Steve - I would imagine that once a week is better than 2 hours every 2 weeks. Apart from the fact that continuity of lessons is better, it is proven that after 20 minutes of concentrating, your mind takes in much less information, and after an hour it's a lot less still. 2 hours of constant concentration is a lot! That's my opinion anyway.
I finally did my QXC! Yay! Blackpool - Hawarden - Caernarfon - Blackpool. Had SUCH a great time, it was awesome! I've done a bit of a report here if anyone's interested.
So, after a fair old briefing from the instructor, I went and checked the aircraft out. I remembered that I hadn't booked out with ATC, which wasn't a good start, so I went back in to the club and did that. After doing my checks, I started her up and spoke to ATC, but the radio was incredibly quiet, even with all the volumes turned right up to the max, which was a little worrying. However, on I went, and I was soon up in the air talking to Warton. The radio was very quiet, and even with a noise-cancelling headset, it was sometimes barely readable at climb/cruise power.
The rest of that leg went pretty well. The landing at Hawarden wasn't bad, but the control column on this aircraft was stiffer than the one I'd flown for the last few sessions, so it was a bit of a 3-pointer when I suddenly realised it wasn't pulling back as quickly as I'd like
- taxi went fine, and as I parked up, shut down and got out, I noticed the Airbus Beluga sat right overy the other side of the field again! I went and paid my landing fees, had a quick chat to the people in the tower then went, did a quick check around and started up again. As I was taxiing out, the Beluga was backtracking on the runway for takeoff, which was nice! I got an excellent view of its takeoff whilst I was doing my power checks.
Again, this leg went fine, a bit of a longer one this time. For the Menai Straits area inbound to Caernarfon, we have to be at 1400' or below to avoid the Valley AIAA. It's a bit unnerving, flying over quite an expanse of sea, but it's nice to see the land slip underneth you again. My overhead join into Caernarfon was a bit of a mess, as my radio was still being unclear and they like you to do it at just 1300' and circuits at 800 feet. Also, it's an Air/Ground station, which I only used once before. However, once I was settled into the downwind it was fine, and after getting a wind readout I pulled off a greaser onto Runway 20, with a Cherokee following closely behind me. The taxi in was fine, though it's very different parking up on grass! Lots of power needed.
I went up to the tower to pay my fees, and then into the Caernarfon flying club to book in/out and grab a coffee and some chocolate for well-needed energy! After a quick break and a chat, I headed out to the aircraft again. Phoned mum from the aircraft to tell her that I would be a bit late back, which she thought was very weird! Started up the aircraft again, and headed out to the holding point. Noticed on my mag check that the left mag was dropping quite low, but nothing too bad. After a bumpy backtrack, I was given the wind by the A/G station again. Full power, and a bit of back pressure to keep the pressure off the nose, and we were rattling down 20. The guy in the tower gave me a cheery goodbye and I was off again on the final leg. Again up the Menai Straits, back round to Point of Ayr, and then back into Blackpool. The arrival procedure into Blackpool was a bit messy again, because it was very busy and my radio was still playing up. I think it was a fairly new controller too, as I read 2 instructions back incorrectly because I could hardly hear them, but she didn't pick up on them (I know this because my instructor was also in the circuit at the time and he could hear everything). I was fairly unsure of what she wanted me to do, but I managed to use a bit of guesswork and common sense to position myself on the opposite side of the airfield for a right base to runway 28. After that the landing was fine, and I taxiied in and shut down where I'd left off. In a way I was tired and glad to be back, as the last part had been a bit of a drag, what with concentrating for so long, but on the other hand I was pumped and wishing it was 4 hours ago
I also took a few photos on my trip, all from the air. Some of them came out a bit bright, but they're not bad to say they were very quick ones taken through sunglasses on a small compact! I decided not to take the dSLR on this trip
I've decided not to put them on this forum, but if anyone would like some I can email them to you as a .zip or separately.
Also, if the weather's good (which it looks set not to be) I plan on doing my flight test this next week. I've got another hour of solo flight to do, to make up my 10 hours, and I'd like to do a quick revision flight with an instructor. 2 written exams (R/T and Human Factors) and I should be ready for the flight test. Not got my practical R/T license booked in until after easter, so I can't apply for my license until then, but at least everything else will have been done.
Thanks for reading, sorry if I went on a bit