I went back to the SD logs and here are a few examples.
This is my first flight as PIC on a C152. I was flying north of Prague last month on a relaxed day.
I was fairly stable except above a few ridges.
Then here is me, last week, departing from LKKV to LKLN on a busy and super turbulent day.
One moment I’m getting an updraft that causes me to climb with 1000fpm and I have to pitch down like – 20° and go idle so I don’t bust the TMA then another moment Im getting a downdraft that makes me descent with 700fpm so I have to go full power and pitch up like 12°. Unfortunately when I was just about to leave the TMA I got an updraft so strong that I ended up busting the TMA for a couple seconds. Thankfully the controller said he didn’t even noticed. That entire flight was a carousel because of the updrafts and downdrafts.
After that I flew yesterday only to practice holding the altitude but it was bumpy and I was pretty bad at it.
There is this cycle:
1. I get an updraft – I pitch down and reduce RPM to arrest the climb then reset pitch, power and re-trim to fly level.
2. After an updraft I get a downdraft – I pitch up and increase RPM to arrest the sink then reset pitch, power and re-trim to fly level.
And this cycle just keeps on happening non-stop.
Honestly, for a VFR flight, don’t sweat it. Unless you have a tight altitude restriction, just ride the thermals and sink and you will maintain an altitude by average even if sometimes you’re 100ft high or 100ft low. It’s a much more efficient way to fly rather than fighting lift and sink constantly. You shouldn’t be using the AI as a crutch when VFR,use the real one :-)
If you can get up high, just go above the cloud base where it’s smooth.
@LeSving wrote:
Your brain is a much better AI than you think (pretty stupid thing to say in these AI infected days , thinking of the “other” AI). But it has to be trained. Not much training is needed though. 2-3 hours max and you got the hang of it.
@GA_Pete wrote:
Once your brain has experienced it, you will subconsciously learn a chunk, and have more confidence it is a stable platform.
A lot of wisdom here – train your brain to do what you want, but understand that it does take some time. The analogy I like is riding a bicycle. You don’t think about balancing, you just do it. You don’t think about riding in a generally straight line, you just do it. You have trained your brain and body ride a bike. Same can be done with flying.
There are guys on this forum (@Dan) that can hand-fly for hours in a straight line, and hold altitude almost as good as an AP. That’s the result of years of practice. Most of us can do it, but I know it takes me a lot more mental energy than I want to expend on that task, since I have an AP. I guess if I had 20k hours I’d be able to do it and also have a few neurons to look for traffic, navigate, and talk to ATC.
Honestly, for a VFR flight, don’t sweat it.
In a light wing loading aircraft on a turbulent day, you cannot immediately correct height deviations. Just be patient, and set the trend.
There is this cycle:
1. I get an updraft – I pitch down and reduce RPM to arrest the climb then reset pitch, power and re-trim to fly level.
2. After an updraft I get a downdraft – I pitch up and increase RPM to arrest the sink then reset pitch, power and re-trim to fly level.
And this cycle just keeps on happening non-stop.
I’m not sure I’d touch trim or power, I’d just apply some influence on the elevator to manage, but not fight the updraught and downdraft. Then there’s no additional influence on the aircraft.
By touching power and trim you’re ‘chasing your tail’
If you don’t need to maintain the altitude precisely, then yes, you could just ride the wave (with small corrections).
If you DO need to maintain the altitude, especially on a sunny day at ~2000ft AMSL, then the only way to do it is to adjust the power, otherwise there is too much updraft/downdraft to just push or pull your controls – GFC 500 with autotrim was unable to maintain the altitude within 100ft on one of those days.
hold altitude almost as good as an AP
Almost?
😉😅
Seriously now, my altitude deviation limits are 50’, and anything >20’ annoys me. Now I think that flying is easier and more natural than breathing.
Separating the weeds from the BS in this thread, one way is to train… by flying. Not sure how much the OP is doing this, but one can’t expect to be proficient, and maintaining that proficiency, by flying say 100 hours/year… or less… the more so if old and of average caliber like yours truly 😬
For the others, either they are “naturals” or engage the PD aka George, and hope for the best 🤞🏻
I’ve owned a C150 at some stage and while it is easy to fly it is imho not the ideal instrument platform, too light and quite lively.
Attitude: look outside. Much bigger horizon than inside. A 152 is not designed as a plane with IFR in mind, but a basic school plane where the primary reference is outside. Having said that, I have flown it and others with similar instruments and it’s just getting used to it.
Get a feel for it and do use the trim. IMHO it’s anything but useless, even in a 152. The more you fly it, the more precise you are going to be.
Altitude: Use the altimeter. The top of the large pointer will tell you immediately if you go off altitude.
What I wonder about is the changing RPM. The 152 has a fixed pitch prop, so RPM will change with any power change. And there are people who actually fly this thing with less than WOT, but as far as I can remember, RPM was quite steady on the ones that I’ve flown if the rest is flown stable.
Set the power, then trim in into level flight. All that’s to it.
Also keep the ball (turn and back) in the center so fuel will feed from both tanks. I’ve seen 150’s which always had a small yaw moment to one side, there you may end up by emptying one tank before the other will start to feed.
JoeMama_the_Pilot wrote:
There is this cycle:1. I get an updraft – I pitch down and reduce RPM to arrest the climb then reset pitch, power and re-trim to fly level.
2. After an updraft I get a downdraft – I pitch up and increase RPM to arrest the sink then reset pitch, power and re-trim to fly level.And this cycle just keeps on happening non-stop.
Leave the RPM alone and the cycle will smooth out. Just fly the thing using the wheel. The more you play with power and pitch, the larger the oscillations become. A well trimmed out airplane at constant power will be much easier to control than if you constantly change them.
Set a power level and forget it, e.g. 2300 rpm, find the nose pitch attitude that keeps you straight and level, make a mental note of the distance from the top of the instrument cluster to the horizon, fly by keeping that distance constant, trim the aircraft.
Small fluctuations due to turbulence and thermals will happen, don’t fight them too much, it’s a light aircraft.
If you fly in the UK, turn mode C off 
Like this
