Scav
Mostly Harmless
- Joined
- May 8, 2010
- Messages
- 1,002
- Reaction score
- 34
- Points
- 48
Today was a good day -- after years of wrangling back and forth I finally found the wherewithal and time to go ahead and take my first .7 hrs of flight instruction.
First impressions:
:woohoo:
Once I stopped convincing myself (and trying to prove to myself) I knew what I was doing, I was able to relax and get a good feel for the aircraft (a PA28-181).
Two things surprised me right off the bat. First: In spite of the 90' heat, the low clouds and the humidity the aircraft was surprisingly spritely. And in a strange way almost intimidating at first.
Second: I seem to have very little love for high-wing aircraft -- the last time I was up on a discovery flight I didn't enjoy the experience AT ALL (but then again I was very much off my game and too nervous to enjoy anything). Flying the Archer became very much like flying an extension of myself and I found I was able to 'feel' what was needed to be done.
That, and on purpose I spent most of the flight just looking out the damned windows where I was going!
So . . . to sum it up, my brain is still awash with details -- barn silos and cars on the road below, puffy white clouds overhead, seeing air traffic in the pattern . . . and just working the controls and feeling the differences between cruising and slower flight . . . feeling the little bumps and dips and jukes to the left and right . . . rudder, yoke, throttle.
I know I've got a long way to go, but I gotta tell you guys, I'm a bucket of grins right now.
First impressions:
:woohoo:
Once I stopped convincing myself (and trying to prove to myself) I knew what I was doing, I was able to relax and get a good feel for the aircraft (a PA28-181).
Two things surprised me right off the bat. First: In spite of the 90' heat, the low clouds and the humidity the aircraft was surprisingly spritely. And in a strange way almost intimidating at first.
Second: I seem to have very little love for high-wing aircraft -- the last time I was up on a discovery flight I didn't enjoy the experience AT ALL (but then again I was very much off my game and too nervous to enjoy anything). Flying the Archer became very much like flying an extension of myself and I found I was able to 'feel' what was needed to be done.
That, and on purpose I spent most of the flight just looking out the damned windows where I was going!
So . . . to sum it up, my brain is still awash with details -- barn silos and cars on the road below, puffy white clouds overhead, seeing air traffic in the pattern . . . and just working the controls and feeling the differences between cruising and slower flight . . . feeling the little bumps and dips and jukes to the left and right . . . rudder, yoke, throttle.
I know I've got a long way to go, but I gotta tell you guys, I'm a bucket of grins right now.
