I dont usually post on here except to whinge about the wx, but i will make an exception this time as I finally did my QXC yesterday!! So after waiting nearly 5 months for the chance, yesterday was the day and what a truly superb day i was!
I turned up at the school expecting to do a one hour solo trip out the zone to practice general handling. My instructor thought otherwise. A quick check of the weather to make sure the idea was feasible and then i planned out the flight and talked the instructor through it. It was only now that i began to realise just what i was undertaking. Previously, my logest flight had been 1.5 hours, now this was to be close to 3 hours with 2 land aways, crossing through 3 MATZ and a low level route. Clearly i would be under a lot of pressure. I phoned Wolverhampton(my first destination) for weather information and to tell them that i was on my way. The ATC guy was very friendly and helpful and this settled the nerves a lot, as I knew i would be in good hands once i got to Wolverhampton. My aircraft for the day would be the flying schools latest Tomahawk. The CFI had been the first to fly it, but i was to be the first student to take her up, obviously this added to the excitement. I checked her out, booked out from Liverpool and off I went. I was feeling fairly confident about the first leg as I am I familiar with the area that I would be flying over.
Taxying out to RWY 27, i was behind a row of 5 Tommy's, for once Liverpool was under siege by GA aircraft and not orange buses!
I left the zone routing out of Chester and the first thing that became apparent was the FANTASTIC visibility. I could already see my first turning point Whitchurch which was 16miles away!!! Brilliant! Once clear of Chester I dialled up Shawbury Radar to get a radar information service and the first MATZ penetration. It was the first time I had done this while solo so this was the first challenge. I found the RAF controller very helpful and patient with me even though he was busy. Again this was helping me to relax. With the MATZ penetration approved I entered the zone making sure i maintained the correct height. The area was busy with GA aircraft and military traffic so I had to keep a good look out going while making sure I was sticking to my track line. Once clear of the MATZ it was time to talk to Wolverhampton to get WX and joining instructions. This is where I made mistake number one. After telling shawbury that I was changing to Wolverhampton Information I did a quick freda, checked the map and flight plan and had a good look out. And announced on the Radio "Wolverhampton Information, Golf Bravo Mike Mike Lima"... the response was "Golf Mike Lima, you are still talking to Shawbury Radar" how embarresing! Lesson 1, after telling someone you are changing freq, actually do it! I dialled in Wolverhampton and got wx and joining instructions. I was to report overhead and expect to join a left hand circuit for RWY 28. The nerves jangled. This would be my first solo land away. I entered their overhead at 2000ft and descended to enter the circuit at 1000ft. I lined up for final for 28, bugger no PAPI lights! I must admit I had become a little bit reliant on these recently as I had been flying into Liverpool with all its fancy kit. The landing was not so great considering there was hardly any wind, but it was safe and I had got to my first destination! I parked up next to the tower as I had been advised, shut down and went to the tower to get my certificate stamped... I was greeted by a friendly bunch of people who seemed impressed with my airmanship and landing... so far so good
they even did the booking out for me so that took a bit of pressure of. I grabbed a quick drink and some much needed energy in the form of chocolate and called up Blackpool to tell them my intentions. Again ATC was friendly.
A quick walk round check and I was ready to go. Mistake number 2, i taxied to the holding point for the runway without getting permission from the tower. I apologised and they were again very helpful. Before giving me instructors to line up, they got the other aircraft in the circuit to extend their downwind leg so I could depart ASAP, which was very kind of them.
Once I left Wolverhampton I was to head north but this would take me very close to Cosfords zone, so i dialled them up and told them i would fly west abeam their airfield. Once clear of Cosford it was back to Shawbury Radar to request another MATZ penetration. This time the controller was very busy. Seemed that there was a lot of traffic in the area so I had to pay a lot attention to the radio and keep a good look out going, this leg was getting tough even after 15minutes! I was getting very close to entering the MATZ but had not been given permission to enter it. I mentally prepared a route that would take me round the MATZ if permission was not granted. As the freq was very busy i started to execute my diversion round the MATZ, as I couldn't get a call in to check that I was allowed in the MATZ. Finally I got the call in and was allowed to enter the MATZ. I crossed the MATZ and left shawbury radar to talk to manchester approach so I could enter the low level corridor. I was to enter the low level route at Ashcroft farm. As this is a grass strip located in an area full of farms it was quite difficult to identify, but i just trusted my flight plan and watch and it appeared, in the right place at the right time.
Flying the low level route was the most difficult part of the trip. Flying at 1200ft is unervingly low and i was having trouble sticking to it and more than once i found my self at 1300/1400ft. I also found it incredibly difficult to navigate it,as there a very few notable land features, so I was using the motorway and railway networks as my visual aids.
After leaving the low level route I quickly got the ATIS from Blackpool before speaking to Warton Radar. My plan was to route to the Marshside VRP to get to Blackpool as this would keep me away from Warton, but the controller allowed me to fly direct to Blackpool, which made life a lot easier. While landing at Blackpool I could see some clouds moving in from the sea and i was starting to wonder if I would be able to fly out of there that evening. I paid the landing fees and got my certificate stamped.
going back to the aircraft and weather was looking worse. The ATIS was giving 18miles vis and scattered cloud at 3000ft, which was withing limits. Thank god. Taxying out to RWY28 ATC were telling me where to turn and again were very helpful and accomodating. I hope they are like this once i pass!
The flight back to liverpool was fantastic and all the way back and the grin on my face was getting bigger and bigger. The landing at Liverpool was as good as they get so that topped it off nicely.
The day was truly fantastic and incredibly rewarding especially after such a long wait. It was exhausting though as I had to concentrate very had for close to 4 hours, i'm still tired from it now...
Apologies for the long post, hope you are still awake after reading all of that!!