JEP FII-14b: VOR, new endorsement!

Goals:

• VOR usage (VR/IR).
• Sign-off for solo landings at FYJ.

Flight:
Normal, easy-going flight. Nothing new on this "lesson." I used the HCM VOR to get us up that way, then the 337 radial to shoot us over to FYJ (by instrument). It was dead calm up there today, so I got two landings on 9, one aborted landing on 9, and a short-field landing on 27.

Going back to JGG, I honed in on HCM and then used the 170 radial to point us in the general direction of home. On the way back we did some Dutch rolls (see "rolling on a heading") to play with adverse yaw and cross controls. Back home, it was a crosswind entry for 13 and a just fine landing.

So, yay! I get to land at a different airport now! Woo hoo! :) And Chuck said he was very happy with how my landings are coming along, even though they still need work. Maybe it was just being at a different airport, but the landings on 9 at West Point were the sloppiest I've had in a long time -- things like being late in getting the flaps out or in pulling back the power. The landings all were safe, good flares, decent touchdowns, no bouncing, good directional control, but just not as procedurally polished as what I'm currently capable of.

Discussion:

1. New airport: Woo!


2. Rolling on a heading: Interesting, a little sickening, will try it tomorrow when I go land at FYJ all by myself!

Self-Assessment: Getting better each time. More polish, more practice....

Flying
• Preflight, taxiing, normal takeoff, short-field takeoff: Good.
• Soft-field takeoff: Needs practice.
• Maintaining airspeed, stalls, slow flight (VR/IR), maintain/change attitude/altitude/heading by instruments: Good.
• Recover attitude, altitude, heading by instruments: Acceptable.
• Forced landing: Good, need more practice.
• Forward slip:: Dunno, needs more practice.
• Pattern, radio calls, normal landing, directional control after landing: Good.
• Crosswind landing: Improved.
• Short-field landing: Improved.
• Soft-field landing: Not sure...

Navigating
• ADF: Okay for an intro, needs practice.
• VOR: Improved, needs practice.

Next: I've got the plane at 2 pm tomorrow to exercise my new endorsement :)... Look out West Point, here I come! Then Thursday at 4 pm we're doing a ground-only lesson for flight planning, and tentatively Monday at noon we'll do a short cross-country.

• Cross-country planning.
• Short cross-country trip.

Hours logged this flight: 1.2
Hours logged total: 25.8
Instrument hours logged this lesson: 0.3
Instrument Hours logged total: 1.6
Take-offs and landings this flight: 3
Take-offs and landings total: 73
PIC hours total:: 5.7