CFI-A Lesson 18 (Wrap up)

Today I went to the flight line to complete the flight portion of Lesson 18. Before flying, we covered vacuum, pitot, and static system failures, and the five effects of structural icing. Don't worry, I'll tell you what they are :) Increased weight, increased parasite drag, decreased lift; all of which cause an increased angle of attack to maintain level flight at a given speed, and increased stall speed.

Out on the ramp, my pre-flight hit a snag because I couldn't get the dipstick loose. I called dispatch on the radio, but got no response. My instructor called them, and they responded. He asked for a mechanic to come to our plane. I continued the pre-flight and quickly finished. Unfortunately, the mechanic was nowhere in sight. We waited a few more minutes, and then he arrived in a golf cart. He pulled out a pair of Leatherman pliers and loosened the cap for us. The oil was good, so we were on our way.

I started with a Short Field Takeoff, but had to rush it due to arriving traffic. I was unable to stop on the runway, apply the brakes, and add full power. Instead, I rolled onto the runway, added full power, and verified all gauges in the green. Beyond that, it was a normal Short Field Takeoff.

Out in the practice area, I demonstrated Eights on Pylons. At first, I was confused about the entry direction because the wind was from the south, which is very unusual. I figured it out before starting the demonstration, so all was well.

Next, I taught Turns Around a Point. We used the same field to save time.

Then I taught Basic Attitude Flying and requested my student to fly straight and level, followed by climbs and descents, with a 180 degree turned thrown in for fun. After correcting a few of his errors, I covered the attitude indicator with a sticky and discussed vacuum failures and how to deal with them. We used secondary instruments as well as the formula Power + Attitude = Performance to control our attitude in climbs and descents.

I demonstrated a Simulated Engine Failure with Emergency Approach next, but didn't pick the best field. It would have been survivable, but ugly.

Up next was Go-Arounds, Emergency Descent, and Lazy Eights. By this time, I was getting dehydrated and tired, and we were out of time. Rather than come out another day, I "sucked it up" and we asked dispatch for 15 more minutes and finished the lesson.

Back at the airport, I demonstrated a Short Field Landing and taxied back to parking. Inside, I critiqued the flight and we discussed some items in more detail.

That's it for the week. One more flight lesson, then the testing begins.