Warm air rises, Cool air descends...Turbulence

May 20th.
The weather report looked ok. The broken cloud layers were well above the altitude of our route and the surface winds didn't seem too bad. I was in for a surprise. Take off went okay, I had some problems keeping us on the centerline. I attribute that to thinking too hard about keeping the extended runway centerline after take off. We got up at about a 500fpm climb and then...bump...bump...roll...roll...yaw...bump. The roller coaster ride had started. It was choppier than I had expected and my usual calm grip on the controls tightened. As we got to 1300ft to stay under BWI's Class B airspace I nervously admitted to my instructor that this was more than I bargained for. It was very bumpy. The problem with these bumps was you never knew when and how they were going to hit you. You might go up, down, or sideways. He told me that it would take about 500hrs. before I would really be comfortable with the chop. As we got out over the water I told him that I didn't know how much we could really accomplish on a day like today. I was actually hoping that he would say that we should knock it off and return to the field. Since we were farther out from BWI we had passed under another tier of the Class B and had climbing room. Instead of returning we climbed up to about 2400ft to see if we could find some smooth air. It was only a little better but as we got out toward the Bay Bridge it got manageable.

We concentrated on Steep Turns for awhile. They are still difficult but I'm getting a little better at holding altitude. A power off stall was next. The recovery went well. Next we tried something new. A power on stall. This would simulate a stall just after takeoff when you are low and slow. We talked about emergency procedures and went over the engine out drill.
Next it was time for turns around a point. We picked out a spot, a waterfront mansion, and proceeded to circle around it at about 1000ft AGL. I had a lot of fun with this even though I'm going to need some more work to get it locked in.

Once that was over we entered the traffic pattern to land at runway Two-Eight. My instructor coached me along but I managed to do a reasonable job with the pattern and my runway alignment for final approach despite the chop and gusty crosswinds. He coached me all the way down and I practically landed the plane this time, or so it seemed. Once we got onto the runway I had a slight directional problem staying on the centerline. I was able to correct it eventually and we taxied off to get fuel. I must have been a little rattled because my taxi skills had gone to pot. We stopped and chatted with another pilot at the fuel tanks and my instructor introduced me as his "star pupil." I also found out that he was going to cancel his "Discovery Flight" for the day due to the chop we experienced. It wasn't the sort of day I would have wanted to give any of my friends an airplane ride. They probably would never go up with me again after that.
I finished up with a talk where my instructor explained that I had to master pattern work and approaches. Once that and a few other things were done and clicking, it would be time for my solo.