Lesson Two...er, 1.5...

[Scott]

After taking a lesson in the Tecnam Sierra yesterday, today I took a
discovery flight in a 172SP out of an uncontrolled field. Definitely a lot
less time spent on formalities, most of my .5 hours was spent actually
flying instead of waiting for permission.

I wore my prosthesis again today, although I waffled on the decision until
the last minute. In a way the 172 was worse than the Sierra. They're both
a pain to physically enter and exit for someone who just does NOT bend in
all the normal ways. My fake ankle doesn't bend at all, so I was unable to
get much left rudder without also actuating the toe brake. And with the
stiff ankle, I couldn't get *enough* toe brake for a decent stop. So not a
lot of success taxiing today.

Once we got in the air I did OK, more of the same basic maneuvers. I still
have a *lot* of work to do on coordinated flight. Apparently I also did a
pattern entry and flew all the way to final before my instructor took the
plane back. Cool. The base-final turn made me a little nervous, the ground
starts to look awful close after flitting about at 1,000 AGL.

I did not care for the glass panel flight display. I didn't think it was as
clear as the Sierra's steam dials. The moving map side of the display was
nice, though.

So, what next? Gotta try flying without the prosthesis, I think. While
doing research today I (re-)ran across Tammy Duckworth's website, a lady
whose story I've been following for a while. She was a blackhawk pilot in
Iraq until an RPG took her legs off, one above the knee, one below. Since
then she's relearned flying and has soloed in an unmodified Piper Warrior
using just her below-knee prosthesis. If she can do it with one fake leg, I
ought to be able to handle it with one real leg. Of course she *did* have
prior experience....

[Mike Ash]

Post by Scott
I wore my prosthesis again today, although I waffled on the decision until
the last minute. In a way the 172 was worse than the Sierra. They're both
a pain to physically enter and exit for someone who just does NOT bend in
all the normal ways. My fake ankle doesn't bend at all, so I was unable to
get much left rudder without also actuating the toe brake. And with the
stiff ankle, I couldn't get *enough* toe brake for a decent stop. So not a
lot of success taxiing today.

While I have the fortune to still have all of both my legs and so I
can't speak from experience, I'm sure that if you keep at it you'll find
a solution that works for you. Don't despair!

Post by Scott
Once we got in the air I did OK, more of the same basic maneuvers. I still
have a *lot* of work to do on coordinated flight.

This is another really common problem. Moving your hands and your feet
in a coordinated manner is pretty unnatural for most people. I just had
a flight review two days ago and at one point my instructor asked me,
"is your yaw string straight?" Hinting to me that I was not quite
coordinated. And I've been flying for nearly three years! Although I was
flying a Grob 103 with a 60-ft wingspan, not a Cessna. Certainly does
get better with practice, anyway. Flying is an interesting mix of mental
and physical skills, and flying coordinated is definitely a physical
skill. Like any other physical skill, practice is the answer to
improvement.

Post by Scott
Apparently I also did a
pattern entry and flew all the way to final before my instructor took the
plane back. Cool. The base-final turn made me a little nervous, the ground
starts to look awful close after flitting about at 1,000 AGL.

Understandable. That's the part of the flight that usually gets the most
worried noises from my passengers. Especially the nervous ones who don't
like to turn. I can do shallow banks up high, but in the pattern there's
just no good way around having to do actual turns with actual banking.

Just keep in mind that it's normal and your instructor knows what he's
doing. And pretty soon you'll know what you're doing too!

[Clark]

Post by Scott
After taking a lesson in the Tecnam Sierra yesterday, today I took a
discovery flight in a 172SP out of an uncontrolled field. Definitely a
lot less time spent on formalities, most of my .5 hours was spent
actually flying instead of waiting for permission.
I wore my prosthesis again today, although I waffled on the decision
until the last minute. In a way the 172 was worse than the Sierra.
They're both a pain to physically enter and exit for someone who just
does NOT bend in all the normal ways. My fake ankle doesn't bend at
all, so I was unable to get much left rudder without also actuating the
toe brake. And with the stiff ankle, I couldn't get *enough* toe brake
for a decent stop. So not a lot of success taxiing today.
Once we got in the air I did OK, more of the same basic maneuvers. I
still have a *lot* of work to do on coordinated flight. Apparently I
also did a pattern entry and flew all the way to final before my
instructor took the plane back. Cool. The base-final turn made me a
little nervous, the ground starts to look awful close after flitting
about at 1,000 AGL.
I did not care for the glass panel flight display. I didn't think it
was as clear as the Sierra's steam dials. The moving map side of the
display was nice, though.
So, what next? Gotta try flying without the prosthesis, I think. While
doing research today I (re-)ran across Tammy Duckworth's website, a lady
whose story I've been following for a while. She was a blackhawk pilot
in Iraq until an RPG took her legs off, one above the knee, one below.
Since then she's relearned flying and has soloed in an unmodified Piper
Warrior using just her below-knee prosthesis. If she can do it with one
fake leg, I ought to be able to handle it with one real leg. Of course
she *did* have prior experience....

Nice write-up. Getting started with training is both exciting and
frustrating. You know what you've discussed with the instructor about what
you want the aircraft to do. But, for some reason the aircraft just doesn't
seem to do exactly what you want it to do!

Don't worry at all on the quality of aircraft control at this point. As
long as you're paying attention to it then the skill will come with time.
It's just a normal part of training.

I've flown a couple of glass panels. I don't like'em much either. Something
about staring at the altitude tape and wondering how fast I'm going just
doesn't sit well. ;-) :-)

On the physical side of things, a Piper Cherokee might be an option since
it has solid linkage nose wheel steering and a hand brake. Crawling up on
the wing and into the cabin might be inconvienent.

[Steve Hix]

Post by Scott
After taking a lesson in the Tecnam Sierra yesterday, today I took a
discovery flight in a 172SP out of an uncontrolled field. Definitely a lot
less time spent on formalities, most of my .5 hours was spent actually
flying instead of waiting for permission.

Yay!

Post by Scott
I wore my prosthesis again today, although I waffled on the decision until
the last minute. In a way the 172 was worse than the Sierra. They're both
a pain to physically enter and exit for someone who just does NOT bend in
all the normal ways. My fake ankle doesn't bend at all, so I was unable to
get much left rudder without also actuating the toe brake. And with the
stiff ankle, I couldn't get *enough* toe brake for a decent stop. So not a
lot of success taxiing today.

One point for the LSA's hand brake thingie.

A third approach to braking/steering was the heel brakes that were
standard on Champs and J3s. Some would argue that there are reasons why
toe brakes came into widespread use.

Post by Scott
Once we got in the air I did OK, more of the same basic maneuvers. I still
have a *lot* of work to do on coordinated flight. Apparently I also did a
pattern entry and flew all the way to final before my instructor took the
plane back. Cool. The base-final turn made me a little nervous, the ground
starts to look awful close after flitting about at 1,000 AGL.

Time and experience. (It doesn't hurt that getting more experience is
mostly fun, too.)

Post by Scott
I did not care for the glass panel flight display. I didn't think it was as
clear as the Sierra's steam dials. The moving map side of the display was
nice, though.

The Tecnam's I've been flying have a mix, some steam gauges +GPS, some
glass. (I finally decided that the operator decided to settle on the
NTSC standard: Never Twice Same Cockpit.)

I was used to steam gauges, but the flat panel layouts are becoming more
comfortable to use. Maybe give it a bit more time.

Post by Scott
So, what next? Gotta try flying without the prosthesis, I think. While
doing research today I (re-)ran across Tammy Duckworth's website, a lady
whose story I've been following for a while. She was a blackhawk pilot in
Iraq until an RPG took her legs off, one above the knee, one below. Since
then she's relearned flying and has soloed in an unmodified Piper Warrior
using just her below-knee prosthesis. If she can do it with one fake leg, I
ought to be able to handle it with one real leg. Of course she *did* have
prior experience....

Good luck, and have fun. Keep us updated.

[Mike Ash]

Post by Steve Hix
A third approach to braking/steering was the heel brakes that were
standard on Champs and J3s. Some would argue that there are reasons why
toe brakes came into widespread use.

The one time I flew something with heel brakes (LS-4, German single-seat
glider) I nearly ran off the runway trying to get the thing stopped. It
was nearly impossible to maintain directional control and decent braking
force at the same time. Seems to me like a really poor design, although
since basing the conclusion on one example, it could just be that
particular machine that did it poorly.

[Steve Hix]

Post by Mike Ash

Post by Steve Hix
A third approach to braking/steering was the heel brakes that were
standard on Champs and J3s. Some would argue that there are reasons why
toe brakes came into widespread use.

The one time I flew something with heel brakes (LS-4, German single-seat
glider) I nearly ran off the runway trying to get the thing stopped. It
was nearly impossible to maintain directional control and decent braking
force at the same time. Seems to me like a really poor design, although
since basing the conclusion on one example, it could just be that
particular machine that did it poorly.

I don't believe that the LS-4 you flew singularly deficient, brakingwise.