Straight and Level

Aircraft: C172 N199SP

WOOT! That was great!!!! I love flying, and it turns out, I'm not half bad. I made all the common mistakes for a first flight, but that was to be expected.

Took off from Stellar, headed south to the practice area. Alex handled all the radio work, and I concentrated on keeping my eyes outside the airplane and keeping the wings level. Once we passed Memorial Airport, we were in the SW practice area. It's so great because I have a sectional and I can show you exactly where we were the whole time.

The main mission for today was the four fundamentals of flight. (climbs, descents, turns, and straight and level flight) I didn't realize how well the airplane flies by itself. Once you set the trim (which is another thing that I am amazed with, it works so well w/ only slight movement) the airplane remains at that pitch and if you maintain a certain pitch, the airspeed will remain the same as well. We practiced increasing the speed at cruise. Just keep the nose down as you increase throttle and your airspeed will go up. We practiced turns, 45deg 90deg 180deg and my favorite 360deg. By the time we got to the full 360deg turn I was pretty much on point. I chose Memorial Airport as my reference point for the full turns and I nailed every single on of them. Just have to keep the cowling on the horizon and you only have to look at the instruments to verify what you are seeing outside. You can fly the airplane without looking at the instruments.

Alex stressed the importance of collsion avoidance, and I got used to thinking outloud, by verbally saying, "checking traffic left, checking traffic right" before executing a turn. We only saw one other aircraft in the practice area, and it was at our same altitude. I saw it off our right wing, heading away from before I executed a turn.

Coming back from the training area was great too. We had to stay clear of Chandler airspace and Alex showed me where that line was. There is a row of houses that clearly shows where not to go. On our way back I used everything I had learned about turns and descents, and used them to get us back to Stellar. For pattern entry we just needed to be left of the Chandler mall and right of the runway. Start base when we get to Ray rd, and final when abeem the runway. Alex did a great job putting the airplane down on the runway, and for this time, I followed along w/ the movements of the yoke and throttle. I taxied back to the parking spot and we shut down and completed the checklist.

Things to work on:

• Don't be afraid of the airplane, you don't have to be so careful with it. He kept telling me to be more aggresive with the controls and throttle.
• Don't overcorrect on taxi, keep right foot on the yellow line.
• During turns, keep the cowling on the horrizon and the plane will stay at the same altitude.

Next flight:

• Continue working on 4 fundamentals.
• Slow flight
• Steep turns

This flight: 1.1 hrs

Total time: 7.6 hrs