Lazy Eights

     I had the opportunity to fly as a safety pilot while H.-P. practiced "under the hood." In order to fly an airplane by its instruments only, as pilots do when they fly through the clouds, unable to see the ground, they must practice doing so in nice weather, but with their eyes covered just enough to omit everything above the cockpit. A pilot places "foggles" over his eyes to cover everything except his instruments. This mandates having another pilot flying with them to make sure they do not fly into someone else, or to prevent other mistakes.

     First we flew to Olney where they enjoy having beautifully maintained runways and a GPS approach:

      The chart above reminds me of an expression I hear often said by the volunteers and rehabbers at Wild Bird Rescue in reference to some nestling birds, such as the baby grackles: ". . . a face only a mother could love." Only pilots love the kind of charts the aviation navigation engineers developed to aide them in finding air fields while flying inside clouds.

        After H.-P. practiced his approaches, the final ones subsequently at Wichita Valley Airport, he practiced lazy eights, a maneuver practiced by pilots to develop perfect control of the aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration provides a good diagram to show what a lazy eight should look like:

        What fun to sit in the right seat while experiencing the undulations of the lazy eight! (Yes, more fun to fly them!) While climbing and descending during a lazy eight, the pilot tests his skill in maintaining constant speed while the airplane loses or gains with each turn. I took photos as H.-P. performed the maneuver. H.-P. pitched to a forty-five degree angle, bringing the nose of his aircraft up, and watched his altitude and airspeed as he flew the lazy eight. The horizon shows the North Central Texas countryside looking green in spite of the severe drought conditions.