Another Checkout Flight

I won't use the word "finally"...Five months off is too long -- 'nuff said.

Today, I received a checkout in a 172 from the instructors down the road. I don't know what's up with the planes at the big field, but I haven't seen them tied down lately, and the prices are cheaper at the local Part 141 school. I think that pretty much settles that decision.

The checkout was not too different than the ones in the Piper and 172 before. We did some preliminary briefing and watched the wind. Though it was supposed to be calmer than yesterday's 44-knot gusts, I was expecting up to about 10. It turned out to be in the 18-22 range, which was a bit concerning, but with it being a direct crosswind, we would have had to use the grass runway if it had stayed that strong. The other alternative, of course, is to postpone until later.

Today's plane was substantially the same as the others that I have flown, but with a different instructor, you always learn new tricks, habits, and each plane's idiosyncrasies. We flew a 1978 Cessna 172, with no Garmin GPS (the first time I've flown without that piece of hardware). The instrument panel was laid out a bit differently, so again, I take a few extra seconds to make sure I know where everything is.

As we taxied out, the instructor had me put in full aileron toward the wind. He said you can't go half-way in this airplane with the direct crosswind. It's all or nothing. Though I was nervous overall just for the length of time since I last flew, I was fairly confident in my crosswind skills. And the takeoff showed it. I kept it pretty well straight, just to the upwind side of the runway, and as we lifted off, we maintained about a 15-degree crab angle.

It takes some getting used to a new plane, and this one was no exception. The controls felt heavier, the sight picture is a bit different, and the throttle likes to creep in on you. If you don't keep a hand on it, you'll gradually start to speed up or climb. I asked about what to do in a level cruise (when you wouldn't normally have a hand on it as you do when doing low level maneuvers). The instructor said the friction lock would hold it, but you have to make sure to release it when you're ready to descend.

The flight consisted of a series of slow flight, power-off and power-on stalls, turns to headings, and steep turns. Although I had a bit of a climb as I entered the first steep turn, I am guessing that today's were close to the best I've ever flown. It's probably due to it being a bit more stable airframe, but whatever it was, the instructor was impressed (as was I).


One difference between instructors was apparent in the flap settings. Last time, we only put in 30-degrees, and I was instructed that 40-degrees just made you go too slow. That, combined with a tendency for the flaps to block the horizontal stabilizer in a slip, had made me mentally rule that setting out for most operations. Today, as we practiced the power-off stalls, we used the full 40, though I didn't really notice a big difference. I asked what the deal was, and the instructor said that you would need 40 for a "performance landing" where the runway surface, length, or obstacles dictated the slowest possible descent. Good to know. In addition, proper power-off stall procedure (if you were doing a formal checkride) is to have everything possible hanging out in the wind.

Today's landing, with the gusty crosswinds, dictated a higher approach speed, and we only used 10 degrees of flaps. The instructor was ready to take over the landing if it got to be too much, but I managed to get it down "planted firmly", as again, my sight picture put me a bit high. Still worked out to be a good landing though. So, while I'm still not current to take passengers (we decided not to tempt the winds with touch-and-go's, and as I write this, they are still a direct 13-19 knot crosswind) I'm at least checked out to go flying on my own.