Ian's advice comes to play here.

Interesting. I thought gravity was too harsh a mistress to let anything stay in the air for longer than she'd like it to.

She can be a tricky bitch.

And right now, many many planes are flying about in the sky's overhead...

Durn Air show.

What's worse than flying your first solo flight?
Flying your first solo flight and KNOWING everyone is watching you.

Bunners

i dont think id ever be able to do this

Never be in a hurry to make a bad decision. Just say NOPE! and do it again.

Great decision, Chucky! Just relax and try again. No sense diving for the runway.

That balloon, though. Wee!

I love a comic that can spark a sense of suspense!

I guess he forgot, or wasn't shown, that he could have done a forward slip descent. It's a good way to lose altitude very quickly without speeding up.

I remember having to do that once in Tittusville at Space Coast Regional Airport (KTIX). I was in the pattern at 1000 feet AGL when the tower advised that I needed to stay at that altitude until I turned on final because helicopter pilots were training around the base leg of the pattern at around 500 feet. So when I turned from base to final, I went to full flaps and engine idle just like Chucky. I then pushed forward on the yoke, and applied full right rudder while using left aileron to keep me aligned with the runway and plummeted, losing 700 feet while not speeding up, and was set to do my touch and go when I came out of the forward slip at 300 feet AGL.

He's been taught it. He didn't think to use it at this moment. He's got a few more attempts yet.

I remember the first time my flight instructor showed me that manoeuver. We were about 3500 feet over Merritt Island, near the airport where I was training (KCOI). When we went into the forward slip, our Piper Warrior plummeted, practically falling sideways at around 1500 ft/min from 3500 to 1000 feet. I don't recall what our airspeed was, but it was not all that fast. It really made in impression, and I never forgot to make use of it when necessary.

I had the same experience with the Cessna series. I made much use of it to get me out of badly planned approaches.

There is a desire to make it work before going around. It's definitely based on experience.

You feel it more in the small ones, but it doesn't take much to notice it in the big ones as well.

makes me wonder if any of them are laughing at Chucky but will sympathize with him when he lands for the night.

Oh it's definitely sympathy. Ian's heart is probably pounding as hard as Chucky's.

...now that's something I hadn't considered.

Distraction, a very dangerous thing.

Yeah, considering just a heavy gust on the runway when the plane is stationary can create enough lift to be able to move it with your index finger is a sign of just how ready those things are to go flying.

Probably less of a problem with the bigger guys?

Yeah, doesn't happen as easy with the bigger ones. But with some strong gusts, even the bigger ones can get tossed around.

why didn't anyone think of a hundred pound bag of sand to replace ian's weight in the plane?

Ballast has been used extensively, but it's usually used when, without it, the airplane's center of gravity would be out of limits. Chucky's airplane is not outside of its center of gravity limits, just significantly different. Part of learning to fly is being able to handle the airplane's entire performance envelope.

I just realized I can never be a pilot. I despise talking on radio.

Communicating with the tower would probably scare me more than flying ^^

You'd probably get used to it. It's just one more part of the task.

I guess. Still would hate that part. :P