The danger of the the skidding base-to-final turn

This is perhaps the best explanation I've ever seen of what every pilot should permanently file under the What Not To Do category in their skills cabinet. Well worth your ten minutes!

Safety pilot time with Jamie

Plane: Cessna 172
Route: 40I,-MGY-40I
Weather: Overcast, 34 degrees, wind calm

Jamie, who I flew with last fall and recently completed his CFI - he's now an instructor at Stewart, needed a safety pilot this morning. We took trusty old 2814L out for a couple approaches to MGY under the hood. I kept my eyes open and didn't see much, if any, traffic on this cold spring morning.

Looks like the RNAV RWY 2 approach chart - funny how that works, huh?

After the second approach, Jamie landed (we went missed the first time) and we switched seats. He had me fly back to Stewart and I set up for a short field landing. In a well-timed moment of skill, I totally nailed it with an instructor in the right seat. I slowed to about 60 knots and brought in all 40 degrees of flaps on final, chopped the power as soon as we crossed the power lines, and made an extremely soft landing. Touchdown was less than 100 feet past the threshold and I turned off about 900 feet down the runway. Maybe I'm weird, but that never gets old.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.9 hours (0.6 SIC / 0.3 PIC)
Total Time: 258.7 hours

Brushing up on the basics in the 150

Plane: Cessna 150
Route: 40I-MGY-40I
Weather: Clear, 41 degrees, wind 210 degrees at 5 knots

Some solo flights call for nothing but a bunch of practice. Especially when you're trying to stay current in an airplane. I actually enjoy such things (not sure if all pilots feel this way?) so tonight was a bunch of fun.

Video of nearly everything I practiced tonight - my first edit in Premiere Elements 11

I took the 150 up and practiced most of the Private Pilot maneuvers, leaving Stewart's slightly squishy turf behind with a soft field takeoff. Then it was direct Wright Brothers for three trips around the pattern. I made two normal landings, a normal takeoff, a touch and go, short field takeoff, and did a simulated engine-out. Pretty much the whole gamut in about 15 minutes!

After a climb to 3,500 feet I ran through the rest of the maneuvers - steep turns, slow flight with the stall horn blaring, and a power-off stall. Then I quickly descended the 1,700 feet to Stewart's pattern altitude with a steep spiral. I made one low pass over the runway to confirm all the airplanes were away - we'd been using Runway 26 but I prefer landing on Runway 8 at sunset so the sun isn't directly in my eyes - and saw the Cubs and Champ were tied down. Pattern clear, I made one final soft(ish) field landing and shut down.

Patterns, turns, climbs, and descents...

Overall, every maneuver was certainly up to Private Pilot Practical Test Standards. My steep turns were held within 100 feet (I try and keep them tighter) of my starting altitude; I was satisfied though, especially having not flown the 150 in a while. It was definitely a good, thorough workout in only 0.9 on the Hobbs.

When's the last time you went up for a similar practice session?

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 0.9 hours
Total Time: 257.8 hours

Another "why we fly" video

Because, really, why not? You just can't top seeing the joy of someone the first time they take the controls of an airplane!

h/t - Victoria (via Facebook)

Why we fly

No further description required! ;)