A Learning Day

It's been a long time since I blogged, but I wanted to put down a few thoughts about today's trip to Dunkeswell. My flying recently has been a bit haphazard, both from a regularity point of view and a being out of practice. To that end I'm trying to fly much more, exploring the country by air.

I have a couple of medium term aims which include visting France and a sight seeing flight over the Lake District with some friends. To that end I'm extending my range with flights to airfields I haven't been to.

I chose Dunkeswell today for a couple of reasons. Firstly it's far enough to make a decent flight and secondly it has a reputation for excellent home made cakes.Exhibit A: the carrot cake. Highly recommended.

Dunkeswell is a lovely little airfield, well worth a visit. I'll certainly be returning, for more cake and more practice.

Flying from Blackbushe I had to pass the Boscombe Down / Middle Wallop MATZ areas. I chose to do this at 4000ft since the weather was lovely and it's one less complication - not needing to ask for permission. The air was also much smoother up there, so a good choice.

Once I reached the airfield my challenge began. Low cloud and turbulence added to my load at this point. Firstly I spent 15 minutes at Upottery disused airfield talking on Dunkeswell Radio and trying to work out which runway was which. Being a radio service I was on my own, how they must have laughed and shaken their heads. It wasn't until I saw another aircraft as I turned 'final 22' that I realised I was in the wrong place. On reflection I was in a left hand circuit for Uppottery's former runway 20. I was ignoring the fact that Sky Demon was showing I was outside the ATZ, there was not other visible traffic and the whole place looking exteremely broken!

It was quite a relief and startlingly simple once I reached the actual airfield, although the chaos of no control was quite a thing at such a busy airfield. I ended up going-around because one aircraft decided it was time to take off despite my 'Final' call. Listening to the radio over cake I saw several such clashes.

 

Park Between the Catalina and the Harvard

There's something incredibly special about flying to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. It's been a special place for me for years and recently I chose it as a birthday land-away destination. It was amazing. Like most visitors by air the thrill of being in the circuit along side historical aircraft along with ground instructions like "Park between the Catalina and the Harvard" is just incredible. They offer a free 2 hours in the museum with landing fees, of course I couldn't resist paying for the whole day. I gave the other two aircraft in the line plenty of space though.

Amazing - highly recommended and will certainly visit again!

One Year On

I've been a pilot for a year now. That seems like both no time at all and an eternity. In that time I've joined a non-equity share group, flown 20hrs PIC, had the group bought, been round the Isle of Wight three times, visited Kemble, Turweston, Thruxton and seen the demise of  'my' aircraft.

I was listing those airfields and realised it should be more - that was my original plan but I seemed to chicken out of vistiing other airfields and my recent flights have taken friends and family on a tour of the Isle of Wight. I pledge to visit more airfields in the next year.

I've been thinking about Lee on Solent, Bembridge, Elstree, Cranfield, Redhill, Haverfordwest and of course France! I also want to fly more grass strips.

The non-equity group I joined at Blackbushe worked very well for me. Flying about once a month meant that the costs were pretty reasonable. The aircraft was a PA28-161 G-CGDJ that was a lovely smooth aircraft. Not so fast or shiny, but very sound. Sadly she came to a sad end in Perranporth in August when she struck the ground and caught fire and was gutted.

Poor DJ

Happier times at Kemble 

or Over the Needles

Or Turweston

The group are currently looking to buy another PA28 which seems to be well under way. In the meantime I've joined the Blackbushe Flying Group which has about 7 aircraft. It's normally much more expensive than the DJ group, but the owner, Dan, has cut us a deal. So here I am with G-BOOF - today's adventure!

Thruxton and Other Stories

This weekend was quite abig flying weekend for me. On Saturday I met David who runs a local non-equity group for a PA28 and a C182 and he took me up for a little trial in their PA28. I was pretty much sold before we started but a long talk with David and a quick flight were all it took to persuade me. I've now got my own key for Delta-Juliet. Amazing! The Blackbushe airspace was extremely busy because the weather was perfect.

On Sunday I'd booked Alpha-November for the afternoon with a view to doing a club currency with Will and then on for a land-away at Thruxton.

The time with Will was extremely valuable - a different interpretation of circuits to Barrie. Will emphasised doing circuits as big as possible giving as much time as possible to complete each step. He also suggested a power setting of 2100-2200 for the circuit since Alpha-November is faster than the C152 and microlights common in the circuit. It also gives more time to get through the work. He also pointed out we're aiming for 500 feet when turning final and the workload Speed -> Runway Picture -> repeat. I felt much happier for my planned flight that afternoon.

After a swift cuppa for me and some fuel for Alpha-November I set off on a direct line to Thruxton, talking to Farnborough LARS and getting Odiham MATZ transit so I could clip the edge. A fantastic day with very little traffic and wind straight down the runway - nice. Arrival at Thruxton was pretty quick - I feel most of the flight was taxying around both airfields and departure pattern. Thruxton were very helpful and I was almost on top of the airfield before I saw it - I'd just spotted the runway right in front of me when they asked if I had visual. I flew what felt like an enormous circuit - I think I went too far down wind. There was a very long run in on final. The landing was a bit heavier than I'd have liked. A long taxi back on the grass and parking up on the beautifully marked apron. The restaurant was closed but the flying club kindly made me a cup of tea.

Commit Flying

Yesterday I took my first flight as a qualified pilot - I committed flying as Bruce Dickinson says in one of his interviews. Corny but I like it.

I took the advice of various people to do a simple flight by myself to get used to the idea. I chose to fly back to Theale and see my house from the air, to the office and spot that and then down to Highclere Castle and back to Blackbushe. It was the first time I'd flown on a Saturday for a long time at things were pretty busy on the radio and at the airfield.

For each of my tourist visits I descended to the MSA for a better look. I'm pretty sure I could have tried lower but I didn't want to push my luck. I finally used SkyDemon to help navigate which made life easier though I did my paper route as well just in case. Of course neither of these were really necessary since I've flown in this area quite a lot. I've tweaked a couple of SkyDemon settings as a result.

It turns out spotting stuff from the air isn't that straightforward. I found my house from a new-build next door that is pretty distinctive. The business estate I work in is tiny it seems but it's proximity to the A34 helps. Highclere Castle is pretty easy to spot!

Hopefully my license will arrive soon and I can take T out for a fly. I need to go somewhere with good food - all recommendations welcome!

Skills Test

The day of my skills test arrived at the beginning of August. I did a mock with Harry the day before which I was pretty pleased with and which Harry thought was of good enough standard to pass. Good news!

My actual skills test was with Steve which I wasn't unhappy about. The day before he gave me a route - Blackbushe - Thame (not the gliding site!) - Swindon - Blackbushe which on the morning I duly plotted out and did the wind calculations as I'd done so many times. I actually enjoy this bit! The route I chose took me through the Benson MATZ because of a gliding competition to the North - I've not done that before but after a little fret and a quick look on the forums it was actually very simple - call them! The morning was cloudy with a front passing through and it really didn't look promising, with the TAF and METAR being pretty poor. But the day got brighter and brighter as it went on and frankly it couldn't have been much better.  The TAF still forecast doom but it was looking increasingly incorrect

When I got to Blackbushe I pre flight checked and fuelled Alpha-November. Steve then sat me in the briefing room and went through my plan asking about planning, weather, the aircraft, fuel, take-off distances and so on. I'm not sure I had perfect answers for everything but he seemed happy. I'd planned to call Farnborough North but he pointed out I'd only talk to them very briefly - so my new plan was to  change straight to Benson Zone. In what seemed like no time we were off. I ran though everything slowly by the check list and had him test the brakes as Barrie suggested. The checks, take-off and departure were pretty good. Farnborough wasn't too busy so that was straightforward too. Visibility was excellent and various way points stood out very well, though I seemed to be off course by a good mark. I corrected and carried on. Shortly after Henley Farnborough pretty much handed me off to Benson. There was a little hiccup getting zone transit - I didn't hear them give permission but Steve said they did so I turned on course through the Norther stub. A couple of minutes later they called back and gave permission to enter. Again I found myself a good chunk off course and corrected. I assumed the wind was stronger than forecast. Away from Benson I called Brize Radar - another first.

Just North of Wantage Steve diverted me towards the town and had me identify it and the old airfield at Grove. Over Wantage he asked me to plan a diversion to Popham. I felt that went pretty well but once again I found myself a good chunk off course and corrected using visual references like Newbury and Greenham Common. I ended up a good way East of Popham but I found it without too much hassle. Again I was off course even after my corrections.

It was then into the General Handling section with steep turns, the various stalls, spiral dive recovery and the dreaded PFL. All seemed pretty good apart from my field choice for PFL was poor - pylons, a big hill and the checks and shutdown. We also did an instrument straight and level followed by a 180º turn.

After what seemed like no time we were heading for Blackbushe with a swift position check using VOR and a talk through radio failure using the checklist.

Finally back at Blackbushe a touch and go, flawless touch and go and a glide approach which weren't my best, the glide landing was particularly flat. One final test was an aborted take-off for which we taxied back to Alpha. We paused on the runway while Steve checked the DI and compass against a known heading - the runway. It turns out the compass was out by 15º - no wonder my navigation had been so inaccurate. A yet another valid lesson I seem to have missed. Anyway started the take off - 'Engine running rough', put on the brakes and that was that - taxi back to Blueplane.

On the taxi back Steve told me it was a pass, but what he called a PWB - pass with bollocking. Essentially safe but a number of items to talk though.

1. Start up - close the air conditioning controls since they open a gap to the engine - bad should there be a fire. (new lesson!)
2. I should look further ahead on my map reading - rather than saying where we were it would be better to point out what was next. Not sure I entirely agree since I knew what was next its just he'd asked where we were.
3. Individually check the brakes first - a hard brake with only one working would result in a sharp turn.
4. Keep my climb rate to 75 - seems I wasn't very accurate there.
5. When repeating back to Farnborough LARS I should also repeat Basic Service - it forms a contract between us an I should be acknowledging that.
6. The DI and Compass checks should be done with all nav equipment and radios turned on since they affect the compass and DI.

After 30 minutes of paperwork and some congratulations I was done - application form for my PPL completed and signed, log book verified and stamped. I'd certainly flown better the day before but on the day it was good enough.

The sun sets on Alpha-November after the event

A few days later I popped it all down to the CAA desk at Gatwick. Just waiting for my license and log book back now. 

Hello, my name is Ian and I'm a pilot.

Skills Practice

I've had a few lessons since my last post covering navigation aids (VOR), glide & flapless circuits, stalls, PFL, diversions, steep turns and slow flight. I'm not convinced of my skill level in these things but Barry seems fairly happy. Certainly I am better at PFL and things like stalls and steep turns seem to come fairly well. I'd slipped into a few bad habits like using the artificial horizon in turns rather than looking outside - now much better.

I haven't flown for a three weeks for various busy / servicing aircraft reasons. I still need to do my final Principals of Flight exam - that's this week's job. The weather today wasn't brilliant with gusty wind and clouds at 1200ft for so. Perfect weather for circuits though. They went pretty well with three normal and one flapless approach under my belt. I always seem to fly better after a little break.

Today was cool from another point of view though. We were on the apron about to do power checks when Barrie pointed out a small business jet that he said was Bruce Dickinson's. It was a nice little Eclipse 500. As I went through my power checks a figure in a baseball cap and hi-vi came out and was checking it over. Bruce? I carried on with my detail and they came on the radio with an engine start request. The tower replied calling the pilot Bruce rather than using the call sign. It was him! They were departing for Fairford - the Air Tattoo is this weekend. A circuit later and they were at holding point Alpha waiting for me to touch-and-go before they were cleared to take off. Bruce Dickinson giving way to me - awesome! After the turn at 500ft Barrie took the controls so I could watch was they took off and headed West.

Here's a photo his aircraft - not taken by me I'm afraid but a local photographer Neil Randell. Note the Trooper badge and the Iron Maiden style name tags.

Towards the Skills Test

With my qualifying cross country out of the way it's time to study for my Skills Test. I know right?

These are the topics for the Skills Test and the methods.

Navigation with diversion

• Prepare navigation to west for all lessons
• Diversion may use VOR

Steep turns

• L & R 360°
• 45º
• add power
• back pressure
• rudder balance

Slow flight

• 10kts above stall
• reduce power
• raise nose
• at correct speed increase power
• power and attitude to maintain speed
• trim

Safe Slow Cruise

Aiming for:- 75kts 20° flaps 2300 RPM

• Reduce power by 300 RPM. 
• Hold attitude and wait for speed
• 10° flap & trim add 100 RPM
• 20° flap & trim add 200 RPM 

Spiral Dive Recovery

• Throttle closed, flaps up, ailerons neutral
• Verify spins direction (turn coordinator)
• Apply full opposite rudder
• Pause
• Move control column centrally forward to unstall. Wait until rotation stops
• Centralise controls
• Level wings
• As nose rises above horizon, add power

Stalls - HASELL

• Clean power off - recover at examiners command, rudder for balance
• 20° flap in turn [base leg] - recover at first sign of stall, recover then level wings
• 30° flap [simulated final] - recover at first sign of stall, drag flap away

Stall recovery - show positive action. 

PFL / Precautionary landing

• Immediate Action [aviate]
  • Glide & trim
  • Select Field thinking WIND
  • Plan Approach - upwind end of field

• Heights [aviate]
  • Downwind 1500'
  • Base 1000'

• Fly towards field [navigate]

• Check failure [aviate]
  • fuel - tanks, pump
  • mixture
  • mags
  • icing - carburettor 

• Mayday [communicate]

Diversion

• Circle and identify last known position on map
• Draw line to chosen divert
• Find heading
• Wind Correction
• Distance
• Time

Instrument Flight and Nav

• VOR - Flag FROM / TO
  • Tune (CPT 114.35)
  • Ident (morse)
  • Test
  • Set
• Instrument flight - T instruments

Circuits

• Normal
• Flapless (+5 kts)
• Glide (+5 kts)

Rejected Take-Off

Engine Failure After Take-Off

Technical Questions

• SEP License validation and renewal (CAP804 flight crew licensing)
• Weather minimums
• Best rate & angle
• Engine technical
• Talk through route
  • Current weather, fronts, minimums
  • Obstacles
  • Controlled Airspace

Skills Checklist

1. Aircraft checked & prep for flight
2. Flight Plog including fuel calculations
3. NOTAMS - print narrow route
4. Weather - print
5. Chart prepared for flight
6. Weight & Balance
7. Performance Take-Off & Landing (Airfield chart AIS)
8. Aircraft Documents
   • Pilot Operating Handbook
   • Certificate of Airworthiness
   • Certificate of release to service
   • Tech log
   • Insurance
   • Tx/Rx License
   • Original documents checked