Under the Hood

This past weekend in Ohio has been simply specatular for flying. Fortunately, the weather held off today, and I got 1.3hrs in. The end is in sight, and the objective of today's little flight was to gain more time towards my required 3hrs of "simulated instrument". It was all fairly straightforward. After I got used to flying with the hood on, which took about 5 minutes, it was all a series of turns, climbs, descents to test my ability to find and hold headings, altitudes, and bank angles.

Most of the work we did was between 2500ft and 3000ft MSL, just underneath the poofy clouds starting to build up. This made for some light bounciness and the occasional thermal which would wreak havoc on my ability to hold altitude. I'd be bouncing around, trying to keep a coordinated 15° bank, and I'd look over at the altimeter, which had just jumped up 50ft in the last 5 seconds. It was crazy. Fun, though.

After instrument time was completed, we did a short field landing, a short field takeoff, and a soft field landing. I really need to differentiate the differences between all those in my head. It makes my head hurt, trying to remember which is which. I got them all right without prompting, but it's not a natural conclusion in my brain.

I'm scheduled for my "knowledge" exam this Thursday. I've got my letter of recommendation, and I'm ready to take it.