Getting control

I really want to get into training more frequently (to gear up for a big trip in June), but this was the first chance I had. My work schedule coupled with some bad weather kept me out of the sky.

Today we worked more on trimming, flying constant airspeed climbs (vertical S’s) and just general aircraft control. Some unusual attitude recovery went well, and then Kent did another demo to prove that you simply MUST trust your instruments. I closed my eyes while he flew the plane. He flew for a while, climbing, descending, turning, then asked what attitude we were in. It absolutely felt like a climbing left turn – and a steep one at that. I looked up, and saw us in a steep, right hand spiral dive. If we had been in IMC, with me not trusting the instruments, we’d have been dead in 15 seconds.

This was a very good lesson. From now on, I think we’ll talk about the things we are going to cover before each lesson, so I know what to expect.