PPL Lesson #6: Slow Flight

Last lesson before vacation, and the subject of today was slow flight.

This week has been really busy at work and I felt relatively underprepared going into this lesson. I partly blame the busy workload, but the heat earlier this week really wasn’t conducive to doing anything remotely taxing. I’d normally have read through the exercise in APM#1, made some notes, checked out some Youtube videos on relevant techniques and chair flown (occasionally with MSFS) some of the things to work on or consolidate from last time but had done essentially none of that.

Thankfully it didn’t seem to matter, and may have done me some good not to spend every spare moment thinking about flying. I actually really enjoyed the more technique-focussed side of trying to hang the plane off the prop with full flaps at 40kts straight and level, and we got through the full range of manouvres - entry, recovery, climbing, descending and turning - in slow flight with a happy instructor, and ended the lesson with a little look ahead at fully developed stalls.

Back at Blackbushe I handled the full circuit again, including filing in behind a PA28 on a very long downwind, and down onto the runway. It turns out I’d overlooked applying drag flaps, but I was bang on the glide slope all the way down, remembered to get the throttle off so we didn’t float, and landed gently just right of center.

A shorter session today due to a late returning experience flight tying up my ride, but another 47m for a total of 5h09m.

Next up, after a 10-day break, is a full session on stalling, and apparently I’m alright enough on the ground and with RT that I’ll be taxying for fuel solo 😲 Being the only person in a moving airplane is going to be properly weird.

Oh, and I’ve had enough of revision and booked myself in for my Air Law, Operational Procedures and Human Performance and Limitations exams on August 12th while my instructor is away.

Things to remember for next time:

• Full flaps on final
• Put your kneeboard on - my instructor had to note down all the salient bits of RT info today as I forgot to strap mine on before we got going