Date & Time: Monday, 25th August, 1997, 17:30 CDT
Where: From SPX, local
Instruction: 1.0 hrs dual instruction with Lee Simmons. Running logbook total: 52.7 hrs, 20.9 hrs solo
Aircraft: Cessna 172, number N1219F

Unusual attitudes
   The new Part 61 requires 3 hours of simulated instrument time, so it was time to do some more, since I only have 0.3 hrs of hood time in the logbook to date.
   The skies were pretty clear, all except some haze that had built up, giving around 7 miles of visibility or thereabouts. However, I didn't see much of it since I was under the hood very shortly after takeoff.
   Lee vectored me around for some time, and we gained altitude. Then it was time for some unusual attitude recovery.
   To do this, you have to close your eyes whilst the aircraft is flown around until you no longer can be certain what it will look like when you do open your eyes. I could feel the G forces changing, the engine pitch changing and other things as Lee manoevered the aircraft. Then he told me 'your airplane'. I looked up, and quickly scanned the instruments, wondering what to expect. However, the AI was showing level flight, and the altitude was staying the same, the airspeed was stable... the answer is to do nothing. No unusual attitude existed. It did take some effort to resist the sensation that we were banked!
   We went through the next one. I could hear then engine pitch dropping, and when Lee told me to open my eyes, I was expecting some sort of climb. We were climbing in a 45-degree bank and rapidly approaching stall speed, as the airspeed indicator started to move towards the bottom of the white arc! The first order is power - push the throttle right in. Then get the wings level, then push forward until the VSI starts to come down and the airspeed increases. The attitude indicator can be used to find out what should result in cruise without chasing the airspeed.
   The one after that turned out to be a descending spiral. The engine speed increasing gave the descent away. The first order is now to immediately pull the power back to idle so you don't get pulled along towards Vne (never exceed speed). Then level the wings, and then ease back on the yoke until the attitude indicator shows straight and level. When the airspeed comes back to normal cruise, set the power back to cruise setting. Don't yank back the yoke - that's how a lot of VFR into IFR conditions end up finishing - the pilot causes structural failure in an abrupt attempt at recovery.
   I told Lee that I could tell which way we were going immediately by the engine pitch - increasing engine RPM indicated down, and decreasing indicated up. I should have anticipated the next move... I heard the engine speed decreasing on the next one, but on looking at the instruments, the altimiter was unwinding! Lee had just retarded the throttle giving an engine RPM decrease that sounded very much like an ascent! He handed control over to me just as the descent was beginning, so the RPM had not started to pick up at all from the descent.
   I also tried a stall under the hood, and funnily enough, it was much less dramatic than when you can see outside! I also tried a turn with my eyes shut and an attempt to come back to straight and level - listening to the engine showed that nothing was happening much to altitude, but my "recovery" to straight and level without looking was actually rolling it into a 30 degree bank the other way!
   After almost an hour of this, it was time to come in home. I remained under the hood until almost in the pattern, with Lee checking for traffic. It was nice to see the horizon again!

Conclusion.
  I still can't believe how powerful the feeling of doing what is not really happening is when deprived of an external view. In the unusual attitudes, it felt as though I was flying straight and level, when in fact we were in a spiral dive. Once recovered, it felt as though we were banking.
   The instrument scan is also important. The attitude indicator really helps sum up a situation, but the DG will tell you for sure if you are turning. The airspeed gives a cue as to what's happening to the altitude as well. So if you see the DG going around and the airspeed increasing, chances are you are spiralling down. This can be confirmed by checking the altimeter which will be unwinding, and the AI which will show the bank. However, doing all this still didn't make that feeling of banking go away when we were straight and level... you have to implicitly trust your instruments!

What was learned.
   What the 'leans' feel like! It takes concentration to believe the instruments. Once you go for the instrument rating, that's what keeps you going in the intended direction - believing the instruments and ignoring what your body is trying to tell you.

Date & Time: Thursday, 28th August, 1997, 17:30 CDT
Where: From SPX, local
Instruction: 1.2 hrs dual instruction with Lee Simmons. Running logbook total: 53.9 hrs, 20.9 hrs solo
Aircraft: Cessna 172, number N1219F

More hood work...
   It was time for more hoodwork this afternoon. To make it interesting, I asked Lee whether we could try an ILS approach into Galveston to get a feel for what it's like to come in on the gauges. He agreed that the excersise would be useful, and we discussed what an ILS approach looked like before going to the airplane.
   An ILS approach to an airport consists of two transmitters, the localizer giving your course, and the glideslope that gives you... well, the glideslope. The localizer is 4 times more sensitive than a normal VOR reading, so you need to make small corrections. The glideslope is also very sensitive - if I remember correctly, it is something like 0.8 degrees at full needle deflection. The display is the VOR head for NAV1 (which has 2 needles - one with a horizontal swing for the localizer, just like the CDI for the VOR, and the other swings vertically, and is the glideslope indicator). When you are on the money, both needles are centered.
   At Galveston, the approach starts at around 5.1NM at the outer marker. The marker audibly sounds on the radio as Morse dashes. At this point, you should be at 1800 ft. for Galveston. You then follow the approach in, keeping the needles centered with small corrections! They are sensitive, and it's easy to overcontrol. Under the hood, it was quite difficult to do (this was my first time!) as I had to scan the instruments, check that I was still on course, make a correction, scan... and so on. I didn't do too badly - when I lifted my hood at descision height, we could have made the landing (a little correction was needed to get over the runway, but the runway was more or less in the right place!), but we did a 'missed approach' (back under the hood, and then climb out following the missed approach procedure).
   That gave a taste of what is to come for an instrument rating. That really gave me some clues why it takes another 40+ hours to get instrument rated! The workload is high when you have to interpret the instruments to find out where the runway will be.
   The rest of the session was made up of more unusual attitudes. Once Lee had me a bit spatially disoriented, he tried throwing me a usual attitude instead to see what I would do! He put the aircraft into a climb, but with the wings level. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the attitude indicator, which showed wings level. The DG wasn't turning either, so I just recovered to level flight. (It's very important to cross check the AI - the artificial horizon is a gyro instrument and it will precess. Try making a 180 degree steep turn, then roll level and immediately check the AI. You'll find it will show a slight bank of 5 or 10 degrees, even though the real horizon outside is level. On a 360 degree turn, the errors will cancel each other out, and it will show straight and level).

Conclusion.
   I've only got a little more hood work and night work to do...then it's the checkride (gulp!) and I'll be a licensed pilot! (Can't wait!) I'm going to combine the next session with Lee to be night and hood work. Hopefully, under the hood at night will give a better feeling of what true IMC is like. During the day and under the hood, there are still some visual cues, like the sun shining on the instrument panel as you turn, and you can always see a little bit out of the corner of the windshield where the instrument panel slopes down (I jammed a terminal chart in there to try to block the view a little more).

What was learned.
   A taste of instrument flying. Even ILS which is supposedly an 'easy' instrument approach is tricky the first time you do it (and probably remains tricky for a long time!). Also, last time's hood lesson was reinforced, and my instrument scan has got a little better since I'm better at rolling out on headings etc. and could at least reasonably follow the glideslope and localizer, even if I managed to go a bit below the glideslope for a while (a bad thing - just look at the Guam crash to find out what can happen if you are below the approach path, although that aircraft was just doing a localizer approach - the principle is the same).

Date & Time: Sunday, 31st August, 1997, 15:30 CDT
Where: From SPX, local
Instruction: 1.1 hrs solo. Running logbook total: 53.9 hrs, 22.0 hrs solo
Aircraft: Cessna 172, number N1219F

Practise...practise...
   Time for another solo practise session. Today I decided to brush up on ground reference manoevers, slow flight and steep turns.
   When I got to the practise area, someone was already there, so I couldn't immediately do my ground reference work. I flew out well clear of the other aircraft and practised some steep turns and slow flight. The good news is that I'm getting the altitude control better! Some more practise is needed, but I was well within PTS standards. However, I want to keep the altimeter needle rock steady and have no tolerance, so that when the checkride comes (and I know I'll be nervous!) I have more room for anything like nerves that might take off the edge. Slow flight went very well - I never gained or lost more than 25 feet - during the slow flight turn, the altimeter needle was rock steady, but on recovery I porposed a little.
   Since the other student was still out there, I decided to do some touch and goes, and make sure I could make repeatedly smooth landings in the crosswind that was blowing. Unfortunately, none were perfect greasers, but they were all on the centerline and not bone jarring! It was odd doing the touch-and-goes - there were some strong thermals in the heat of the afternoon, and on the first one, I performed the usual checks (power back, carb heat, trim, airspeed down below the white arc, slow down not go down) and the aircraft wouldn't slow hardly at all. I had to pitch up a little (and the aircraft climbed in the thermal) to get the speed down. I put in 20 degrees of flap, 10 at a time, and had 20 out when turning base. On final, I encountered another strong thermal over the trees and ended up having to put all 40 degrees of flap out to get the aircraft to descend whilst maintaining 65 knots! The second time I went around, that thermal seemed much weaker, and I only needed 20 degrees of flaps. Just goes to show every single approach and landing is different (and the crosswind was coming from the right side of the runway - normally it blows left to right at SPX).
  I saw the aircraft that had been in the practise area return to SPX for touch and goes, so I went to the practise area to do my manoevers. The area was clear of aircraft (although 2 military jets were flying at about 2,000 ft. over Highway 146, but they didn't hang around). I did a turn around a point which worked out well - I held altitude... and also an S-turn around a road (although I had to look around a bit to find one that the wind was blowing more or less perpendicular to). Both of these would have worked in a checkride (the S-turn was really nice - the altimeter stayed put!), and my time was running out so I went back to SPX.

Conclusion.
   Well...the checkride draws closer! Some more hood and night work, and a bit more practise, some ground school revision for the oral is all that's left. I'll be getting a practise checkride with another instructor which will hopefully help my confidence... all this could be in less than a month!

What was learned.
   I've found the best way to keep altitude in steep turns is to actually trim a little to relieve the strain on your arms, and add some more power. When doing ground reference manoevers, the engine note gives a good indication as to whether your altitude is staying steady. Listening to it gives good cues - you can hear the engine start to work even in a shallow climb, and you can hear it pick up in a shallow descent. This might not work if you have a constant speed prop!