Solo 20: Pontiac Practice PIC time logged this flight: 2.4
Another fun "jam session" up at Pontiac, as in "traffic jam". I flew up to see what I might expect next Saturday in terms of traffic levels. Jets, helicopters, and plenty of training aircraft all buzzing around enjoying the great flying weather. After a whole bunch of short field landings (some full stops, some touch and goes to just practice aiming points and touchdown zones) I departed the area to the west. I practiced S-turns, and steep turns before returning to Mettetal.
Solo 21: Soft Field Landing Practice PIC time logged this flight: 1.3
I decided to keep it simple for this practice session. The emphasis was soft field landing technique, which means touchdown as soft as possible and keep the nosewheel in the air and set it down soft. The trick to holding the "wheelie" is carrying just a bit of power in the flare and keep it in until just after you set the nosewheel down. I had fun with these. The demo I received from the Chief FI has really helped me with airspeed control on final approach.
Flight Debrief: Lesson 18 Sticking a fork in Part 61.109 Dual time logged this flight: 2.0
Total Time: 73.9
Landings: 253
As the title suggests, this flight has tied up all the loose ends on my "Aeronautical Experience" requirements, specifically the simulated instrument and night landings. This lesson immediately followed my solo stint from above, and is the first time that I have flown twice in one day.
The image below shows our path of flight, departing Mettetal where I donned my foggles once clear of Mettetal's traffic area. Navigated direct to the Salem VOR, performed a quasi-procedure turn to return to the VOR and fly the 180 radial outbound. Gave a call to Willow Run tower asking for the transition to the south, which they approved. I highly recommend doing simulated instrument at night, you don't get the sun to give you hints as to your direction of flight. Continuing south, my FI asked me to stay clear of Detroit's Class B airspace and take us to Grosse Ille Airport (KONZ). I decided to tune the Carleton VOR and intercept the 100 radial inbound and outbound from the VOR. In hindsight, I would have tracked the 080 radial outbound from the VOR, maintaining 2000 ft would have kept us clear of the Class B and put us on a more direct heading to the ONZ. As it worked out, I got us to within 6 miles and my FI had me pull the foggles off and navigate to the airport.
After 3 full stop landings on Runway 35, we headed up the Detroit River visually where I took this picture:
The foggles were soon blocking my view again, and I navigated back to the Plymouth area by intercepting the 280 radial. My FI started quizzing me with check ride style questions right up until we passed over the VOR, where a turn to 150 was requested. Another turn to a heading of 120 was requested, soon followed by "foggles off, you just crossed M-14, find Mettetal, I'll give you a hint (pointing) that's the high school".
I spotted the green and white rotating beacon, and 7 clicks of the mic later, the runway lights were at max intensity. With the landing that followed, I officially put the "fork" in my Part 61 requirements. Phew!
