Crossssss wind
Strange things happen lately – we are observing direct crosswind to our runway. Because of that my landings are more than crappy. To the point that Terry decided that we won’t even try them too much – instead we went to the practice area and I tried to do some stalls.
The Cherokee behaves totally different than C172 and I have much bigger problem in performing both power on and off stalls within PTS requirements. If I recall correctly it took me 5 tries of power off stalls to keep altitude loss within required 100ft. It’s even worse with power on ones. But I start to feel all those differences in how this bird reacts to control inputs depending where we are so I don’t see any problems here – practice makes perfect and we definitely will get there before checkride.
Same thing with steep turns. My second try today was pretty nice. There was quite a haze so I had some problems seeing horizon, but I did quite good. There is only one thing to remember – do it gentle and the plane will make nice 45 degree bank turn without loosing altitude (actually I was rather gaining it). Big, big improvement comparing to all previous tries.
Now… Let’s pray for good wings so I can learn how to land and solo finally.
1.0h/0.0h inst : 2 to/ldg logged
15.2h/0.8h inst : 54 to/ldg total
You (and your flight instructor) may want to review the Private Pilot PTS. There is no maximum altitude loss for the performance of either power on or power off stalls. Don’t be confused with how the PTS lists them under “Slow flight and stalls.” Ensure that you read the specific requirements for power off stalls. I’m also surprised that you’re having a tougher time with the Piper than you are with the Cessna. I’ve got lots of time in Pa-28-161’s, and when I transitioned to the 172 I HATED it. I think the 172 will drop a wing a lot quicker than the Piper will. Best of luck!
I suspect that our opinions differ because of differences between aircrafts we fly. My Cessna was equipped with Horton’s STOL kit with modified wing leading edges, wing tips and stall fences on the upper wing surface. On the other hand if I recall facts correctly PA-28-161 you fly is equipped with newer, tapered wing design which has 2 ft greater wingspan. Those two things contribute to the fact that to me it’s been (and still is) much harder to do nice and quick stall recovery in Piper than it was in C172.