Two up, two down

Plane: Cessna 172
Instructor: Dave
Route: 40I, Local
Weather: Haze, 81 degrees, wind 040 degrees at 4 knots

Originally I had two hours booked tonight for a checkout in the 172 since I hadn't flown it in over 90 days. Currency requirement for Stewart and not a bad idea regardless. I'm not sure what's harder to believe - that it's been over 7 months since I last flew the 172 or that it's been almost 9 months since I last flew with Dave! Anyway, I ended up at the airport early this morning because of the Young Eagle flight and didn't really want to drive back again later. Luckily there was a little space in Dave's schedule and he told me to hang around the airport for a bit so we could go fly after he finished with a student.

He said that going up with me for a re-checkout is too easy (quite the compliment) and it shouldn't take long. I preflighted the plane while he was with his student so we were able to climb in and taxi out as soon as he finished. I've got enough time in the Skyhawk now to know to expect the heavier control forces but he still had to remind me to pull back harder on my first takeoff to get the nosewheel up. We climbed straight out over the lake to about 3,000 feet and then he had me give him a power-off and power-on stall. Both were very smooth without either wing dropping more than 10 degrees and he said I did a great job with the rudder work.

Satisfied that I knew what I was doing, he said to head back to the airport. My first landing was smooth and I held the plane off right until the stall - probably one of my best landings I've had in the 172. Per my usual attitude, I told him I had to do more than one to make sure it wasn't just luck. This next time I pulled the power to idle abeam the threshold for a simulated engine-out approach. Turning base-to-final I slowly brought in the flaps until I was sure I had the runway made and then dumped out all 40 degrees on short final, rounded out, and touched down softly near the hump on the runway. As you can see below it was a very short 'lesson' but I'm current again and can start using the bigger Cessna for some longer trips I have planned in the near future!

Today's Flight: 0.5 hours
Total Time: 151.4 hours