My Expensive Party in the Sky- Sept 24, 2007

My Expensive Party in the Sky- September 24, 2007

This lesson: 2.0 hours
Total Flying Time: 1.0 hours
Plane: N826SP Cessna 172

On Monday, I took another step toward achieving my Private Pilot's license. After David introduced the syllabus and the individual lesson checklist, we headed outside into the 15 to 20 knot winds to begin the pre-flight inspection. I did it carefully, because I never want to become complacent. Since N423FT was on its 50 hour inspection, I flew N826SP. My taxiing had improved greatly, but was still left wanting. David suggested that I focus on a distant point rather than the propeller. I also got to control the taxi speed and even maneuvered around other planes on the ramp without clipping any.

Take-off was a blur, ending as soon as it had begun. David gave me some headings to maintain and emphasized the importance of looking outside of the airplane. Once we were to the practice area, over Lake Apopka, we went from 1200 to 3000 feet, or FL030. The clouds surrounded Lake Apopka leaving a large enough hole for me to show off my moves to them, kind of like that circle formation phenomenon at church dances. I danced slow flight, level turns and climbing turns, used clouds for reference points, learned the effect of flaps on lift and drag, and experimented with the trim tabs. I had invited a few Airbuses and Cessnas to my party in the sky, but no one came, so it was just me, David and the clouds.

As David and I returned to Class B airspace, I returned to 1200 feet. The control tower instructed us to return to ORL via downtown. Since the winds were blowing to the right, I pointed the plane a few degrees to the left. The winds deviated us enough to have us flying right over downtown. The landing was exciting. After successfully taxiing back to the ramp, I logged myself a whole additional hour!