All Different. Again.

In the spirit of being on track to fly less than 10 hours this year, I took yet another hour long flight today. To recap, I've had only two flights in the last 8 months or so. One was the biennial in March, the one before that was a checkout in a 172 at a different flight school way back in September. Not exactly the best way to keep the skills razor sharp.

Today, work, weather, the flight school's schedule, and a little bit of extra money (so much for Christmas...) came together to allow a quick flight. Due to the slightly lower cost of the 172's down the road, I gave them a call. I didn't think to ask, but it turned out once I arrived that the two planes that they had before (one of which from my previous flight) had been sold. In their place was a newer 2001 Cessna 172 SP. This craft has autopilot and a Bendix GPS, but otherwise similar avionics. In addition, it's also fuel injected, so no carburetor heat. Oh, and it's basically now the same rental price as the DA-20...so it goes.

Adding it all up, I was now - once again - flying in a different airplane with a different instructor...and basically still at a new airport. Remember, I've only had one flight with one landing at this field before.

This instructor was the first one in a long time that actually watched me preflight the plane. Not a big deal to me, I actually was glad to have some extra eyes over my shoulder. Since I had a checkout in the simpler plane before, today's main task was to make sure I understood the different systems in this plane and do a few touch-and-go's.

The winds were light, but that just gave me a bit of false hope. I knew the forecast for today had indicated a chance of thunderstorms, but cooler temperatures had kept them at bay. Nevertheless, it was no surprise when we climbed out and started to get bounced around from the mild thermals. We had yet another distraction in the form of a fly in the cockpit...something we originally thought was a bird outside...

After going through some of the GPS and autopilot features, we turned back toward the field and I hand-flew back into the pattern. Considering the bumps, my "cruise" wasn't too bad. But once we arrived in the pattern and began our final descent, I could tell things just weren't right. This is where being familiar with a particular airplane pays off. Knowing where the power should be set, the timing of the flaps, the feeling of getting a bit too slow, and having a good sight picture of the runway for the flare, and having a feel for the force required on all the controls are all important points. Not knowing these things isn't quite enough to put you behind the airplane, but is enough to make you have to work at it.

In my case, the shifting winds and constant bumps made what was a pretty stable approach into a somewhat marginal roundout and flare. Small burbles, a crosswind, and a bit of a downdraft turned what I had hoped was going to be an acceptable landing into a wobbly touchdown...and that only with the help of the instructor.

Too long for a touch-and-go, we taxied off the runway and back for another try. This was a bit better, since it was now a standard pattern, but I still got wonky on the roundout. Good enough for an immediate takeoff, we did one more. This one was better, but still not very crisp. In all, these were really some of my poorest landings in a long time.

Lessons: fly more
fly more
fly more