picking up, so it was good practice to shift from a crab into the wind to a slip. Then it was back up into a standard pattern and a full-stop landing to end our lesson.

All in all, I feel like I have a good grasp of basic control and a mental picture of the other traffic. Landings will still be a challenge, but performing these crosswind low approaches are definitely a big help. Still looking forward to another lesson. I now have 7.3 hours, so I guess I'm over the "6-hour slump".