Sorry for the late post people, been up the wall in uni
Today's flight, was again met with uncertainty about the weather, wondering all day whether or not I would be flying. I completed the flight plan at around 1200 on that day and was due to fly at 1630 (problem number one). So, having arrived at the flying school early on, the wind appeared to be the same at 2000 feet, therefore, no need to change the plan. However, the TAF appeared to be showing a drop in the wind, which was slowly becoming southerly.
My instructor went up to do a circuit or two with another student, to assess the weather, and to see if all the CB clouds that had been hanging around all day, had gone. He landed and said it was all looking good. I was quite up for this, somewhat tense, as I had been thinking about it for some time, and the last two times I had done it dual, weren't exactly perfect! So, I went out to the aircraft and checked her out, having started the internal checks, I wasn't too happy with the PTT (press to talk) switch on my controls - when you press it down, it appeared to stick and only slowly came back up. I was concerned of a resulting radio failure during the flight, and it was agreed that it would only sit at the back of my mind if I flew, and possibly distract me from the task ahead. So, I asked if could use another aircraft, which actually didn't have enough fuel in it, so we had to fill her up!
I finally got sat down and ready for departure for a quick circuit with my instructor, just to refresh and check the wind. I performed a greaser, which was a good start to the evening, especially having not flown for a bit. So, back to that old feeling of watching him leave the aircraft and having an empty seat next to me (great for putting all your charts/paperwork on
)
I was to fly out of Seaforth and straight across to Leyland (if you have a look on your chart, Leyland is East of Warton, and has the M6 cross a train track, this was my turning point, at the southern tip of Leyland). Upon tracking Leyland, I was to fly just south of Ormskirk, and have Burscough aerodrome to my left. It turned out that I was right over Ormskirk, and this resulted in me saying to myself "where the hell is Ormskirk?". I got onto Warton as soon as possible, and can't thank them enough. The guy was great - he gave me a FIS and stated he couldn't give me radar, as he had some kind of American system (something along those lines). It had actually passed 1730 and was surprised to see him so busy, with a busy circuit and lots of aircraft in the vicinity. He asked me if I could remain south of the zone (which I would do anyway) and tell me when at Southport pier (this is only fractionally inside the southern left tip of Warton). Even though this was a FIS, I still gave him my headings for practice, and for better understanding of my position and track etc.
At this point, I knew my headings were not going to work, as the wind had clearly changed direction a little, and dropped. I could see Leyland up ahead, however it is similar to Preston and was a little confusing at first. When I arrived at Leyland, I could see Preston was further north, and that I was at the southern tip - but for some reason I couldn't quite see the motorway join the rail - probably just my eye couldn't catch it at the time. So anyway, I turned left and headed for the pier, receiving constant traffic advice etc. I was at 2300 feet and he told me to remain at that height until I was heading for the pier, in which he asked could I climb to 2500 to fly over his circuit traffic, I did climb, knowing that another 100 feet and I would bust Manchester, so I had to keep it tight. At this point my headings were about 10 degrees out - so as this was a navigation exercise, I estimated new one and flew them (cheating a little as I could see where I was going). Tracking south of the Ribble River, also made things easier, but still I couldn't get too close, as I was on the border of the MATZ.
Upon turning Southport, I thanked him and asked to switch back to Liverpool, knowing that in less than 4 mins I hit Kirkby and in that time I need to get ATIS, possibly call Woodvale, and call for rejoin at Liverpool. He asked me to stay, for another minute or so, as he did have traffic in my vicinity. The controller at Warton was very good indeed, and he looked after me very well, he wont be reading this but THANK YOU anyway, excellent
Woodvale were closed, so I didn't call them, I considered transmitting blind, but knowing I still had a lot of work to do, and the fact that I could clearly see Woodvale and remain clear of it, had made up my mind to go straight to Liverpool approach. I started tracking for Kirkby, again on the heading I had calculated at first, synchronising the DI. It was again, great to be able to fly straight over my house, when tracking Kirkby. The smoke at Kirkby wasn't on today (there is a steam tower which can be seen for miles - this is the VRP) so it was more difficult to spot, amongst all the buildings and industrial area. At this point, there was an aircraft ahead of me, and one behind me and the zone was getting packed with lots of traffic. I kid you not, I was asked to orbit Tarbuck Island, and luckily he told me what it was - where the M62 meets the M57 - (otherwise I was lost) I was here for about 15 mins - my left side started to ache after so much orbiting. However, I just relaxed, kept a good lookout for the aircraft that was coming my way, and watched the game of football going on beneath me! I was very close to Knowsley Safari Park also, which is a nice sight from above.
Eventually, I was given the clearance to Jaguar as usual, and was the greeted with a 17 knot wind to tackle. On short final, I asked for a wind check again, and it was slightly off the runway, but going straight enough for me to perform a good landing.
In conclusion - I was extremely happy with my RT today, as it went well and felt better using the radios. I need to do the flight plan, a little closer to the flight, as my headings were slightly wrong, and I need to work on this trust relationship between me and the headings to fly - otherwise, when I fly my QXC and cant SEE my destination - I am
Thanks again for reading,
Lee