Now that I'm a Private Pilot, I have a very wide variety of airplanes that I can fly. However, in order to fly something new, the school requires that you fly with an instructor and do some maneuvers and practice landings until the CFI (instructor) feels comfortable that you can fly it solo. Today my CFI, Matt took me up in a Cessna 172.
I did the preflight inspection to the best of my knowledge, then Matt came out and answered my questions about the remaining things on the checklist. After taxiing out to Runway 36, we did the engine run-up and got prepared for takeoff. The winds were from the northwest around 12 knots and gusting to about 20 knots. Not too great of a day to learn a new plane but we made do.
After departing to the north, we climbed up to 4000ft. I had asked him if he could show me how to lean the fuel mixture. ehow.com explains this better than I could, "Most propeller driven airplanes with internal combustion engines have a manual fuel mixture control. The control is used to adjust the amount of air which is mixed with the fuel as it is burned in the engine. In order for the fuel to burn well, a steady supply of oxygen is necessary. However, since airplanes change altitude regularly, and since the density of air changes with altitude, adjustments to the mixture must be made as it climbs and descends." (Dad- that explanation was for you, I know you like the technical stuff) Anyways, I've never really had to worry about this before now, so Matt walked me through the steps and taught me how to use my hearing to tell when and how much adjustment I needed to make instead of solely relying on the tachometer instrument.
We then moved on to slow flight; 90 degree turn to the east, then a 180 degree turn to west. Once completed, we returned to normal cruise flight and set up for a power-on stall. I was quite surprised at how much differently the Cessna 152 and 172 stall. The one today definitely got my heart racing...
We then headed back to the airport and practiced landings. They were definitely a challenge because of the varying wind and thermals. A good amount of crosswind correction was needed for each takeoff and landing. After seven times around, we called it a day.
Once back inside, he signed off for me to fly the C-172 solo. I can now carry up to three passengers! With a little practice, I think I'm going to be quite comfortable in this plane. Good thing too because it's what I need to use for my instrument training. I bought my books today!
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| Cessna 172 |
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