From Zero to Forty Five - my PPL Diary
Hi Paul.
Well done on getting some flying in. Its been about 7 weeks for me....
Congrats on the Met as well. To be honest the Nav is far easier once you have done one or two lessons on it. That said, my school 'recommended' you do the exam before starting the practical.
My advice would be to study the whole syllabus before you start the flying, but leave the exam until later.
Back to the met I had a marginal question as well. It wasn't about ocluded fronts was it?
Well done on getting some flying in. Its been about 7 weeks for me....
Congrats on the Met as well. To be honest the Nav is far easier once you have done one or two lessons on it. That said, my school 'recommended' you do the exam before starting the practical.
My advice would be to study the whole syllabus before you start the flying, but leave the exam until later.
Back to the met I had a marginal question as well. It wasn't about ocluded fronts was it?
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Hey Captainkarl
best way to land flapless.
Dont know how uve been taught to land but use the box method which always works for me on anytype of landing u just have to get used to the diffrent nose attitudes.
IE flapless is a flater approch and glide is a stepper approch.
But just listen to ur instructor it will come with time.
The box method is where u draw a box on the windshield ( Imaginary) and keep the touch down point in tht box at all times. Use throttle to control speed and pitch to control rate of decent. Simple some pepole use different methods all depends on which works for u.
Another method which is manly used for instrument flying is where speed is controled by nose attitude and rate of descent by using the throttle both work but the box method is better.
adwjenk
best way to land flapless.
Dont know how uve been taught to land but use the box method which always works for me on anytype of landing u just have to get used to the diffrent nose attitudes.
IE flapless is a flater approch and glide is a stepper approch.
But just listen to ur instructor it will come with time.
The box method is where u draw a box on the windshield ( Imaginary) and keep the touch down point in tht box at all times. Use throttle to control speed and pitch to control rate of decent. Simple some pepole use different methods all depends on which works for u.
Another method which is manly used for instrument flying is where speed is controled by nose attitude and rate of descent by using the throttle both work but the box method is better.
adwjenk
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The box method is where u draw a box on the windshield ( Imaginary) and keep the touch down point in tht box at all times. Use throttle to control speed and pitch to control rate of decent.
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I find it works really well in the PA38 ive never had a problem landing using that method.
Yet i find it works espically well in the PA34- Seneca due to as u say the extra power to over come the drag.
Yet it works with flaps down in the Tommy never flown the cessna 152 before so cant comment.
So what method would you use or what method where u taught to land. Normal landings not glide or flapless?
Im very intressted to hear other pepoles techniques and opinions.
Cheers
ADWJENK
Yet i find it works espically well in the PA34- Seneca due to as u say the extra power to over come the drag.
Yet it works with flaps down in the Tommy never flown the cessna 152 before so cant comment.
So what method would you use or what method where u taught to land. Normal landings not glide or flapless?
Im very intressted to hear other pepoles techniques and opinions.
Cheers
ADWJENK
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What a day!
Weather looked dodgy until my lesson time approached and it cleared up a treat
Today was a follow-up lesson on stall/spin awareness and recovery. Ended up letting 3 full spins develop and recovered from each - bloody fantastic stuff
Makes it that much harder to concentrate on what you should be doing when you're diving toward the ground and being pushed down in your seat! As if the whole houses-getting-bigger thing wasn't enough!
Had a 40 kt (gusting 55) headwind on approach - on a C152 witha 60-65 kt approach, we basically ended up doing a good impression of a helicopter
Been told we're going to start some circuit work next week...only 5 hours in so still a loooooong way to go...
V1R
P.S. Experiencing a fully-developed spin isn't a REQUIREMENT of the syllabus anymore but I'd highly recommend doing it if you've not had the pleasure yet - I feel a lot more confident in general handling, knowing that a spin is about the worst (handling-wise) situation you can get into...it's good fun as well
Weather looked dodgy until my lesson time approached and it cleared up a treat
Today was a follow-up lesson on stall/spin awareness and recovery. Ended up letting 3 full spins develop and recovered from each - bloody fantastic stuff
Makes it that much harder to concentrate on what you should be doing when you're diving toward the ground and being pushed down in your seat! As if the whole houses-getting-bigger thing wasn't enough!Had a 40 kt (gusting 55) headwind on approach - on a C152 witha 60-65 kt approach, we basically ended up doing a good impression of a helicopter
Been told we're going to start some circuit work next week...only 5 hours in so still a loooooong way to go...
V1R
P.S. Experiencing a fully-developed spin isn't a REQUIREMENT of the syllabus anymore but I'd highly recommend doing it if you've not had the pleasure yet - I feel a lot more confident in general handling, knowing that a spin is about the worst (handling-wise) situation you can get into...it's good fun as well
Last edited by Vee One...Rotate; 12th Nov 2004 at 18:24.
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ended up doing a good impression of a helicopter
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Use throttle to control speed and pitch to control rate of decent.
ended up doing a good impression of a helicopter
Takeoffs in that sort of wind are fun too..
My flying? There's a front coming up the coast today, my one day off work/uni this week... guess who's not flying today either!!
Now I'm REALLY suffering withdrawals... Think Mazzy said it earlier, "get used to the wx or move to another country"... methinks I'm in the country that's supposed to have close to the best weather for flying. This may be so, but never where I am, if there's an aeroplane involved!!
Ahh well, you guys keep me interested... at least SOMEONE's doing something!
Cheers,
Adam
I've finally got my QXC out of the way!!!The weather on Sat was gorgeous and after a few circuits with the CFI ( I hadn't flown for 2 months
) I was off to Bristol. Arrived there with no issues, then off to Exeter. Had trouble leaving Exeter as the during the engine power checks the righthand magnito was failing - cue 5 minutes taxiing back to the parking wondering how the hell I was going to get home. Thankfully I managed to clear it in the engine run up area and after much checking and re-check I was back on my way to Southampton. All in all a great day but not one I would rush to repeat in the near future!
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quote:
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Use throttle to control speed and pitch to control rate of decent.
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?I've always done it the other way around... pitch for speed and throttle for rate of descent...?
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Use throttle to control speed and pitch to control rate of decent.
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?I've always done it the other way around... pitch for speed and throttle for rate of descent...?
Spicy Meatball
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Absolutely Gutted
I rang up today to confirm the flight, and was told that my instructor has left the flying school. I was well gutted because not only was he a great instructor, but he was a great laugh and we got on well. I wont go into the reasons why he left as they were personal, but I wish him the best of luck. He got me to my first solo phase and then departed, and I am lucky in a way because I may have had to wait longer to solo if he left earlier.
Anyway, onwards and upwards I must go.
My new instructor, I think is relatively new to the school. He is a top bloke and a very good instructor. I have spoken to him a few times before and always known him as a nice person. He is a full time instructor and works days that suit me quite well actually.
There was a BA aircraft doing circuits for most of the day at Liverpool and there was no chance of anyone else getting circuits done. We were originally contemplating going to Hawarden to do some solo there, but the thing is, if you land, they charge a handling fee, as well as the landing fee's so we decided against it as I would hopefully get the chance to do them on Sunday.
I gave a brief as to what I had done previously and to how it was going, and it was decided that we do some advanced/steep turns. He asked me whether I would like to go North or South out of the zone, and as I live to the North, and have done 90% of the flying there, I chose it. Having thought about it though, now that I am building the big picture of the area and getting to know it (the North) I may suggest that we do a few lessons to the South, so that I have the confidence to fly there on my own as well.
Steep turns are good fun, and I think so far, they require the most practice over anything else (maybe apart from landings). We started with a few 45 degree turns, to the left and the right - these weren't too difficult. However, then we got onto the 60 degree turns. The hardest thing about these was not entereing a spiral descent. Keepig the nose high enough when turning requires a hell of a lot of back pressure. The biggest problem I cam accross was getting used to the different nose attitudes (or perceived attitudes) due to offset seating. When turning to the left, the nose looks very high, and when turning to the right, it looks very low.
When going through one of the turns, there was quite a significant shudder. This is a good sign, as it indicates that you are flying through your own vortexes, and indicates that you have not climbed or descended. Felt these a few times and it did put a smile on ones face
I like his style of teaching, he basically 'left me to it'. I would be practising away doing all kinds of turns, whilst he would get the ATIS. He trusts me a lot and gives me good responsibility - which I am pleased about.
I want to refer back to a few things I have mentioned about the checklist, and how I sometimes miss things out. Today I did it again, and missed the pre-takeoff checks. Stupid I know, but according to my instructor, a great number of students, who use the AFE checklists, do exactley the same. It is the layout of the checks that can cause confusion, as they do not follow in a logical order, for example 'starting the engine when flooded' is thrown in the middle. I am not blaming them at all, it is entirely my own mistake to miss such an important check, but I have been advised to consider buying a different checklist and bin the one I have already got. Has anyone else come accross this problem?
I am 110% happy with my new situation, and I reckon that because I will be taught in the end by two different people, then I may learn two different approaches to flying, and different styles etc. Good to see that a few people have managed to get flying also by making the most of Saturday's wx. Well done on the QXC also - keep up the good work!
All the best,
Lee
Anyway, onwards and upwards I must go.
My new instructor, I think is relatively new to the school. He is a top bloke and a very good instructor. I have spoken to him a few times before and always known him as a nice person. He is a full time instructor and works days that suit me quite well actually.
There was a BA aircraft doing circuits for most of the day at Liverpool and there was no chance of anyone else getting circuits done. We were originally contemplating going to Hawarden to do some solo there, but the thing is, if you land, they charge a handling fee, as well as the landing fee's so we decided against it as I would hopefully get the chance to do them on Sunday.
I gave a brief as to what I had done previously and to how it was going, and it was decided that we do some advanced/steep turns. He asked me whether I would like to go North or South out of the zone, and as I live to the North, and have done 90% of the flying there, I chose it. Having thought about it though, now that I am building the big picture of the area and getting to know it (the North) I may suggest that we do a few lessons to the South, so that I have the confidence to fly there on my own as well.
Steep turns are good fun, and I think so far, they require the most practice over anything else (maybe apart from landings). We started with a few 45 degree turns, to the left and the right - these weren't too difficult. However, then we got onto the 60 degree turns. The hardest thing about these was not entereing a spiral descent. Keepig the nose high enough when turning requires a hell of a lot of back pressure. The biggest problem I cam accross was getting used to the different nose attitudes (or perceived attitudes) due to offset seating. When turning to the left, the nose looks very high, and when turning to the right, it looks very low.
When going through one of the turns, there was quite a significant shudder. This is a good sign, as it indicates that you are flying through your own vortexes, and indicates that you have not climbed or descended. Felt these a few times and it did put a smile on ones face
I like his style of teaching, he basically 'left me to it'. I would be practising away doing all kinds of turns, whilst he would get the ATIS. He trusts me a lot and gives me good responsibility - which I am pleased about.
I want to refer back to a few things I have mentioned about the checklist, and how I sometimes miss things out. Today I did it again, and missed the pre-takeoff checks. Stupid I know, but according to my instructor, a great number of students, who use the AFE checklists, do exactley the same. It is the layout of the checks that can cause confusion, as they do not follow in a logical order, for example 'starting the engine when flooded' is thrown in the middle. I am not blaming them at all, it is entirely my own mistake to miss such an important check, but I have been advised to consider buying a different checklist and bin the one I have already got. Has anyone else come accross this problem?
I am 110% happy with my new situation, and I reckon that because I will be taught in the end by two different people, then I may learn two different approaches to flying, and different styles etc. Good to see that a few people have managed to get flying also by making the most of Saturday's wx. Well done on the QXC also - keep up the good work!
All the best,
Lee
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Sorry to hear that mazzy altho hopefully your new guy is just as good.
Steep turns sound fun, I'm still workin on doing more solo consolidation, did 20mins on saturday, was very bumpy and the instructor wanted to make sure I was ok (I was )
Weather looks crap for the next couple of days back to meteorology!!!
Oh and I always thought that if you felt your own wake in turns it meant that you had descended, since your wake obvoiusly descends......anyone know which is correct
altho hopefully your new guy is just as good.Steep turns sound fun, I'm still workin on doing more solo consolidation, did 20mins on saturday, was very bumpy and the instructor wanted to make sure I was ok (I was
) Weather looks crap for the next couple of days
back to meteorology!!!Oh and I always thought that if you felt your own wake in turns it meant that you had descended, since your wake obvoiusly descends......anyone know which is correct
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Your wake vortices do descend, at about 300 to 500 feet per minute.
However, unless you're travelling at blackbird speeds you should be re-entering your wake within about 2 minutes (rate one), and much sooner if you're doing steep turns -- so meeting your own wake is still a "good thing" at high turn rates
However, unless you're travelling at blackbird speeds you should be re-entering your wake within about 2 minutes (rate one), and much sooner if you're doing steep turns -- so meeting your own wake is still a "good thing" at high turn rates
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For what it's worth, I looked back through the logbook one day and counted no less than NINE instructors in my first 35 hours!! Admittedly those hours were spread out over about a year though.
Admittedly those hours were spread out over about a year though.
Spicy Meatball
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Rustle
I was thinking that after I had made the post. I have learned about wake vortices in a couple of the modules, but most of them talk about high speed ones, like those created by heavy airliners etc. So the ones created by a Tomahawk would obviously descend much much slower, therefore, like you say, it is still a good thing (i'll leave it at that
)
Kook
How did you find having so many different instructors? Personally, so long as this new one doesnt leave. then I will complete the PPL only having 2 intstructors.
Regards
Lee
I was thinking that after I had made the post. I have learned about wake vortices in a couple of the modules, but most of them talk about high speed ones, like those created by heavy airliners etc. So the ones created by a Tomahawk would obviously descend much much slower, therefore, like you say, it is still a good thing (i'll leave it at that
)Kook
How did you find having so many different instructors? Personally, so long as this new one doesnt leave. then I will complete the PPL only having 2 intstructors.
Regards
Lee
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c-bert,
Congratulations on the QXC! Sounds like fun at Exeter. I had a similar experience one day at Wycombe - very rough running on one mag. Seems like a common problem on the Warrior and my instructor burned off the clag by increasing the revs and leaning the mixture.
Yes, my marginal MET question was on occluded fronts!
Lovely weather over the weekend. I'd hoped to get solo yesterday, but I had about the second worst lesson I've ever had. I made a complete b*lls up of my first take-off. So bad, my instructor made me do a full stop landing after a couple of circuits and try again (I applied too much back-pressure, too early, and then let the thing drift off to the left side of the runway!). Things didn't get much better. My next take-off was ok, but I couldn't get my landings right at all. All over the place with the rudders again and kept getting too low on approach.
Never mind, try again next time!
Mazzy, best of luck with the new instructor.
Paul
Congratulations on the QXC! Sounds like fun at Exeter. I had a similar experience one day at Wycombe - very rough running on one mag. Seems like a common problem on the Warrior and my instructor burned off the clag by increasing the revs and leaning the mixture.
Yes, my marginal MET question was on occluded fronts!
Lovely weather over the weekend. I'd hoped to get solo yesterday, but I had about the second worst lesson I've ever had. I made a complete b*lls up of my first take-off. So bad, my instructor made me do a full stop landing after a couple of circuits and try again (I applied too much back-pressure, too early, and then let the thing drift off to the left side of the runway!). Things didn't get much better. My next take-off was ok, but I couldn't get my landings right at all. All over the place with the rudders again and kept getting too low on approach.
Never mind, try again next time!
Mazzy, best of luck with the new instructor.
Paul
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Mazzy...
It was good in that I was exposed to a lot of different styles of flying - sort of picked up different things from each one... but then it wasn't so good in that at that level I had not yet (and still haven't
) figured out my own style. So as soon as I got used to one instructor I went flying with another... and they usually had other 'pet hates' or whatever. That many instructors spread out over many more hours wouldn't be an issue, but at that stage in my flying it probably wasn't the best thing.
Having said that, I've done all my navs so far with the one instructor, so it's all good now...
Adam
It was good in that I was exposed to a lot of different styles of flying - sort of picked up different things from each one... but then it wasn't so good in that at that level I had not yet (and still haven't
) figured out my own style. So as soon as I got used to one instructor I went flying with another... and they usually had other 'pet hates' or whatever. That many instructors spread out over many more hours wouldn't be an issue, but at that stage in my flying it probably wasn't the best thing.Having said that, I've done all my navs so far with the one instructor, so it's all good now...
Adam