Driving back from Columbus it was a gorgeous day. I got my in-truck country-karaoke on and made the decision that I need to work outdoors, in the fields, lifting heavy bales of hay (or something to that effect). Computer work alone is not good for me. I also made the decision that I’m going to bite the bullet and buy the introductory silk screening system to start making t-shirts, prints and whatever I can swipe the ink upon (so i can spend more time inside, of course).
I stopped at the house knowing full well, I would not be making the remainder of the trip down to the studio. I called Dave and he said the steam heat was still on and it was unbearable.
Sitting on the back porch, i found the wireless signal improved with the laptop I got in December and I tried to position myself in the sun to lose some of the shocking pasty glow I’ve worked up over the winter.
Dave popped online, told me to cover up the pasty skin, he was leavin the office and pickin up beer.
Ah well. It was hot and boring just soaking the rays without a reclining chair and good book.
So Dave comes over and we chat about work and whatnot. He thinks a sabbatical of sorts would be most valuable for him, and i agreed wholeheartedly. Pondering options evolved into a good discussion about how Flight School is going.
Apparently his teacher isn’t the best at pre-flight expectation setting, or post-flight debriefing. Dave’s mind works best with a plan, so I can imagine how unsettling it was when the instructor said that they would practice pulling out of an emergency fall and then jumping right into the maneuver.
More intense than any roller coaster, the plane drops abruptly about 3000 feet until it reaches a red-line speed (crossing that line means the wings will rip off). Pull out before the threshold and regain control.
This is something I’d like to know beforehand too, although in hindsight, for an emergency situation, sometimes we just can’t expect these blind punches. Maybe on some level, its a good way to teach. *shrug*
Dave pointed a few good things he’s learned. While circling a point he found he wasnt banking hard enough and conversely, gaining altitude. With his eye on the center of the turn, he would fail to look at the altimeter. The instructor told him to listen to the engine, and how it grabbed the air. In essence, use other senses besides the instrumentation.
Also, when dealing with turbulence, there’s no reason to fight the controls. It simply exacerbates the situation, making the plane jerk more violently as it tries to correct itself while the pilot freaks out. A firm touch, but just two fingers, should be all that is necessary to allow the plane to settle into a pocket of air. I tried to imagine how this could apply to other instances, where things get all funky and I overcompensate.
Sitting there in the late afternoon was great. My porch is relatively secluded as the surrounding trees somehow just leafed overnight it seems. We surfed a bit at funny sites, drawn to tears from The Diary of a Cat.
A tranquil scene with relatively no frets and some grins.