Popriv

1st Landing!
(still on a buddy box)

Engine ran much better tonight.
New fuel tank and hoses.
New glow plug and new fuel.
Something worked.
With a better idle I was able to practice my approch without worrying about a flame out.
(still comes in fast though)

Did a bunch of low speed passes.
1 accidental touch and go that looked pretty good.
About the 3rd flight, I had a nice approch going and the instructor said " land it " .
It came down a little hard and bumped the prop stopping the engine but otherwise looked good...
It was great!
1 other guy at the field, so it was fuel it and fly...
A few more passes and the next landing I also hit the prop, stopping the engine but looking good.
On my last try I should have aborted and gone around again. I was not lined up properly and went off the runway into tall grass. no problems.
So now my goal is to land and taxi back to the pits. :-)

Had a few dead sticks after the rough landings. We think the clunk folded up? Died when instructor flew straight up. dead stick landing. Started it up and it died when he pointed the plane up.
I may change that clunk hose?
Change from 6 to 8 oz tank was much better. didnt run out of fuel once while flying. happened too often before.

I aborted one takeoff. 1st time for a right to left takeoff. I started going left and overcorrected to the right. I shut down the throttle and let it roll into the tall grass. We both agreed that I probably had enough speed to make it. It was good to get an abort under my belt..

Another takeoff the engine died about 20 feet up. We think that was the clunk but I shook the plane when I got it so we couldnt test it by holding the plane up and seeing if it died.

I loved floating by on the low, slow passes.

A great night, I was almost home when I realized my cheeks were getting sore from smiling!


They gave me a hard time about the new 1700 mAh battery.
They said I could fly all weekend with it.
I probably could? I didnt put a dent in it tonight.
I like it, if I dont quite get a full charge into because I'm ignorant, I hopefully will have a saftey margin.
Half a charge would still be pretty good.
I dont see any harm in a more powerful battery? Its the same 4 - AAs size.

At one point after a flight, I asked the instructor what he was doing? I could hear him moving his sticks. Who was flying? Me or him? He explained he had to follow my movements so if he took over the controls wouldnt suddenly shift. (only did it near the ground, he's starting to trust me)
Boy, things are so obvious as soon as someone tells ya...

Did I say that was a great night?!!

Alright, thanks for listening

Steve

Nathan King

Very nice!!

Don't be put off by your instructor moving the sticks with you. He trusts you. I do the same thing with my students. Part of my brain is always with the airplane regardless of who is flying. This makes taking over quickly very easy and seamless.

fly boy2

nice, what plane do you have?

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

[sm=thumbs_up.gif][sm=thumbs_up.gif]

Ken

traski

My Feedback: (1)

You are getting close. I broke a prop my first attempt at landing so you did well. I still get the prop every once and a while. But I am still new too. Too much fun aint it?

Popriv

Funny, driving home from the field my mind is carrying over from flying...
As I drive I'm thinking "keep my wings level" When I make a turn in my car I'm thinking not to let my nose drop...
After a few miles it goes away and Im driving in 2 dimensions again.

A weird feeling.


I'm flying a .25 size midwest aerostar with a thunder tiger pro .36 engine. Plenty of power but the idle is a little high and it comes in fast.


Steve

Popriv

Speaking of letting my nose drop.
There was a little more wind last night.
My left hand approches were looking good but going the other way, I'd run parallel to the runway at 1/2 throttle, cut the throttle all the way and let it start gliding.
When I make that 1st right turn the nose was dropping big time.. I thought it was the wind pushing me down and asked the instructor to do it so I could watch.

What I finally figured out (in my mind cause my instructor knew) is I'm better at left turns than right... I automatically add up elevator on my left turns but I'm not doing it on my right turns. Probably didnt show as bad under power but at idle it was dropping like a rock...


When I started this I read somwhere if could be about 50 flights till solo. Of course your milage may vary but I'm at 25 flights and I think 50 sounds about right for me???? I hope! Some of they guys at the feild said they went into their 2nd year before soloing.


Steve

Allfat

My Feedback: (1)

It is different for everyone. I solo'd after maybe 15-20 flights and have been successful with two planes so far and one still on the building board.

hogflyer

Popriv,

Sounds like you’re progressing well.

There is no set number of flights you make before you solo – only your instructor will be able to make that determination based on your progress, not a specific number of flights. Everybody progresses at different rates based on a variety of factors, so don’t go by somebody saying they soloed in X number of flights. Fly at the pace that makes you comfortable and you’ll get there before you know it.

Don’t worry about killing the engine on landing right now – it won’t take too long before you get the round-out, flair and landing down and won’t be killing the engine.

Same thing with the right hand approaches: it’s much easier for most pilots to make left turns and patterns – more natural to push the stick to make the turn than pull it. This too will get easier with time and before you know it you won’t even notice or care which direction you take-off, land, or do a low pass/fly-by from.

Hogflyer

Popriv

I know you cant put a number on it but I'm sure every new pilot wonders how long it will take to comfortably solo.
One of the local clubs just put up 50 flights as a ballpark number on their web site.
Now I'm sure I could go out right now and fly by myself, probably could have done it 20 flights ago as I flew gliders 20 years ago.

But the life expectancy of my plane would have been shortened.

Having the instructor allows will allow me to push my limits with a safety net and I've already learned allot.

I've been to the field by myself, 1 hour early and practiced taxing up and down the runway, just short of takeoff speed.
I had been having trouble keeping it straight and i think a tank of gas doing this helped allot.
It was tempting to go ahead and take off but I restrained myself...

At our club you are supposed to be OK'd by your instructor before you solo..

I think I'll get the ok before winter sets in.

Steve

Aerobat5

Sounds like you are progressing well. I might suggest converting your plane to a 3 blade. Till you master the landings you will appreciate the extra ground clearance a 3 blade will give you. It will stop most of your prop strikes.
When I train, I also follow along with the sticks, and throttle at full RPM, just in case.

Spacemonkey71

Aerobat55, it's funny you should mention the 3 blade prop. I was just speaking to my instructor about using a 3 blade prop instead of a standard because I heard it would slow the plane down a little (it's a really light 69" ws trainer with a .60 engine and an 11x8 prop; to me it feels like it pulls like an OX !!!!! and when I was flying last weekend, I was only using 1/3 power and it was STILL hauling butt!) If a 3 blade prop would also give me a little more ground clearance on landing that sounds like a win-win situation for me! What kind do you recommend for a .60 size engine? Any clues on where to look and find out? Are there any brands/types that are better than others?

oh, and as for slapping the prop on the runway, my father-in-law is a "real" (as in "full scale") pilot and during his 2nd cross country solo flight, he whacked the prop into the runway while flying the instructors Piper !!!!!! Thank God that the FAA doesn't get involved when WE thump the ground a little bit!!!!!! He told me he'd rather have a colonoscopy than go through THAT experience and the ensuing "investigation" again [:@]

I kinda wish my instructor would have been "stick monkeying" with me last weekend..... it might have saved me ALOT of embarassment. When I get good enough to start teaching others I'll have to remember that trick! (being an instructor is now really my ultimate goal; the guys last weekend taught me more than just how to handle a plane. I want to learn all I can, be the best pilot I can be, and then pass it along to someone else with the same patient understanding and generosity that has been given to me)

Capt. Yossarian

Congrats Steve! Isn't it a blast?

And I just wanted to rib ya on that big 1700mah battery. I fly a 3lbs electric conversion on a 1700mah battery pack, thats running my motor and everything. I can get 20 minute flights on it. So ya, a 1700mah receiver-only battery is pretty funny! =D

It would be even more funny if it was a lipo too. =P