Crosswind Landings Are F-ing Tough
Today was an interesting day for flying. There were significant crosswinds, so my CFI decided we should go to Grayson Airport and practice low approaches and landings in crosswinds.... and I have to tell you, it was frustrating and humbling.
My CFI kept telling me how lucky I was to be doing this because there aren't that many opportunities to practice landings and approaches in crosswinds. But after going around the pattern 12 or 13 times and trying to follow instructions, it seemed like I wasn't any better at the end than I was when I started. I suppose that's going to happen though, I have to pay my dues... not everything is going to come easy and it is going to take a lot more practice to get good at this stuff and I've had a total of 2 lessons now, so I guess I shouldn't be so impatient. I'm sure it'll get easier with more experience. Anyway, I hope it will.
We got in the air a little early and the visibility was really good, so we stayed in the air a good long time. Now here's the good part... There are a few advantages to being a member of a flying club. One of them is, when I rent an aircraft, I am charged by the Tach Hour (at least in this club) rather than by the Hobbs Hour (as with a typical flight school). Hobbs time is a measurement of the clock time that the engine is running. Tach time based on tachometer hours. The tachometer, which measures engine RPM (just like on a car), is calibrated so that 1 hour of tach time = 1 hour of hobbs time (or clock time) when the engine is running at cruising speed. At full power, you're running at a higher RPM, so tach time will accumulate more quickly. Conversely, when operating at reduced power, your tach time will accumulate more slowly. What's the point??? Well, today flew for 1.7 clock hours, but because I was operating the plane at reduced power for quite a bit of time, I only accumulated 1.2 tach hours. That is a difference of approximately $55 for the time I flew today.
Next lesson is this Saturday.
Time logged for today's lesson: 1.7 hrs
Total time: 3.5 hrs
