on the ball

After several missed plans -- either low ceilings, rain, or high wind -- I finally got another good day for flying.

We are supposed to have light snow later today (the aviationweather.gov horoscope says noon), but in advance of that, the winds were light and from the west, with few clouds at 6500 and 10 miles visibility. Perfect weather.

After my last botched attempt, I posted on rec.aviation.student and got quite a few good opinions from the folks there. (Thanks again; you know who you are!) I also talked with Sean, one of the Eagle East CFIs. He pointed out that the transition from office work to pattern work would be a big jump, and, like the r.a.s postings, said that next time I should go out to the practice area, try some slow flight, and then come back to the pattern.

I headed east out to the Plum Island area. Because I knew I'd be dipping below 2000 feet, and I'd lose Boston (I can hear them, but they can't hear me), and because I would be returning soon anyway, I opted to listen to both Lawrence and the CTAF. I called out on the CTAF, just in case there was someone in the area, but all I heard were non-local calls (an annoying misfeature of untowered airports).

I climbed to 2500, then put on carb heat, pulled the throttle to 1500, and went full-rich. I held my altitude until the airspeed came down to 80MPH. I then established a 500 fpm descent and trimmed for that, and practiced two right turns -- simulating downwind, base, and final. It worked perfectly. Unlike my usual all-over-the-place approach, I was right on 80 the whole time.

I climbed back up to 2000 and headed west. I picked up the ATIS for Lawrence. Uh oh. The ATIS was broken -- it kept repeating "information Papa, winds 240 @ 10" -- no other data. I told the tower I was 8 miles out with partial information Papa, and that the ATIS seemed to be broken. He promised to check into it and gave me a straight-in for 23.

I flew over Haverhill to intercept the approach, descended to 1500, and turned to the airport. I made the 2 mile call, got clearance, and landed pretty neatly with normal flaps. I was able to trim this time, and that gave me more room to concentrate on getting down near 70 MPH as I crossed the numbers. There was just about zero float. I didn't remember to hold the back-pressure after touchdown, though.

I got off at Delta, and taxied back. Another plane landed, and I waited for him. Then I took off for a right pattern. I called in midfield, and did a fair approach. I'm happy that I was able to get the airspeed and trim a lot more stable. I wasn't in a fully stabilized approach, though, as I ended up under the glide slope (probably due to headwind and a too-long final), and had to add power. But I landed at about 72 MPH (give or take; it's not that precise an instrument), and held the back-pressure properly.

The tower told me he had no other traffic, and authorized me to do a 180 if I wanted. I did that, and set up to go again. My second pass was about the same as the first, and it felt like the wind was picking up a little. He again gave me a 180 back to the approach end, and I went up for a third time.

This time, I told him I'd head to the ramp. I made a nice, clean approach, held off landing until I was very slow, and taxied off at Delta. I even parked right on the lines for the tie-down.

This was a very good day. A couple more like this, and I'll have enough confidence to do that solo trip to Biddeford. I want to be sure that I can land accurately and consistently enough that it won't be a serious concern at that smaller airport.

Posted at 11:50AM Jan 24, 2008 by carlson in Aviation  |