Hi Guys
It's been a while since I posted on Pprune, but have been following this thread for a long time now. Just wanted to say well done to all of you for taking the step and actually doing it and not just dreaming it, and thought I would give you some hope as I have just got my Australian licence (emigrated here and had to do the full conversion). Anyway, if I can do it twice (UK in 2002 and now here) anyone can.
OK, my big day! (or my memories, as it was about 3 weeks ago!)
Examiner had given me a call a couple of days before and asked me to plan route of Recliffe (Queensland) to Maroochydore(Non radar, Controlled aerodrome, class C airspace similar to class D in UK), land, on to Wondai (uncontrolled aerodrome, MBZ, which we don't have in UK),(grass strip also), land, then on to a little township in the middle of nowhere, overfly and then home.
Had to be at the airport at 8AM, and when my partner got up to go to work at 5, that was me up, nervous, drinking coffee, going over my flight plans, checking weather and notams etc. Planned first leg at 2500ft as pretty short route, next leg was 5500, and final leg 4500. Weather on the day, winds up to 8000ft were variable at 10knts. Damn would prefer them blowing from any direction just for planning but you got to do what you got to do! Cloud base was above my planned and vis was great so not all bad.
Quick shower, check bag and away we go. Arrived at aerodrome, where I had planned to use the 172 ( new, arrived about a month before and it is a dream!). Met the examiner and began the little verbal examination. What does the licence allow me to do, explain about ALA's, show me your balance sheets, how did I get the figures, fuel plan, flightplan, weather, etc. Also over here you get questioned on any questions you may have got wrong in the PPL exams, just to make sure you have an understanding of something you may have been unsure on (CAA take note!). Then a knock at the door!!!! The new aircraft had an electrical problem, from what I could overhear, it seems something wrong with the annunciator panel. So it's grounded, and before I know it I am replanning for one of the older 172's. 10knts slower can make a difference and the fuel burn is also different. A quick check of the paperwork, send the flightplan and finally we get outside to the aircraft.
I completed all the preflight checks with no questions asked and taxied the aircraft to the pumps where the examiner met me, and asked a few personal questions whilst I refuelled, probably to settle me down a little!! OK now we're fuelled up, checked, passenger briefed and ready to rock.
Redcliffe has no ATC so its general calls to all traffic. Me "All traffic Redcliffe, XXX taxing for runway 25, for Maroochydore 2500". Instructor "Don't you mean runway 07"
****, great start, knew what I meant just got it wrong!!! Kept the head in place and off we go! All checks were going fine, times were good and first leg was going a treat. He did mention one thing and that was I did not need to tell him everything I was doing, but I explained it was how I was taught in the UK and I felt more comfortable announcing all my Freda checks, updating times, what I was looking at (big picture and checkpoints) etc, and he seemed happy with this. Approx 10mins out of Maroochydore, I can see the field, my ADF which was tuned on the ground is pointing directly ahead and ATIS has been recieved. Inbound call!! XXX please say again!!! Three times and then she cleared me into controlled airspace and joining instructions. She said radio kept breaking up, but we reckoned it was her having trouble with my accent (later confirmed when ground made a comment about it!!!). A terrible landing followed this, way too flat and a little bounce, which I was not happy about. So park up, jump out, give examiner my fuel burn and off we go again!!
Leg 2. Climbed out to 4500 as cloud base had lowered and wouldn't allow me that extra 1000ft, but I was happy with my plan keeping me off the high ground, got my initial position fix, time, turn and talk. This leg was around 1hour so I had approx 15minute checkpoints. Giving that the area I am flying in has very little in the way of navigation features it really is a matter of keeping heading and times, and looking at the big picture. Over here we just don't come across major roads and towns when heading inland, it is pretty barren and any features seem to me to be so far apart. About 3/4 of the leg was gone and heading had been kept, times were good, height was fine, with any deviation being sorted as soon as I noticed, but why couldn't I see the firetower, which was my checkpoint. Ok at this point I thought, **** if I am lost here then I am truly lost and I have thrown it. Cue a few secs of looking at map, ground (ahead!!), map and so on. Then I had a great idea. Look under out to the left ! Good idea as there was my tower bang on track, but time was about a minute out. Maybe I had become a little complacent since the leg was going so well, or it was just really difficult to see! (I will go for the latter every time!). 15minutes or so later I am overhead the field, which has virtually no wind blowing, so let him know which runway and why, descend deadside for a precautionary approach. This was something I never covered in the UK exam, yeah I did it during the course and also flew low approach and go arounds, and flew up centre of runway at 50ft (with instructor), but the precautionary he asked for was setting up slow flight, and flying to the right of the runway at 100ft looking out for any ditches, potholes, wildlife (the kangaroos are a pest) etc. This was all good followed by a short field landing, which was a much better effort than the last landing.
So it's jump out, let the examiner have lunch, give him the fuel figures, and away we go again with a short field take off. Climb into the overhead, and time,turn, talk. About 5miles along track he asks me to divert directly to a Kilcoy, which was to be a check point on my way home anyway. So I draw a rough line between where I am and where I am going. Estimate it to be about 135deg, adjusting my heading to account for variation, 60miles and give him a estimated time. Problem for me is there are really no features which stand out for the first 30miles or so, even after this it is a case of big picture again, high ground out left, valleys etc. I also let him know I have enough fuel, and I have adjusted my altitude to remain well above the high ground we will be overflying. I give Flightwatch a call, advising them of my new route and update my sartime (search and rescue time)for Redcliffe. He then asks for me to check my track and distance with a protractor and ruler. @#*% its in the bag on the back seat! So a fumble around with one hand for a few minutes and I have it! Track 135degrees (what an estimate!!!), even better was my rough guess at the miles! 58miles. Ok too far for NDB, but tune it in and have it ready for identing when close enough. Around 5 minutes had passed and then came the dreaded one. PFL!
Lucky for me it was right above a private strip on top of a mountain. Done all checks out loudly, restart, shut down, pax brief. It was not my best PFL by a long shot and I probably would have landed about half way down the strip, and possibly (but then again possibly not with heavy breaking) into the hedge at the far end, but 500 ft came and it was go around. Back up to cruising height, and soon I was able to ident the NDB, test it and the needle was showing directly ahead, which was a great feeling. I was soon approaching the town and was asked to descend to 1000ft agl for some low level navigation. I picked up the main road from Kilcoy to Caboolture and followed it closely until we reached Woodford (approx 10miles from Kilcoy). I was then asked to pop the hood on, and spent the next ten minutes doing climbing turns, descending turns, rate one turns etc. Out from under the hood I immediately noticed we were still in the Woodford area. It was then on to steep turns and home for a flapless landing.
A quick smile, shake of the hand and its in the bag. Another 3.2 hrs in the book and another new shiny licence to play with.
OK, was what I thought of my flying. I have flown a lot better and had a few beers later that day reflecting on what went on. My first landing was crap! My PFL was average, but surviveable! My steep turns were average! My planning (ie ruler protractor scenario) was lacking!
What I am trying to put across is that although I beat myself up at what I could have done better, we are not perfect every time. We know this and the examiners know this. When doing these flight tests, be prepared to make mistakes! You will, and the examiner knows you will, but by recognising where you could improve and how you could improve will be brownie points to you. I reckon that if something goes slightly wrong, then having the ability to move forward and always maintain that safety factor for the rest of the flight is more important than greasing it on a short field strip. Remember guys unless its major, get over it very quickly and dont ponder on it until you are back on the ground with a beer. We think about the big picture when we fly and I would relate this to the flight test also!
Sorry Mazzy, not trying to hijack your thread, just hoping that my experiences can help everyone on here who are in training and about to do the big one soon. And your last post was big so I wanted to give you some competition!!!
Hope this post wasn't too long for anyone to read, I wish you all the very best in the rest of your training and in your future flying, whether it be personal or professional. I will be reading future posts in this thread so please keep us updated with how you are all going as it makes for some great reading, and also memories of my time training in the UK.
Cheers
CB