First Lesson

April
071315Z

Weather Conditions:wind 290 at 4perfect vfr
wind aloftFT 3000 6000 9000 12000 18000 24000 30000 34000 39000BOS 2108 2423-12 2627-17 2537-21 2245-32 2267-42 218747 227745 226244
clouds at 6000 ft in 1 hour

Aircraft:
ASEL C172
N65719 needed R rudder almost the entire time. Actually really annoying, next time I'll request the N2146Z - a Cessna 172SP - fuel injected engine, engine sounded better - left turning tendency was reduced - more modern - (engine exhaust temp gage too)

Learned:
1. Use enough R rudder - on takeoff
2. If you reduce rpm by 3000 you will descend 500 fpm without changing attitude - good tip to use if you have enough airspeed.
3. Strait and level flight - I did a good job holding level at a certain altitude, need some work on holding this altitude during a turn - keep visual picture outside in mind when doing these turns)
4. Use TRIM - used trim for the first time during my climb, if you find that you need to hold a lot of force to keep the attitude you want, use trim so you don't need to hold the control wheel so much. - (wheel down to pitch up)
5. Level off and use trim again to hold attitude and altitude.
6. Turns, pick a point outside and gentle bank with rudder as necessary to head toward that object. Keep heading toward that object.
7. ** two fingers on control wheel

Comments: Wind was light when we first took off, I remember it getting a bit stronger at the end of the lesson, not much though. Next time I'll track conditions at the end as well. Few bumps with the wind during flight, no big deal though. Had to wait a long time to take off, 5 in front of us and several in the pattern waiting to land including the experimental Jet (that's how they identified talking to Hanscom Tower-KBED) - looked a bit like an F16 with an elongated nose). The flight instructor was OK, but I need to find a CFI closer to my home location, probably will be KASH next time)