Ouch! That was...interesting.

We did touch-and-goes today. The wind continued to be out of the North, today at 15 kt gusting to 18 (heading 010), so we used 34. I practiced taxi maneuvers on my feet before we took off. Climb into, dive away. Still don't coordinate my nosewheel (feet) with the wings (yoke) on the ground. That needs work.

Downwind was fast, and I frequently found myself with a longer final than I would have wanted. I need to practice getting ahead of the plane and acting, not reacting, to necessary setups for approach. As it was today, it always seemed I was behind. If I can find a way to develop good habits that don't require my exclusive full concentration to accomplish, life in the pattern will become much easier.

Managed a decent takeoff and entered the pattern downwind about 500' too high. Bled off altitude, but too slowly...need to yank the throttle back to lose that height quicker. Did first t-&-g and felt the wind push me to the left...was so distracted that I forgot to push in carb heat and raise flaps. I forgot the carb heat again a few t&g's later, but aside from that felt as though the landings were OK. I'm still getting used to the sensation of "flying the airplane down the runway."

Then came the last landing to a stop. Tower put me into a right pattern (it had been left all day) and as I flew south of A&M Andy pulled the power and told me to land the plane. Short term panic gave way to an assessment of speed and altitude and I realized I could make it to 34. Wanted to flare it to about 4 feet and fly the plane into the runway, but where I had thought it was 4' Andy tells me it's 15! Then I did something stupid...I dropped the nose and lost the 15' in a hurry. STUPID. I should have flown the plane down the runway to touchdown and instead I bounced the nosewheel and lost it to the right. Andy stabilized things and I taxiied to a stop, but not before John R got an eyeful of my worst touch of the day. That sucked.

On the other hand, the other four weren't too bad and I'm pretty confident that I could do the job myself when necessary. The FAA restrictions have set me behind, but with three good days this week, who knows?

0.9 hrs today/13.4 total

Yesterday was a trip. 1.8 hours. Total: 12.5 hrs.

Preflight felt new again, since it had been a couple of weeks since the plane was flown. Everything checked out fine, though. I was out of practice with my radio also. Tower and Ground were both 118.5, so that made it a little easier. Taxiing is becoming a piece of cake. Runup was a little nervous (as has become very typical for me...when will the butterflies stop?) but takeoff felt great and routine.

Took off from Easterwood on 34, and flew N then E to about 3000 AGL for some stalls.

Did some shallow and steep turns in the proess of clearing the area. Routine, but I'm trying to become more coordinated with the rudder. Then came the practice:

First, power on stall like this: lower power to maintain altitude at 65 kts, then increase attitude to speed of 55 kt. Increase power to full rich and pull up to a stall. Maintain right rudder to keep from breaking left, then (at break) return plane to level flight and climb out.

Next, power-off stalls. Slow flight (1700, carb heat) to 65 kts. Flaps to 20 or so. Increase attitude to stall. There won't be a break, because the prop is basically windmilling, so the front end will drop pretty straight. Correct by full power, carb heat off. Stop descent ASAP to straight level, then climb out.

An emergency descent came next, from about 4000' to about 1200' or so, as a 45 degree left turn to about 120+ KIAS round and round. Not bad really.

Did a few ground reference maneuvers: S's over a road (not bad) and turns around a point in both directions (also not bad). Then used VOR navigation to get back to Coulter Field. Took me a few moments to remember VOR use. I need more practice on Fly!2K.

We had heard there were parachutists over Coulter, so flew midfield at about 2000' AGL and then entered left pattern (with a longer than I wanted final) to a nice landing on CFD 32. All me! Taxied, stopped, watched the jump. Those guys are nuts!

Took off downwind (5 kts) on runway 14 and noted longer run and slower climb than upwind. But the wind was slight enough that it wasn't any problem at all. Flew S over Raintree and did some turns around a point (Wilderness) but nobody was home! They had all gone to Septemberfest! Reported my position to Easterwood as "south of the airport" (wrong!) and Andy corrected to "EAST of the airport". Flew pretty long final, without a pattern, and landed on 34 without incident.

Tell you what...this stuff is getting cool. I can't wait to get up later today!