Helping Wings Flying Scholarship Flight I - Chakotay Wood
Today I experienced my first flying lesson in gorgeous sunshine, coated by bright blue skies. The views of Jersey from the air was like a mirroring view of a Caribbean island.
I made myself at home in the aircraft getting ready before setting off. The rush of speeding down the runway to the point of rotation, the excitement I felt as I rose my plane into the sky. I was given the opportunity to fly the aircraft to the south of Jersey, both myself and James had loads of confidence between us with our combined flying abilities. So much so I was allowed to perform a staged stall of the aircraft from which to recover from. One I was amazed at the flying characteristics of that particular aircraft since it had a very low stall speed and doesn’t stall the same way most other aircrafts do and that’s just for starters. Two I hesitated for a second beforehand not because I didn’t know how to recover but the fact that deliberately stalling an aircraft goes completely against every pilots experience and initiative. It surprised me that despite the fact that the plane is stalling, you don’t feel it in that little aircraft.
I was surprised by the amount of co-operation and trust their is between student and instructor even in the first lesson. So much so that I performed two circuits involving a touch and go on the first one completely unaided. I like that with my instructor he gave the odd suggestion and tip verbally rather than take control over the plane. Once we were on short final, there was literally a second or two from flaring that we touched the ground. There wasn’t really much time for my instructor to take over if it was necessary so I’m extremely surprised over how much I’ve achieved during this first lesson. By putting what I’ve learned from flight simulator into practice, I’ve learnt far more in that short time and achieved new heights. I’m delighted at my achievements today and I look forward to the next lesson.
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