PPL Lesson 6

Finally got to fly again after numerous weather cancellations.  Switched to a C152 which I like a lot, and is easier on the wallet.  Nice and cozy with my instructor in the 152, but hey, I'm an intimate guy.

1.6 hours of engine time today.  Stunning scenery with the hills all green, and lots of clouds in the sky.  Headed over to the coast again to practice maneuvers.  We worked on some steep turns, with around 45 degree bank angle.  We pull about 1.4Gs to keep a coordinated turn with steady altitude at that angle.  Slow the plane down a tad, roll into the turn, add power to keep the speed constant as drag increases in the turn, roll out, back off power, check heading and altitude to see how I did.  It was fun.  A little disorienting.  I have to focus a lot on the nose of the airplane and horizon to keep from climbing or descending and would lose pitch attitude a little when reaching for the throttle.  Looking forward to practicing this more.

Headed back over the hills and did some more slow flight over the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC).  Minimum controllable airspeed in the 152 is down below 40knots.  It's weird.  Nose pointed at the sky, stall alarm blaring, and plodding along slower than the cars on the surface streets below.  We did some slow speed turns, which are mostly rudder inputs, with very little bank.  Then we progressed the slow flight to a simulated power off stall.  The stalls were less frightening than I imagined.  Nothing much happens other than the nose dropping and the elevator buffeting a bit.  And you can continue to control the 152 quite well with the wing stalled, and the elevator full up with the yolk against the stop.  Recovery is as simple as dropping the nose slightly.  I'll need to do this some more to get comfortable with the slow speeds, high nose attitudes, and stall indications.

Also started doing some of the radio communications with Palo Alto Tower.  I was sufficiently clumsy, but managed to convey who we are, where we are, and what we're doing.