Stage II Check

At long last, I did my stage II check today with the chief flight instructor. I had to plan for a flight to the Eastern Shore, then to Atlantic City, then to Hagerstown, then to Baltimore, then back to home base. He didn't even look at the flight plan, maybe because he arrived late and then he had a lesson immediately after mine.

We flew over to the Eastern Shore, did a couple of landings at Easton, then we went to Ridgely, did a landing and a couple of simulated engine-outs, and then did some of the basic maneuvers, including hood work. Then it was an uneventful flight back to base.

I botched the initial approach to Easton, approaching from the wrong side. He also said I wasn't aggressive enough getting the nose down on one of the stalls. And on one of the three simulated engine-out tries he said I would have come up short so we did a go around.

So, room to improve, but I passed the stage check. Now I get to fly my solo long cross country flight.

PS: It seems I neglected to mention some things that I should have... We had to dodge some clouds here and there. That's not a big deal, but I was inclined to descend to get at least 500 feet below them, but the instructor didn't seem so concerned about them. Maybe he was testing me. Maybe he wasn't so worried because he's an IFR pilot. On one of my unusual attitude recoveries, I had to quickly add power (he left me nose high). When I did, it sounded and felt like something suddenly rattled the engine. That was my first experience with carbeurator ice.