- The Pilot Shortage and the 1500 Hour Rule - 2023-03-04
- More Frequent VFR Chart Updates - 2020-04-17
- Becoming a Better CFI - 2020-04-08
Today was my introduction to the right seat. It was pretty interesting, especially since I was flying a 152, which I haven’t flown in at least five years. It was a lot of fun. 152’s are so easy to fly. It’s relaxing to not have to think about the gear and prop or fuel flows and EGT’s. Just get up in the air and fly.
One thing I noticed right away: I spent more time looking outside the cockpit when I was performing maneuvers. I guess that’s because it takes more effort to look at the instruments from the right seat. Doing power-off stalls without looking at the airspeed or AI was different. I don’t think I had ever done that. I was surprised at how shallow the pitch was compared to what it feels like when you are focused on the instruments. When I’m focusing on the instruments, it feels like I’m pitching up about 45 degrees (and even more for a power-on stall). Seeing the reality of it makes stalls pretty unexciting.
I had trouble getting the plane down during our crash and dashes. I guess I am used to flying faster planes, so I wasn’t getting the airspeed down quick enough. One approach was bad enough to warrant a go-around, which I executed even worse than the approach. It made me realize how much of my flying is done automatically. I had to look down to find the flaps. Then I moved it up too far, so we lost twenty degrees instead of ten. I was pushing pretty hard on the yoke to counteract the flaps when I went to full throttle, so when I lost two notches of flaps, the plane got a pretty good dip before I corrected. In spite of all of that, it was still fun. I think most of my trouble was based on being in the 152 rather than being in the right seat. I’ll get to test that theory next lesson: we’ll be flying the Arrow next time. Almost 75% of my time is in Archers, C-6’s, and the Arrow, so I won’t have the “new plane” excuse. (-: