pilot's logbook

C-152 N69011 LOU LOU Preflight, Taxiing, climbs, descents, straight & level, T/O & landing, steep turns. 1-1/2 hr.

All right! This is possible. Without all the wind of the last two flights, we had an entirely different experience. I was worried. Now I'm not.

Preflight is starting to make sense.
I pretty much followed the yellow line when taxiing, which is a HUGE improvement over last time.
Takeoff makes sense. Mike was telling me what to do, but it doesn't feel difficult. The plane does all the work.
We flew over Indiana today. Lots of practice trying to hold a 30-degree bank and keep level, also practice climbing steadily. It's not steady yet, but at least I'm starting to feel it and to know what it all looks like when it's right. This time I was looking outside for most of the verification, and checking with the instruments. The amount of bank you have to do to show 30 degrees on instruments looks a whole lot more like 45 degrees out the window.
We worked on maintaining airspeed by changing the pitch.
I learned how to set the trim.
At one point, Mike had me take the plane up to 5,000 ft and head back S toward the river, about 15 miles. We pulled the engine back to just idle, so essentially we were gliding. Now THAT was interesting. The plane just hangs there, moving along, doing its thing. Coming back in, Mike had me take the river to 6-Mile Island, then hang a left toward Kaden Tower. Bowman Field is on the right. Now I can't remember how the last turn(s) were. Did I just hang a right and go in? I don't remember.

Looking forward to next Monday!