Ecstasy to Agony

[Glint]

Two weeks ago I did my first solo and and some of you probably read my post. I was so pleased with myself and really felt I was the man!

 

Last Sunday I flew again for the first time since doing my solo so I was really excited about getting back up there. I did a few circuits with my instructor and he said it was time I did my next solo. The plan was to do one touch & go and then a full stop. I was nervous but keen to do my next solo.

 

So off I go, nice take off, good cross wind leg, got to circuit height as I turned downwind, got my call in, did my checks, nice base leg, good final but I ballooned a little before finally touching down a little heavily than I would have liked and because of the balloon I was a bit further down the runway than expected.

 

Flaps up, full throttle but to my suprise a major veer to the left, right rudder to compensate but clearly overcompensated now major veer to the right, heart in mouth now left rudder but again to much so I have pulled the throttle to kill the power applied max braking and finally managed to stop the C172.

 

Scared the bejesus out of me and I could not believe how fast it can all go pear shape.

 

Reason for the initial major veer left was that I applied full throttle to quickly. Why did I do that? I think because I landed a bit further down the runway than expected so I hit the gas quickly instead of slowly increasing the power. My reaction to rectify this and lack of experience resulted in the major veer right and then left again before I made the decision to quickly pull the power and get this thing to a stop. No damage apart from the severe hit to my ego and self confidence.

 

I am pretty embarrassed by the event, but if it helps someone else from applying the power to quickly on a touch & go then at least something good will come of it. I am also pleased that I was able to rectify a very ugly situation safely, but it is one lesson that I would have preffered perhaps on my 25th solo instead of my second solo.

 

It also highlighted that just because I have done a solo, I still have much to learn. Being over confident can give you a false sense of seccuity and eventually this is going to lead to a major kick in the pants. I was having trouble coming down from the ectasy of my first solo, but this certainly sorted that out.

 

Cheers

 

Glint

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

You did fine getting it pulled up there glint.

 

Generally these 'excursions' aren't the result of just one thing. As you feed in the power a little agressivly by your words, you probabily failed to feed in the appropriate rudder as required, or feed it in a little slower than required.

 

Things can go pear shape quickly with too much power applied at the wrong time. You can't be expected to be completely on top of things at your second solo, so lets put it down to this being the start of your real learning curve.

 

Best to always feed the power in gently. It's easier on the engine, and at your stage of learning it'll be easier on you also. You probabily won't do it again any time soon..............................................Cheers, Maj...

 

 

[Tomo]

I am pretty embarrassed by the event, but if it helps someone else from applying the power to quickly on a touch & go then at least something good will come of it. I am also pleased that I was able to rectify a very ugly situation safely, but it is one lesson that I would have preffered perhaps on my 25th solo instead of my second solo.

Thanks for sharing Glint!

 

Those sort of decisions to abort, and face the embarrassment of having to do that, is the sign of good training and good decision making. You will get used to how much rudder is needed to keep straight, and or keep those feet working.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

 

[Mazda]

Hi there Glint. Yes, it can go pear shaped quickly, and when solo the instructor can't sneak in a bit of rudder to help, it is all up to you.

 

Remember all that talk of right rudder when you put on power? The faster the power goes on, the more you need to compensate. The more power you have, the more you need to compensate. Looking ahead will help you to see early trends and correct appropriately.

 

Also remember when things don't go according to plan, like looking as though you will land long, going around is an option and you can set up for a better approach next time.

 

Discuss it with your instructor, and also mention that the occurrence scared you because your instructor can assist if you are feeling worried next time

 

 

[Guest cficare]

hi Glint

 

there is a difference between 'proactive' and 'reactive'.

 

You need to develope the former trait........

 

If the a/c wanders from the desired path...bring it back.....

 

we have all been there................................................

 

 

[sfGnome]

No damage apart from the severe hit to my ego and self confidence. I am pretty embarrassed by the event.

Ok. Hands up all those who haven't done something that bruised their ego and affected their confidence while learning. Well? Anyone?... Nup, didn't think so. Welcome to the club, Glint!

 

 

[turboplanner]

The Gnome's right Glint, we've all done it.

 

I have a different thought on what happened, because prop reaction is a lot less than on an RA aircraft where you have to learn to feed in rudder at the same time as you feed in power.

 

In a Cherokee, which has direct pedal steering you can firewall the throttle on touch and goes as much as you like and it won't deviate from straight ahead even if your feet are just hanging loose on the pedals.

 

I'm uneasy with the Cessna's spring loaded nose wheel because you have to prejudge with your foot then wait to see the reaction (while learning), and my taxying is usually a series of S bends and over or under compensation.

 

I just wonder whether what happened was that you didn't quite have enough back pressure on the control to take some of the weight off the nosewheel, and you got a slight gust of wind pushing the aircraft off line.

 

It would be worth raising this with your instructor; might not be what happened, but he/she will easily fix it if it was.

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Unfortunatly it is part of the game for training aircraft to occur some damage on occasions, that's why the insurance is high on those. RAAus aircraft get damaged, and so do GA trainers as I found in the past working for a large training/rental organization.

 

It's really not the students fault, and it's really not the fault of the instructor. He/she had done the best job of training possible, and have made an educated judgement call as to weather the person is ready or not, to the best of their ability.

 

It's just the training enviorment really. It's always been like that, and probabily always will be. Some things just have to be learnt by hands-on experience.............................................. Maj...

 

 

[facthunter]

I'd agree with Turbo here, and it has relevence to all nosewheel aircraft. If you want a (small) nosewheel aircraft to steer bad, put lots of weight on the nosewheel. This is why Jabs go bush occasionally. The engine torque is unlikely to be the culprit on it's own . In any case you are better to control THAT , and keep straight, with rudder and keep the weight on the nosewheel to a minimum. Nev

 

 

[Bandit12]

You are in one piece, and the plane will fly again. So all in all, it is a positive experience!

 

My second solo ended up with the Tomahawk in very poor shape, never to fly again. At that stage in your experience, a couple of things happening unexpectedly is more than enough to through you off your game. Just get back out there as soon as you can, just like falling off a horse (which I have also managed to do many times!)

 

 

[poteroo]

When you are flying an empty 172, and using full flaps, it's usual to need quite a lot of nose-up trim on final. The balloon during your landing flare might in part be due to a little too much nose-up trim? In the description of your go-round procedure, you don't mention retrimming the aircraft. If you apply full power to a rolling 172, which has quite a lot of nose-up trim still set - then your nosewheel will be off the runway before you even get to full throttle. This allows the 172 to really swing left. The swing to the right might just be due to your eyes going back to the 'close' runway - rather than staying 'up'. With taildraggers like the C180/185, pilots often depart the runway to the right after having over corrected for the normal left swing - exacerbated by not keeping eyes up - aircraft follows eyes!!

 

happy days,

 

 

[flying dog]

Glint,

 

Possibily part of the reason the plane pulled left could be torque.

 

However, others have explained what you need to do - and even you said you worked it out.

 

There is no harm in what you did. We make mistakes. And the reason we do is to learn by them (Batman, Alfred to Bruce as a child.)

 

One question for you though is:

 

Why flaps up?

 

From what I understand, you keep flaps down until you have established a positive rate of climb and are high enough to be safe.

 

Lifting the flaps kills lift, and that close to the ground CAN be dangerous. So I was told to keep them down until things are sorted out.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Anyway, safe flying. Keep learning and keep enjoying yourself.

 

 

[facthunter]

The last part of some flap's extension gives a lot more drag and only a slight lift increase. This drag has to be gotten rid of in some types and there can be a strong tendency to have the nose pitch up at the same time.. These types have to be flown carefully. Take "some" flap up and retrim Check full power and carb heat cold. The pitch attitude has to be positively controlled because if it is not correct the plane will not perform optimally, or safely.

 

 

[flying dog]

Facthunter,

 

Thanks.

 

Live and learn.

 

 

[facthunter]

It can be a very critical stage of flight in some aircraft. Nev

 

 

[kaz3g]

The last part of some flap's extension gives a lot more drag and only a slight lift increase. This drag has to be gotten rid of in some types and there can be a strong tendency to have the nose pitch up at the same time.. These types have to be flown carefully. Take "some" flap up and retrim Check full power and carb heat cold. The pitch attitude has to be positively controlled because if it is not correct the plane will not perform optimally, or safely.

C172's do not climb well with a lot of flap out and they pick up the nose very quickly under power for a go-around in that configuration. Get some flap off during the landing roll because they fly like a dog on a chain under full flap, especially those with 40 degree flaps, then retrim the aircraft so that you maintain correct climb speed.

 

The other thing to remember is that when power is applied, all things being equal, the rudder will regain authority almost immediately and you can generally fly yourself out of trouble with less chance of coming to grief than using emergency braking and nosewheel steering.

 

I think you did very well to pull it up safely as you did and am sure you will continue to learn from your experiences just as we all do no matter how much flying we have done. I did an awful arrival at Stawell yesterday in the Auster. Forecast was for south to south easterly at 17 knots and it was more or less straight down 18 when I did my downwind leg. It was veering to the southeast as I completed base and then short final. As I rounded out I passed the sock at the end of the strip (which is also the end of 29) the sock did a right turn by 90 degrees and stood out stiff as a board. I should have gone around...

 

Well, I didn't ground loop, but the local aggie guys must have had a bit of a chuckle about it because it no doubt looked awfully untidy and it was definitely a tad too exciting for me!!!

 

In the apex formed by the two strips lies a low timbered hill. Stawell is ringed by much larger obstacles including the Pyrenees to the east and the Grampians to the west. The refueller told me it keeps everyone very much on their toes when the wind is in that south to southeast quarter because it can turn and come from almost anywhere. Terrific!

 

Oh, I lived up to my just-earned reputation on departure, too. Even though right hand circuits are the order of the ERSA, the refueller said I would be well advised to turn left ASAP after lift off and try to stay out of the rotor from the Gramps. I almost did...

 

kaz

 

 

[Glint]

Thanks for all the good advice and positive approach to my 'learning experience'.

 

To answer your question re 'why did I fully raise the flaps?' This is how I have been instructed on the C172 and on my second solo the last thing I would do is start changing things. I got into enough strife doing the correct sequence but rushing it a bit!!

 

Cheers

 

Glint.

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Glint; There should be no embarrassment in learning. Nobody expects students to fly perfectly and as has already been said, everyone slips up with something on occasion. Sounds like a good outcome to me. Lesson learned and no harm done to either pilot or aircraft :-)

 

 

[petetheprinta]

Don't sweat it Glint, always something to be gained from every experience. On about my second or third training flight (Jabiru) I had just taken off and was at about 100' when in the excitement of the moment I switched off the ignition:yikes: I immediately realized that was a No No and switched back on. Luckily engine fired up:clap: if not I don't think I would have had the forethought (nor maybe the time) to press the starter again. Sure woke my instructor up and I have never lived it down. I now put a tag on key to remind me not to do it again.

 

 

[facthunter]

A Rotax would have probably stopped. Anyhow, it would get the instructors attention I'm sure.

 

The lesson there is to not move ANYTHING in the cockpit of a plane unless your brain has come to grips with what will happen if you DO move it.Nev