Cant believe how lucky I was today with the weather. It has been so grotty and wet all day, even driving to the airport it was horrible, but we were expecting a gap in the weather any time, so onwards. Got there and it was a bit quieter (people wise) due to it being a weekday. We went up into the circuit and done 2, just to get checked out. Then we went back and he got out (grin time again). Great. This is my second solo and was very much looking forward to it.
The two landings I made however, before he left me to it, were floaters. I kept either coming slightly too fast, or flaring too early. I was told I made a good recovery though, by pitching the nose down quickly to regain, then let it touchdown. On the second base, I realised that I wasn’t holding the nose up long enough to let the aircraft slow down. I was putting the flaps in and letting the nose lower, and taking too much power off, so this is the first stage of a bad approach. I realised this and made the necessary adjustments the next time round, by establishing 70 knots before lowering the nose. When I come across a mistake, I like to describe it to my instructor so he knows when I am making corrections.
So he got out and away I went. It’s amazing how well this aircraft climbs due to the reduced weight. The circuit went fine and I made a good landing. It’s funny but all my solo landings so far have been great, I put it down to the higher level of concentration required, and perhaps to not being ‘watched’ (at least from the cockpit anyway!)
Ok so now here is where the fun starts and the old adrenalin starts flowing. Just as I was rolling out of base onto final, a Cessna Citation came on:
“Established on 6 mile final, runway 27 ILS”
“we have a Tomahawk on final, we will make it go around”
Buggar. Wasn’t expecting that. Ok so I waited a few seconds, then came the call for me to go around. This is where I made mistake number one. Because I was quite a while off touchdown, I waited. Don’t ask me why, I just had this mental image of ‘only going around just before touchdown’ – a misconceived unconscious thought perhaps. Anyhow, tower came back:
“perform go around immediately”
Ok, I let the flaps go – with an almighty whoosh as the flap lever shot my arm forward. Mental not number one noted “release flaps gently, in 2 smooth stages, as not to adjust attitude too quickly”.
Full power, and back into the climb with a left hand turn to get back to a thousand feet, adjacent to the runway. Mental note number two “TURN CARB HEAT OFF”. I left it on didn’t I. I realised just before the end of the climb, and quickly turned it off. It wasn’t too bad though, the aircraft sill climbed well (again, reduced weight). The Citation decided to change his/her/it’s mind and perform a go around itself, so the ATCO told it to go right instead of left. Mental note number three (which was realised on the ground, “when your told to go around, DO IT THEN” (if practically possible and safe of course (standard disclaimer – P1 is in control)).
Sent it round no problem and it was actually quite a good view of the airfield (saved me £7.90 too
)! Ok so in the next one, I was told to report ready for base. No problem. When I got there, I was told:
“remain south of the lighthouse” (the lighthouse is a standard point to turn onto base).
So two things were in my head, one, extend downind, which wasn’t practical as it would take me over a load of chemical factories and steam/smoke etc, or two, an orbit. After about 15 seconds of pondering I put her in a right hand orbit, then told tower what I was doing. They had no problem with that, as an orbit is what they probably meant in the first place.
The next circuit and landing were fine, and I happily rolled back to kilo with the knowledge I had performed reasonably well and gained some truly valuable experience. Next time I have to do any of the above again, I will know what to expect and hopefully will not make the same mistakes as I did today. Again, grin from ear to ear, I really do love this flying lark. Total solo time now is 60 mins. Only another 120, then I am let off the leash! Fantastic day today.
DiscoChocolate – did you manage to get flying today?
Sunfish – good luck mate – I wish you all the best.
It’s worth another thank you to everyone posting in here. I am amazed at how well it’s going and appreciate your input and advice. Keep it up.
Best regards
Lee
