KEWR 241346Z 33017G21KT

Friday, October 24, 2014 — 9:00AM

Instructor: Tom Kramer

Upon arrival at the airport, a nasty crosswind with high gusts developed. Instead of wasting the day, we did some ground school where we went over weather charts and METARs/TAFs.

N40 and closest airports for weather

Rain Rain Go Away

Wednesday, October 22, 2014 — 10:00AM

Instructor: Tom Kramer

Lesson canceled due to storms in the area.

IM SAFE

Tuesday, October 21, 2014 — 10:00AM

Instructor: Tom Kramer

Lesson was canceled due to a fatigue-induced headache. It's important to remember 'IM SAFE'...

Illness - Is the pilot suffering from any illness or symptom of an illness which might affect them in flight?

Medication - Is the pilot currently taking any drugs (prescription or over-the-counter)?

Stress - Psychological or emotional factors which might affect the pilot's performance.

Alcohol - The pilot might want to consider their alcohol consumption within the last 8 to 24 hours.

Fatigue - Has the pilot had sufficient sleep and rest in the recent past?

Eating - Is the pilot sufficiently nourished?

To the sky...

Sarah

Chasing the Needle

Friday, October 17, 2014 — 9:00AM

Flight Lesson #7

Instructor: Matt Kiener

Before heading out for preflight, we discussed slow flight, leading to stalls, and the importance of keeping the plane coordinated.

Your plane... All of this traffic is making me nervous.

The airport became really busy just as we were taking off, with two choppers air taxing (one on each side) and two planes just landed and taxing, I asked Matt to take off while I worked the radio. Once off the ground, I took over for the climb out. We went above the clouds to 5000' then slowed the plane down and did a few 360’s in each direction.  

Stop chasing the needle!
Since I was still watching the instruments during my turns, Matt held a notebook in front of the instruments, forcing me to keep my head outside, watching what the bank and pitch should look like. According to him, some turns were better than others, none terrible, a couple excellent.

Next, Matt demonstrated a no flap power off stall, which was uneventful as he kept the plane coordinated. I asked Matt to take the plane back in as it was still busy.

To the sky...

Sarah

A Birthday Above the Clouds

Thursday, October 16, 2014 — 10:00AM

Flight Lesson #6

Instructor: Tom Kramer

Happy birthday to me! What better way to spend a birthday than to be flying...

Ground school consisted of a video explaining stalls and stall recovery. Although you would think that pulling back on the yoke may be the answer to recover, it's quite the opposite. At the first indication of a stall, you must decrease the angle of attack by adding forward pressure. Too much forward pressure can cause a dive and hinder recovery. 

Lets see if we can find an opening in these clouds, we may not be able to fly.

When I woke up, it was raining at my house. It was a disappointment knowing that I may not fly on my birthday. Although it was grey skies and windy at the airport, we found a hole in the clouds to climb out of and check the weather above. It was gorgeous! Bright white puffy clouds with the bright sun reflecting off. 

Do you remember the steps to configure the plane for slow flight?

I asked Tom to show me as a review then I did it a few times. I need to work on being more assertive with the controls. My fear is being too aggressive and putting myself into a situation I can't get out of. It's something that I'm working on correcting, with the help of my instructors. After practicing configuring the plane into and out of slow flight, we worked on slow flight turns while maintaining altitude. I have a habit of 'following the needle' and watching the instruments too much. I'll be practicing more during my next lesson.

To the sky...

Sarah