Objective
In your first lessons, we will introduce to the airplane, the importance of a thorough preflight inspection, and the four fundamentals of flight.
How Airplanes Fly
- Lift, weight, thrust, drag
- Control surfaces - Elevator, ailerons, rudder, flaps, trim
- Throttle - power + pitch = performance
Preflight Inspection
Before every flight, we will conduct a thorough preflight inspection of the airplane to ensure it is safe to fly. We will do so using the manufacturer's checklist in the Airplane Flight Manual.
On subsequent flights in the day, you can check the following:
- Gas
- Oil
- Control surfaces
- Tires / gear
- ALWAYS do a final walk around
Left Turning Tendencies
When power (throttle) is applied in a single-engine airplane, the airplane exhibits a tendency to yaw to the left. This is due to the following factors:
- Torque - engine crank rotating in clockwise direction causes opposite (left) reaction force
- Slipstream - slipstream wraps around airplane and strikes vertical stablizer
- P-factor - at high angles of attack, descending prop takes larger bite of air producing asymmetric thrust
- Precession - prop is like a big gyroscope, force acts 90* from and in direction of application
Basic Radio Communications
Remember the 5 Ws for communicating on the radio
- Who you are calling
- Who you are
- Where you are
- What you want
- What you have (weather)
Flight Content
- Preflight
- Taxi procedures
- Takeoff procedures
- Climbs
- Straight and level flight
- Turns
- Descents
Common Mistakes
- Excessive or insufficient taxi power
- Holding brakes on taxi - BAD!
- Insufficient right rudder for climb
- Using improper references to determine straight and level flight
- Excessive or insufficient rudder during turns
- Excessive or insufficient bank angle
- Excessive or insufficient nose down during descent
Completion
The student has thorough understanding of the need for and application of a good preflight inspection. Student understands four fundamentals of flight and the motor skills involved in the safi taxi of an aircraft.