One More To Go

As per the instructor's recommendation, I took another solo flight today under an overcast sky to work some more on the required PTS maneuvers. I decided to formalize my plan the night before, mimicking the syllabus and my typical flights with the instructor. This would help me to organize my thoughts and give me something to follow, rather than aimlessly going around the sky trying to decide what to do next.

The plan worked out well, with minor modifications due to another plane being in the practice area. I wrote down everything that I wanted to do, from takeoff to landing. I included a soft-field takeoff (complete with speed notations), my target altitude, a VOR intercept, and then to the practice area. My mini "flight plan" gave me hard standards to work toward, and made sure that I was always doing something worthwhile.

I also wrote down the maneuvers I would practice. I included some power/pitch climbs and descents, a return to my original target altitude, intercepting another VOR radial, and then clearing turns for slow flight. Slow flight consisted of full- and partial-flap flight, while maintaining altitude, and then a power-off stall.

Then, I went into some steep turns, which are coming along nicely. I think they might go better with the extra weight of an instructor, but I don't know why they would. Maybe it's my imagination. In any event, I did much better maintaining altitude and not letting the nose deviate too far from level.

Finally, I descended to "pattern altitude" and performed some ground-reference maneuvers. I haven't had much chance to do these lately, especially with any decent wind, so today's 20-knot breeze kept them interesting. I managed one good turn around a point and one that was a bit wonky, but my S-turns were in need of some help, and I lost a bit too much altitude watching the ground slip away in the wind.

By this time, I had burned up nearly an hour, had reached the end of my maneuver checklist, and went back in for a couple of touch-and-go's. About all there is to say about my landings is that I really need to get my airspeed under control earlier on base and final. Just about every single one is high and fast. I know there's probably a simple answer, like pulling the power back just a bit more, or keeping my pattern altitude about 100' lower, but it will just take some experimentation. My instructor seems to think I'm doing okay, but I don't know if it will be good enough for the examiner. As it is, the actual landings are very smooth, but I don't think any of them will qualify as "short-field".

According to the latest plan, I will have one more flight with the instructor, and then we'll schedule a checkride.