Dan Roach Flying Author

Fly me into the hedge please!

The end of the runway is in sight.

Sadly we are still at 400 feet and on a glidepath that will take us beyond the hedge at the far end of the runway.

“What are you thinking?” I enquire optimistically as my student wrestles internally with the decision making process that should really go something like this:

“Dan’s asked me what I’m thinking. That probably means that this approach is not very good. I should go around.”

“I think its ok.” is the optimistic reply I get.

With a sigh I command, “Ok, full power go-around.”

This type of exchange happens from time to time and its usually when the student has been ‘circuit bashing’, or practising repeated take offs and landings for some time without success. However, it’s also usually around this point that the student is right on the cusp of ‘getting it’.

Yep, definitely looking a little high here…

Getting it: that joyful moment when something that someone has been struggling with suddenly clicks. It happens all the time in life, from the moment you take your first steps (although granted, its likely you can’t remember those), to the time your dad ran along behind you pretending to hold the bike seat as you rode without your stabilisers the first time. Or what about the time you finally swam without your armbands?

Flying, and in particular landing, is no different. Once you understand what you are trying to achieve, and get it, you will never forget.

Spoiler alert, you will still make some shit landings!

But, you will at least be able to work out why it went wrong, and more importantly, what you can do differently next time to address it.

It’s one of the greatest joys of my job as a flight instructor to see someone ‘get it’ – in fact it’s probably more rewarding than seeing someone’s first solo, as I’m just generally just like a mother hen during that particular milestone, fussing and worrying (unnecessarily I might add). The ‘getting it’ moments are just as big in my eyes, as that is when people start to fly the plane, rather than being flown by the plane.

And that moment, when someone flies a stable glide approach, to the aiming point, rounds out at just the right height, holds the plane in the air until the speed has bled off, and does NOT attempt to fly it into the runway, erm, I mean land it, that moment is one of the most satisfying moments there is when teaching people to fly.

The secret to landing, paradoxically, is to try not to land. And as soon as my students not only realise that, but actually believe it, that’s when they begin to make real progress.

That’s when they can judge the angle of the approach more accurately, and at 400ft over the middle of the runway, we’d already be at full power on the go-around without me needing to utter a single syllable.

That’s when they ‘get it’.

#AttitudeAirsports #Aviation #BMAA #FlightInstructor #Flying #Humour #Landing #LearningToFly #Microlights #Pilot #StudentPilot #Ultralights

Aug 25, 2024, 11:18 · · · 0 · 0
CoffeeGeek

#NCP

Another trip down memory lane. Anyone out there remember the Fujitsu Lifebook series of ultralight notebooks? This was state of the art, before Apple changed everything with the Macbook Air. Kind of amazing what ultralights were like before the MBA.

I owned Lifebooks for a long time. They were my "focus devices" back in the 2000s. I wrote about one of them, the P2000, way back.

#fujitsup2000 #p2000 #ultralights

spiffle.com/tech/new-coffeegee

Adam Burck

@electrek according to the specs it’s considerably smaller than most of the other #evtol projects. Looks like a nice two-seater. But can it speed through approvals like the #ultralights e.g. #blackfly?

PPP

#Introductions
Hi there.
I’m Paul and as you can tell I’m currently a #Piper who plays the Piob Mor #bagpipes, and a #Pilot who owns and flies an #Ultralight in #NovaScotia.
I have a wonderful partner @vgrayauthor who is also a #StepMom to my four adult children and 10 grandchildren.
As a life-long learner I have dabbled in, or immersed myself in, the following:
#ComputerScience (new discipline in this emerging field in 1966; mainframes were the marvels - IBM 7040, PDP-10)
#Xerox (22 yr. career in Canada; during this time #PARC developed what we now call the #PersonalComputer)
#SelfEmployment (another 22 yr. consulting in the human / business side of #IT; Including the #ITILFramework; and the development of teamwork for results through #McCarthyTechnologies #CoreProtocols; coaching other business people)
Now #Retired
#Piping (starting as a teenager in a #PipeBand a long time ago)
#Sailing (crew and owner of several small boats, and #SailBoards; born on #IsleOfWight, so no surprise)
#Flying (#Sailplanes, #HangGliders, #Ultralights, and now considering electric #ParaGliders)
#Motorcycles (over the years owned a Honda 350, Honda Shadow 750, and now a Honda CBF1000A)
#EV (Electric Vehicles) (owner of a 2018 Tesla Model 3)
#Greyhounds (have adopted 5 over the years)
#ProblemSolving (playing MacGyver for the above list; also since we live in a 170 yr. old house on a #PetticoatFarm)

I like to ask questions. Don’t hesitate to stop me if I get annoying.
Will answer any questions with Don’t Know if I really don’t (i.e. not afraid to be clear about my ignorance)

Getting as much out of every minute as I can, so only opening my laptop when not otherwise busy.

The Truth About Guns [bot]

🔁 The Truth About Guns Retweeted:
Liberty Ammunition @LibertyAmmo

We’ve created a whole new monster with the 9mm+P Ultra-Lights.

Projectile Weight: 50gr
Total Cartridge Weight: 93gr
Pressure: +P
Velocity: 2000+ FPS

libertyammo.com/product/9mm-ul …
#LibertyAmmo #OneandDone #EDC #SelfDefense #DefensiveAmmo #CivilDefense #GotAmmo #UltraLights #AZWS twitter.com/GunTruth/status/12
#Guns

--
Full-List of bots: joejoe.github.io/mastodon

John Gritt

@ACT1TV Why? Mass produced helicopters have been around for 76 years. It's proven tech.

Why not merely build this?

youtube.com/watch?v=iN0jFN8NS3

#Ultralights #helicopters

John Gritt

THIS GUY IS BITCHIN' GNARLY COOL

#Paramotors look as cool as #ultralights. Hats off to the daring guy.

Flying To Walmart On My Paramotor - YouTube
youtube.com/watch?v=B2evFyno2g