I'm Pissed Off...
My doctor said he would send some additional medical info to my FME (FAA Medical Examiner) that pertains to my medical certificate -- something I must have before I can solo the plane -- and he did not follow through. My FME requested this info on 11 January and my regular doctor flaked out. I spent the last month waiting for 30 days to pass so that I could submit a waiver to the FAA about my eyes regarding the corrective surgery and I took care of the stuff I needed from my regular doctor so I would not have to wait any longer after the eye thing... then this crap happens... Long story short, I called my doctor's office and left them a nasty message... explaining that they had over a month to provide this information and because they did not follow through, things are becoming very inconvenient for me. The day did not end totally screwed up, I had a good lesson and when we landed I saw a message on my cell phone left by my doctor's assistant apologizing for the mistake and that they would expedite the paperwork.... we shall see.
On to the lesson, we just did landings. All of them were pretty much good. Some were better than others. After awhile we started doing soft-field landings, short-field landings, and slips. These three types of landings I have to master before my FAA checkride. Here's the quick skinny on the three. Soft-field landings are done with full-flaps at about 70 knots... as you come down to the field and start your flare, you add a little bit of power to stay light and touch down easier... and you keep the nose up to prevent the nose wheel from touching the ground as long as possible. Short field landings... you're simulating clearing a 50ft obstacle at the end of the runway and getting down on the ground as quickly as possible. So, for this one, full-flaps, airspeed of about 60 knots and carrying enough power to clear the obstacle, then cutting power and flaring as soon as the obstacle is cleared. Finally, slips. No flaps, bring the nose up enough to slow the plane to about 70 knots, and then use full rudder and opposite full aileron, so that you end up on the centerline so that the longitudinal axis of the plane is at an angle to the centerline. When it's time to start flaring, you straighten the nose out and touch down.
One of the interesting moves, we were asked to make a short approach, so my instructor told me to start my slip on the downwind leg, so I basically made the plane slip and turn 180° while in the pattern. One of the advantages to doing a slip is that it creates drag which brings the plane down a little faster. Another advantage is it allows you to line up with the runway when you're off the centerline without banking the plane too much, which can lead to a stall-spin just above the ground. It can also be helpful to employ when landing in a crosswind.
My CFI did tell me, as we were doing the special landings, "if you had your medical certificate, I would have soloed you about a half-hour ago." His confidence in me makes me feel good, but that situation frustrates me.
Next lesson: Sunday, February 24.
Time logged this lesson: 1.0 hrs
Total Time: 15.4 hrs
