This morning I was supposed to have gone for a flying lesson at 6:30. But, at 5:30 I get a message saying TAF doesn’t look good. (I’m going to use that one anytime I want to sleep in.) Who’s kidding who? Every day is an adventure. You’ve got to join the day first, however.
I did get to go flying later in the afternoon (Hooray!) after my I.T. Committee meeting. I’m lucky. I love where I work. They’re about the nicest, most supportive people you’d ever hope to meet.
I kept watching the weather closely until my lesson. Clouds looked threatening but cleared somewhat. The winds picked up (wind gusts were about 18-20 knots) and decided to hang around. As soon as I get in the airport, Roger tells me I need to learn about dealing with strong tailwinds. He gives me a piece of paper with diagrams and explains it all to me. This sure feels like a pop quiz to me – in real time. (Smiling, I try not to show my fear of failing.)
I take off with a neutral elevator with the windward wing dipped down to prevent the gusting wind from getting under it.
If you’ve read my earlier entries, you’ve heard about my beloved flagpole. After taking off and rocking around to get there, Roger explains to me that today is different because of the crosswinds. He continues to teach me to understand the performance of a plane, like pitch, roll, and yaw.
I also learned how to read the wind by its effect on water. Today it was over Claytor Lake. It was really pretty with long wind streaks. Ripples on the concave side is the windward side.
If you’ve never played in a plane, I highly recommend it! Remember go-carts that you steered with your feet? That’s the way you steer the plane on the ground. In the air, it’s way better than swinging on a rope over the river on a hot summer day into the cool, fast moving water.
I want to take you with me, I want to share my flying lessons with you but no words can describe the feeling of going back to your childhood once more and experiencing all the joys of first times again – but 10 times better.
I don’t want to lead you astray. There is a great deal of hard work involved in learning to fly, like aerodynamics, physics, math – all things that I wished I had really learned previously. But now those things have meaning.
By the way, no, I didn’t get to do the final landing. Maybe this time Roger lost his faith – well, at least, in my abilities. Wise man! I did learn some things about landing today, however. I learned that I should come in slow, keeping the wing down into the wind to control drifting, using the opposite rudder to keep the nose parallel to the center line. You touch down on the upwind wheel, followed by downwind wheel. You should roll the ailerons all the way into the wind. The deflected aileron will keep the wing from being lifted up. No flaps in gusty winds.
But, now it’s time for sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows!
Look close. It’s the shadow of the Cessna 152 with double rainbows! Please enjoy them.
And think of John Denver, “If I should live forever and all my dreams come true, My memories of love will be of you.”
