We've been dancing around, trying to get the last few requirements in (3 hour dual night cross-country, 1.3 hours of hood time remaining) before we start my
pre-checkride prep. Feels like forever, but given the realities of life and family, I guess I can't really be too upset.
Even when we can't schedule a dual flight, I've been taking the Cherokee up for a little while every week or so just to keep the cobwebs off.
Today, being my birthday, my lovely wife and Zoe agreed to go up with me (with my instructor, of course) on a flight. This time, we left the Cherokee on the ramp
and took the recently repaired (tornado wrecked) Cessna 172 to Saline County Regional, a little ways southwest of LIT.
I started out in Skyhawks before I moved to my current FBO, but have been spoiled by the Cherokee's manners (especially in a crosswind), so I felt a little awkward
in the Cessna at first. For one thing, the controls feel pretty darned light, especially in roll, though the rate doesn't seem to be that much different. She also seemed
to need a bit more rudder than the Cherokee, so I found as I wallowed through a couple of turns.
On our return to ORK, we found the wind favoring 23, but I went ahead and entered the pattern for 17, to try my hand at a crosswind with my instructor on board.
The first one would have been salvageable, according to Mike, but I went around anyway (I tend to be a lot more cautious with my wife and kid in back). While I waited
to gain a little altitude before bringing the flaps in a notch, I quickly found out why doing that with a heavy plane was a bad idea. We weren't climbing. AT ALL.
Flaps back in, pushing on the throttle and watching the speed, we got Vx and eased the flaps in (didn't care for the non-detent electric flaps... not at all, I was longing for the lever in
the Cherokee) and got back to pattern altitude.
The next landing was fine, though not the smoothest I've done, but Mike told me to just practice those crosswind landings in the Cessna (and that it would probably improve my
Cherokee flying) and signed me off for solo in the 172.
So, work on rudder skills. Practice crosswind landings. My altitude holding stayed well within limits, even while we were sight-seeing over Little Rock, and I was able to find my way
around well, satisfying because I was afraid the GPS in the Cherokee was spoiling me. In the Cessna, I was looking outside the cockpit a lot more, and found the Saline County airport
just fine.
I enjoyed the view downward, but being a tall, all-torso kinda guy, my eyes were right at the wing roots. While there was plenty of room in the airplane for us, my view to the side was pretty well blocked, forcing me to lean forward against the non-reel shoulder belt to avoid rocking the airplane too much for my rear seat pax.
Mrs S and Zoe enjoyed the flight immensely, and when we were exiting the plane on the ramp, Zoe was trying to clamber back in, saying "Again!"
All in all, a good flight.
