I finally got my first commercial flight lesson out of the way today. Nothing exciting or new, just a review of private maneuvers, mostly so my new instructor can see that I can, indeed, fly. Stalls, steep turns, slow flight, emergency procedures and a few landings.

Picking a spot to pretend to land in is the only hard part of a simulated engine-out. Once I pick one, it’s all easy. In many places of the world, the best choice is typically fairly obvious. In Oklahoma the problem isn’t finding a field, but deciding on a field. My instructor’s only complaint about my choice of field was that it “was too green” and had some fairly high vegetation. I will admit that the surface of the field didn’t enter into my decision at all.

(Joanna says that if I don’t put this sentence in herepeople will think that I actually landed in random fields. Now you know that’s not the case.)

My first landing was a very nice, normal landing. My second landing was supposed to be a soft field, but a gust of wind left me high and slow, and I bounced on the mains a little after dropping out of the sky a good six inches over the runway. Last landing was my first short field in ages, and I nailed it. Cleared my imaginary obstacle and touched down not 10 feet of my assigned touchdown point, and so stopping in the allotted space didn’t even require brakes.

It was weird looking outside the plane again. I’m so used to staring at the instruments now that I have to try hard not to look at them. Steep turns at 50 degrees of bank were pretty easy, I guess I’ve finally gotten over whatever issue I had with them before. Turn coordination still isn’t wonderfull. I’ll be able to feel it one day.

I’ve got a 50NM cross country to fly tomorrow.