My soul is in the sky.
— William Shakespeare, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ Act V. Scene I.
Carpe Noctem (Seize the night!) -Atticus. I just couldn’t get enough flying this morning, SO we went flying this evening. (Did I tell you that my flight instructor works with people to find times that works best for their schedules?) I’m starting to sound like an ad, but he really is that great!!
I did some night takeoffs and landings. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know that is an area which I really need to work on. So off to work we went! This night Roger gave me even further instruction on how to better position the plane for landings. You do have to have so many night landings to get your pilot’s license, BUT, more importantly, you have to have the skills and confidence to do it successfully when your flight instructor isn’t in the seat beside you.
Tonight I learned to pull the nose up more as I was about to land. And savor the flares more – (that part of the lesson carries over to daytime flying as well). This brings the rear wheels (main) in contact with the ground first. If you aim for a more flat landing, it could possibly cause a huge bounce and could possibly damage the plane. (My concern has been that it is harder to judge just how far away you are from the ground when you are landing in the dark. Have you ever tried to find something in the dark?)
I was doing really well. I got a “magnifico” once from my flight instructor. But, then as I continued to practice takeoffs and landings the last two got worse. At that point, it was time to call it a night!
As always, Roger was doing his magic in more than giving instruction. See the photos below.
Well I started out down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
And the town lit up, the world got still
-Tom Petty, “Learning to Fly”
