It was going to be a long flight for today, as expected. As for today, a good friend of mine (Mr. K) is going to backseat my flight. I'm going to practice climb and descend, and a bit of steep turns due to my imperfections during the last session. Last session, I did medium and steep turns which seems to be fine when I relaxed. The first run I did was wobbly and imbalance due to me tensing up since I did not expect it to be a bit complicated comparing to the simulator (thank you Microsoft for creating such a great program). So, in order to compensate for the last time, my instructor asked me to practice a bit more on the steep turns. I did okay and my instructor was satisfied.
Next, he showed me on how to do a cruise descend. In this case, it's a descend at cruising speed which is usually ranging from 100-90kts. As for Julia, the throttle was set at 1900rpm in order to maintain 100kts while having the nose pitching downwards with a descend rate of 500 ft/min. It was damn easy since I managed to master the technique with the first try with me gleefully smiling to the instructor as he complimented me.
Then, came glide descend. Almost basically the same where I need to put Julia in a descending attitude, but this time, I need to make her fall out of the sky slower at approximately 75kts with idle power. Yep, idle power which makes it a bit tricky. Adding to the problem, the control gets super sloppy, not forgetting the turbulence from the uneven grounds down below. At first, while holding a straight and level attitude, I cut the power to idle letting the airspeed drop. During this phase, I need to pull back and trim the aircraft to avoid the nose from pitching down (to ensure the speed drops faster). Slowly, Julia started to wobble a bit as the speed drops to 80kts since there're less lift. 80, 77, 75, "Pitching down, Attitude - maintain pitch down attitude, Lookout - left clear, front clear, right clear, Performance - rate of descend 500ft per min, and 75kts." Saying it out allows me to remember these stuffs better.
"Level off at 1500ft," the instructor told me.
"Yes sir, 1500ft."
"1700, 1600ft.. Nearing level off altitude.. 1500ft, level off."
I yanked the control column backwards causing Julia to pitch up like a horse being pulled on the rein.
"Wooo wooo. Ease off a bit. Don't try to stall the aircraft, see your airspeed is 55kts already."
Oh crap. I thought Julia won't jerk at that rate since we're at low speed. But I forgot that the propeller is still spinning, causing the rudder and elevator to be more responsive compared to the ailerons. My instructor climbed Julia to 2000ft and asked me to do the practice again. This time, it is a much smoother glide. Nearing 1500ft, I slowly pull the control column backwards and apply cruising power plus the right rudder to counter the slipstream effect. Bingo, I hit the sweetspot and there we are, cruising at almost 200kmph at an altitude of 1500ft.
"Okay good. Now climb the aircraft, full power, right rudder, pitch up, trim, and maintain attitude for a speed of 75kts."
It was pretty easy.
"Now, request for city area for a tour since your friend is getting bored."
I turn around and I get what my instructor meant. There was my friend at the back, sleeping soundfully. I was suprised to see him in that state even after a lot of bumps here and there due to the turbulence. Maybe it was super boring I guess, going round and round for a whole hour.
"Simpang Tower, 9M-HAN, request rejoin for city area." I requested from the ATC.
"9M-HAN, track to Ampang, 1500ft."
"Track to Ampang, 1500ft, 9M-HAN." I replied back.
I asked for my instructor to fly the plane. I turn backwards and tap my friend on the knee. He woke up with a blurry face. I told him we're going to city area for a tour. He shrugged his shoulder with a finger pointing towards his headset signing that it was not working. Oh, no wonder he's bored. The headset is broken and he can't hear a damn thing. I text 'We're going to city area for a tour' on my Blackberry and showed it to him. He nodded quickly. I take another look at him, and I sense that his face is almost white as paper. I guess he's just scared of heights.
We did a tour around the infamous twin towers and a few other places around the city. Julia was bucking up and down due to the hot weather and turbulence from the buildings below. We did a few rounds above the city and my instructor asked me to request for rejoin.
"Simpang Tower, 9M-HAN, from city area request rejoin for full stop sir."
"9M-HAN, rejoin approve, runway 22, QNH 1010, report on final."
"Runway 22, QNH 1010, report on final, 9M-HAN."
The instructor positioned Julia for long final and he said the most exciting thing I've heard in ages, "Now, you do the landing". I almost crap in my pants once I've heard that. I asked him wether he is sure, and he said yes. I gulped a few times and pray to God that everything will be fine. Did the downwind checks:
BUMFFH
-Brakes off
-Undercarriage fixed
-Mixture rich
-Fuel selector both
-Flaps stage one
-Harness and hatches secured
On final, "Simpang Tower, 9M-HAN, on final".
"9M-HAN, beware chopper hovering, surface wind calm, clear to land."
"Copy traffic, clear to land, 9M-HAN".
I shook myself for a bit the release the tensions, pray a bit and prepare to land.
"Power to 1500rpm, flaps stage 1, nose down, aiming point threshold, trim a bit, airspeed still high, flaps stage 2, power to idle, flaps stage 3".
We were on a high decend, I can see the whole length of the runway. I thought that we're going to overshoot but my instructor asked me to relax. Slowly, the airspeed started to reduce to 65kts and we're on the correct glide path. I apply a bit of power to avoid Julia from stalling. Julia slowly descend towards the runway smoothly, suddenly the left wing dropped drastically. My quick mind reacted yanking to the right to avoid Julia from running off course. At the same time, I pressed hard on the right rudder to allign back for the centreline. Julia was wobbling roughly was in control. Slowly I descend to the runway, flare and let Julia to gently touch the runway. Screech went the tire and I apply the brakes to slow down.
"9M-HAN, vacate via Charlie".
"Vacate via Charlie, 9M-HAN".
I look at my instructor and he gave thumb up.
"THAT WAS A SUPERB FIRST LANDING!!" I scream in my heart.
Mr.K before the flight. 
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