Martin Spott writes: > I found it not to be too difficult. I consider the yoke of a C172 > as the major hurdle: You push it but you get only miminal feedback > if it really moves of if it's just you wrist that is twisting a few > millimeters. I'll try to have plane with stick the next time so I > get a feeling for the difference.
The trim wheel makes a big difference: you always want to set the yoke so that the horizon is in the right place, then immediately trim off all pressure. As long as you're holding the yoke loosely with only your thumb and index finger (with your left elbow on the armrest), you'll develop a good sensitivity for fine control pressures. That said, if you're getting a bit of play -- that is, if you can move the yoke noticeably without moving the control surfaces -- then you should consider asking your instructor to put a squawk in the logbook. Even a small yoke movement should result in a small control-surface movement. > I sat in a C172 and other planes many times - standing still on the > ground. I have the impression the yoke of a C172 is not optimal > when you want to realize only small evelator movement. What about > your Piper ? They have the same one at the flight school. I have not noticed any play in my yoke. One general problem, though, is phugoid oscillations -- if you make a small elevator change, it will automatically develop into a series of diminishing waves that you then have to damp out. That might be why it seems hard to make small changes right now. > Still it's embarassing how easy it is to hold the altitude within > +/- 20 feet even in a bit 'bumpy' air when you look at the > horizon. Every time I looked at the altimeter for more than a few > seconds I started flying waveform. After returning to the view out > of the screen I managed to stabilize altitute within 5 seconds or > so. You might find that it gets a bit harder, even VFR, when you have more to distract you (radio work, scanning for traffic, maps and navigation, E6B calculations, etc.) but it still sounds like you have a lot of good, natural ability. What time of day did you fly? On a summer afternoon, the thermals can give you quite a good workout (you blink your eyes and you've lost or gained 200 feet). Morning and evening are smoother. > > Steep turns and stalls in an intro flight? By gawd! Did you ask for > > all that especially, or is it standard? > > I don't think there's a standard. I've been doing a little bit with > model airplanes and a helicopter during school and I've got a bit > of practice with FlightGear (!!!!). So I made an agreement with the > instructor to do those things he feels safe with me controlling the > plane and do avoid those he does not agree on. Simple as that :-) Good -- I was worried that he might be doing that with every new student. In your case, I think it made sense. > In 'real' live the instructor is CEO as a small (12 people) > software company. He's running the flight school in his spare > time. He's doing this for fun only, not to make money - I consider > this as a great deal ! Sounds good to me. Obviously you trusted each other enough to do some serious upper air work in the first lesson, and that's a good sign. All the best, David -- David Megginson, [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.megginson.com/ _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-devel
