Lesson 3 - Slow and Steady

I did my homework this time. I showed up with the weather, condition of the plane, any NOTAMs or other advisories. I wasn’t going to start off on my heels like last time. We got to the plane, inspected it, got it going, and ready to go. I was feeling pretty good. Still a little shaky on start-up procedures, but we’ll work on that.

“Your turn for the safety briefing.”

Um, crap. Yeah, that speech we all ignore on every commercial flight we take. Guess what—they’re required by law whether it’s two hundred people in an airliner or two people in a Cessna. And the truth is, they cover pretty much the same thing, except the Cessna’s seats aren’t equipped with flotation devices. But at that moment in time, my mind drew an almost complete blank on what is covered.

Okay, fire extinguishers. Yeah, I remember that. It’s between the seats, so easy to look down for a bit of a memory jog. In the event of a fire, the more experienced pilot (not me) flies the plane and I fight the fire. Seatbelts are to be worn at all times, which in the Cessna is a foregone conclusion because once you close the door, you can’t get to the flippin’ seatbelt latch to release it anyway. There are no lavatories, so scratch that line. Seatbacks upright—they can’t be adjusted. No tray tables, so forget that line. There are two exits, which you should unlatch in the event of an emergency to make exiting the airplane easier on landing. If the doors get stuck, kick out the front windshield. We are to maintain a sterile cockpit during critical phases of flight, which despite the age of COVID has nothing to do with cleanliness. It means we avoid extraneous conversation during taxiing, take-off, and landing; anytime we’re under 1000 feet above ground level. (i.e., when we’re listening for ATC to tell us where to go and what to avoid.) We need to point out hot spots, or areas where there may be heavy traffic congestion as we taxi along. It’s common sense to look both ways before crossing the street, but when there’s a lot of traffic, it helps to look twice. The hot spots, usually marked on the airport diagrams, are areas where that second look is advisable. Three-way verification of control anytime we transfer the control of the airplane from one to another. “My controls,” “your controls,” “my controls” It’s not a custody battle, it’s confirming who’s flying the plane, which is kind of important to know. (“Is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?”) Lastly, it’s both of our jobs to point out anything that is unsafe during the course of the flight, or to assist in any aspect of flight which would improve safety such as looking out for traffic or obstructions. In today’s vernacular, “See something, say something.”

Remember last lesson when I forgot the right rudder on take-off? Hint – don’t compensate by flooring the right rudder the next time down the stretch. Just add a little. As needed. Keep the plane on center, that’s all you need. Okay, next time I’ll remember that. (Hopefully.) Today’s lesson, slow flight. I made a point to watch a bunch of YouTube videos on slow flight operation so I knew what to expect. Knowing what to expect is one thing. Developing the mental muscle memory to get into and out of slow flight is a bit trickier, but it’s one of those things that you just have to practice.




The premise is simple. When you’re coming in for a landing, you want to fly the plane at the slowest possible airspeed that will still allow you to stay in the air and be able to control the plane, albeit a bit more sluggishly than at higher airspeeds. We practice this at higher altitudes, though, since the possibility of a stall and losing altitude is great. So, we make sure we’re at least 1500’ above the ground, pick a heading and reference point, and slow the plane down by reducing power to around 1700 rpm. You will want to pitch the nose up to maintain altitude because just lowering the rpm will cause the nose to drop. If you’re doing slow speed with flaps (landing configuration), then you will want to apply them in stages. Below 110 knots, you can drop 10 degrees of flaps. Once your airspeed drops below 85 knots, you can drop to 20 degrees. Each time you add flaps, watch your pitch and altitude. Adding flaps increases lift. Below 75 knots, you can add full flaps (30 degrees). When airspeed approaches around 50 – 55 knots, adjust power to maintain airspeed and altitude at that pitch angle.

Chances are that in this configuration, you may not be able to see the horizon over the nose of the airplane, so look to the left and right of the plane to keep an eye on landmarks there as well to maintain course and altitude.

To recover from this, apply full power and pitch the nose down to increase airspeed while maintaining altitude. At the same time (or as quickly as you can slide your hand from the throttle to the flaps) decrease flaps to 20 degrees. Once airspeed increases above 60 knots, reduce flaps to 10 degrees, then reduce them fully after 70 knots, and let airspeed build to cruising speed before reducing power to set final cruise configuration. Repeat as needed.

For my first time out of the gate, I wasn’t bad. Was I fully in control every time? Perhaps more than I give myself credit for, but it was still new enough to where I thought I was still chasing things just a bit. Again—practice. That would come with the next lesson, right?