View Full Version : The perversity of inanimate objects (e.g. wx)
PPPPP
29th Nov 2002, 11:47
Day off on Wednesday, 3 hrs booked for solo consolidation. Winds 190 at 20G30.
Cancelled.
Thursday at work. Wx not perfect but flyable. Can't get away.
Friday (today) day off. 3hrs booked for... etc.etc.
No wind, viz less than 2km due mist.
Cancelled.
Next day off Wednesday 4th. No a/c available
Next day off Thursday 5th. 1 hr booked for solo etc.
What's the betting it'll be off as well, making it a month since I did first solo, with no solo time since.....
Suddenly Florida is looking very inviting:)
Kefuddle_UK
29th Nov 2002, 12:07
You and me both mate!
I am off all week this week. I a couple of hours a day. Instead all my booked flights have been cancelled due to xwinds or general atmospheric nastyness (doing circuits so instructor was unhappy with xwind) and then good weather days were already booked up. How does everyone in my club know what days are flyable in well in advance 'cept me :rolleyes:
That first solo remains just out of reach...but soon :)
G SXTY
29th Nov 2002, 12:14
I need 1 hour of solo x-country before the skills test. 1 measly hour. My log book reckons it's over a month since I flew. :(
I was going to Florida in February for hours building, but the way it's going I could be finishing the PPL there as well.
knobbygb
29th Nov 2002, 12:15
Me too, same reasons. Fog all last week, wind on Wednesday, Fog again today. As I was just saying in another thread my skills test was cancelled for the SEVENTH TIME :mad: today!
I'd booked seven different dates and thought I was being WAY pessamistic so didn't book any more. Now I have to wait 2 weeks before my next attempt as everything is booked solid!
Who has control?
29th Nov 2002, 12:31
Some people claim that landings are the most difficult part of flying, others say navigation. They are all wrong.
The most difficult part of flying is getting the aircraft, the weather and the money to arrive together.
I'm rapidlly coming to the conclusion that if the weather is good and the time is available - go fly! , beacause if you book a slot in the future, the Weather Gods get to hear about it and all hell breaks loose.
knobbygob - you have my sympathy as I don't recall having such extended periods of bad weather when I did my training.
I wonder how many grass airfields are toying with the idea of tarmac?
seat_of_my_pants
29th Nov 2002, 13:14
WHC - ain't that the truth.
I have been battling with the wx (I am doing circuits too) but also Redhill grass strip gets boggy - they have drainage, but it takes a while to work
I guess it's all good experience
grrrr
SOMP
knobbygb
29th Nov 2002, 13:26
Yes WHC, Sherburn is MUCH better since the tarmac runway was laid (unashamed plug). I think they now need to invest in a 10km diameter glass dome to keep the fog out :D Kinda like in 'The 'Truman Show'.....
G SXTY, are you still trying to do that last hour? I'm just going to do the test with 43.2 in the book - I'm sure it'll be OK (still awaiting the letter from the CAA, by the way).
sennadog
29th Nov 2002, 14:20
Stick with it guys. This is the worst bit nearly over! Just you wait until next summer when your shiny new PPL arrives and you are at the airfield after a good flight, soaking up the sights and sounds. Then you'll realise it was all worth it.
:D
AerBabe
29th Nov 2002, 15:09
Aircraft availability - great.
Weather - mixed, but my time is flexible.
Money - yes, well... erm...
Stick with it guys, like the others have said, it's all worth it in the end. You can have some great flying days in winter. This time last year I went up for my last lesson, and it was grey, windy, wet, and thoroughly miserable. The next day was beautiful - clear skies, very little wind, great vis. Got straight on the phone to my examiner and dragged him out of bed just in time to fit the GFT in before it got dark :) Of course there were many more days like that during the next couple of weeks, while I was waiting for the licence to come back. Then as soon as it did it was back to rain, wind, etc etc :D
FlyingForFun
29th Nov 2002, 15:30
Like others have said, stick with it.
I really can't describe how important it is to not get stressed by the weather. Going to Florida is tempting, but what are you going to do when you get back? Even after getting your PPL, you're still going to be hampered by the weather! So just relax, and take whatever the weather-gods decide to throw at you.
If it's any consolation at all (it won't be, but it'll at least show you that getting the PPL isn't the end of the weather problems), I'm in exactly the same situation, and I've already got a PPL and a little over 200 hours. I'm still trying to get my check-flight done at a new school so I can hire a PA28 for night flying. (Already got the night rating, and experience on type - just need one night flight, and one day flight.) I've booked every Saturday since the clocks changed... and flown once! And I've also only flown my Europa once in the same period. But I just head down to the airfield and hang out with other pilots, or stay at home and study, or do some Christmas shopping instead. No big deal.
FFF
--------------
Kefuddle_UK
29th Nov 2002, 15:51
Yup. I have been trying to bury my head in books in the time I would have been flying. When that gets too boooring I practice my circuits in FS. When that is too tedious it is out with Unreal Tournament for a session of anger management....works wonders :D
Ian_Wannabe
29th Nov 2002, 16:17
Tell me about it :(
I came back from sunny San Diego on the 21st of Aug with 39 hours under my belt with only the cross country to do - great! I thought....
I've flown three times since I arrived home.
Just one of those things 'eh, FSIM 2002 is getting a good bash now tho :D
Ian
Haven't flown since Sywell :( :( :(
Goodwood has turned into a marsh, and if it's not raining the place is shut because the runway is too soggy. Should have taken up golf... ;) :)
eveepee
29th Nov 2002, 21:00
PPPPP - Know just how you feel. First solo on the 24th October but the wx/and or the runway has been too awful since to go solo again. I have managed to fly with the instructor twice since practising steep turns, PFLs etc but at this rate the second solo will feel as if its the first.:eek: Guess we just have to stick with it.
matspart3
29th Nov 2002, 21:27
You're all flying in the wrong place!!!....the last two days have been lovely at Gloucester...even my Cub, complete with new cylinder flew today....sadly, I was behind my desk and not the controls!
Did take me about three months (in 1996) to get the QXC done on a day when the wx was OK, a/c serviceabe and available, and a 'day out' pass issued by Mrs mats!!
It's worth the wait!!
tomcs
29th Nov 2002, 22:07
Take heart....i took my skills test on the 14th December of last year....yes 14th of Dec! It was a cloudless crisp morning...absolutely glorious....just keep those fingers crossed!
I'm now at Uni....so think how i feel not being able to fly....and my degree is Avionic Engineering...so i have to think about them all the time!!
Chin up
Tom
G SXTY
30th Nov 2002, 07:32
Knobbygb
Before taking the skills test, thou shalt complete all required training, i.e. at least 25 hours dual & 10 hours solo, including 5 hours solo x-country, + the QXC.
Looking on the bright side, with all that money I’m not spending on flying, I might even afford a pint or two at the Gatbash. :)
AerBabe
30th Nov 2002, 11:21
tomcs - could you explain how being at university prevents you from flying? :confused:
well Aerbabe....I dont have any access to an aeroplane! Simple :) And i also dont have the money spare....or the time...however i am just about to start on the Uni Air Squadron which will allow some flying courtesy of her majesty.
(I am currently waiting for the final acceptance letter.)
Tom
AerBabe
1st Dec 2002, 16:30
Where there's a will there's a way. I did my entire PPL while at university, and the only bit someone else paid for was the postage to send my licence off (and then only because it was Christmas).
Still, if you can get into a UAS then all the better, something I couldn't do. :(
ChiSau
2nd Dec 2002, 16:33
INMHO I take the view that if you've got the desire, time and cash to get the PPL done asap then going to Florida is perfectly sensible.
I was getting incredibly frustrated that mine was taking so long because of the weather. In the end I got it done in 3.5 months - just before the weather really crapped out. Apart from getting sorted on a Warrior, all I've managed since then is 30 mins of circuits and feel incredibly rusty.
Lots of people will doubtless counsel you otherwise, but life's short - Cape Diem!
:cool: :cool:
What a Loop
3rd Dec 2002, 07:22
Why the rush, everybody seems to want it done yesterday. Flying in the UK is not going to be great given our temporate climate. Why not accept it go to the club hang out with the other guy's not able to fly and pick up tip's and general info from all the other pilots waiting the same as you.
Took me two months to get my GFT a couple of years back, was very frustrating, but had some great chats over a cup of tea with some of the club members, and learnt quite a bit too.:)
Don't get frustrated, it doesn't matter if it takes longer to get your ppl as long as you enjoy the whole experience, and part of that is understanding the weather and when not to fly..... Getting frustrated my just make you one of these days take the risk and letter regreting it.
Enjoy the tea and Bacon Butties ( not allowed now as Mrs WAL put me on diet for Xmas) Well she'll never know about the odd one....:rolleyes: ;)
WAL
I take it all back!
0900 today, cold dense air, no wind, bright sunshine, my instructor says "I'll authorise you for solo consolidation today, off you go"!
The tired old 172 climbs like a rocket, she really wants to be up here this morning. I'm the only one in the circuit, it's like my own private world in the air for the first few minutes... No t/gs, just low approaches and g/a since the grass has had such a hammering so I get to fly uninterrupted for two and a quarter hours with only one landing and departure in the middle "for practice" How can people say that circuits are boring? Today was PERFECT.
Circuit Basher
6th Dec 2002, 07:14
I managed to get in the air yesterday in deteriorating conditions - had been planning to do a little sight seeing trip, but when I got up, it really didn't look too healthy. I just did 3 circuits (not boring - did flapless / full flap / normal landings just to keep my eye in).
Did some of the best landings in a while, so wasn't all bad ;) ;)
[Edited to correct a typo]