My flight lesson scheduled on 1/1/11 was cancelled due to icing in the wings of the DA-20 aircraft. Today, I had my second flight training class with Instructor Dick Oman. The weather at 10.00 AM PST was sunny but very cold (-2 C) with winds from 050 at 3 knots. I preflighted the aircraft and taxied to the RWY 35 for a normal take with T/O flaps. After the takeoff radio communication, I applied full-thrust with fuel rich and rotated at 55 knots. I climbed straight at 75 knots and turned left cross-wind towards the town of Newberg in the NW of Aurora State Airport (KUAO).
Dick asked me to performe some maneuvers holding altitude, airspeed and heading. At 3,500 ft, he asked me to perform slips to descend with right aileron (and left rudder) and with left aileron (and right rudder). Dick asked me to put on the hood and perform instrument reference (IR) maneuvers - climbing to 4,000 ft while turning for an assigned heading and then descending to 3,500 ft turning to another assigned heading and level flight straight ahead. He then took the flight controls and put the airplane in unusual attitudes and asked me to recover using IR only with the hood on.
After removing the hood with Dick piloting the airplane, I took a HD Video of the spectacular view of the Cascade Mountain range to the East - the majestic snow-covered Mt. Hood looming large just 50 miles away, Mt. Jefferson to the South, Mt. Adams to the North, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in the distant North.
I then took control of the airplane and followed the Newberg VOR. Dick then asked me to turn towards the airport for landing practice. I entered the downwind for RWY 35 at 45 degrees mid-point, left base leg and performed my first landing with L/D flaps at 78 knots. My base leg speed was a little high and I floated before landing on the runway. I then tookoff from the remaining runway with T/O flaps for another traffic pattern and landing practice. I landed the airplane but again with excess speed (with L/D flaps) after a float with the long low-wings of DA-20 C1 Eclipse.
I taxied the airplane to the FBO. Dick gave me a post-flight briefing. Overall, a very productive flight maneuvers lesson with a beautiful view of the peaks of the Cascade Mountain Range and the Willamette River below.
