Flight# 30

I had little sleep last night as I was working on the Pre solo written exam. So, took a nap in the after noon and went back to the flight school for the 5 pm flight. Aircraft unavailability is becoming a big issue. Benjamin was very upset today, as he was hardly getting any flight time. Four students end up having to share one aircraft. As a result of this and the few days we lost to bad weather, I may need to extend my stay here a day or two. I am pushing Bill to finish it up by Saturday.

The maintenance guys put N4655X back online for use. So, we decided to take it up in the air. But, during the preflight inspection, we noticed that the battery is discharging. It's back to the shop again! Luckily, Benjamin wasn't interested in taking N5307Q as he was looking to go on longer trips. So we switched to it. I did a couple good landings. Bill also showed how to land in a cross wind. I think I need a lot more practice to master that. We then headed to the practice area. On the way, I spent around 30 minutes under the hood doing various maneuvers including slow flight turns, power off stalls, power on stalls, stalls while turning, etc..

Bill also introduced me to emergency procedures today. He simulated an emergency landing while we are at 2000 ft. It looked very easy. I'm not sure whether I can apply it when the time comes though!When we are in the pattern, he pulled the power on me and asked me to land. We were very high close to the airport. I had to deploy 40 degree flaps and do a steep forward slip to make it to the runway and land. I liked doing this maneuver. For some one on the ground, it may look as if the plane is going to hit the runway nose dive but, it is a very controlled maneuver. We called it off for the day. I may do solo followed by a cross country tomorrow. I have only two flights scheduled in N5307Q tomorrow. So, we went ahead blocked the early morning time slot. So, I need to be at the airport prior to 7 am tomorrow too.

The Hobbs time of this flight was 1.4 hours. Cumulative Hobbs time: 32.7 hours.

Flight# 15

Today Bill and I reviewed Aircraft systems in between flights. As soon as Benjamin returned from the cross country trip around 3 pm, we topped off the tanks again and headed to the practice area taking off from Runway 11. I'm getting better at slow flights and power off stalls. I'm at least not losing that much altitude as I used to. Practiced several rounds of 360 degree turns in slow flight and steep turn configurations.

We also flew by the sod farm owned by one of Bill's friends. There was a grass strip on his farm but, we didn't land as the strip may not be long enough to take off again due to high density altitude. His friend came out to wave and we rolled our wings in response. We then picked a farm house and performed low altitude (1000 ft) circles around it correcting for wind through out the turn. On the way back to the airport, I got to practice the slip which was a lot of fun. Wind keeps changing direction. We had to use Runway 23 to land.

Since Bill was conducting a solo stage check for one of the students at 5 pm, I could go to the room little early today. Shortly there after, I got company after living in this house alone for the past 5 days. Another instructor (Mike) picked up a new student (Karl) from France at the Orlando airport and helped him check into the house. Looks like, Mike and Carl will be using N4655X too. In a day or two, it will be up for 100 hour inspection. Since Bill is also a mechanic, he wants to pitch in to speed up the 100 hour inspection. It will be interesting to see how the schedules pan out. I hope I will have a plane to fly!

The Hobbs time of this flight was 1.2 hours. Cumulative Hobbs time: 13.4 hours.

Flight# 13

It was a beautiful day today. We took off from Runway 5 for the practice area around 8:30 am. Practiced several clearing turns, slow flights and power off stalls. The Meclizine HCL 25 mg I have been taking motion sickness is doing wonders. I absolutely have no nausea or any side effects. There is no way I could have endured these maneuvers without this medication. Unfortunately, even though Airforce allows some anti-nausea medication, FAA doesn't allow any of it to act as a pilot in command. Bummer! So, I need to wean off of it before I get to do solo.

We also went past 4,000 ft on this flight. Bill also demonstrated a slip. The falling leaf stall and the slip are a lot of fun. This is the longest flight so far. On the way back to the airport, I got to spend flying some time under the hood.

The Hobbs time of this flight was 1.5 hours. Cumulative Hobbs time: 11.4 hours.