In article ,
Dancebert dancebert @ yahoo R E MOVE .com wrote:

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 14:11:09 -0400, Todd Pattist
wrote:

I'd be interested in a few specific examples of what you
encountered and how you think it should have been done. For

Examples:
* First flight. Told moments before tow started that I'd be operating
the rudder. No instruction as to what the foot pedals did, or which
one to push to turn the desired direction.

* Early flight: I'm feeling the controls as the instructor did the
turns to base and final. He then tells me to land it. Land it where?
What's my aim point? Hold off as long as possible or fly it into the
ground? Once I'm on the ground do I use aileron or rudder to keep it
pointed in the direction I want it to go, or do I use both? Not a
word. ( I didn't get the answers to any of those until I asked
specific questions. )

Maybe this is just me, but my suspicion is that you come across as if
you know what you're doing (previous flight experience and all that) so
they are figuring that you'll do something reasonable.

What's your aim point? If you know enough to know what an "aim point"
is, then why can't you just pick one for yourself? Land it where?
Somewhere safe. Hold off as long as possible or fly it into the
ground? Unless your runway is 2 seconds long at flying speed and you've
got an arrester hook, hold it off until it won't fly any more.


* Approaches on all flights: How do I judge if I'm too high or too
low? If I'm a little high do I slip or use spoilers or both? If I'm
way high do I slip or use spoilers or both?

If your instructor lets you get so high that full spoilers won't bring
you down then he should be shot. Well, unless you're also far enough
back that you can S-turn or circle or whatever.

You'll come to learn what is a good approach angle. Until then, make
your turn to final far enough out (and high enough) that you've got
plenty of time to play with the controls and see what happens. When I
take friends for a ride I usually demo this. I turn final with no
spoilers: "See how we'd fly right past the airfield?". Open full
spoilers, adjust pitch to maintain speed: "See how we'd now reach the
ground waaay short of the airfield?" Close spoilers halfway: "That
looks about right ... you can see we're going to make it to the
airfield, but not too far past the fence. We might not have an engine,
but we can land on any spot we choose to".

If your instructor won't let you do that sort of experimentation then I
think that's sad. He's there to know the limits and stop you killing
yourself and to help you learn, not to make sure that every single
approach you ever do is perfect by the book.



What aspects of flying are you having difficulty with (or your
instructors think you're having difficulty with)?

Speed control. Boxing the wake when it's turbulant. Approaches and
landings characterized by sufficient brain overloaded that I fail to
pay attention to something I should be attending to. Attending to
variometer while on tow, and if I do, remembering two minutes later
where the lift was. Consistently flying ahead of the plane.

That's why you need practise, and to take over one responsibility at a
time from the instructor.

Oh yeah, next time you notice good lift on tow, don't follow the tow
plane for another two minutes and then try to find it again. If you're
high enough to get back to the field safely then count ten seconds and
if you're still in lift pull the tow release and start circling.
Probably better to warn the instructor first though :-)

-- Bruce