Unal and I flew five or six circuits for one hour today. I had to do some of the radio calls, and had control of the plane the whole time. There was a 10 knot crosswind that made judging the circuit not perfectly easy with no real experience at this location/in this plane.
The circuit for runway 22 is: fly straight until around 750-800 feet, then turn towards Shirley’s Bay. After flying 1 mile, we turn towards Mooney’s Bay. This stretch is called the downwind, and is where I complete some quick checks of the plane, and contact the Tower, letting them know I intend to land. Over Mooney’s Bay, we turn perpendicular to the runway, and begin our descent. After that, we simply have to turn to line up with the runway, recieve landing clearance, and land.
Since we were doing touch-and-gos, as soon as the plane touches down, we add full power and take off again.
I had trouble concentrating for some reason, and consistently flew too fast on the base and final legs of the circuit. I am supposed to fly 70 knots, but I stayed around 75. The last time around, I finally flew a better approach, though.
Also, because of the crosswind, I got some practice in crosswind landings - crabbing until short final (almost ready to land), then side-slipping almost onto the runway, and finally landing with the into-wind wing low. Overall, a great flight!