February 16, 2006
Under the hood!
I don't like it! At least not any more. Earlier on it seemed easy enough. On the recent lessons, I got a terrible case of leans. I felt that the plane was tilted a lot towards the left. Interestingly, this feeling was not present before; I only started having it in the recent flights. I also came to know that my instructor carries a barf bag in his flight bag. He tells me stories of a poor chap who lost it on short final. The poor fella went 'your plane' on short final and made a mess.
For me, the unusual attitudes ones was really bad. With eyes closed and chin on the shoulder, I just could not tell where we were headed. Not to mention that staying under the hood my mouth goes ultra dry. I've heard that it goes away with practice. The body gets used to the upheavals and stops complaining. I guess that is still quite a way off. Any advice on how to cope till then?
The unusual attitudes lessons was an interesting one. Its only the second time that I have been in a rapidly descending scenario, the first being emergency descents. Well, in an emergency descent you initiate the dive. In the unusual attitudes, you look up, still disoriented and see the plane going down. To save yourself, you have to the save the aircraft, so in the nose down scenario, you take care that the load factor does not exceed the limits. Power to idle gets rid of the thrust which is increasing your velocity. Then the wings are leveled since any bank adds to the load factor. Finally, you gently pull up or let the plane come up on its own and resume level flight and climb(if required). The other scenario, nose up, comes down to preventing a stall. So full power and lower the nose at the same time as leveling the wings out. The only catch to both these scenarios, you only get a couple of seconds when you look up to react. Practice, practice, practice!!!!!
For me, the unusual attitudes ones was really bad. With eyes closed and chin on the shoulder, I just could not tell where we were headed. Not to mention that staying under the hood my mouth goes ultra dry. I've heard that it goes away with practice. The body gets used to the upheavals and stops complaining. I guess that is still quite a way off. Any advice on how to cope till then?
The unusual attitudes lessons was an interesting one. Its only the second time that I have been in a rapidly descending scenario, the first being emergency descents. Well, in an emergency descent you initiate the dive. In the unusual attitudes, you look up, still disoriented and see the plane going down. To save yourself, you have to the save the aircraft, so in the nose down scenario, you take care that the load factor does not exceed the limits. Power to idle gets rid of the thrust which is increasing your velocity. Then the wings are leveled since any bank adds to the load factor. Finally, you gently pull up or let the plane come up on its own and resume level flight and climb(if required). The other scenario, nose up, comes down to preventing a stall. So full power and lower the nose at the same time as leveling the wings out. The only catch to both these scenarios, you only get a couple of seconds when you look up to react. Practice, practice, practice!!!!!
Comments:
Hi there,
As an Instructor of more than 10 years I can tell you that your enthusiasm is refreshing.
I am now an all weather freight dog flying boxes in a C208B Caravan. I dont teach much anymore but I did do 8 instrument ratings and a CFII last year and I can tell you that you will always have good days, and Not so good days ( its Murphy riding on your shoulder)
. Another thing is that cloud flying and hood flying are not even really in the same ballpark. Something else that rarely gets a thorough covering in the IFR training is this: STAY OUT OF THE CLOUDS!!!If you flying a light piston with no anti or deice equipment you are asking for an @$$ kicking. I fly a turbine that is approved for known icing and there have been a few times that I have been SCARED. Ice builds fast, and believe me, it is not your friend. There is really no plane that can handle it well for long, and if anyone tells you otherwise, just have a look at the NASA web site flight in known icing training module. Speed goes away ,longitudinal stability goes away, and oh, by the way, if your prop gets more ice on one blade than on the other two, the plane vibrates violently and you have to continuously cycle the prop.
Popping through a cloud layer is about all you want to do in a light piston.
Saying that, I hope you are enjoying your training!
As an Instructor of more than 10 years I can tell you that your enthusiasm is refreshing.
I am now an all weather freight dog flying boxes in a C208B Caravan. I dont teach much anymore but I did do 8 instrument ratings and a CFII last year and I can tell you that you will always have good days, and Not so good days ( its Murphy riding on your shoulder)
. Another thing is that cloud flying and hood flying are not even really in the same ballpark. Something else that rarely gets a thorough covering in the IFR training is this: STAY OUT OF THE CLOUDS!!!If you flying a light piston with no anti or deice equipment you are asking for an @$$ kicking. I fly a turbine that is approved for known icing and there have been a few times that I have been SCARED. Ice builds fast, and believe me, it is not your friend. There is really no plane that can handle it well for long, and if anyone tells you otherwise, just have a look at the NASA web site flight in known icing training module. Speed goes away ,longitudinal stability goes away, and oh, by the way, if your prop gets more ice on one blade than on the other two, the plane vibrates violently and you have to continuously cycle the prop.
Popping through a cloud layer is about all you want to do in a light piston.
Saying that, I hope you are enjoying your training!
Amit, haven't seen you around in a long time. How are things? Still woiking away on the defense?? do stop in to give me an update soon. I'm off the rest of the week, but will be back next Monday, the 10th. Have a good Fourth.
# posted by 
: 2:44 PM
: 2:44 PM
Flying is a challenge, and learning to fly is even more of a challenge. The thing is that when you start you have all kinds of strange feelings of motion because you are operating in 3 dimensions.
Most important though is to protect your eyes at all times with a really good pair of aviator sunglasses for men because of the altitude and the effects of uv radiation on your eyes.
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Most important though is to protect your eyes at all times with a really good pair of aviator sunglasses for men because of the altitude and the effects of uv radiation on your eyes.
