Feeling stupid

[modelman]

Had my first solo landaway to Leics and had a bit of a wobble on the way there.I have solo'd there before no probs without landing,on a much longer navex.I couldn't spot the airfield where/when I expected it (looking back I reckon the tailwind was a lot stronger than forecast and I overshot it).Anyway I orbited around and found it and was very satisfied with my OHJ and landing on 22 ( the shortest rwy I have used yet)
Just feel the trip was spoiled a bit-am I being too hard on myself/anyone one else felt this stupid?

Modelman

[foxmoth]

14,000hrs and an instructor - I still fly past Compton Abbas on occasions (though it does not take me long now to realise I have done it).:ugh:

[BoeingBoy]

Had a check out with an instructor this spring who commented that whilst my handling was better than his, my map reading could have been better. So I promptly got the maps out, got the old whizwheel out and planned a VFR cross country from Liverpool to Shobdon. (Pretty easy really..South/North etc, don't hit a glider at Long Mynd!!):uhoh:

Result was that all my calculations were wrong as the wind was way out and I only just spotted Shobdon as it went abeam on the right. However like you I managed a nice join and a good landing. One greasy burger later and I waddled home happily on time. So you're not alone!

Oh, what did I do the next day.......? ?......Flew a 767 to Southern Mexico.;)

If I remember correctly, if you found Leicester railway station and steered 110 you got to the field. (I used to instruct there in 74!)

[dublinpilot]

On my skills test, I reached my allocated time to arrive at an airfield. I still couldn't see it. I continued for one minute and still coudn't see it.

I told the examiner that I had reached my eta +1 minute and still didn't have the airfield in sight, and was concerned that I may have missed it under the nose of the aircraft, and was going to do an orbit to check behind me.

Sure enough there it was right behind me.

He later explained that it was just slightly right of my track, and had been shielded from my view by the panel. Being a grass field it would have been harder to see earlier.

He was happy with how I handled the situation.

Sounds like you had a similar incident, and took similar action. No need to be too hard on yourself!

Airports are always hard to see.....don't know why....when you do see them they are so obvious....but until that point, they are always hard to see!

dp

[Kolibear]

Airports are always hard to see Ah - how true!

Quite often, its the aircraft parked there which show up first as white crosses against a green background.

Lydd & Fenland both have a well deserved reputation for being totally invisible from the air.

[Mike Cross]

Anyone who claims not to have been there, done that is telling a whopper and will find his nose getting longer every time he repeats the fib.
My usual problem is looking too far ahead and then finding I'm practically on top of it.
It's worth sitting for a minute or two with the chart before climbing aboard and working out where your target lies in relation to an easily recognisable landmark. If you can identify the city of Leicester and know where in relation to it the airfield lies you'll eventually ferret it out from its hiding place.
As you get about more you'll also recognise great chunks of the UK which will help your confidence no end and allow you to know where to look for your target.
Another problem I have is to do with those blobs of yellow on the chart. It's all right when the rape is in bloom but once they've harvested it they're not a lot of help!;)

Mike

[davidatter708]

Modelman don't be hard on yourself I've got over 20 hrs from leicester and I can't spot it sometimes and I live 10mins from the airport so I know the area
David

[FlyingForFun]

Anyone who claims not to have been there, done that is telling a whopperWorst one for me was half an hour circling directly overhead an airfield, able to spot all the nearby landmarks, but not able to spot the airfield itself or the runway, despite identifying all the nearby features.

FFF
---------------

[alvin-sfc]

Worst one for me was half an hour circling directly overhead an airfield, able to spot all the nearby landmarks, but not able to spot the airfield itself or the runway, despite identifying all the nearby features.

FFF
---------------Worst one for me was getting disorientated in my home circuit (solo-low hour student) and trying to land on one of the legs of the triangle that was used as a taxiway and where the control tower stands at Tollerton.Happy days.:= :ok:

[wombat13]

Got lost on my skills test and examiner converted test to lesson (best I have ever had).

Flew four hour sectors in Western Australia earlier this year over desert with nearly no landmarks, hitting every turning point.

Flew Sleap - Sibson last month "heading" for the mast to the south of the field to make my inbound call. Advised joining, turned back towards the field only to find it had disappeared :eek:

The Wombat

[1d2d3d4d]

Hi Modelman,

I missed Leicester on my QXC. Flew straight to the airfield from Cambridge only I had gone to Melton Mowbray (disused) and had to get directions from East Mids Approach. Don't suppose I'm the first or will be the last to make that mistake!

I too had rwy 22 at Leicester that day, it does look :mad: short on final to us solo studes.

Regards Chris

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Lydd & Fenland both have a well deserved reputation for being totally invisible from the air.
I found Fenland when I went there ... but only just; I'd studied the aerial photos first and had the GPS telling me it was two miles dead ahead but I still didn't see the place until almost in the circuit.

(Now Leicster, that I did have trouble with. But the ADF needle spinning rapidly as I passed by a couple of miles away was a bit of a giveaway.)

[Cusco]

I went on a fly-in to Sandtoft a few years back from East Anglia: weather was marginal and most others turned back, but hey, I had an IMC didn't I?
Could I find Sandtoft? Could I b*ggery:
Only when I contacted Waddington and they invited me to look over the side did I find it right under me.
Don't beat yourself up : you'll do it again but with ever -decreasing frequency.
Safe flying.
Cusco

[davidatter708]

22 aint that bad a runway you just got to get it right. I always land on the numbers of 28 which gives you a bit of extra length but you have got to watch the lights at the end of 28 as they stick up about a foot.:E
David