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Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 15:51:20 -0500
From: Victoria Deaton <vdeaton@explornet.org>
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Subject: Re: I'm afraid to solo
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Sam wrote:
> 
> Victoria,
>    You're not suggesting that one should start the descent at the
> midfield position?
> Sam

No. I got the feeling he might be a bit overloaded and therefore not
feeling gonzo about soloing, and suggested some cockpit tasks get taken
care of prior to the numbers as opposed to starting there. 

IOW, back up the process a bit, lessening the pressure due to task
loading on him closer to the downwind/base turn. GUMP, configuring for
slow(er) flight, etc., earlier on the downwind spreads out the task
loading slightly instead of bunching it at one point where he then has
to also think about the coordinated turn in slow flight, traffic, radio,
etc. Nothing wrong with that, but we're talking about helping a student
build confidence, right? I'm leaving the "which rpm/mp/descent
speed/whatever" issue alone; I'm looking at task loading and confidence
situation which in my fuzzy little brain is a factor in his confidence
to solo. By the time he's turning downwind/base, he's flying, not
GUMPing and trying to get configured, etc.

I think it'll help him hit the proper airspeeds earlier by giving him a
tad more time to adust, and therefore make for a better approach; then,
after some happy landings and increased confidence, if his CFI is
insistent on performing all the actions at that point on downwind, he'll
can progress to that and beyond. Configuring for slow flight w/o
dropping altitude will be a skill that'll show up on a lil' quiz later
on anyway. :-)

It wasn't until I had a good set up on downwind that I had greasers (and
the confidence that comes with them). I still occasionally hurt myself
by a too-tight pattern and needlessly putting myself in hurry-up mode.
This is just one of those "make it easier on yourself" suggestions based
on that. All with his CFI's blessing, of course. Hope this defines my
stance a bit better.

YMMV. It worked for me, but then, I'm just weird like that.

Victoria
