Flying Again!

After a 15-year hiatus, I started flying again this morning. Pictured above are flight instructor Jill Vandeel and her 180 hp Cessna 172 at the Buena Vista Airport after our flight. Altitude here is just shy of 8000 feet.

I didn't know that Cessna 172s could have 180 hp engines. Apparently, this modification was approved while I was out of aviation. I can say for certain that the extra 20 hp (with a constant speed propeller) makes a vast difference in the 172s performance!

After a very long preflight inspection and a cup of tea inside (while waiting for ice to melt off the wings), we climbed in and I started it up. Jill had already run it for a few minutes earlier--balky then in the cold, it started right up at my command.

My run-up took more time than it needed to, but I was still getting used to this aircraft, and to aircraft in general again. Takeoff was brisk and climb was good. We departed straight-out, and I turned toward the west near Nathrop for some Dutch rolls, steep turns, and slow(er) flight.

Dutch rolls, in my opinion, are one of the best ways to get the feel of an airplane. You bank back and forth while holding the nose of the airplane on a point with the rudder pedals. I had picked a point near Chalk Creek somewhere.

Steep turns felt reasonably good--first at about 40 degrees of bank, and then more at 45 degrees. You have to hold back pressure during a steep turn (or really, any turn) because the wing needs to produce considerably more lift then, since lift acts toward the top of the airplane instead of against gravity. The upward component (alone) of the lift is what's holding your altitude, as the horizontal component pulls you around the turn. Jill pointed out that by rolling in some nose-up trim, the Cessna will maintain altitude very well. This sure worked!

I didn't fly the airplane real slowly, but I wanted to experience approach speed with a notch of flap. I wanted to experience this at altitude, not down near the ground.

So with the airplane slowed and the flaps at 10 degrees (they go to 40 degrees), we turned north toward the airport and I called BV Unicom that I was on a six-mile final approach for Runway 33--the one that goes north and a little west, or 330 degrees.

The airplane floated a bit right above the runway, probably because I overestimated the amount of power that would let it settle onto the ground. But touchdown was smooth, if a bit off the centerline.

Runway centerlines are holy things. That's where your nosewheel goes. But I missed that a bit, so there's room for improvement.

I had a reserved seat at the dentist's in half an hour, but we had time for another takeoff and landing. These were a marked improvement, smoothly accomplished but still with room for increased precision. Next time, I want to do some simulated short and soft field landings and takeoffs. This means pushing the limits a little, and I've found that this improves normal landings as well. Reason? It gives you a better feel for the airplane, and how it handles under various circumstances. A screaming crosswind is good practice, too, though nervewracking.

So flying felt good today! I'll do this again, and before long hope to be "signed off" to fly the airplane solo, or with passengers. The FAA wisely requires a "biennial flight review" and that's what's happening here.

I'm not a newcomer to aviation. I hold a commercial pilot certificate for airplane single and multiengine land and sea, instrument-airplane, rotorcraft-helicopter, and glider. I used to have a Piper Tripacer. But fifteen years off sure makes you rusty! I intend to shake that off, and resume this part of my life.

Should I go check out in a helicopter, too? Now there would be some real rust! Gliders? Well, I've got my eye on a Pipistrel Virus motorglider.