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Flying Lesson 15
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Today's lesson started off a little differently than any lesson to this point. It seems every flying lesson brings with it a new experience. After pre-flight we taxied to the hold point as we normally would. As I ran up the RPM's and began to check the mags I discovered that we either had a fouled plug or an electrical problem of some other sort. The mag test is done to isolate each of the redundant magnetos. By turning the ignition key switch to the left either one or two clicks we can run the engine on either the left or right magneto. The test of the right magneto revealed a drop of 200 to 300 RPM and a sputtering motor. My instructor said it was nothing to be concerned with and it very well could be a fouled plug. We leaned the mixture and ran the engine at high RPM's to try and clear the fouled plug. This didn't do anything to help the problem initially and I was beginning to think the lesson wouldn't go on as planned. He assured me that a spark plug was the culprit and we would takeoff as planned. When we returned to the runway we would perform the test again.
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Needless to say, the fouled plug regained its ability to spark and the engine performed normally once we took it around the pattern. This was the first time I had seen anything not go as planned in regards to pre-flight or the pre-takeoff checks, so it was a stark reminder that these tests need to be performed each and every time we leave the ground. The airplane operated normally for the remainder of the lesson and I regained my utmost confidence in the Cessna very quickly. With near perfect weather and just a slight breeze I turned my focus to my flying and my landings once again.
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This may get redundant to read, but this lesson basically revolved around landing practice once again. I performed two nice landings with my instructor on board and the rest were done solo. My comfort level with the solo flying grows every minute I'm in the air. I was able to successfully do about ten touch-and-go landings. This was the first time I was able to really perform the touch-and-go method by myself. It definitely gives you more time so you can really add up the landings within the standard lesson time.
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