Short & Soft practice, Hood time, and more

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Short & Soft TOL practice, Hood time, and more
Length: 2.0 hours
Total Time: 41.7 hours


This lesson gave me my first look at simulated instrument time, or hood time. The hood is just a visor that blocks the outside view while allowing access to the instruments. This would simulate the experience of flying through non-VFR weather. Three hours are needed to qualify for a Private Pilot Certificate.

I have a tendency to drift to the left while under the hood. I'm told it's because my instrument scan isn't quick enough so I let something get ahead of me. It's not obvious when the plane is turning, so it's quite important to keep all instruments constantly in mind.

In addition to the hood time, we went to Starke County to practice some Short and Soft field landings on an actual soft field. The field was a bit wet, and my technique wasn't 100%, so we didn't actually make any TOLS on the soft field. My issue was that I pitched up too much before gaining enough lift. This caused the stall horn to sound while I was building speed. I thought that was acceptable, but I should have allowed more life to accumulate before trying to get airborne.

The key is to become airborne as soon as possible, then increase speed to Vy (or Vx, if obstacle exists). If the plane is pitched up too much, there isn't enough lift to bring the plane into ground effect which would allow for more efficient airspeed accumulation.

 

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