I've got my first student tomorrow, and oddly enough it's his first flight as well. Anyone have any ideas for what all I should do. I was thinking explain the preflight, have him taxi a little, then once up in the air have him do the four fundamentals a little. Other than that is there anything else I can do to make it an enjoyable experience? There really isn't anything at the nearby airports worth flying to and checking out, and a flight up and down the downtown/landmark areas can be hit or miss depending on how busy the nearby class C field is. I want to be able to fill our time slot but I also don't want to be hammering the guy on straight and level and all that on the first flight and bore him to death. Any suggestions as to fun/interesting things to do?
First flight ideas
- Thread starter JordanD
- Start date
rframe
pǝʇɹǝʌuı
Ask him what interests him in flying, then try to emphasize the positive aspects of flying related to their interests. You sell what they are buying. Let them fly as much as they are comfortable and dont try to train them much or get too technical on the first flight... basic flight controls, then let them fly. For example dont try to make them hold headings and altitudes, just let them fly... dont tell him to fly 355 degrees at 3,800'... instead say "OK, you're doing great, now take me over to that lake over there, lets check it out!".
Emphasize safety and use of checklists as ways to ensure the flight goes well and is enjoyable, but you do all the work, you read checklists, setup radios, etc... Be professional but dont make it seem as though there's a huge burden associated with FARs, ATC, operating limitations, etc etc.
Be alert to their comfort level, look for non verbal signs of stress. Have a gallon ziplock within reach just in case.
Fly over whatever points of interest you can find, some forests, lakes, downtown, whatever... it doesn't matter, just go see something. The best part of flying small airplanes is getting a bird's eye view from 500-1000'. Go find their house and let them take some photos. Maybe fly to another airport a short distance away if time permits that.
Tell them to bring their camera.... take several pictures of them flying the airplane. Guaranteed it ends up on Facebook that night (good word of mouth advertising right there).
Emphasize safety and use of checklists as ways to ensure the flight goes well and is enjoyable, but you do all the work, you read checklists, setup radios, etc... Be professional but dont make it seem as though there's a huge burden associated with FARs, ATC, operating limitations, etc etc.
Be alert to their comfort level, look for non verbal signs of stress. Have a gallon ziplock within reach just in case.
Fly over whatever points of interest you can find, some forests, lakes, downtown, whatever... it doesn't matter, just go see something. The best part of flying small airplanes is getting a bird's eye view from 500-1000'. Go find their house and let them take some photos. Maybe fly to another airport a short distance away if time permits that.
Tell them to bring their camera.... take several pictures of them flying the airplane. Guaranteed it ends up on Facebook that night (good word of mouth advertising right there).
A150K
Well-Known Member
That's a loooong ride from SDF in a 172.
Haha, didn't make one actually. Thanks!
I'm really hoping the controllers at SDF aren't too busy. The city tour is pretty nice around here with downtown and looping back around over Churchill Downs and Louisville International and then you're lined right back up with the GA airport. Sometimes it can be hard when SDF is dead 80% of the time then suddenly becomes about as busy as LAX for an hour.
A150K
Well-Known Member
If you do get it, be sure to buzz my Uncle's place just on the other side of the river in Jeffersonville.
hammerhat
Well-Known Member
Ask them where they live, and if within reasonable distance and airspace have them overfly their house/school/etc.
I usually don't do city tours on my intro flights. Too much pressure on me and on the student, ATC gets upset when we're 100' or 5 deg off, on some days can be plenty of other traffic and whatnot. But it's one of the busiest class B airports in the country, the city tour may still be good idea if it's quiet in your neck of the woods.
I usually don't do city tours on my intro flights. Too much pressure on me and on the student, ATC gets upset when we're 100' or 5 deg off, on some days can be plenty of other traffic and whatnot. But it's one of the busiest class B airports in the country, the city tour may still be good idea if it's quiet in your neck of the woods.
Small world. We usually fuel up over there to save a few bucks. Builds that point to point time for 135 mins too.
A150K
Well-Known Member
It's been awhile since I have been out that way, but I dont remember Jeffersonville having much more than a Hooters and a Meijer.Small world. We usually fuel up over there to save a few bucks. Builds that point to point time for 135 mins too.
And you need anything else?
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
What else do you need?
Krieger
Well-Known Member
That's a loooong ride from SDF in a 172.
You're full of excuses!
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
I second asking him what he wants to do with flying. I got a little spoiled teaching a guy up here, all kinds of real world application for all the private pilot maneuvers. But yeah, if he wants to go places, go somewhere. Keep it super simple- work with each control individually and see what they do, work on the kinesthesia (butt sense) above all else, don't worry about headings but use landmarks instead.
ClearedForOption
Displaced... again.
So, I had to go to the 'wayback machine' to find this as I don't have a copy on my computer anymore, but here is the 'online briefing' for my first flight lesson that I would give to people. My goal... to make sure that they 'flew' for the whole hour (except the last part of the touchdown in the landing) and make them proficient in the four fund's and steep turns by the end of the first lesson. (Lots of sight picture work and listening to the plane - then seeing what it is doing.) It will take you a bit to develop your own personal 'intro lesson' - but here was mine:
Today is the day that you have been waiting for: the day of your first flying lesson.
So, what can you expect?
We will meet at Santa Monica Airport in the hanger.
I will give you exact and specific directions on how to find the hanger beforehand via e-mail. You will also have my cellular phone number with you just in case something goes wrong and you can't make it. Also, if for some strange reason that you can't find the place, you can give me a call and I will guide you to the front door.
Okay, so we've met.
The first lesson is broken down into three parts and takes approx. three (3) hours to complete.
I will ask you about:
Then, the lesson will begin:
First is the steps to earning a Private Pilot's License. We will cover the nuts and bolts of the regulations and I will talk about the federal requirements for earling the license and the way that the course is laid out.
I will give you a copy of my "Private Pilot Introduction CD-ROM"
it contains all the information that you need to know to get your license along with tons of helpful imformation on earning your license and useful general aviation material that I have acquired through time.
We will go over the handouts included with the introductory lesson:
I will give you briefing on the ground of exactly what is going to happen once we climb into the airplane:
The briefing will consist of an introduction on how exactly to control the aircraft both on the ground and in the air.
I will also give you:
We will be performing the following maneuvers during your flight lesson:
Pre-Flight Safety Check: (Aircraft walk-around)
Once we get out to the aircraft, the first thing we will do is have you become familier with all of the buttons and switches in the cockpit. I will have you climb in the left seat and give you a tour of the aircraft pointing out the operation of the flight controls and give you a chance to touch everything that you are going to be operating in flight.
Then I will show you how to perform a pre-flight walkaround.
The walkaround consists of checking the aircraft to make sure everything is a-ok before we go flying. This is something that you should do with your car every time before you go driving, but since the plane can't pull off to the side of the road we have to make sure everything is safe before we take off.
A few things that we are going to check in the walkaround are:
The Flight:
Checklist Use and Engine Startup -
Once we are inside the aircraft, we will pull out the appropriate checklist and get ready to start the engine.
Making sure that each item on the checklist is checked and done, we start the engine.
You will listen to the ATIS (Airport Terminal Information Service - weather and airport info that every pilot needs to know) and note the letter designation. For our purposes call it "V" or "Victor." At this time, you will make your first call to the Tower and ask for a taxi clearance. It will go something like this, "Santa Monica Ground, Cessna 19896 is in front of Santa Monica Aviation withVictor, I would like to taxi to the run up area" The tower will then call back, "Cessna 19896, Santa Monica Ground, taxi to runway 21." You will repeat back the important information, as we talked about in the pre-flight briefing, and say, "Taxi to 21 Run-up, Cessna 19896."
Don't worry too much about talking on the radio, if it's too overwhelming I will help you out. The whole idea behind this first lesson is to give you as much of a hands on feel throughout. Like drinking from a firehose, some of the information is going to spill out the sides of your mouth. We'll do our best on the day we fly to give you the most comprehensive experience.
Taxi Operations -
We will then taxi the aircraft.
Remember to keep your hands off of the yoke! One will be in your lap and the other on the throttle. You steer the aircraft with your feet.
Don't worry, I will point out to you where you need to taxi letting you know when to turn left and right as needed. We will taxi slowly, not faster than a fast walk. This will allow you to have maximum control over the aircraft and taxi safely.
Before we taxi to the runway, we will taxi near the runway to the run-up area and stop on one of the "white T's."
Engine Run-up -
At this point we will perform the:
Okay, once everything is a-ok and we've checked everything that we can check on the ground we taxi up to the hold short lines of the runway.
Takeoff -
Okay we are at the hold short lines of runway 21and are stopped.
We switch over to the tower's frequency and give them a call. You say, "Santa Monica Tower, Cessna 19896, holding short of runway 21 for a right turn at the shoreline" They will call back with, "Cessna 19896, Santa Monica Tower, approved as requested, cleared fro takeoff." Again, you repeat back the essential info, "Cleared for takeoff, Cessna 19896."
Then, we will taxi on to the runway, line up with the center of the runway and stop for a second.
You will take a breath, have one hand on the throttle, one hand on the yoke, and both feet on the rudder pedals. Remember, the takeoff is just like a fast taxi, you still steer the aircraft in the exact same manner as you did while taxing. You apply the throttle, smoothly, till it is full, release the brakes, and begin rolling down the runway.
At fifty-five (55) miles per hour, the "rotation speed", you pull back on the yoke about 3 inches till you feel resistance in the controls. The nose of the plane lifts up, then the back two wheels lift up in the air and we liftoff. You are now flying! You want to hold the nose of the aircraft so that the tip of the cowling is touching the horizon line.
The most important thing to remember at this point is that you are flying the aircraft. You can't take a break and take a look around. You have to fly. There is plenty of time to take a look around when we are up at altitude and if you would like.
I will be happy to take the controls fany time you would like so that you can enjoy the experience without all the pressure. Also, when we are coming in for landing, you will be able to observe without flying. I just ask that you keep your hands on the controls so you get the feel for your first landing.
Just like we talked about during the briefing... all you have to do is keep the tip of your nose touching the horizon to climb, nose "four fingers" from the horizon to fly straight and level, and the nose will be well below the horizon to decend.
In Flight -
You will climb the aircraft up to altitude, lower the nose to four fingers from the horizon and level off. Once the aircraft is stable, you will pull the power back a few hundered RPM's (you'll listen for the pitch change in the engine) and I will show you how to trim out the aircraft.
Then, we will fly straight and level for a bit and you can take a look around.
I will show you how to perform a turn. You will then perform some turns. A few to the right and a few to the left. Then, we will decend. Once you have the four fundamentals of flight down. (Climbs, Decents, Turns, and Straight and Level Flight) We will combine two manuvers into one.
A climbing turn and a decending turn. You should be able to master that in a few minutes.
Next comes the steep turns - three hundred and sixty (360) degree turns to the left and to the right. We will hold forty-five (45) degrees of bank, not gaining or descending more than one-hundred (100) feet, and we will roll out on our original heading plus or minus ten (10) degrees. I'll demonstrate one, showing you what to look for and then you do a bunch both to the left and to the right.
Regular turns will be a snap after doing some steep turns, so we will return to regular turns after performing the steep turns.
Finally comes slow flight and the wing stall demonstration. (If your stomach is screaming for mercy, there will be no stall so don't worry)
Once you can perform the four fundamentals, you can fly. Land... well that's another story. You will have loads of landing practice later on so there is nothing to worry about there either.
Entering the Traffic Pattern and Landing -
It's time to head back to the airport.
We listen to the ATIS again to make sure all the information is the same and give the tower a call. "Santa Monica Tower, Cessna 19896 is over Pacific Palisades inbound for landing with Whisky." They will call back with landing instructions. "Cessna 19896, Santa Monica Tower make a right downwind for two one, report downwind abeam." Again, you repeat back the essentials, "Right downwind for 21, report abeam, Cessna 19896."
Okay, we've made our call, and we have to comply with the tower's instructions in setting up for landing. So, Runway 21 points to the southwest. The airport basically points along the Santa Monica Pier, 2 miles inland. When the tower tells us that we should be on a right downwind, they are saying that they want the aircraft to come in parallel to the runway, and when you turn to line up with the runway to land it should be a series of two right turns.
We perform a decent checklist and a pre-landing checklist, to make sure everything is set for landing. You are going to continue to fly the airplane under my direction. I will have you look for the airport and give you course corrections so that we are descending and pointing at the correct spot.
We point the plane at the airport and then once we cross the 10 freeway we turn the aircraft so that the nose is pointing at the far north end of Century City. The tower told us to give them a call midfield, so we give them a call, "Tower, Cessna 19896, midfield downwind."
Hopefully at this time, they will give us a clearance to land. It should sound something like this: "Cessna 19896, Santa Monica Tower, cleared to land two one, wind two two zero at zero eight." You repeat back the clearance, "Cleared to land two one, Cessna 19896."
I will describe the landing process to you as we come in for landing. I will assist you in deploying the flaps, talking you through how to control your altitude with the power, and how to control your airspeed with the pitch of the plane. (remember... pitch is airspeed and power is altitude!) We will get the aircraft slowed down to approach speed, turn from the base leg to the final leg. I will call out our GUMPS check... Gas...set in the appropriate tank, Undercarrage... gear down and welded, Mixture... full rich, Prop... fixed, Speed... final approach.
Then we land.
Two hundred (200) Feet off the ground I will take over the controls, but you should still follow along on them. Once we are at the tree top height I will slightly pitch back a little bit and level off. This will slow our decent rate. I will pull the power back as soon as the landing is assured. At five (5) feet I will start the flare, we pull back on the yoke and the nose of the aircraft goes up and up into the air. The plane slows down (pitch is airspeed!) and we'll touch down on the runway.
The important thing to remember, is that you are not done when your weels touch down. You have to continue to fly the plane down the runway till you pull off the runway and come to a complete stop. Then... well, then you still aren't done.
You aren't done till you are back at the ramp, and the engine is shut off and the plane is tied down.
Taxi to parking -
After we clear the runway, you must come to a complete stop and get a taxi clearance back to the ramp. We also perform the after landing checklist. We call up ground and let them know that we are clear of the active runway and we would like to go to parking. Ground control should come back and tell us to taxi to the ramp.
Once we have clearance, you put one hand in your lap, one hand on the throttle, and taxi us back to our parking space. I will take over at the last moment and pull us in as close as I can. Finally, we will pull out the shutdown checklist and shut off the engine. Unlike an automobile, where you deprive the engine of spark to shut it down, an aircraft engine is deprived of fuel to shut it down.
We'll get out of the plane and push it back into it's spot and tie it down. Then it's back to the hangar for a post flight briefing.
Post Flight Briefing:
We will spend a few minutes talking about the flight.
I will get your impressions on anything that you found easy or frusturating. I will give you some tips and tricks to improve you flying technique. Finally I will give you a certificate (sutable for framing) to note your accomplishment today. (The certificate is also a record of our flight - the hour that we fly counts towards your total time for your Private Pilot's License)
That's it - your first flight lesson.
Well, at this point, the next step is to schedule more lessons and continue working toward your Private Pilot's License.
One thing that I should add: I have a digital camera that I bring along during people's first flight lessons to take pictures if they would like: a shot of you in front of the plane and a shot or two of you flying. I will be happy to e-mail them to you after the flight.
Today is the day that you have been waiting for: the day of your first flying lesson.
So, what can you expect?
We will meet at Santa Monica Airport in the hanger.
I will give you exact and specific directions on how to find the hanger beforehand via e-mail. You will also have my cellular phone number with you just in case something goes wrong and you can't make it. Also, if for some strange reason that you can't find the place, you can give me a call and I will guide you to the front door.
Okay, so we've met.
The first lesson is broken down into three parts and takes approx. three (3) hours to complete.
- 1.0 - 1.5 Hours in the classroom (Ground School)
- 1.0 Hours at the aircraft (Familiarization of flight controls and aircraft pre-flight safety check)
- 1.0 Hours in flight (with you at the controls performing all of the operations)
I will ask you about:
- Your goals in aviation
- Anything that you hope to accomplish specifically
- Your experience in general aviation and in small planes
Then, the lesson will begin:
First is the steps to earning a Private Pilot's License. We will cover the nuts and bolts of the regulations and I will talk about the federal requirements for earling the license and the way that the course is laid out.
I will give you a copy of my "Private Pilot Introduction CD-ROM"
it contains all the information that you need to know to get your license along with tons of helpful imformation on earning your license and useful general aviation material that I have acquired through time.
We will go over the handouts included with the introductory lesson:
- The federally mandated aeronautical experience requirements
- Course materials you'll need to buy
- Solo flight aeronautical experience and knowledge requirements
- A guide to landing small aircraft
- An aircraft checklist for the plane we are going to fly today
I will give you briefing on the ground of exactly what is going to happen once we climb into the airplane:
The briefing will consist of an introduction on how exactly to control the aircraft both on the ground and in the air.
I will also give you:
- A general introduction to the aerodynamics of flight
- How airplanes fly safely
- The forces acting upon the aircraft during the different maneuvers
We will be performing the following maneuvers during your flight lesson:
- Aircraft Startup Procedures and Checklist Use
- Taxi Operations
- Engine Run-Up Procedures
- Normal Takeoff
- Climbs
- Straight and Level Flight
- Descents
- Turns (while holding altitude, climbing, and decending)
- Steep Turns
- Slow Flight
- A Wing Stall Demonstration
- Airport Traffic Pattern Entry Procedures
Pre-Flight Safety Check: (Aircraft walk-around)
Once we get out to the aircraft, the first thing we will do is have you become familier with all of the buttons and switches in the cockpit. I will have you climb in the left seat and give you a tour of the aircraft pointing out the operation of the flight controls and give you a chance to touch everything that you are going to be operating in flight.
Then I will show you how to perform a pre-flight walkaround.
The walkaround consists of checking the aircraft to make sure everything is a-ok before we go flying. This is something that you should do with your car every time before you go driving, but since the plane can't pull off to the side of the road we have to make sure everything is safe before we take off.
A few things that we are going to check in the walkaround are:
- The flight instruments of the aircraft (the switches and gauges)
- Battery - to make sure that we will have power
- We check the fuel - to make sure we have enough fuel to complete the flight and we check the fuel to make sure it's the proper gas for the aircraft
- The Oil quantity and the engine
- Wings, fuselage, tail, and control surfaces of the aircraft - for freedom of movement and for anything that just isn't right
- During the walkaround we also untie the aircraft so when we advance the throttle we actually go somewhere
The Flight:
Checklist Use and Engine Startup -
Once we are inside the aircraft, we will pull out the appropriate checklist and get ready to start the engine.
Making sure that each item on the checklist is checked and done, we start the engine.
You will listen to the ATIS (Airport Terminal Information Service - weather and airport info that every pilot needs to know) and note the letter designation. For our purposes call it "V" or "Victor." At this time, you will make your first call to the Tower and ask for a taxi clearance. It will go something like this, "Santa Monica Ground, Cessna 19896 is in front of Santa Monica Aviation withVictor, I would like to taxi to the run up area" The tower will then call back, "Cessna 19896, Santa Monica Ground, taxi to runway 21." You will repeat back the important information, as we talked about in the pre-flight briefing, and say, "Taxi to 21 Run-up, Cessna 19896."
Don't worry too much about talking on the radio, if it's too overwhelming I will help you out. The whole idea behind this first lesson is to give you as much of a hands on feel throughout. Like drinking from a firehose, some of the information is going to spill out the sides of your mouth. We'll do our best on the day we fly to give you the most comprehensive experience.
Taxi Operations -
We will then taxi the aircraft.
Remember to keep your hands off of the yoke! One will be in your lap and the other on the throttle. You steer the aircraft with your feet.
Don't worry, I will point out to you where you need to taxi letting you know when to turn left and right as needed. We will taxi slowly, not faster than a fast walk. This will allow you to have maximum control over the aircraft and taxi safely.
Before we taxi to the runway, we will taxi near the runway to the run-up area and stop on one of the "white T's."
Engine Run-up -
At this point we will perform the:
- "Run-Up" Checklist
- " Before Takeoff" Checklist
Okay, once everything is a-ok and we've checked everything that we can check on the ground we taxi up to the hold short lines of the runway.
Takeoff -
Okay we are at the hold short lines of runway 21and are stopped.
We switch over to the tower's frequency and give them a call. You say, "Santa Monica Tower, Cessna 19896, holding short of runway 21 for a right turn at the shoreline" They will call back with, "Cessna 19896, Santa Monica Tower, approved as requested, cleared fro takeoff." Again, you repeat back the essential info, "Cleared for takeoff, Cessna 19896."
Then, we will taxi on to the runway, line up with the center of the runway and stop for a second.
You will take a breath, have one hand on the throttle, one hand on the yoke, and both feet on the rudder pedals. Remember, the takeoff is just like a fast taxi, you still steer the aircraft in the exact same manner as you did while taxing. You apply the throttle, smoothly, till it is full, release the brakes, and begin rolling down the runway.
At fifty-five (55) miles per hour, the "rotation speed", you pull back on the yoke about 3 inches till you feel resistance in the controls. The nose of the plane lifts up, then the back two wheels lift up in the air and we liftoff. You are now flying! You want to hold the nose of the aircraft so that the tip of the cowling is touching the horizon line.
The most important thing to remember at this point is that you are flying the aircraft. You can't take a break and take a look around. You have to fly. There is plenty of time to take a look around when we are up at altitude and if you would like.
I will be happy to take the controls fany time you would like so that you can enjoy the experience without all the pressure. Also, when we are coming in for landing, you will be able to observe without flying. I just ask that you keep your hands on the controls so you get the feel for your first landing.
Just like we talked about during the briefing... all you have to do is keep the tip of your nose touching the horizon to climb, nose "four fingers" from the horizon to fly straight and level, and the nose will be well below the horizon to decend.
In Flight -
You will climb the aircraft up to altitude, lower the nose to four fingers from the horizon and level off. Once the aircraft is stable, you will pull the power back a few hundered RPM's (you'll listen for the pitch change in the engine) and I will show you how to trim out the aircraft.
Then, we will fly straight and level for a bit and you can take a look around.
I will show you how to perform a turn. You will then perform some turns. A few to the right and a few to the left. Then, we will decend. Once you have the four fundamentals of flight down. (Climbs, Decents, Turns, and Straight and Level Flight) We will combine two manuvers into one.
A climbing turn and a decending turn. You should be able to master that in a few minutes.
Next comes the steep turns - three hundred and sixty (360) degree turns to the left and to the right. We will hold forty-five (45) degrees of bank, not gaining or descending more than one-hundred (100) feet, and we will roll out on our original heading plus or minus ten (10) degrees. I'll demonstrate one, showing you what to look for and then you do a bunch both to the left and to the right.
Regular turns will be a snap after doing some steep turns, so we will return to regular turns after performing the steep turns.
Finally comes slow flight and the wing stall demonstration. (If your stomach is screaming for mercy, there will be no stall so don't worry)
Once you can perform the four fundamentals, you can fly. Land... well that's another story. You will have loads of landing practice later on so there is nothing to worry about there either.
Entering the Traffic Pattern and Landing -
It's time to head back to the airport.
We listen to the ATIS again to make sure all the information is the same and give the tower a call. "Santa Monica Tower, Cessna 19896 is over Pacific Palisades inbound for landing with Whisky." They will call back with landing instructions. "Cessna 19896, Santa Monica Tower make a right downwind for two one, report downwind abeam." Again, you repeat back the essentials, "Right downwind for 21, report abeam, Cessna 19896."
Okay, we've made our call, and we have to comply with the tower's instructions in setting up for landing. So, Runway 21 points to the southwest. The airport basically points along the Santa Monica Pier, 2 miles inland. When the tower tells us that we should be on a right downwind, they are saying that they want the aircraft to come in parallel to the runway, and when you turn to line up with the runway to land it should be a series of two right turns.
We perform a decent checklist and a pre-landing checklist, to make sure everything is set for landing. You are going to continue to fly the airplane under my direction. I will have you look for the airport and give you course corrections so that we are descending and pointing at the correct spot.
We point the plane at the airport and then once we cross the 10 freeway we turn the aircraft so that the nose is pointing at the far north end of Century City. The tower told us to give them a call midfield, so we give them a call, "Tower, Cessna 19896, midfield downwind."
Hopefully at this time, they will give us a clearance to land. It should sound something like this: "Cessna 19896, Santa Monica Tower, cleared to land two one, wind two two zero at zero eight." You repeat back the clearance, "Cleared to land two one, Cessna 19896."
I will describe the landing process to you as we come in for landing. I will assist you in deploying the flaps, talking you through how to control your altitude with the power, and how to control your airspeed with the pitch of the plane. (remember... pitch is airspeed and power is altitude!) We will get the aircraft slowed down to approach speed, turn from the base leg to the final leg. I will call out our GUMPS check... Gas...set in the appropriate tank, Undercarrage... gear down and welded, Mixture... full rich, Prop... fixed, Speed... final approach.
Then we land.
Two hundred (200) Feet off the ground I will take over the controls, but you should still follow along on them. Once we are at the tree top height I will slightly pitch back a little bit and level off. This will slow our decent rate. I will pull the power back as soon as the landing is assured. At five (5) feet I will start the flare, we pull back on the yoke and the nose of the aircraft goes up and up into the air. The plane slows down (pitch is airspeed!) and we'll touch down on the runway.
The important thing to remember, is that you are not done when your weels touch down. You have to continue to fly the plane down the runway till you pull off the runway and come to a complete stop. Then... well, then you still aren't done.
You aren't done till you are back at the ramp, and the engine is shut off and the plane is tied down.
Taxi to parking -
After we clear the runway, you must come to a complete stop and get a taxi clearance back to the ramp. We also perform the after landing checklist. We call up ground and let them know that we are clear of the active runway and we would like to go to parking. Ground control should come back and tell us to taxi to the ramp.
Once we have clearance, you put one hand in your lap, one hand on the throttle, and taxi us back to our parking space. I will take over at the last moment and pull us in as close as I can. Finally, we will pull out the shutdown checklist and shut off the engine. Unlike an automobile, where you deprive the engine of spark to shut it down, an aircraft engine is deprived of fuel to shut it down.
We'll get out of the plane and push it back into it's spot and tie it down. Then it's back to the hangar for a post flight briefing.
Post Flight Briefing:
We will spend a few minutes talking about the flight.
I will get your impressions on anything that you found easy or frusturating. I will give you some tips and tricks to improve you flying technique. Finally I will give you a certificate (sutable for framing) to note your accomplishment today. (The certificate is also a record of our flight - the hour that we fly counts towards your total time for your Private Pilot's License)
That's it - your first flight lesson.
Well, at this point, the next step is to schedule more lessons and continue working toward your Private Pilot's License.
One thing that I should add: I have a digital camera that I bring along during people's first flight lessons to take pictures if they would like: a shot of you in front of the plane and a shot or two of you flying. I will be happy to e-mail them to you after the flight.
First flight went awesomely! Showed him the preflight, had him taxi some, then gave the plane to him in the climb. Once we leveled out he mentioned he lived right in front of us (convenient!) so I let him fly over his house. He was doing pretty well so I had him do the four fundamentals, had him try a couple steep turns, then showed him a touch and go at an uncontrolled airport nearby. Flew fairly close to the downtown area to get a view of that then headed back and landed. I think I'm going to be spoiled having a first student that studies. I told him what to look up and be able to tell me next time and he already knew it. Killing me!
rframe
pǝʇɹǝʌuı
Congrats! Kinda fun making that first signature in someone's logbook with your CFI number, isn't it?
Yep! Felt strange not only not paying for the rental, but having someone pay me.Congrats! Kinda fun making that first signature in someone's logbook with your CFI number, isn't it?
spoolinup22
Well-Known Member
Lol all of my students tell me they study every night, it totally shows the next time!
Hah I can kind of tell he has so far. I'll save putting him through the ringer for the second lessonLol all of my students tell me they study every night, it totally shows the next time!