Both the short field, and soft field takeoffs were pretty fun. The short field takeoff requires you to put the throttle all the way in, while you hold on the brakes. Once the engine is at full power you can let go of the brakes. The goal is to have the plane get up to climbing speed as soon as possible. Soft field takeoffs require that you do not stop between taxing and taking off...you want to keep the plane rolling. Also required in soft field takeoffs is that you keep the nose wheel off the ground until the plane lifts off the ground, and once the plane lifts off the ground you want to keep it in ground effect until you have enough airspeed to start your climb.
The landings on the other hand were not as fun. My landings need a lot of work as it is, so adding more rules to the mix didn't help. Soft field landings require that you can nail your glide path and airspeed, something I cant do very well yet. Soft field landings are a little more forgiving however, all you need to do different here is keep the nose wheel off the ground, and add a little power once the main wheels touch down...this prevents your airplane from sinking into a soft runway.
We also squeezed in a precision landing today...and boy was it a disaster. The goal here is that you set power to idle, and set the perfect glide path once abeam your touch down spot. You are suppose to be able to land your airplane perfectly without having to add any power. Obviously I failed miserable at this. I came up well short of the runway and had to add power. Once over the runway I dropped my power, and with it my airplane. We dropped about ten feet onto the runway....ouch!
Well that was it for the day. Now I have more things I can practice in the pattern...although for now I think I will just work on normal landings, and takeoffs. I booked the plane for my first full solo flight on Wednesday...if you don't see any updates after this, than that means I am probably dead...but don't let my death discourage you from continuing your training...you'll probably be fine!
Today we spent 1.4 hours in the plane for a total of $198 for the rental and instruction.
Don't you just feel like this some days?
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