It’s FREAKING HOT up there.  Good gracious.  Today we did a little ground school while we were waiting for the plan to be returned to the hangar, then it was time to go!  Did I mention it was hot?

So remember yesterday.  Hot = thermals = bouncy time.  Plus we had some wicked wind from the south today.  The new maneuver for today was S-Turns.  These are essentially tight S turns around a fixed line such as a road.  I did very well with those.  

I wanted more landing practice, so we headed over to Propwash (16X).  When we got there, my instructor wanted to show me how to do a slip.  This is essentially a method for losing altitude quickly without gaining airspeed.  You use opposite aileron & rudder inputs (think a massively uncoordinated turn) which causes you to quickly lose altitude without gaining airspeed.  The problem is it really goofs with your inner ear.  That with the heat and wind made me airsick for the first time during my flight training.

We did a couple of touch and go landings at Propwash and then I told my instructor I’d had enough.  Opened up the window and I was fine.  I also learned the importance of situation awareness up there today as another plane was coming head on while we were doing maneuvers in the practice area.  Plus, we saw a B-25 doing touch & go landings at Alliance and then doing maneuvers over the lake.  It was pretty amazing watching that massive aircraft pull 50-60 degree bank turns (in part thanks to us doing maneuvers over at Propwash).

I’ve been reading about weather so we’ll do more weather stuff in the classroom tomorrow, but I’m ready to take some Bonine and suck it up for a good day of flying tomorrow!