Different Instructor - Circuits - July 9

My usual instructor wasn't available this evening, but an aircraft and a different instructor were available so I booked with him.

Tonight was lots of circuits. There was little mechanical turbulence and a tiny crosswind.

It is starting to come together. Taxi, radio work, and circuit flying was fine. Checklists are getting familiar.

Speed control and altitude control were right on the money! First time it has been this good.

Did a few sideslips to track the centreline and lose some altitude - they are coming along nicely, though I need to think before putting in a slip. I also need small, tender adjustments in the stick, not wholesale swings.

I rejected my first landing attempt. I was just about the threshold and was too low, so I punched in some power without right rudder, and jumped to the left as well as gained altitude. So I found myself at the edge of the runway, 100 feet past the threshold, 50+ feet in the air, too fast, and pointing 20 degrees off the runway to the left. I still have 3000' in front of me so I had lots of time to get it under control and bring it in, but there likely would not have been room to take-off again, which means a backtrack, so I just rejected it and practiced that instead. I think my instructors appreciate that I'm not going to wrestle the aircraft onto the ground dammit - there is no shame in a rejected landing, especially at my point in the learning curve.

I had realized (from my reading between lessons) that I wasn't watching the numbers track up/down the windscreen - I was judging glide slope from where I was, and not tracking the trend and therefore setting myself up for a big correction later. I added it in this lesson. I also tried to avoid using tunnel vision, stare the aircraft into the ground, method of landing.

Coming along. Still not anywhere near stable in the final, the landings are a bit rough, but no longer scary.

1.4 hours, 7 landings.

[I'm writing this 10 days later from recollection.] Need to work on:

- Smoother, stabilized approach.
- Smaller control corrections on final.
- Flare closer to the ground.
- Keep working the stick back during the flare, don't let the drop get ahead of me.

Big improvement on:

- Checklists are getting less rusty.
- Sideslips.
- Speed control through the circuit - not starting at the airspeed indicator any more.
- Altitude tracking throughout the circuit.
- Shedding more speed sooner, resulting in not being ridiculously high on final.