For the first time, prior to my lesson, I was actually hoping that the weather would drop below minimums and we would have to cancel. It wasn't because I didn't want to fly, but because I had scheduled my written exam for immediately after the lesson ended. I wasn't too panicked about the exam, but I really would have liked those extra three hours for a last minute cram session.Well, it didn't work out that way. The weather was windy. In fact, the crosswind component at San Antonio International (SAT) was hovering right around 15 knots (15 knots is the maximum demonstrated crosswind for takeoffs and landings in a 172), but it was supposed to get better, not worse, so Rodrigo and I made the decision to go for it. My time to study for the written exam was over, but, as it turns out, I was very happy that we were able to fly.Rodrigo started out the lesson with an oral examination. Today, he focused mainly on sectional charts and navigation. For an entire hour, I had my San Antonio sectional spread out on Rodrigo's desk. He would point to something and I would explain to him what it was. He would then have me go into greater detail about the airspace or procedures associated with the area on the chart. When there was something he wanted to ask me, but it wasn't on the San Antonio sectional, he would pull out a Houston sectional which seemed to have about every symbol known to man on it!After an hour of this, we went to check the weather and, ultimately, decided to go fly. First, we headed directly to Stinson (SSF) for some landings. As with the last few lessons, the focus was on soft-field takeoffs and landings. My soft-field takeoffs are fairly good now (and they are a lot of fun to do), but my landings still needed a little work. Mainly, I needed to do a better job of keeping the nose wheel off the ground longer after the main gear touched down. We ended up doing 3 landings at Stinson. For the most part, they were fairly good considering I was battling a pretty good cross-wind on top of simply trying to get the soft-field technique correct.After three landings, Rodrigo was satisfied and we headed over to the south practice area for some ground reference maneuvers. I proceeded to do two s-turns and one turn around a point. I hadn't done these for a long time, but they all went pretty well. Rodrigo kept reminding me that the set-up is critical. If the set-up isn't right, don't start the maneuver. I have to remember this when it comes time for my check-ride!Next, Rodrigo had me navigate to Midlake Airport (28TE). Midlake Airport is a 2000x200 foot grass strip between Lakes Calaveras and Braunig. It is a private strip, but Wright Flyers has worked out a deal with the owner which allows Wright Flyers aircraft to use the strip for training purposes without obtaining prior authorization to land.Upon arriving at Midlake, Rodrigo had me fly a normal pattern for runway 17 (right traffic), but instead of landing, we did a low approach to inspect the strip. Rodrigo told me that I should do this before I land on any grass or dirt strip so that I could inspect the runway for standing water, holes, or even dead animals. To do our inspection, we flew over the runway at about 50 feet and 65 knots while searching for anything that could get in the way of a nice, smooth landing. Not seeing anything, we did a go-around and Rodrigo took the controls so that I could follow him on the first landing and feel what it is like before I actually did one myself. Moments later, we were on the ground, rumbling down the grass strip. Once Rodrigo turned the airplane around to taxi back, he asked me if I had my camera. I pulled it out and gave it to him. In exchange, I got the controls back.As soon as I turned the airplane back around at the start of runway 17, I hit the throttle and did my first grass-strip takeoff. Now, it is clear to me why you need to get the airplane off the ground as soon as possible and then stay in ground effect until Vy. That was one bumpy runway!!Staying in the pattern, I came back around for my first grass-strip landing. When I turned final, I was a bit high, but I immediately corrected. As I crossed the threshold, everything was looking good. The main gear touched down and I kept the nose wheel up. In fact, I kept it up too far and the airplane left the ground again. I settled it back down on the main gear and then slowly went to idle. The nose gear gently settled down and the airplane gradually slowed as the end of the runway approached. By the end of the runway, we were slow enough for me to do a 180 and start taxiing back. I definitely understand the importance of keeping the nose gear up now. The soft-field really does slow you down fast!Unfortunately, we only had time for the two landings at Midlake before it was time to head back to SAT. Not only did someone have the airplane after me, but I had a written exam to take as well. Once we were back at SAT, we secured the airplane and then went inside for a short lesson debrief.Wright Flyers is also a Lasergrade testing facility. This means that, in order to take my written exam, I just had to wonder over to the dispatch desk and tell the dispatcher that I was ready to start the exam. After a brief moment of double checking my information on the computer, I was escorted into the testing room and given a brief tutorial on the testing software. For the next 45 minutes, I cruised through the 60 question exam. I answered all of the questions and marked those that I wasn't 100% positive on (about 8). Then, I spent another 30-40 minutes going back over my marked questions trying to eliminate answers until I was fairly sure I had the right one. Finally, I clicked the "Quit Test" button and headed back out to the dispatch desk.The dispatcher/test proctor pulled up my exam on his computer and immediately told me that I had at least passed. Great, I have at least a 70%. Then, he started to print my test report which would have my actual score. As the printer started to hum, he said, "And now we get to see how long your oral is going to be!"Moments later he pulled the paper from the printer, flipped it over and told me that I had scored a 93! A huge feeling of relief washed over me. I had been taking a bunch of practice exams on which I was scoring between 80-87%. I had never broken 90% on a practice exam and I went into the actual exam just hoping for about an 85%. The 93% put a big smile on my face. Between landing on a grass strip for the first time and then scoring a 93 on the written, I left Wright Flyers as one content aviator!
For the first time, prior to my lesson, I was actually hoping that the weather would drop below minimums and we would have to cancel. It wasn't because I didn't want to fly, but because I had scheduled my written exam for immediately after the lesson ended. I wasn't too panicked about the exam, but I really would have liked those extra three hours for a last minute cram session. Well, it didn't work out that way. The weather was windy. In fact, the crosswind component at San Antonio International (SAT) was hovering right around 15 knots (15 knots is the maximum demonstrated crosswind for takeoffs and landings in a 172), but it was supposed to get better, not worse, so Rodrigo and I made the decision to go for it. My time to study for the written exam was over, but, as it turns out, I was very happy that we were able to fly. Rodrigo started out the lesson with an oral examination. Today, he focused mainly on sectional charts and navigation. For an entire hour, I had my San Antonio sectional spread out on Rodrigo's desk. He would point to something and I would explain to him what it was. He would then have me go into greater detail about the airspace or procedures associated with the area on the chart. When there was something he wanted to ask me, but it wasn't on the San Antonio sectional, he would pull out a Houston sectional which seemed to have about every symbol known to man on it! After an hour of this, we went to check the weather and, ultimately, decided to go fly. First, we headed directly to Stinson (SSF) for some landings. As with the last few lessons, the focus was on soft-field takeoffs and landings. My soft-field takeoffs are fairly good now (and they are a lot of fun to do), but my landings still needed a little work. Mainly, I needed to do a better job of keeping the nose wheel off the ground longer after the main gear touched down. We ended up doing 3 landings at Stinson. For the most part, they were fairly good considering I was battling a pretty good cross-wind on top of simply trying to get the soft-field technique correct. After three landings, Rodrigo was satisfied and we headed over to the south practice area for some ground reference maneuvers. I proceeded to do two s-turns and one turn around a point. I hadn't done these for a long time, but they all went pretty well. Rodrigo kept reminding me that the set-up is critical. If the set-up isn't right, don't start the maneuver. I have to remember this when it comes time for my check-ride! Next, Rodrigo had me navigate to Midlake Airport (28TE). Midlake Airport is a 2000x200 foot grass strip between Lakes Calaveras and Braunig. It is a private strip, but Wright Flyers has worked out a deal with the owner which allows Wright Flyers aircraft to use the strip for training purposes without obtaining prior authorization to land. Upon arriving at Midlake, Rodrigo had me fly a normal pattern for runway 17 (right traffic), but instead of landing, we did a low approach to inspect the strip. Rodrigo told me that I should do this before I land on any grass or dirt strip so that I could inspect the runway for standing water, holes, or even dead animals. To do our inspection, we flew over the runway at about 50 feet and 65 knots while searching for anything that could get in the way of a nice, smooth landing. Not seeing anything, we did a go-around and Rodrigo took the controls so that I could follow him on the first landing and feel what it is like before I actually did one myself. Moments later, we were on the ground, rumbling down the grass strip. Once Rodrigo turned the airplane around to taxi back, he asked me if I had my camera. I pulled it out and gave it to him. In exchange, I got the controls back. As soon as I turned the airplane back around at the start of runway 17, I hit the throttle and did my first grass-strip takeoff. Now, it is clear to me why you need to get the airplane off the ground as soon as possible and then stay in ground effect until Vy. That wa