Supervisory Flight: 2nd Edition

Hello!
It's time for another update!

I hope Y'all had a great New Years holiday. I also wish all of the two followers who read this blog a happy and successful year ahead!

Onto business. I've actually had a couple of lessons since my last update. Today I had a supervisory flight. A lesson that is essential before I get the go ahead for my first solo flight. I was accompanied by another instructor, another eye into my progress, and I was more or less tested on my knowledge and abilities in performing circuits, which is what I'll be doing in my first solo flight.

I think it went well. The instructor threw some things at me that I wasn't expecting, in flight, and on the ground. There were some theoretical/technical questions that I had to answer about certain airspeed required for certain operations, as well as some questions about the mechanics of the plane.

In the air, the instructor conducted two emergency landing procedures which I have not practiced before. One of them was a landing with a flaps failure. When flaps are extended from the wings, they change the aerodynamics of the wing, thereby helping it slow down, change it's angle of attack, and produce more drag, which helps for landing. You can read more about flaps HERE.

With the flaps not retracted, the airplane tends to glide longer, and is harder to bring down to the ground. I learned this quickly my first time around. I didn't judge the rate of decent well enough, as this was my first time experiencing a landing in this configuration. I decided to abort the landing in the last second as I noticed I was running out of runway. We went around again, and this time I had a much better result. I managed to put the airplane on the ground nicely.

Another emergency procedure we practiced was a failed air-speed indicator. Air-speed is one very important consideration for a landing, as well as many parts of flight. Pilots, especially beginner pilots, tend to rely on their airspeed indicator heavily. During landing, if you go too slow, you may stall the airplane, if you go too fast, you'll have a hard time putting the airplane on the ground.

The instructor put a piece of paper on the airspeed indicator in order to block it from my view. I was left with only my senses available to judge the speed I was going at. I'll admit that it was relatively scary. Formerly, I've depended heavily on the air-speed indicator. Maybe a little too much. This exercise taught me to rely on my senses when landing. To feel when the airplane is going too fast or too slow by looking outside and by feeling the tendencies of the airplane. I managed to get the airplane on the ground, though my speed was faster than the 60 knots needed to land, my instructor commented that it's better to be faster than slower. It was a very important exercise for me to do, for if I am ever faced with such a situation, I'll know what to do.

Overall, I think the flight went well. The instructor and I had a talk after the flight. He had some comments about certain things, as well as some very useful tips. After asking me how many hours I had flown, he said that I'm ahead of the game and that there's definite potential for me at the commercial pilot level. All nice things to hear, of course.

Next up is another lesson back with my usual instructor. It's all up to him, but there's a good chance, depending on my abilities, and the weather and such, that I may go solo.

Solo'ng :)