Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Another fine Bank Holiday
No. I don't think so. My plan had been to book two lessons at the weekend, but British Bank Holiday weather got in the way. So no flying this weekend either. I'm going to have forgotten that little I know. Hmmm, I wonder if I should stop posting when the weather fails me...
Monday, 12 May 2008
Flying Golf Zulu Whiskey
"Kemble information, Golf Bravo Sierra Zulu Whiskey..."
My first words over the radio to the control tower! I feel all pilot like now.
Finally yesterday the weather was right. My call to the Flying Club must have seemed a bit redundant, but when they said the weather was perfect I was a relieved and very happy man.
A quick photo from my phone as I arrived - Zulu Whiskey is the Cessna sitting in the middle with the covers on.
So I was straight in with lesson 4a - Effects of Controls. This as all Pilots Under Tuition know demonstrates the relationship between the ailerons, rudder and elevators and their effects on the aircraft - pitch, roll and yaw. Things I also had some fun with included recovering from spiral dives exercise, viewing Wootton-Under-Edge (and not Wootton Bassett) and learning the way home.
Kemble doesn't have a license for night use and Kemble Flight Information Service closes at 18:00 so we had to dash back to land in time.
Getting back I also has a chance to have an up close look at a glass cockpit Cirrus (SR20 or 22) - very nice!
My first words over the radio to the control tower! I feel all pilot like now.
Finally yesterday the weather was right. My call to the Flying Club must have seemed a bit redundant, but when they said the weather was perfect I was a relieved and very happy man.
A quick photo from my phone as I arrived - Zulu Whiskey is the Cessna sitting in the middle with the covers on.
So I was straight in with lesson 4a - Effects of Controls. This as all Pilots Under Tuition know demonstrates the relationship between the ailerons, rudder and elevators and their effects on the aircraft - pitch, roll and yaw. Things I also had some fun with included recovering from spiral dives exercise, viewing Wootton-Under-Edge (and not Wootton Bassett) and learning the way home.
Kemble doesn't have a license for night use and Kemble Flight Information Service closes at 18:00 so we had to dash back to land in time.
Getting back I also has a chance to have an up close look at a glass cockpit Cirrus (SR20 or 22) - very nice!
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Getting Silly Now...
Now I know that flying, at least at the beginning, is very subject to the whims of the weather. Once again we've had another no-fly day, this time citing lack of visibility of the horizon! I think its time to book a bunch of lessons together. Sunday had poor visibility but Monday (which turned out to be fully booked) looked good.
The worst thing about this is hearing yet another light aircraft fly overhead on a beautiful sunny work day.
Sigh
Here's to next Sunday.
The worst thing about this is hearing yet another light aircraft fly overhead on a beautiful sunny work day.
Sigh
Here's to next Sunday.
Monday, 28 April 2008
Not The Big Day
So it is a slightly disappointed Ian that reports that Saturday's lesson didn't happen. The crosswinds in the afternoon were too high for the poor little Cessna 152 which is rated for 12 knots. Winds on the day must have been around 15 knots - the windsock was pretty full and the Piper PA-28's were still flying (rated for 17 knots).
Happily I went though the pre-flight talk with my instructor Stuart. By far the best explanation of how a wing/tailplane works I've heard! We then ran through the A checks for the 152 and he talked a great deal about them. So many types of locking nut! He even took time to check my headset with the tower - marvellous, my e-Bay purchase wasn't wasted!
During the checks and my time on the airfield we saw a Hawker Hunter from Delta Jets going through its paces - an amazing display of 1950's air power. It's vertical climb right above us was stunning!
It turns out my aircraft wasn't G-BRUM as I thought. It looks like they've got themselves a new 152 G-BSZW which after a bit of a dig seems to have arrived in March.
I've booked another lesson for next Sunday and several Sundays to come so I really hope I can fly next weekend!
Happily I went though the pre-flight talk with my instructor Stuart. By far the best explanation of how a wing/tailplane works I've heard! We then ran through the A checks for the 152 and he talked a great deal about them. So many types of locking nut! He even took time to check my headset with the tower - marvellous, my e-Bay purchase wasn't wasted!
During the checks and my time on the airfield we saw a Hawker Hunter from Delta Jets going through its paces - an amazing display of 1950's air power. It's vertical climb right above us was stunning!
It turns out my aircraft wasn't G-BRUM as I thought. It looks like they've got themselves a new 152 G-BSZW which after a bit of a dig seems to have arrived in March.
I've booked another lesson for next Sunday and several Sundays to come so I really hope I can fly next weekend!
Friday, 18 April 2008
Flying Tonight
At last our hero actually books a flying lesson at Kemble. I don't really know why I was delaying, fear of the telephone; Aero School Kemble website vanishing; general apathy? I don't know. I'm always encouraged when a company has a decent web site and I'm heartened by their new one www.theflyingclubkemble.com. Or should I say our new one? So the 26th April is my day. Since I have a soft spot for Cessna, my aircraft is their Cessna 152 G-BRUM. I'm hoping for good weather and some splendid views and oh so much!
Tuesday, 24 October 2006
Flying e-Bay
So I spent some amount of time looking at flying schools and even got round to ringing the closest one at Kemble. So far so good. And then I found Pilot things on e-Bay. Shopping! Ah!
Since flying schools seems to charge for rental of headsets I thought I'd pick up something on e-Bay. I bid on a number of headsets all of which went well beyond my estimates of what was reasonable. In the end I payed about £35 for a Soft Com C40 headset with the reasoning - well it will get me started.
Since flying schools seems to charge for rental of headsets I thought I'd pick up something on e-Bay. I bid on a number of headsets all of which went well beyond my estimates of what was reasonable. In the end I payed about £35 for a Soft Com C40 headset with the reasoning - well it will get me started.
Friday, 8 September 2006
Flyian
Last Sunday I finally did it.
I have loved aeroplanes of all types since I was a kid. I used to collect model planes, go to my local airport to watch planes, gaze at every plane that flies overhead and stare for hours out of airliner windows. This year my mum said "You never did learn to fly did you?". That set me off thinking about life and that sort of stuff and I decided it was time I learned to fly. I mentioned this to my girlfriend who took the opportunity to buy me a trial lesson for my birthday and the first step was easy.
Saturday night had been stormy, but Sunday was bright and clear - just very, very windy. They tell you to call the school and check the lesson is going ahead. So I checked and their answer was yes, but it will be very bumpy. Would that be okay? How do I know, after all this is my first flight. So I went for it - it was clear which was a good start and when would I get another chance?
So on 3rd September 2005 my girlfriend and me went to Blackbushe Airport near Camberley for a lesson at 15:30. The flying school was Cabair. My instructor was a nice lady called Cooki - she normally flew from Denham but was working from Blackbushe that day. The plane was a Grumman AA5, registration G-KINE (Golf - Kilo India November Echo)
We did a pre-flight briefing - our destination would be sunny Swindon, along the M4. Cooki had a nice red wooden model plane which must have been there for years. She demonstrated things like pitch, yaw, ailerons, rudder, elevators and some instruments. It was a very quick summary - I was glad because I was very keen to get into the air. Keen yet very nervous. What if it was too complicated? What if I didn't like it?
We did some pre-flight checks. I was amazed by how delicate a light aircraft seems, checking the elevators I felt like I could break them with my bare hands. Cooki fuelled the plane and we were off. I sat in the left hand seat which is the pilot in command's seat. She taxied us out and we were off.
We ascended to about 2000 feet and handed me the controls - my moment had arrived! We went through rolling to the sides and ascending and descending. I was quite nervous, treating the controls very gingerly, which it seems is the right way to do it. Several little exercises later and I was feeling more confident. We were flying north of Newbury - quite close to where I work. After I mentioned that, we set out on a little expedition to find the offices from the air. Very cool and strange - my MD is a pilot and I was thinking - so this is what he sees. We went on towards Swindon where the weather began to get worse. Cloud level was getting lower and we were just beneath a ceiling of low clouds with light rain spraying on the canopy.
We turned for home - well Blackbushe. Pausing to circle Uffington White Horse and the Q offices once again we made a bee line for the airfield. Cooki pointed out lots of features as we turned towards them. London, Canary Wharf, Bracknell, Farnborough airfield and then Blackbushe in it's clearing. We descended and began to hit turbulance again, so she took over.We circled the airfield once - at one stage being eye level with a Chinook and came in to land. A great deal of side wind and what felt like sideways flying and we touched down gently on the runway.
Now I have a terrible urge to spend an enormous amount of money.
Looks like my plane has been around...
My day...
I have loved aeroplanes of all types since I was a kid. I used to collect model planes, go to my local airport to watch planes, gaze at every plane that flies overhead and stare for hours out of airliner windows. This year my mum said "You never did learn to fly did you?". That set me off thinking about life and that sort of stuff and I decided it was time I learned to fly. I mentioned this to my girlfriend who took the opportunity to buy me a trial lesson for my birthday and the first step was easy.
Saturday night had been stormy, but Sunday was bright and clear - just very, very windy. They tell you to call the school and check the lesson is going ahead. So I checked and their answer was yes, but it will be very bumpy. Would that be okay? How do I know, after all this is my first flight. So I went for it - it was clear which was a good start and when would I get another chance?
So on 3rd September 2005 my girlfriend and me went to Blackbushe Airport near Camberley for a lesson at 15:30. The flying school was Cabair. My instructor was a nice lady called Cooki - she normally flew from Denham but was working from Blackbushe that day. The plane was a Grumman AA5, registration G-KINE (Golf - Kilo India November Echo)
We did a pre-flight briefing - our destination would be sunny Swindon, along the M4. Cooki had a nice red wooden model plane which must have been there for years. She demonstrated things like pitch, yaw, ailerons, rudder, elevators and some instruments. It was a very quick summary - I was glad because I was very keen to get into the air. Keen yet very nervous. What if it was too complicated? What if I didn't like it?
We did some pre-flight checks. I was amazed by how delicate a light aircraft seems, checking the elevators I felt like I could break them with my bare hands. Cooki fuelled the plane and we were off. I sat in the left hand seat which is the pilot in command's seat. She taxied us out and we were off.
We ascended to about 2000 feet and handed me the controls - my moment had arrived! We went through rolling to the sides and ascending and descending. I was quite nervous, treating the controls very gingerly, which it seems is the right way to do it. Several little exercises later and I was feeling more confident. We were flying north of Newbury - quite close to where I work. After I mentioned that, we set out on a little expedition to find the offices from the air. Very cool and strange - my MD is a pilot and I was thinking - so this is what he sees. We went on towards Swindon where the weather began to get worse. Cloud level was getting lower and we were just beneath a ceiling of low clouds with light rain spraying on the canopy.
We turned for home - well Blackbushe. Pausing to circle Uffington White Horse and the Q offices once again we made a bee line for the airfield. Cooki pointed out lots of features as we turned towards them. London, Canary Wharf, Bracknell, Farnborough airfield and then Blackbushe in it's clearing. We descended and began to hit turbulance again, so she took over.We circled the airfield once - at one stage being eye level with a Chinook and came in to land. A great deal of side wind and what felt like sideways flying and we touched down gently on the runway.
Now I have a terrible urge to spend an enormous amount of money.
Looks like my plane has been around...
My day...
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