Friday, September 26, 2014

Certified in the small Cub again

Plane: Cub, 65 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Clear, 77 degrees, wind 060 degrees at 6 knots

I've needed to get checked out in the little Cub again for months. They changed the trim wheel (during its last annual, I think) and it operates a bit differently than the old one. So everyone has been required to fly it with an instructor before they can fly it again solo.

Since I was at the airport all day - helping a friend prepare for a private airshow - and the weather was beyond perfect, I snagged CFI Dave and N77500 for a few minutes to finally check the checkout off my to-do list. I hadn't flown with him in over two years! Flying aside, it was great to hop back in the cockpit with a familiar face.

0.3 on the Hobbs doesn't consume much map real estate!

He had me climb straight out to 2,500 feet, make a turn, roll in full nose up trim, and let go of the stick. The nose quickly rose through the horizon - which was the point of the lesson. The old trim couldn't apply anywhere near as much force. I pulled on the carb heat, held the stick back against my chest, and did a couple power-off stalls. Dave kicked in a bit of left rudder but I countered and we avoided a full spin.

That was all he needed to see, so we turned back towards Stewart. Abeam the numbers I pulled the throttle to idle and he told me to land at the third set of cones. I pushed in full rudder, a bunch of left stick, and turned from downwind to final in a full slip. We touched down maybe 10 feet before the cones. That wouldn't have met every FAA requirement, but Dave was satisfied with my total greaser. I was, too.

Total time from decision to fly to engine shutdown: 30 minutes, tops. Gotta love Stewart.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.3 hours
Total Time: 316.8 hours

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