On Apr 7, 4:32*am, John Smith wrote:

When, on my first powered flight in mountains, I hit a strong downdraft,
my natural reaction was to push the stick forward. My instructor was not
amused, pulled the stick back and asked me to hold altitude! We had a
long discussion after that.

I wonder how that discussion turned out. I always use thermals when
flying cross country in the airplane and work ridge, wave and thermal
lift in the mountains. The only time I care about being on a constant
or assigned altitude is when on an instrument flight plan or when
flying airways. The hemispheric rule only applies when you are in
level flight not when climbing or descending.

On the way back from Arizona breakfast runs other club pilots usually
complain about the turbulence. I usually reply that I didn't notice
any turbulence but there were some great thermals!

Andy