Weather and maintenance issues kept me grounded for 6 weeks! On one hand, I'm not complaining because when one is focusing one's attention on landing airplanes, it's probably best to do that on a runway that's not covered in snow. That's just a recipe for sliding off the side, and being a journalist, my #1 rule is "I will not lead my own newscast." On the other hand, I had butterflies in my stomach wondering how much I was going to forget being so long since I had been up.
My instructor and I decided that the best course of action for the day was to fly out to Colorado Space Port and do touch-and-goes out there. That would give me 15 minutes of just simple flying the plane between airports to get my mind back in the groove, then I could do a half dozen or so landings, then head back to Centennial. I'll be the first to admit that the scenery between Centennial and Space Port isn't all that exciting, but it's okay. Even boring scenery is cool from 2,000' above the ground. (Space Port is literally right next to Denver International Airport, so we have to stay relatively low to remain out of their airspace (which would figure prominently in today's "experience.")
The flight out was about as smooth as you could want. My initial lift-off from the runway was a bit steep, but the stall horn quickly reminded me to put the nose down just a bit. Climb out, turn east when Centennial ATC cleared me, and while not quite "sit back and relax" because there was still the business of getting set up for our arrival at Space Port, enjoy the experience and don't stress. Ninety-five knots at 7,500' and take it all in. It was 15 minutes of "that's why I'm doing this."
We approached Space Port, I told Space Port tower what I wanted to do, and she told me to expect a straight-in approach on runway 26. I pointed the nose towards Bennet to set up that approach. She came back a few minutes later with a shorter approach, so I turned a bit more north. The disadvantage of Space Port is that it's kinda out in the middle of nowhere, so landmarks are fewer and farther between. What I thought from 3 miles out was the east end of 26 was a cluster of buildings with a large parking lot, so I was not as close as I had thought. I started descending earlier than I needed to, so ended up just flying a low approach. I got lined up with the runway, brought us down, and at the last minute got a bit of a tailwind bump which I tried to compensate for with a bit of rudder. (Okay, maybe a lot of rudder.) We made it down. Not pretty, but for my first landing in 6 weeks, anything above "did we break anything?" was going to be a win. (Spoiler alert - they all were not winners today.)
I got the sense that the controller may have been new, as her instructions were not exactly clear or at least organized. Compound that with two planes in the pattern with similar tail numbers (...2SP and ...7SP) which only muddied the waters. There appeared to be a senior controller stepping in when needed. This was a new wrinkle that I hadn't experienced. I could most certainly sympathize with someone learning new skills, though, so patience with a healthy dose of caution was the order of the day.
My second landing resulted in a go-around. I was 15 knots too fast over the threshold of the runway, too high, and decided it wasn't going to work. Go around. Retract flaps... er... oh... they're only at 10 degrees. No wonder I was 15 knots too fast and 100' too high. I forgot to extend my flaps to 30 degrees on final. Funny how that works. On the plus side, I had been worried about being rusty on my go-around procedures coming into today's lesson, and I did this one rather smoothly. It would not be my only one.
That little goose of a tailwind I got on my first landing was apparently an indication that the winds were shifting, so the tower had us switch directions on the runway. We were now landing on 8 as opposed to 26. Remember I mentioned Space Port is right next to DIA? There's an airspace boundary about 1 mile from the end of runway 8-26. You can't cross that boundary or the controllers at DIA get very nervous. That means that come hell or high water, you had darned well better make your base turn prior to hitting that boundary. There's room for a standard pattern, but no room for longer approaches on that side.
About this time, we had more planes entering the pattern for touch-and-go work. Alas, our controller appeared to have gotten confused with who was where. At one point, she was advising us of traffic right were we were flying. Generally speaking, when ATC warns you of traffic right downwind midfield, and that's exactly where you are, there's reason to be nervous. I think she was confused, thinking she was talking to someone else about us. Still because she was telling me to look out for traffic right where I was flying, I was hesitant to maneuver the plane much until I had that traffic in sight. Once my instructor and I were satisfied there was no one else around us, we pulled power to idle and set up for our landing.
I got things lined up, was pretty good on airspeed and altitude, but wasn't lined up with the center of the runway the way I wanted to be. Use the ailerons to move you left and right, use the rudder to keep your nose pointed down the runway. Simple. On paper. We weren't on paper. I got within a few feet of the runway, tried to adjust my nose, and... nope... way off center and crabbing down the runway what felt like sideways. Still managed to set it down, but uuuuugly. At least I remembered my flaps this time. I think I may have caused my instructor a grey hair with that one, though.
Next try, the controller tells us of traffic ahead of us. We can't see it, but we keep looking for it. At least this time we were confident she wasn't talking about us. Again, we can't cross the class B airspace, so drop power, descend, and line up for landing while being very cautious. As I'm getting set up, I finally see the traffic in front of us, basically just one step ahead. He's turning final when I was turning base. He was just crossing the threshold when I was on final. I'm not a big fan of having two planes on the runway at the same time, so after a brief conference with my instructor, we opted to go around. I side-stepped to the left, applied power, and started climbing while my instructor kept his eye out for the plane below me which was now lifting off again.
I'd love to say the rest of the landings went smoother. Alas, they didn't. My approaches were solid. My speed control was (for the most part) good. I'd get down to those last few feet and all hell would break loose. I think I had a better handle on flaring, but I was focusing more on keeping lined up with the centerline of the runway, which is where things (literally) went sideways. Apparently there is such a thing as too much rudder. And I was using it.
Early on in this whole "learning to land" process, I wasn't using the rudder at all, focusing on airspeed and altitude. As I've progressed, I've added more and more layers to the process, and now it's working on the dance with the rudders and ailerons. If the last time I wasn't using them quite enough, I think I more than compensated for it today. I know I was really stepping on it, and the plane was really responding, which is a bad thing when you're 3' off the ground about ready to set down. The trick is to find that happy medium and also (at this stage) not be quite so OCD about setting the planed down right on the centerline. I have an advantage other students may not have--a 100' wide runway. On a 100' wide runway, there's some wiggle room. Finesse can come later.
Overall, though, I'll take today as a win. I was very comfortable in pretty much all phases of flight, which is what allowed me to focus so much on the rudder and aileron control despite it kicking my butt. There was definitely some rust (forgetting flaps on final?) but for not having flown in 6 weeks and the butterflies I was having on my way to the field, I did better than I was expecting. I've got another 3-week break before my next flight, but then should fly more regularly as Spring arrives.
