Lesson # 8 - Ground Reference Moves

Let's cut to the chase on this. Today I learned turns around a point, S-turns across a road, and rectangular patterns. The idea is to be able to make the airplane fly a particular ground track, while keeping altitude, using visual clues, and correcting for the wind. My instructor says that for a first crack, I did fine. Personally, I felt uncomfortable with them, especially the turns around a point and S-turns. I hadn't been doing much in the way of steep turns in the past few lessons, so that was a sensation I had to get used to again. Plus, after weaving over the road for 5 minutes, I got dizzy.

On the general progress, I feel like I can do everything by myself from preflight through flying the plane to the practice area. The easiest part of flying for me, hands down, is the radio work. I have no problem listening to and following the radio traffic, and actually speaking with ATC is no problem at all.

Next lesson we learn slips, and then it's on to hours and hours of flying the traffic pattern and doing landings.