Lesson 33-34: Maneuver practice, short/soft take-off and landings, stalls, steep turns, engine out and forward slips

Today and yesterday were stressful days. My instructor put me through my paces to prepare me for my stage two check tomorrow. I felt very proud today as I was able to talk myself through all of the maneuvers listed in this title.

The forward slips are always my favorite, (as shown in the image above), practicing losing a ton of altitude without an increase in airspeed. The Sky Arrow is great at executing this maneuver because of it's large rudder. Here is a great graphic to help explain a forward slip:

I was also feeling confident in my steep turns. My instructor gave me a few reminders but it was mostly smooth sailing. I felt that I needed to work on my altitude holding abilities during the steep turn as every now and then I can feel myself wanting to pull back on the stick to increase my altitude, though this would only result in a tighter turn and more resultant forces pushing me into my seat. As the image below shows, one does not want to increase their wing loading factor during a steep turn that could result in a spin.

I was excited after my lesson today knowing that tomorrow would be my final step before my check ride. I am so close to achieving my goal of getting my license!