From Zero to Forty Five - my PPL Diary

[pponting]

Mazzy,

After our little adventure to Wolverhampton on Saturday, I thought I would pop in to say hello.

I was the PPL that took Mazzy to Wolverhampton on Saturday.

As I am pretty new to this myself (I only got my ticket last June) I could not offer much to Lee other than to let him see how another fairly new PPL gets around and does things, I hope he gained something of use from our little trip. I think Lee is being a little over generous with his comments about me, I am the first to admit I have a hell of a lot to learn but do appreciate the kind words

Now to throw a few back at Lee, or should I call him HAWK EYES!!!! I have been to Wolverhampton 3 or 4 times and usually spot it when I am pretty much on top of it, Lee had it from about 15 miles out. His r/t was spot on and will improve dramatically after his Northern/Sourhern solo flights as will his confidence to make those calls. All in all we had a really good day out. I am gonna get checked out in the PA28 so hopefully Lee can join our bi-monthly flights.

[mazzy1026]

(BLUSH)

Why thank you for those kind words

I really did learn a lot Paul, and I know I will on every flight we have, so thanks again - I hope you stick around in here Look forward to some flying in the 4 seater, only had a flight in a Warrior once, so it will be brilliant, especially as I will probably get the conversion myself. Sorry about the pics, I will figure out how to resize them and hopefully post some more

Hopefully going up in the chippy tomorrow, however I doubt it due to the oh so perfect weather we have got

Thanks all for the kind words, I apreciate it

Lee

[pponting]

Mazzy

Just booked my 1st lesson on the PA28 conversion so hopefully we can get some more airtime soon.

I take it Neil has bee non the phone to you

If you want me to resize the pics later on just let me know.

[mazzy1026]

Just in case anyone missed the pictures edit:

http://groups.msn.com/PPLFlyingPictures/flyingpics.msnw

Like I said, I will always be updating it, so bookmark if you wish

Cheers

[Aussie Andy]

I love the pics! But it is better to have them presented this way

Andy

[Chequeredflag]

I've had my last two lessons plagued with strong winds. Last week, we could not do circuit work at east Mids due to a 737 doing the same thing (and for some reason he got priority - don't they know who I am?!). We waited for him to touch and go in pretty strong crosswind conditions before clearance to take off was given, but whoever was flying it did not do a very good job. My instructor gave a loud exclamation as it very nearly put a wing tip onto the runway!!

We were cleared to take off, and we went to Nottingham airfield, doing four T & G's on their runway 27, much narrower and shorter than East Mids!! Wind was around 300 degrees, at 18 knots, gusting to 26. It was very bumpy, the Warrior being blown around all over the place. Nevertheless, my approaches were OK, height and speed etc, though the landings were something else. Nevertheless I did land OK(!), albeit with some coaching as I did so. The landing back at E.Mids was also subject to a strong crosswind, but went OK (when can I get some quiet days to practice the art of landing?)

Yesterday, We were in the circuits at East mids again, but only managed 40 minutes in between heavy snow showers. It was VERY turbulant, and yet again strong crosswinds, gusting regularly to 26 knots. At one point, turning onto base leg, the little Warrior seemed reluctant to obey my commands for (it seemed) several seconds, due to "forces" pushing in the opposite direction!! After 3 circuits (with very crabbed approaches, and considerable use of rudder and aileron to get straight before touch down), the next band of snow was almost on us , so we landed and taxied back to the school - the snow hit just as we shut down, and was a complete "whiteout" - certainly would not want to be flying in that sort of stuff.

Whilst these windy and turbulant conditions are very good experience, I hope to have some smoother flying soon, so that I can move on a bit in the syllabus. Surely a nice day on Friday is not too much to ask?? (looking at the forcast, I don't think I'm going to get it!)

[Vee One...Rotate]

Don't say that! I'm booked in for an hour on Friday morning

V1R

[mazzy1026]

Good work chequered, keep it up!

Well what a day I have had! Got to the school for 1030 as I was due a flight in the Chipmunk with a friend who has a share in it. When I was in the air cadet’s, I missed out on the last day of serviceable flying for the chipmunk, so this was to be my first time. We took off and I couldn’t get over how well it flies and how responsive it is! We set up to the north for some aero’s – now, it’s been approximately 6 years since I had last done aerobatics, and that was in the bulldog. I didn’t feel sick at all then, and I was hoping the same would apply today. Well it did – I felt absolutely fine, and there was no need for me to spew! We started off with a couple of loops and then a roll. I was amazed to hear Neil say “right let’s do a spin”. Oh what joy…….I had never done a spin before, but had heard how much fun they were. He killed the throttle, raised the nose then WHALLOP – booted the left rudder and pulled back the control column – over the top we went into a very fast corkscrew type spin – absolutely bloody fantastic! I had control for the flight back before I gave it back for the landing – a truly amazing experience, one which I look forward to repeating. Cheers Neil if your reading. Paul, sorry you couldn’t make it – see you again soon.

Now then – onto my lesson. It was possibly a bad idea but my lesson was on the same day, a few hours later. It was actually my decision whether we flew or not as the wx was a bit dodgy, however to the North it was perfectly clear with great vis. Ideal. So I planned for the northern route – this is the one that had gone so bad last time as you will know. Mistake number one was an appalling takeoff. Nose too high, too much crab and just a shambles. Mistake number two, turned onto the planned heading for Kirkby, which I do know and is the VRP but for some, peculiar reason, I was flying totally the wrong way. I was looking straight a ahead where I knew (thought) it should be and just couldn’t see it. After some hinting from my instructor, we got back on track. Not a very good start I know but it gets better. You may recall from last time I was having difficulty relating the chart to what was on the ground. Well, this didn’t seem a problem this time; I could see where we were and relate all the towns/features along the way. So basically, I knew our position for (most) of the flight. However, (there is always a BUT) this didn’t stop me from making any mistakes. When we were off track, as this was a navigation exercise, I couldn’t simply say “follow the M6 north” which would have got us to our destination, but instead I have to pick an estimated heading to fly, and stick to it. One thing that I just kept forgetting was to synchronise the heading indicator with the compass. This resulted in us being roughly 10 degrees off track most of the time. I need to get this into routine or I am gonna mess up every time. The call to Warton went well as I had planned what I was going to say beforehand. They only gave us a FIS and so I didn’t need to tell them any headings, but I did anyway, probably because I was expecting to. They didn’t seem bothered. I have learned some more features now and could spot Formby point and Southport pier quite well – and next time it wont prove a problem. I hadn’t planned to call Woodvale, as I never thought it would be necessary, but as we were to pass east abeam the field, it was sonly good airmanship. Messed up a little here as I had not planned, but nothing serious. Ok now comes my most shameful moment ever. Coming back to Kirkby, past Woodvale, abeam Ormskirk, I got the ATIS. Before I knew it, I was approaching Kirkby. I forgot to descend. Was at 2000 feet when I just ever so slightly popped the zone. Instructor promptly reminded me and made adequate correction. I felt like ****. What a terrible mistake to make, it was a real downer. Anyway, onward, trying to put my mistakes in the past as not to make anymore. We had to orbit Kirkby for quite some time as there was a huge snow front coming over, we had a non standard rejoin to avoid it and landed in a 15 knot crosswind quite nicely – this renewed some of the shattered confidence.

In summary, I felt much better about being able to know where I was and relating to the map and this instilled confidence. My RT was better than the last time and we actually made the checkpoints reasonably ok. Apart from the initial loss of Kirkby and popping the zone, I was relatively ok with it. Still got a long way to go, and hopefully I can nail this flight on the next one. I have made the mistakes and now it’s time to get it right! Apparently, so a mate tells me, one day I will have a successful navigation flight and feel very good about it, and from then on, they will all be better. I am still waiting but feel I will get there!

My fingers hurt now, sorry for the long post – cheers,

Lee.

[Blinkz]

Don't feel bad maz, we all make mistakes. Just learn from em. I bet you'll be more careful of the zone bondary next time

Sounds like you had a good flight in the chipmunk, spinnings great isn't it!! hehe.

Weather here has been appauling, lots of snow tho, made the daddy of all snowmen yesturday tho, it was about 7ft high and 3 of us were standing on its sholders

Passed my RT practical and written on monday so I'm now a licenced Radio user, well, when I apply for it. No flying at all tho, not sure when the weather will get better. You guys on the west side have it easy

[Aussie Andy]

Mazzy, think positive: it's good to bust the zone slightly with your instuctor aboard because you are learning and I bet you will have this in the forefront of your mind next time you are returning. All aprt of the learning process, and I bet no real harm was done.

... kept forgetting was to synchronise the heading indicator with the compass... I need to get this into routine or I am gonna mess up every time.

We were taught to do "FREDA" checks every 15 minutes (I thought everyone does this?):

• F - Fuel
• R - Radios
• E - Engine
• D - DI
• A - Altimeter

Cheers!

Andy

[mazzy1026]

Passed my RT practical and written on monday

That's brilliant that mate - well done. A good relief eh - how a bout a nice detailed writeup

I reckon if I lived further east I cold beat 7 feet!

Andy - cheers mate. Yeah I do regular FREDA checks but for some reason, on the Direction I just simply make a note of our present heading - I forget to synch it! I WONT do it any more though!!! Another thing I need to get out the habbit of, is when reading back the QNH to a controller; I must actually put it in. Sometimes I just read it back and dont put it in....like you say, all part of the learning curve, and I wont be busting airspace any more - you are quite right!

[Aussie Andy]

I reckon that unsynch'd DI is probably primary cause of navigation errors for PPLs - during and after the training! Some aircraft you'll find the DI can drift off 10 degrees in 10 minutes, others are more stable...

Andy

[mazzy1026]

Couldn't agree with you more Andy - funny isn't it, how the most important things can be missed out!

[MyData]

Mazzy, Blinks, Aussie Andy et. al.

Thanks for all these great posts. As a PPL student it is very helpful to read how others are doing and the thinks to look out for. I'm especially interested in the comments about the DI settings. I've read all about FREDA checks and ensuring the DI and the Magnetic Compass align every few minutes but I've never had to make an adjustment.

The PA28 I fly in has an HSI - Horizontal Situation Indicator which is a combination of 2 cockpit instruments, a directional gyro (compass) and radio navigation indications. According to my instructor the HSI has its own compasses installed somewhere in the PA28 and is really quite accurate and self adjusting. So I do a FREHA check every few minutes and just ensure that the HSI and Compass align. Reading Mazzy's post though will stick with me in future so that if I'm flying with a DI I'll be aware that they can deviate over time.

On the setting of the QNH, when I'm doing my FREHA/FREDA checks I use the A check to check the altimeter - not only am I flying at the right altitude, but is the QNH set correctly. What I mean to say is that I make it a *two* point check deliberately and speak out loud what I'm doing. My own personal learning style is to understand the why and not just the what. Thinking of altimeters makes me think of pressure settings so the QNH setting automatically becomes part of the check (if that makes sense?)

Mazzy - I'm flying out of Leeds / Bradford. Do most of my circuits at Gamston, Full Sutton and Sandtoft. Am just waiting for a still day to get my solo out of the way - no flying for a month now :-(, then I'll be onto nav and the instructor would want us to get over to your side of the Pennines to get some different scenery and to navigate over the featureless-ish tops of the Pennines. It will be interesting to fly around the places you've described to date. The aerobatics sounded like fun too!

MyData

[Aussie Andy]

G'day MyData,

Sounds like the DI in your HSI is "slaved", i.e. it is automatically aligned to magnetic North by being linked (“slaved”) to a flux valve (aka "magnetometer"). BTW, more modern aircraft / airliners may have something which is even better than a slaved-DI: solid-state laser-ring or MEMS-based gyros - see for example http://www.xbow.com/Industry_solutio...uide.htm#solid

Anyway, if the aircraft does not have an electronic flux valve, then the gyroscopic DI has to be manually reset to the compass reading during straight and level flight from time to time to compensate for drift of the gyroscopic instrument.

So, you are very fortunate as it is a great luxury to have a slaved-DI when learning! One of the aircraft I fly regularly (P28B Dakota G-ODAK) has a slaved DI and it really makes a world of difference! Run of the mill PA38, PA28, C152, C172 etc rental aircraft typically wil lnot have a slaved-DI.

However, the challenge you may face if learning on an aircraft with a slaved-DI is that when you come to rent a typical PA28 etc. after you have your license, you will typically find that there is no HSI certainly, and probably no slaved-DI so you might end up not sufficiently aware of the need to reset the DI to the mag compass.

Doing so is not too difficult - ensure you are straight and level (can be a bit difficult on bumpy days!), wait for the magnetic compass to settle down, and then rotate the small knob next to the DI to align the DI heading to be about the same as the mag compass indication. The main complication is the the DI and the mag compass rotate in opposite directions from each other, so you look at the mag compass and say "it's a bit to the left of 090" say, but you need to set the DI "a bit ot the right of 090" to get the same heading... this has often caught me out (small brain!)

Hope this helps!

Andy

[Milt]

DI Precession

Hey guys/gals the rate of precession of a DI is adjustable by an instrument mech. There should be a limit applied of so many degrees per hour. If the instrument is outside limits then the gyro bearings might be on the way out or some such problem leading to complete failure.

Ask your instructors about the limits, store the answer/s in your memory data base and refresh mine.

It's this sort of thing that makes flying so fascinating and you NEVER stop wanting to learn more.

[MyData]

Andy

Thanks for the info on the HSI. You are quite correct in that the device is a slaved unit. On the dash panel there is a switch that I've seen the instructor use only once or twice. One of the settings is 'slave' - I don't know the other but it may be manual or master, the switch and labels are tiny and on the right hand side.

When this switch is flicked, when on the ground, the HSI will auto align itself. We do a quick check with the magnetic compass and the surroundings then put it back into slave mode. I don't recall having to do anything in flight.

They are a great help, I don't know if I'd want to have the additional load of adjusting the DI with the compass every 10 minutes but it is something I will have to be aware of when switching to other a/c. I know the school has other PA28s and Cessnas, I might request a lesson in one of these when I'm happy with my nav skills in order to get to know and love the DI.

MyData

[Sensible]

Ahhh, DI precession. Rented a PA 28 once, the DI wouldn't keep up with the aircraft turns, the compass was leaking and the card "grounded" in the climb so if I did a climbing turn, I had no idea what heading I was on. I flew the beast out of a major airport, was given vectors by ATC and thought that I would be smart and do "timed turns" counting in my head. ATC said "say your present heading" and at that point I knew that I had failed to keep on top of the radio and counting at the same time!

I still have problems setting the DI fromthe compass, as Aussie Andy says " if the compass reads a bit to the left of 090 then you need to set the DI "a bit ot the right of 090" to get the same heading" and that's complicated for me too!

[mazzy1026]

MyData - welcome aboard mate and thanks for your input

I suppose you aint too far away from Liverpool, or the North West (and me likewise, am not too far from Leeds) so when we have our tickets, we can look forward to some shared nav flights eh, and who knows maybe you or I may invest in an aerobatic rating If you have never flown in the North West before it can be quite interesting. Our main feature is probably the River Mersey, which can be seen from all aorund - you can even see the City Centre from further north, in the Blackpool region perhaps, on a clear day. A trip down the Welsh coats is always a good one too - it's pretty difficult to get lost to be honest when you have the coast (purely on a VFR flight, not on a nav-ex, as you are aware I have a habbit of getting lost on) So yes, look forward to a flight with you in the future, and anyone else for that matter!!

Andy:

this has often caught me out (small brain!)

I know this feeling oh so well and can only dream of a slave DI ! Just be careful Data, like Andy advises, that when you swap aircraft, to keep it in synch, or you can get horribly lost (again, I know the feeling)

Cheers,

Lee

Sensible, you posted the same time as me - sounds like a situation where all good nightmares are made. What was the story here then? Did you explain you had a faulty DI or just give them the best headings you could?

[Gertrude the Wombat]

So, you are very fortunate as it is a great luxury to have a slaved-DI when learning!

I didn't have a slaved one whilst learning, but sometimes hire an aircraft that does have one. I have to try to make myself remember that the D in FREDA now stands for "make sure the ****** thing is still slaved" rather than "don't bother to look at it in this aircraft, it's slaved".