What a fantastic experience, flying over the bay area and scenic highway 1!
For me, the first flight was a chance for me to understand what's involved in learning to fly, at first I wasn't sure if I wanted to just do the one lesson, or use it as the start of a full (Private Pilots License) PPL training course. My instructor, Patti, gave me a short interview to find out what I wanted from the flight, and with the PPL in mind she treated the first flight as a proper flying lesson. I mentioned my experience with model aircraft like planes and helicopters, and my understanding for all things mechanical. It seems this comes in very useful when learning to fly full size aircraft also.
Pre-flight
Maybe it's not that surprising, but a significant part of the lesson is taken up by the pre-flight checks on the aircraft. This includes checking all the control surfaces, flaps and hinges; checking the fuel levels and quality; checking the electrics and lighting; checking the wheels, tires and breaks; checking the engine mechanics including alternator belt and oil levels. In many ways this is similar to a simple service on a car, the engine is a flat-4 cylinder and is basic much like my old mini. The plane itself is a 2 seater Cessna 152 built in 1978.
The flight
After going through the start up procedure and I taxied us to the runway, took off from Palo Alto Airport and headed west to the hills and the coast. Apparently just after take off I had a big smile on my face :) On the way there was a fair amount of turbulence in the air just over silicon valley which made for an interesting way to learn the aircraft controls. The views on the way were fantastic, we flew over central Palo Alto, Stanford University, SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator), and Woodside (a very posh housing area in the hills!). On the way out of the valley I learned how to keep the plane at a fixed attitude and pitch, and how to use the trim on the elevator so that the plane nearly flew itself.
Once we reached a good practice area above San Gregorio, we practiced some maneuvers like turns (30 degrees), steep turns (45 degrees) and experimented with the affects of the flaps. The challenge with the steep turns was to keep the plane at that constant angle without losing height. This meant a careful balance of pulling back on the yoke, adjusting the ailerons and in theory using the rudder to prevent skidding and slipping in the turn. I say in theory because I didn't concentrate much on rudder with all the other things to look after.
The weather and views were great. Looking north you could see half moon bay and its airport, and looking south you could see where the coastline curved around Santa Cruz and Monterey.
On the way back the route is to fly towards the bay heading for the Dumbarton Bridge then as you get closer to the 101 you head for IKEA, turning right to follow the 101 south, before turning left 180 degrees and lining up with the runway. Ok, so I didn't do the landing on the first flight, it was a little too windy for that, but I did nearly everything else on the flight including the radio calls.
After landing
The strangest thing about taxi-ing the airplane on the ground is that you have to use your feet on the rudders to make the turns. It's too instinctive to try and steer the yoke like it's a steering wheel but of course it has no effect!
After taxi-ing close to the parking spot you turn off the engine and push it back into the space with a special attachment. This attachment gives you a bar with which to push and steer the plane.
Skills practiced: 4 fundamentals, pre-flight, flaps, taxi, run-up, 30deg and 45deg turns, post flight.
Lessons covered: 1 to 4
Next lesson: slow flying
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