I rang up today to confirm the flight, and was told that my instructor has left the flying school. I was well gutted because not only was he a great instructor, but he was a great laugh and we got on well. I wont go into the reasons why he left as they were personal, but I wish him the best of luck. He got me to my first solo phase and then departed, and I am lucky in a way because I may have had to wait longer to solo if he left earlier.
Anyway, onwards and upwards I must go.
My new instructor, I think is relatively new to the school. He is a top bloke and a very good instructor. I have spoken to him a few times before and always known him as a nice person. He is a full time instructor and works days that suit me quite well actually.
There was a BA aircraft doing circuits for most of the day at Liverpool and there was no chance of anyone else getting circuits done. We were originally contemplating going to Hawarden to do some solo there, but the thing is, if you land, they charge a handling fee, as well as the landing fee's so we decided against it as I would hopefully get the chance to do them on Sunday.
I gave a brief as to what I had done previously and to how it was going, and it was decided that we do some advanced/steep turns. He asked me whether I would like to go North or South out of the zone, and as I live to the North, and have done 90% of the flying there, I chose it. Having thought about it though, now that I am building the big picture of the area and getting to know it (the North) I may suggest that we do a few lessons to the South, so that I have the confidence to fly there on my own as well.
Steep turns are good fun, and I think so far, they require the most practice over anything else (maybe apart from landings). We started with a few 45 degree turns, to the left and the right - these weren't too difficult. However, then we got onto the 60 degree turns. The hardest thing about these was not entereing a spiral descent. Keepig the nose high enough when turning requires a hell of a lot of back pressure. The biggest problem I cam accross was getting used to the different nose attitudes (or perceived attitudes) due to offset seating. When turning to the left, the nose looks very high, and when turning to the right, it looks very low.
When going through one of the turns, there was quite a significant shudder. This is a good sign, as it indicates that you are flying through your own vortexes, and indicates that you have not climbed or descended. Felt these a few times and it did put a smile on ones face
I like his style of teaching, he basically 'left me to it'. I would be practising away doing all kinds of turns, whilst he would get the ATIS. He trusts me a lot and gives me good responsibility - which I am pleased about.
I want to refer back to a few things I have mentioned about the checklist, and how I sometimes miss things out. Today I did it again, and missed the pre-takeoff checks. Stupid I know, but according to my instructor, a great number of students, who use the AFE checklists, do exactley the same. It is the layout of the checks that can cause confusion, as they do not follow in a logical order, for example 'starting the engine when flooded' is thrown in the middle. I am not blaming them at all, it is entirely my own mistake to miss such an important check, but I have been advised to consider buying a different checklist and bin the one I have already got. Has anyone else come accross this problem?
I am 110% happy with my new situation, and I reckon that because I will be taught in the end by two different people, then I may learn two different approaches to flying, and different styles etc. Good to see that a few people have managed to get flying also by making the most of Saturday's wx. Well done on the QXC also - keep up the good work!
All the best,
Lee
