I need more days like this. Not just because things went well (which for the most part they did), but because there were also enough stupid little errors made to remind me that I need to be on my game in every aspect of this process and really prompt me to do better next time.
After my previous lesson doing almost touch-and-goes at a smaller airport, we decided that working approaches and recoveries at a higher altitude over landmarks designed to simulate an airport was probably a wise idea. My dirty slow flight recoveries last time were not what you want 50' off the ground, so I wanted to get better at that. I've done it, I can do it, I just need to get much more consistent at doing it. So we took things up a bit higher and just worked drills on plane control in the various phases of landing, with an extra 500' between us and the ground below.
ATC cleared us to take off on 35 Left. I read it back, wrote it down, and we started taxiing to the taxiway. After momentarily forgetting that 35L was to my left with a quiet "which way you going?" from my instructor, I proceeded down the taxiway (the correct way) with a long line of planes in front of me. ATC told me to take take A16 and hold short, which momentarily threw me for a loop. Oh yeah... 35L. That long line of business jets was lining up for 35R. I had to cross to get to the parallel runway. I remembered that once I got ATC's instructions, but I had I double checked the airport diagram when getting the instructions, I would have anticipated those instructions, not been smacked back into reality by them. Dumb. That's why we have airport diagrams on our kneeboards, so we can trace where we're going.
Dumb moment #1 put aside, we left and headed to the practice area. My radio calls are getting better, more natural. Once in the practice area, we started with slow flight and recovery drills so I could get my feet under me on those. That went well. We then started on simulated patterns, using a roadway as a reference runway. This went okay, though I seemed to alternate between two different roads. Not ideal, but I got to feeling pretty good about being more on top of my airspeed and altitude than I have been in the past. How I was doing on a glide slope with an extra 500' between me and my ground reference was a bit iffy, but I got a good handle on that whole "pitch for airspeed, power for altitude" thing. But there's one other part of that equation, and it's a four-letter word. T-R-I-M. Once you establish your glideslope, you trim the airplane to relieve pressure on the yoke so you can make a smoother decent, allowing you to concentrate more on crosswinds, etc. Well, I'm having a devil of a time setting trim properly in this environment, possibly because I'm focusing on pitch to control my airspeed, and those adjustments themselves aren't fluid yet. But whatever the reason, I'm working too hard and my recoveries are, well, rough.
So next on the agenda was an exercise where my instructor put the plane in a random pitch/trim attitude, handed me the controls, and said "fix it." Well, first off, when your instructor's aim is to teach you to trust the airplane to fly so you can feel the controls then adjust with your primary flight surfaces (rudder, aileron, elevator), DO NOT reach for the trim wheel to correct things. My instructor seldom (if ever) yells at me, but I deserved it this time. My first instinct was to do precisely what he is teaching me not to do. I'm pretty sure whatever he said verbally was a diplomatic version of "did you not listen to a bloody word I just said, you blithering idiot??" After being justifiably scolded with an impromptu lesson the difference between primary flight control surfaces (Ailerons, elevator, rudder) versus secondary (flaps and trim) we set off on a few more of similar fixes, where I did a bit better. Not great, but better. I'll get it. It's a "feel" thing, and you have to feel it often enough to know what it's supposed to be.
We headed back to the airport. I called into the tower and we got our landing instructions. I watched our airspeed and altitude at various landmarks to make mental notes of where I need to be at which stage on landing.
Got on the ground and began taxiing back to the pad. The plane I was flying today did not have a GPS screen which displayed my ground speed, which I usually try to keep around 10 - 12 kts on the ground. It's okay. My ForeFlight app displays that, and I've got that pulled up on my phone which is on my window. Except the screen was not the right screen. I instinctively reached to tap the screen to bring up the map page, but in looking at that, I had veered off the yellow line far enough for my instructor to ask (again) where I was going. Don't text and drive, dummy.
So, all in all a good day. Lots went well, lots to work on, and a smattering of really dumb moments which will (hopefully) never be repeated.
