Runway 26 Righthand Outer Circuit between St Albans & Radlett

Back in the hot seat again this morning after ages away. I sat down with Keith and talked through where I'm at. I'm progressing fine but not flying frequently so I was concerned that I am simply going over the same ground. He was encouraging. I need to get the circuit flying sorted with 100% good landings, do my (infernal!) Air Law Exam and then go solo. After that we'll continue a mix of dual and solo circuits and start on navigation. I'm really looking forward to that.

So, to today. I did the walkaround external checks in the cold on G-CETD (even though it scruffy inside, I like this plane). Pre-flight checks and pre-departure checks all absolutely fine.

I did 7 take offs (including 6 touch 'n' goes) and 7 seven landings. We flew from runway 29 (heading West) on the outer righthand circuit (e.g. to the North) just to the North of Radlett for most of the circuits; the last 2 were done on the middle circuit over Radlett proper.

My first circuit went by in a blur; I could tell it has been too long since I last flew. Gradually it all came together again then though. On a couple of circuits I failed to raise the first stage of flap after take off and turn off the landing light (which pissed me off: basic errors).

Overall I was quite pleased. My configuration for landing (including trimming the aircraft properly for 75-70 knots in the approach which had been an issue previously) was good and I feel confident about that now.

I did one fantastic landing (Keith: "I want 100% of them like that."), 1 really poor landing and 5 pretty mediocre efforts. The earning points are: (1) keep the aircraft flying along the runway [e.g. don't dump it down], (2) Not too many control inputs on late finals (let go a little to regain stability), (3) watch my leaden right foot rudder control on the runway.

I really enjoyed it and am feeling a little irritated that I haven't flown more and done my exam. Next lesson: engine failure action and more circuits.