Lesson #7: On landings and successes thereof

Stupid bike got itself stolen, so my ride to the Old T's was on a brand spankin' new Kona roadbike. Definitely an easier ride.

Stephen was waiting for me outside, and he had the plane (4AC this time) all checked out so we headed straight to the tarmac. I preflighted the plane, then we took off from 33 to do pattern work on runway 27L. The controller told us that 27L and 27R were both in heavy use, so she would be switching us between runways frequently. Also of note was that 27L did not allow full-stop-and-taxi back landings; for the landings on 27L, I would be doing my first touch-and-gos.

During the runup a very, very old biplane was patiently waiting for us to clear the taxiway. On closer inspection, it was an old US Navy trainer from what could well be the 1930's. I wondered how anyone would fly such a plane; it must be a fun experience. I took off from 33 and immediately turned into right-hand traffic for runway 27R.

In order to help me learn to land, Stephen was going to try something different. We would land without flaps, perfect that, and then practice flaps-down landings. This meant faster landing speeds and longer rolls, but more predictable airplane behaivor.

So the times we landed on 27R were familiar and normal to me; a normal right-hand pattern, a landing, and a taxi back and takeoff. 27L was a whole different ballgame. Runway 29 (the runway that the Big Jets all use) is right next door, so the pattern requires a fast, low-altitude 180-degree turn at only 300 feet above the ground to stay out of their way. Pattern altitude is 600 feet too, so it's a short climb and descent.

Touch-and-gos, not surprisingly, were easy to learn and perform. Your airspeed has a tendency to get away from you though; and I learned the hard way that rolling down the runway at 75-80 MPH without taking off is a good way to stress your tires. The tires saw stress in plenty of other ways too; a few of my landings bounced 2 or 3 times. One landing "would have been perfect if we were a 747," Stephen commented, noting how I managed to fly the airplane onto the ground like you would an enormous metal jet.

The majority of them, however, were actually much better. Stephen had exclaimed, "so it was the flaps all along!" Apparently, keeping the flaps up was just the thing to make my landings nice. Heck, I even got a round of applause after one in which the airplane settled on the runway as gently as a feather.

Towards the end, the increasing turbulence around 100 feet was making me sick to my stomach and impairing my ability to land, so Stephen called it early as usual. We did one more on 27L, then a full-stop on 27R to end the lesson. Since the lesson was so short, we didn't bother to refuel the aircraft, but merely took it back to the Old T's.

Along the way I saw the old biplane making rounds about the sky above the airport, and it became clear to me: The old Navy trainer is a banner-tow airplane. It had a hook suspended by a cable, about 50 feet long, out the back of the aircraft. Out on the field near the runway were two men holding out a large loop of rope with their hands. The biplane would dive-bomb the field, and pull up just before hitting the ground. In the process the hook would swing forward, and catch the rope, carrying the banner up with the aircraft.

Well, in theory. We watched it make a good five attempts, and never once did that hook come close to catching the rope. Poor guy. The A's game was only an hour off, and here he was frustrating himself above an airport.

The A's game. On the way back it could not be more clear they had a game. Getting through the throngs of people at BART ... I would have prefered to sit back, enjoy a hot dog or something, and hassle some Yankees players.

So the people at Cessna told me they activated the rest of the ground school lessons, but apparently they lied. I still can't get past lesson 6. If anyone reading this is considering using the Cessna Student Pilot series to prepare for your exams, I'd say choose a different one.

The AAC also approved my membership. Now I have to go down to the main terminal sometime and get a badge so I can access the AOA (airport operating area). This is a fairly lengthy process that, since 9/11, requires a lot of background checking and form-filling-out and an interview and a class or two. Not looking forward to it.

Next lesson is Thursday at 4 PM. We'll probably do more landings!

Cost so far: $2,305.96
Time so far: 22 days
Hours so far: 8.4