FLYING LESSONS
10 HOUR REFLECTIONS
I just completed my tenth hour of flying lessons. For personal reasons, I chose to take my lessons at a small, rural airport in a Piper Cub J-3.
The J-3 is a small, two seat air plane, referred to as a tail dragger. It fits into the category of light sports aircraft (LSA). The seats are arranged one in front of the other, a tandem arrangement. As I said, it’s a tail dragger, meaning that there is no nose wheel. The third wheel is situated in the rear and is coupled with the rudder. Because of this arrangement, tail draggers present some different challenges than the more popular tricycle gear aircraft.
I took my “introductory” flight in a J-3 although, in my case, introductory is sort of a misnomer. I took my first flight in a J-3, my uncle’s plane, at the age of seven or eight, and I have been a flying fan ever since. Although I never took official lessons, I have flown with many licensed pilots and have read many books and articles about flying, so flying wasn’t new to me, taking official lessons was.
My first instructor, Lynn, did all the things they are supposed to do on these initial flights, not only to test my interest, but to get an initial feel for my aptitude. I was allowed to handle the “stick” and rudders, and thus partially fly the airplane. If she had a rear view mirror, she probably would have seen my grin, a foot wide. I was in heaven. I should note that this flight was made in February. February in New Jersey can be quite cold and this day was no exception. It was in the twenties, but I didn’t notice. After the advertised one hour, we returned to the airport. There were two runways; one paved and one grass. We landed on the grass. Lynn reviewed what we had done and we scheduled my next few lessons. She also gave me my own log book with the first hour filled in completely.
I have taken nine hours of lessons since. And we have covered a lot of material, both on the ground and in the air.
The J-3 is a plain vanilla airplane, The instruments include oil pressure and temperature gauges, a compass, a tachometer, an airspeed indicator and an altimeter. The controls, in addition to the joystick and rudder pedals include a carburetor heat control, a fuel primer, the fuel on/off control, a trim control, and a throttle. There is no radio or navigation equipment in this particular airplane. Also, there is no starter. The engine is starting by “flipping the prop” a technique I’ll leave to the more experienced at this point.
Because it’s so simple, there’s not too much to learn about these items. Anyone with the most basic of flying knowledge knows what they are and what they do. The important thing is to gain sufficient experience so that their operations become second nature.
Obviously, flying lessons start on the ground. Tail draggers require a bit more training than tricycle landing gear planes since forward vision is limited when on the ground. Because the third wheel is in the rear, the plane sits in a nose up position and it’s virtually impossible to see what is directly in front of you. Thus, taxiing can be a problem. To solve this shortcoming, taxiing is done using a series of controlled “s” turns. When turning to the left, the pilot looks out the right window to see what’s in front and when turning to the right, he or she looks out the left window. Of course, the key word in the foregoing is the word controlled. I found that my first few attempts at “s” turns were woefully lacking in control. It takes practice; lots of practice. I am just now starting to feel more comfortable. I don’t feel bad about this because it really isn’t easy for new comers. In planes with tricycle gear, the steering is done with the nose wheel, a more traditional place for steering mechanisms. In tail draggers, steering is done with the rudder controls and the actual turning is slightly delayed from the turning input. In addition, the speed of the propeller has a dramatic effect on the ease of steering. In a tail dragger, all this must be taken into account while still on the ground.
In the air, things seemed a bit simpler, at least for me. A review of my log book shows that we have gone through straight and level turns, ascending and descending turns, 90 degree turns, ground reference flying, slow speed flying, pattern flying, slips and skids, slow speed stalls, power off stalls, and final approaches. Learning when to use carburetor heat is an ongoing part of every flight as is throttle control. There’s a lot more to be sure, including combinations of the foregoing. During this time I have also learned the basics of taking off and after some initial hiccups, I have learned to make good takeoffs. Of course, while on the ground, I am constantly getting more experience in taxiing,
I haven’t gotten to the point of actually landing yet but I have made several final approaches with some degree of success. This will take much more experience I’m sure.
Several things have been a tad more problematic for me and may also affect other students.
The first thing I’ve noticed (actually my instructor did) is that I had a tendency to unconsciously ease the throttle back while flying. I tended to hold it too tight and while taking care of other duties, my hand would inadvertently pull the throttle back thus slowing the engine. This is a definite no- no since bad things can happen with inadvertent engine slowing. I now simply rest my fingers on the control, and listen to the engine more carefully. I think I have resolved that issue.
Another problem I had was with the joystick positioning during takeoffs. My first couple of takeoffs, under Lynn’s watchful eyes, were pretty good. Then, for some unknown reason, on two consecutive takeoff attempts, I held the stick back too long. These were terrible attempts, even dangerous. Lynn was not a happy camper. Holding the stick back, forced the tail wheel down thus slowing our takeoff speed drastically. I was quickly, and correctly, chastised by Lynn and vowed that it would never happen again. To this moment, I have no idea why I held the stick back. I can say though that it’s a lesson I won’t forget. Every takeoff since then has been acceptable and, in fact, getting better and better.
One emotion that I remember well is the feeling I had when I started my first couple of takeoffs. I won’t call it fear but I will admit to some concern. The reason? Since the plane is a tail dragger, the pilot cannot see what’s in front of the ship. This is magnified when sitting in the rear seat which is where you sit when flying solo because of center of gravity requirements. There are so many things happening that a first time pilot can’t help but feel a bit nervous. Pushing the throttle full forward, hold the stick back for a bit, using right rudder and picking up ground speed is definitely a bit of a concern. It’s like jumping off a small ledge in the dark. You don’t know what’s out there. Imagine, flooring the accelerator in a car, with the windshield covered, on a two lane road and you get some idea of the emotions. Maybe there is a little bit of fear but I guess that’s a good thing. It certainly will make you more careful and attentive on ensuing takeoffs.
Now, at the ten hour mark, I can honestly say that my flying is definitely improving. Airborne maneuvers don’t seem to present any real difficulties for me. I still need more ground work but even that is getting better. I can hardly wait to complete the next ten hours.
By Victor Banco