| Any of the video's dealing with "learning" to fly should be helpful.
If you've been training for awhile, you should be able to pick up on
the points their trying to relay in the video and compare them to what
YOU are actually doing. If the tape says to do "this" and your doing
"that", you know you have to make a change.
Question. How long have you been training, and how often do you train.
It's difficult to quantify "excessive" without knowing these details.
Steve
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| I have been learning for about 18 mths, although for the first 6 mths
there were a number of difficulties with the engine, and I was sharing
one trainer with my son. I get to the field most Sundays, and typically
get three flights, but not always the same instructor each week.
I am quite confident in the upper air, although the circuits and figure
eights are not as tidy as they should be. I do seem to have difficulty
setting up the approach.
I have agreed with our club that my son (who is 14) is sufficiently
competent to take me up to practise what I learn in the instructed
sessions, so I should get a lot more flying time from now on.
Stewart
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| Hi Stewart,
It sounds like your not really getting "instruction". Rather,
someone takes the plane up for you, let's you fly around awhile, and
then lands for you. Everyone learns at their own pace, but I have to
believe that if you were getting "real" instruction, you would have
soloed by now. Certainly, you should be taking off by yourself at this
point.
An instructor should be taking you up and MAKING you do different
things until you can do them competently. You mention circuits and
figure eights. Your circuits should be square and done both to the left
and to the right. You should be able to fly upwind in line with the
runway, make a 90 degree left turn, level out, fly out for a ways, make
another 90 degree left turn, level out (now putting you going down
wind), continue flying down wind to the point where you would normally
start making your approach to the runway, make another 90 degree left
turn, level out, and then make a final 90 degree left turn putting you
back on the upwind leg directly in line with the runway and back where
you started. All this should be done with no loss/gain in altitude. You
should be able to do this equally well both to the left and to the
right.
Figure eights are the same concept. Picture the number eight laying on
it's side. The point where the two lines cross in the middle of the
eight should be directly in front of you. When you fly the figure
eight, the plane should follow those lines and cross directly in front
of you each time. If it doesn't, your not making the sides (or loops)
of the eight equal. There should also be no loss or gain in altitude.
These maneuvers are designed to teach YOU to fly the PLANE rather than
the plane flying you. YOU put the plane where YOU want it. If you can't
do that, your not in control. It takes practice, especially when you
consider that mother nature may have other ideas on where the planes
going. But that's the whole point. You don't say oh well, I guess if
the wind is going to push the plane over that way, that's where it's
going. To the contrary, you MAKE the plane go where YOU want it to
DESPITE the wind.
The reason you have to learn and master all this up in the air is so
you can take off and land. If you can't make that plane do what you
want it too up high, how do you think your going to fair when your low
and slow trying to land???????????? This is the point where there's no
margin for error and if your not in control, your probably going to
crash rather than land.
The whole point though is that you need to have an "instructor" that
will stand with you and tell you exactly what to do, what your doing
wrong, and how to correct it. If their just letting you get "stick
time", their not doing you any favors.
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