A "Pretty Good" Landing

Today was grey and rainy in the morning, and I watched the weather carefully.  About noon it appeared that there was a little clearing out to the west, and maybe a chance of better weather.  So, I drove out to Leesburg where I had a previously scheduled tail wheel flying lesson.  I even called Flight Service and logged a flight plan on the way.

Now as it happened, I drove through a downpour on the way to Leesburg, and another lightening and rain storm took place right after I arrived.  But CFI Bob Garity and I watched out the windows, watched the radar on his iPad, and judged that we had an opening about 2 p.m.  It looked that we would be safe flying in the pattern around the airport where we could quickly land if another thunderstorm materialized.

So off we went.  As it worked out, we got in 15 take offs and landings -- seven three-point landings and eight two-wheel landings.  Here's a short video of one of them:

That is, by the way, Bob coaching me from the rear seat during the landing.  As you can see, the skies remained pretty clear throughout our flights.  A little later in the afternoon it rained again hard. 

But, by that time, I had fourteen touch and go landings under my belt in just under an hour, and a much better feel for both the traditional three-point touch down as well as the rather sensitive two-wheel landing.

The latter landing is difficult to master because you first come in to the runway about ten knots faster and holding the stick back in order gently to hold the plane in ground effect and off the runway.  Eventually, the plane settles down on the two main wheels.  Then you immediately push the stick forward, but only just enough to prevent the tail from touching the runway. Not so much forward, however, that you cause the propeller to hit the runway. A delicate balance....

My iPhone app called CloudAhoy has a record of this flight, but it just looks like a lot of circles around the airport -- because that is what it was.