On 5/27/13, I went to the airport planning on flying the C150, N3718J. But, that did not turn out to be the case because of a broken alternator keeping the battery from recharging and the plane from starting. So, I went ahead and upgraded to N2814L, Waynesville's C172, for the first time. Because I had never flown this aircraft before, Joe gave me a quick introduction to the aircraft on the ground during the pre-flight.
Once we were airborne, I headed due North away from the airport a few miles to do some stalls. Joe demonstrated the first one so that I could see how the airplane handled differently than the C150. Surprisingly, the panel and rest of the airplane was almost identical to the C150 despite a few tweaks, which made the transition very easy. After Joe demonstrated one stall, we turned back due South and I did four to get used to the aircraft before trying to land. After doing some air work, I entered the pattern for runway 8. My first two landings were long but soft considering about a 10kt crosswind from the south. The last few were soft as well, but I was also working on landing as short as possible.
Video from today's flight with a GoPro HD Hero 2
Overall, this was a very nice flight and I was really excited to get to fly a new airplane. But, I am still planning on sticking with N3718J, the C150, for the rest of my training. The next step for me is to solo at a towered field as well as complete all of my Cross Country flights. With my 17th birthday being in September, I am very close to my PPL, but just need to fly more often!
