Power On & Power Off Stalls and Steep Turns in a Piper - N4332N
Finally, something I got…nearly the first time…Steep Turns. After a couple of flights over the Easter weekend, my comfort level was starting to improve. On Tuesday my flight instructor and I had an afternoon flight focusing on power off stalls and power on stalls for the umpteenth time. Power on stalls are fairly straight forward and relatively easy. I only need to remember to use enough right rudder, while not over-correcting, and to do a bit better keeping the wings level. The same holds true for power off stalls, except I am even more wobbly with those. There is so much more going on with the power off stall, that’s my excuse anyway :) They are, without doubt getting better, though. After a few of each type of stall we moved on to steep turns. I was semi-scared of them, but as it turned out, they were not too scary at all, and I was fairly descent at them. I was lucky with the weather, which I am sure helped. We were out over Long Island Sound where there was not a cloud in sight and the air was exceptionally smooth. On the first steep turn I was overly cautious and didn’t obtain the proper 45 degrees of bank that I should have. After a few of them I was able to get the 45 degrees, return to original heading within 10 (or so) degrees and maintain altitude within 50 feet…OK, within 100 feet…c’mon, It was my first try. They are actually fairly fun to do. I’m not sure that I would like any more bank than 45 degrees though…at that angle, you’re glued to your seat and feel somewhat dizzy after a 360. If the weather is good for my next lesson will focus on a simulated engine failure. If the weather is not so good or there is a low ceiling, I’ll be introduced to the traffic pattern. I’m looking forward to learning more. While it can be frustrating at times, it really puts everything into perspective. Even though I’m only in the very early stages of learning how to fly an airplane, there is still a great feeling of accomplishment after each flight. There is soooo much more to learn and I’m really looking forward to it 
Yesterday I had my third flying lesson towards my private pilot’s licence. The objective of the lesson was to become comfortable maneuvering in slow flight. I didn’t fair too well as my head was not in the game. I was confusing myself and once I became flustered there was no “getting it” from that point on. Of course, once I touched down all the concepts seem clear as day. The initial task was to control altitude using power and to control speed using pitch. This was opposite to what my brain wanted to do. Instinctively, to control altitude I wanted apply forward or back pressure on the stick, thereby causing the airplane to ascend or descend. Likewise, to control speed I wanted to apply or reduce power. So, as a result of it taking me eons to conceptualize those tasks, I got very little practice actually maneuvering in slow flight. Much of the lesson was spent changing from cruising speeds to slow flight speeds and trying to maintain altitude/speed. I’m not sure what my mental block was, but I certainly hope it’s not a indication of future performance as it will cost me a fortune to complete the training if each and every task takes me as long to grasp.