A Good Day...

Today was a good day.  The learning curve went steep again.  And I am very jazzed about flying again.  

I flew Saturday and Sunday with Matt who did an awesome job of getting me back on track.  We took a step back on Saturday and went back to the basics -- moderate banked turns, rectangular patterns, turns around a point, S-turns over a road and even a few "8's around pylons" (which are usually not taught to private pilot students but in my opinion are a great exercise).

We both got back in the groove I think.  I became more confident in myself and Matt became more confident in where I was on the learning curve.  This is the benefit of settling down on a single flight school and a core set of teachers.  Everyone gets in sync.  

On Sunday we headed to Tracy, an uncontrolled airport just a few minutes east of Livermore.  I shot 14 landings, some of which were actually decent enough that you would show them to your mother.  I also got a chance to practice short-field and soft-field take-offs.  

We flew for 2.4 hours on the Hobbs meter which at this point is about my mental limit.  On our way back into Livermore, the wind was calm and the normal westerly runways were turned around to the east.  We usually land on 25 left or 25 right but today we were cleared to 7 right.  Somehow, I had it in my head that 7 left was 7 right and I flew a nearly perfect pattern onto final for 7 left.  

Matt saw it and calmly suggested I get my sorry butt over and line up on 7 right.  I did, but I was high and fast and 7 right is about half the length of 7 left which doesn't leave much room for error.  I got the plane down but he had to get it stopped and so despite a great day of learning and flying, I taxied sheepishly back to the hangers.  I cringe just thinking about that call from the tower I would have gotten had I gone all the way in and landed on 7 left.

What did I learn?  I learned there is a point of mental saturation and I reached it.  I need to quit a little earlier next time.  I also learned that Matt is a great teacher and he let me learn a lesson I'll never forget and he let me learn it with no cost.