Education Consists Mainly of What We Have Unlearned

I believe it was Mark Twain that said: “Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.” Today’s flight was a good example. Adam, my CFI, was out of town this weekend and I scheduled a couple of flights with Nora Cole of Wings of Eagles.


It would be wring of me to say I had to unlearn everything I know about flying, but this flight really challenged me to look at what I was doing and why I was doing it.

We took off in the DA20 (N223NH) to the practice area about 10 miles east of the airport and practiced slow flight, power on/off stalls, and steep turns. With all of the focus lately put on navigation, communications, pattern work, it has been weeks (May 31st) since I practiced with an instructor some of these basics.

It was good to review. Also with a different instructor, I was able to see me results from a different set of eyes. In addition, received tips that I may not of from Adam. I especially liked the way she sets up for a power on stall. She brings the plane to a stall at about 60 MPH and then adds power until we were at about 2,300 RPM. This was a lot less stressful of a stall and I didn’t feel nearly as vertical.

Next we flew to Lebanon airport to practice a few landings. We spent some time in the traffic pattern, and once again, I received some feedback. I had always targeted touching down as quickly on the runway as possible, which usually meant landing on the numbers. The PAPI are usually designed for the pilot to land on the 1,000 foot mark. There is technically nothing wrong with landing the on the numbers, but then I’m not really utilizing the all of the resources available (PAPI) to assist with the landing. One may argue that landing shorter allows the pilot more runway to stop the aircraft, yet with these long runways, there is plenty of room

It was not a normal feeling to come in higher, so I had the feeling on “relearning” how to land. What I was actually doing was learning another technique to land. I absolutely believe this experience made me a better pilot.

Next, we came back to Smyrna and landed a few more times, with a higher approach.

Flight time: 1.10 hours
Cost: Plane rental - $103.00, Instructor Fee - $44.00