Good man!

When you're coming back from the practice area (or later from cross countries), it's a good idea to get down to the TPA a few miles outside the pattern. It's not a good idea to be diving into the pattern, for two reasons: 1) it's harder to see other airplanes in the pattern and for them to see you if you're above them, and 2) it's harder to get your speed down to "pattern speed".

Although as you get more proficient, you'll vary things a bit, I'd like to describe the way I taught beginning students how to handle the 172 in the pattern. Let's assume you're on downwind--whether you climbed up from a take off or entered from some other location, and let's assume a 1000' AGL TPA:
On downwind, adjust the airspeed to be 80 knots/90 mph (I'm not saying what rpm to use--that may vary from airplane to airplane depending on the prop, and how much weight is in the airplane)--TRIM;
Abeam the touchdown point, reduce power enough (a lot!) and drop 10 flaps so that the airplane both slows and descends--TRIM;
At the point where you'll turn base, which is typically at a 45 degree angle from the touchdown point, you should be 200' lower than your downwind altitude;
Turn base, add 10 more flaps so that it's 20, adjust power so that your airspeed is at 70 knots/80 mph by mid-base--TRIM;
Turn final soon enough that you don't need to bank more than about 25, max 30 degrees;
After turning final, you should be approximately 400' AGL; add 10 more flaps so that it's 30, adjust power so that the airplane slows to 60 knots/70 mph--TRIM;
When you're sure you have the field made, add in the remaining 10 flaps so that it's 40 (on newer 172s you'll only have 30 max)--TRIM.

60 knots/70 mph isn't exactly 1.3 Vso, but it's pretty close. With only yourself or you and your instructor, your final can be a bit slower, by about 2-3 needle widths. But rather than try to nail something like 58 knots or 67 mph, I thought it to be easier for early students to rest the needle on top of a given hash mark on the airspeed indicator, like an even 60 or 65 or 70.

Also, you used the word "knots". I thought that the 172M's airspeed indicator was still in mph, with a smaller indication in an inside ring for knots. Make sure you're using the correct scale. There's roughly a 10 difference at those speeds between knots and mph. If you're actually holding 70 knots all the way down final, that's actually 80+ mph, and that's way too fast. Believe me, as I said in my earlier "how to land an airplane" post, being much faster than 1.3 Vso will make your landings much more difficult.

Lastly, notice how many times I said TRIM. That is so very, very important. Learning to trim as needed will soon become as normal as breathing, but you have to do it consciously before it becomes automatic.

Cary

Awesome! Glad to hear you had a great day!

Watching Motoave touch delicately down on that riverbed makes me realize I have a very long road ahead of me. I used to wonder how long it would take to have that first "I really wish I was on the ground.” flight. Turns out, in my case, about 32 hours.

Today was my first solo cross country. We flew the route dual yesterday, mostly in pouring rain. I really enjoyed yesterday's flight because it gave me some insights into marginal weather. Our destination airport, CYPS (Pemberton), has a nice long wide strip and we practised some soft field landing technique because I've been having trouble with some ballooning when I add a bit of power. It was really instructive to fly to an unknown airport and actually practise proper circuit procedures without dodging hillsides and noise abatement areas. On the way back we did a bit of ridge flying and explored some valleys. Brilliant day, despite the wx.

This morning was clear and bright so I showed up early, with my waypoints and fuel calculations already done. At the hold short line I made a note to myself to report the PTT button because it was hard to maintain a constant transmission without it skipping out. Departure was uneventful but I soon realized as I reached 4000' it was going to be bumpier than previous in my experience. I slowed down a bit and did my best to trim the plane but I was a bit uneasy with the bumps and the variation in prop noise with each gust. In my mind, if I don't change anything in terms of throttle or attitude, things should sound pretty much the same so it took a while to sync my ear with normal engine/prop sounds. Navigation was easy as I would have had to climb to 9000' to leave the long valley that connects the two towns and my groundspeed calculations and ETA were straightforward.

By the time I started my descent into CYPS I was comfortable and at ease with the plane. I entered the circuit properly and despite being a bit behind the plane getting my checks, radio calls and flaps set, I made a pretty decent landing. I backtracked and took off, thinking I probably should have just done a touch and go. That was probably my first mistake. On that circuit I turned base way too soon and was really high when I turned final. I figured that would be a good time to practise my go around. On the next circuit I stretched the downwind a bit to give myself a bit more time on final and made a decent landing, albeit a bit to the left of the center line. That was the end of the fun. I decided it would be smarter to touch-and-go instead of backtracking so I pushed in the thottle and carb heat. I was reaching for the flap switch when I realized I’d let my feet get lazy and I was rapidly heading off the left side of the runway. Momentary panic and some clumsy feet but I got it pointed straight and lifted off just as the flaps came all the way up (I’d forgotten to bring them up slowly in my panic) and the plane dove back toward the runway. I managed to avoid touching down but I was really shook up by almost running off the runway, then almost smacking back down, which was, of course, the perfect time to run into the worst of the rough air which made me really wonder if I was in control of the airplane at all. Breathe. Check airspeed, then rpm, then altitude (for whatever reason, they are my comfort trinity) then make a plan. I was too embarrassed and scared to try another landing so I figured I’d best head for home but when I went to make my radio call my PTT was dead. Aviate, navigate, communicate, I figured I could ignore that problem for a while. When I levelled off at 4000’ I tried plugging my headset into the right seat. That seemed to work so I spent the 25 minutes home trying to forget about Pemberton. I was making my radio calls but was a bit surprised that there was no other traffic and the radio was silent all the way home. Squamish was windy and erratic and I chickened out on my first approach before I even got below the tree line at the end of the runway. On the second try I was getting pretty frazzled as I watched the windsock erratically dancing in circles. I figured I’d at least get it below the treeline and hope for calmer air near the runway. That worked, but the poor plane protested my ham-fisted pilotage with a fair bit of tire squeaking and a bit of a bump. My hands were sweaty and my heart was pounding as I crossed the threshold, called down and clear, and came to rest on the pad.

I was sitting there, collecting myself when one of the helicopter pilots walked over with a big smile. He asked how my flight was, and inquired if my volume might have been turned down by mistake. I guess he was trying to reach me to coordinate a landing sequence but I couldn’t hear anything. At that moment I felt like such a crappy pilot I just said sorry, without trying to explain the radio difficulty I’d had. Nice guy, he told me not to worry because everybody has been there.

A bit later, when I was de-briefing with my instructor, it became clear that when I had reached over to lift the flaps after my touch-and-go, I had switched the intercom to an isolate mode which messed with the PTT on the left side and the volume on the right.

Lessons learned today:
1. Don’t do things on your own that you haven’t done several times with an instructor.
2. Don’t rush to raise the flaps on either a touch-and-go or a go around.
3. Quit booking lessons in the early morning when winds are calm. Learn to fly and land in bumpy weather.
4. If you have a radio problem and think you’ve fixed it, do a radio check or assume you are NORDO.
5. When you make a stupid mistake like looking at the flap switch instead of down the runway, try to isolate that mistake, fix it, and not let it snowball.

I have more dual instruction next. I want to rebuild my confidence and work on crosswind/gusty landings. I feel pretty competent from about 20’ AGL on up but I need more time and coaching on landings.

Any other advice also appreciated.

Ha Ha! Just keep spending $$$$ on gas. Every single one of us has been in your shoes.

In 30 days from today it'll be 46 years and xxxthousand hours in the book for me, and I still have days like yours. Your heart is still beating and nothing broke too bad on the airplane. Successful day in the air as I see it.

Carry on.

Gump


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Keeping the wings level with the rudder, like you did the other day, helps in light to moderate rough air. It takes adverse yaw out of the equation. Like Gump says, just keep going up. Soon you will become "inure to the bog."

X3 what Gump and Contact said. I have no where near their experience, so my bad days happen more often. I have plenty, we all do. Sounds like you are doing great. With all that wind your practicing in, you'll be far ahead of most when you get your ppl in hand.

Thanks guys, that is exactly the advice I was hoping for. I was worried it was my instructor's fault;-)

I was keen to fly again this morning, but ended up driving 12 hours instead. Bumpy and well to the right of the center line. Just like my flying!

albravo wrote:Thanks guys, that is exactly the advice I was hoping for. I was worried it was my instructor's fault;-)

I was keen to fly again this morning, but ended up driving 12 hours instead. Bumpy and well to the right of the center line. Just like my flying!

Sounds like most of my flights too. Haha. Good on you for sharing your experience and asking for help. I have nothing to add except keep up the hard work. You'll be better of for it.

This is actually my first post on BCP because it was the first time I read a thread I actually to contribute to.

It's pretty inspiring to read this. I'm a new private pilot (check ride this past halloween), with about 70 hours total now. I soloed at 18hrs and checked out at 40hrs, but only because I did my flying very intensively, flying every day for a little over a month. This helped me retain all my lessons from previous flights so I could finish faster and save money, but it also had its drawbacks.

I had these exact same issues learning to land. The first few times the instructor landed our 172, I thought it was magic. "How the hell do you know you're going to hit the runway?!" soon turned into him repeating steps while I was sole manipulator: "pull power to 1600rpm, 10deg flaps, turn base, 20 flaps, 70kts, turn final, flaps as necessary, full flaps preferred in calm winds, 60kts,maintain sight picture, level off, pull back, we're down." Once you start getting good landings consistently, you'll wonder how the hell you were ever bad at it haha.

Soon regular landings were a breeze, it just took time. I'm glad to hear that the next day went better. Recently I moved from Kentucky at 500' MSL to Colorado at 5300' MSL. Honestly, I had to relearn landings since the plane reacts totally different up here and my first landings were rough to say the least.

I am also a wannabe bush pilot. I've never had interest in airliners, but low-and-slow on short strips is a dream. I'm excited to follow your journey.

My instructor always told me "If you don't learn something every flight, even if you're just flying in circles, you weren't paying attention."


This long post to say: Don't worry, you're on track. Keep flying, and value your time in the plane so that you learn from every second.

-Asa