My Flight Journal

Sunday, June 8, 2003 2:50pm

Managed to get 0.9 in this morning before the weather hit. We just did pattern work, takeoffs and landings.

In a 10-12 kt crosswind this time.

I think my instructor thinks this is all too easy for me so he always picks the most difficult conditions to teach me stuff. In fact, he pretty much admitted that.

My pattern work was spot on. Wasn't always exactly perfect, but I also spotted errors early and corrected them before they became a problem (and before my instructor called me on it). Flying the pattern at a significant crab angle was not a problem after having practiced ground reference maneuvers in a friggin hurricane last time.

Learning the sight picture and when to flare is going to take more practice. After making thousands of landings under a parachute, I've got to relearn that aspect of it. My instructor said most students are afraid of the ground and flare too early. He said I'm one of those that aren't afraid of it and need to learn to flare earlier. He also said I'm coming in too flat - need to get the nose up for two-point landings instead of the three-pointers I'm wont to do.

Today was a lot of fun, but I can tell I'm going to need lots of practice to get it down. It was quite a workout too.