Flight Log 02-20

I was afraid today was going to be a repeat from the other week - get all ready to go, then have the weather shut it down. Lesson #6 - instrument reference and my first progress check. In addition I would be flying with BVFS owner Bill Brady, so today would be a good day to impress. For instrument reference training, you fly 'under the hood' - a plastic visor you wear that only lets you see the instrument panel, and not out the windscreen. Bill expressed some concern over the course load for today's flight, saying we probably won't get through all of it... we'll see.

Once established at cruise level, he had me put the visor on. First up was practicing standard rate turns - the turn coordinator has dash marks labeled "2 min turn". This means if you hold your turn on those marks, you will complete a 360 degree turn in two minutes. This is helpful if your compass is down - hold a turn for 30 seconds and you turn 90 degrees. This task was easy enough, so next was climbs and descents. Power back to 2100 rpm, let the plane sink, watch the altimeter and VSI. The Vertical Speed Indicator lets you know how fast you are climbing or descending and a standard rate is about 500 ft/min. Next we combined the two: if descent rate is 500 ft/min, and a 180 degree turn takes one minute, then we can go from 2500' to 2000' while turning north to south. Finally I made a full 360 while descending 1000' and hit my altitude and heading at the exact same time. Perfect. Bill was satisfied so he decided to throw a challenge at me: a blind power-on stall. I have to recover the plane and keep it straight with zero visual reference. This was not in the curriculum by the way... Airspeed 75 kts, pitch up, add power. I watch the turn coordinator real close to know which way needs rudder input. The stall comes on and the plane starts to spin heavy to the left - I jam the right rudder to the stops and break the stall. The airplane was recovered and I got to take the hood off.

Well apparently I progressed trough this evolution quickly just like everything else, so as it turns out we do indeed have enough time to complete the progress check - combining everything I've learned so far. I made some circles and S-turns, and my basic flying skills were crisp enough blind so there wasn't any reason to re-check. Turn back to Easterwood, make two touch-and-goes then the necessary full-stop. Park and shutdown. Bill's remarks: "You might need to solo sooner..." According to the curriculum, the first solo isn't until Lesson #11.

Flight #6: 1.1 hrs
Total Log Time: 6.7 hrs