The Second (Date) Flight

The Second (Date) Flight

sierralimafoxtrot

Dual: 1.9 Hrs.

The second date flight was a little bumpy… but I blame Mother Nature for that. The weather report (METAR) was:

METAR CZVL 171800Z AUTO 15013G20KT 9SM CLR 13/04 A2976 RMK SLP095 DENSITY ALT 2600FT

The weather made for a pretty view, but a bouncy ride. I have never experienced so much turbulence in a small plane before, but I was glad I did early on in my flying. The reason I was happy to experience the turbulence is I always wondered how I would handle it. Would it scare me out of flying, or would I find my way through it? Well I am happy to report it was no big deal. It was a real workout flying in it though. Unfortunately, the gusty winds ruled out doing circuit work, but we were able to practice some climbs, descents, stalls, and stall recoveries. The windy conditions did provide the opportunity to try out crosswind corrections while taxiing, and some crabbing and forward slips. Attila also taught me how to do the walk around and get all the paperwork together before going up. Checklist were also introduced on this flight.

Paperwork
Let’s start with discussing the paperwork that needs to be done before we take to the air. (One caveat I would like to throw in is that not all flight schools require (or allow) students to do some of the paperwork. Best check with your flight instructor before putting pen to any paper.) Now paperwork is a necessary evil of life, and an important part of flying. With so may people sharing planes in a flight school, the paperwork takes on an even greater importance. It is the way you, and everyone else, know that the aircraft is good to go – or not. At Namao, you start off with checking the booking schedule to see if someone else has the plane booked after you, or if there are any schedule conflicts. Next there is a club pre-flight prep checklist that makes sure you review all the needed information and paperwork. This includes the following, and must be signed:
  • Weather (METAR & TAF) Checked & Within Limits
  • NOTAMs Checked
  • Aircraft Pre-flight Completed
  • Aircraft Documents Reviewed
  • Oil Checked
  • Fuel Checked
  • Deferred Defects Reviewed
  • Sufficient Time before Next Inspection
  • Weight and Balance within Limits
  • Daily Flight Log Updated
Many of the items on the list are critical parts of the walk around, and serve as a secondary reminder. Better to be double sure than miss something critical.
Walk Around
The walk around is ritualistic in its nature. First Attila had me look at the fluids – oil then gas. Next, starting at the nose, we began a well choreographed dance around the Citabria. I checked the engine, the brakes, the struts and connectors, the ailerons, the wingtips, the wing surfaces, the static port, the empennage, and then all the same on the other side of the little yellow plane. Eventually, I ending up where I started at the nose.

 

Crosswind Correction while Taxiing

Crosswind_Taxiiing_Taildragger

As we taxied to the runway Attila gave me a lesson on crosswind correction while taxiing. “Climb into, Dive away” was the saying he used to describe the method used for crosswind correction . At the time I found it hard to understand, but during our return taxi, post flight brief, and through some self-study I have come to understand the saying and the theory behind it. When taxiing into the wind, you want to climb (pull the stick back) and roll into (stick towards/into) the direction the crosswind is from. The purpose is that this will result in the aileron on the crosswind side to go up, reducing the lift on that wing making it harder for the wind to lift. Similarly, the elevator will go up with the same effect, keeping the tail down. When taxiing away from the wind, you want to dive (push the stick forwards) and roll away (stick pointing away) for the direction the crosswind is from. The reason for this is that with the wind behind us, we are concerned with it getting under the upwind side of the wing or tail and lifting them. In this “dive away” position, the aileron on the crosswind side is down, as is the elevator. This reduces the chance the wind will get underneath and lift them. This crosswind correction while taxiing is even more important in a tail dragger like the Citabria, where the wings have a higher angle of attack while taxiing compared to the typical tricycle geared plane. (Another caveat: If you are flying a tricycle geared plane, you want the elevator to be neutral when taxing into the wind. This is because you do not have a high angle of attack on the elevator, and you do not want to take any load off the front wheel. An up elevator places load on the tail wheel, but removes load from the nose wheel in this scenario. And the goal here is to remain firmly planted on the ground, so more load on the wheels is better.)

Climbs and Descents

I covered climbs and descents in my previous blog about my discovery flight. This lesson looked to refine those basic movements more. I would encourage you to read that blog if you have not already done so.

Trim and Air Speeds

One exercise Attila had me do was set the plane up trimmed for level flight with the engine at 2300 rpm. This resulted in an airspeed of 100 mph. We then reduced power to 2000 rpm and let the plane do what it wanted to do. The nose pitched down and we gained airspeed – which was not surprising. What happened next was interesting though. The plane started to pitch back up and reestablished the 100 mph airspeed again. The new stable flight profile resulted in a slight nose down attitude with a decent rate of about 300 ft/min. The trade-off for less power from the engine being the descent.

The importance of this is that if you trim the plane for a particular speed, changing the power settings will not affect the trimmed airspeed of the plane, just the climb/descent rate. If you think of this in terms of landing it makes perfect sense. You setup a stable and trimmed approach at your ideal speed, then use power (not elevator) to control the descent rate. (Elevator is used to adjust airspeed on approach – which makes sense since the trim is part of the elevator system.)

Moderate Turns

I also discussed the introduction of turns in my previous blog about the discovery flight. We practiced more moderate (30-degree bank) turns this time. The ball still jumped around a bit, but the coordination of the flight controls felt more intuitive this time. I suspect that given a calm wind day, I will be able to hold the ball steady in the centre.

Stalls and Stall Recovery

Stalled_Looking_Down

During the discovery flight Attila also did some stalls, but this time it was my turn. It was an unusual experience to say the least. Making the airplane stop flying seems counter-intuitive. The first time I entered a fully developed stall with the nose pointed earth-bound as shown in the photo above.

The second stall we focused on a quick recovery by applying power immediately. The result was significant with about 300ft of altitude loss on the first stall, and about half that on the second with power.

Dutch Rolls

On the way back to the airport we did some dutch rolls. This is a fun little exercise to help practice coordination of the ailerons. The goal is to bank the aircraft left and right while using the rudder to maintain a steady heading. I am looking forward to doing this more in the future.

Practice Approaches (with Crosswinds)

Finally, I got to do some practice approaches. With the wind it was very difficult, but it also provided a great opportunity to learn about crabbing and slipping.  Crabbing is when you allow the plane to weather vain (fly into) the appearent wind. This results in the plane point on one heading, but tracking on another. This works well until you reach the runway, when you are now travelling in one direction, but your wheels are pointed in another. Landing sideways is never a good idea, so we need to transition to a slip.

The slip is an interesting maneuver. It allows you to fly along your intended heading, while aligning the plane to that heading, and accounting for the crosswind. This is accomplished by rolling into the wind to counteract it, and using the rudder to maintain your heading down the runway. The only issue is that you are flying in a non-level manner… but I have not learned how to land yet… so how to deal with this will be a future topic of discussion.

One Last Lesson for the Day!

As I was taxiing the plane onto the apron at the end of the flight, I learned a very valuable lesson. A plane is a very wide vehicle with those wings sticking out there. Attila stopped the plane before I got into any trouble, but let me learn from my mistake (good teacher!). I failed to realize that if I followed the centre line on the ground, that I would not clear the fuel truck parked on the side of the apron.

As mentioned Attila stopped us in time, but pointed out my error and the lesson behind it. I felt like a bonehead for days afterwards (and still kind of do). I considered not putting it in the video, but we all make mistakes, and they are usually the most valuable lessons. This much is sure… I will remember to think about how wide the plane is next time I taxi!