From Zero to Forty Five - my PPL Diary

[MyData]

The wind blows...

Cheq'd Flag - congrats on getting the exam done. I finally managed to get back in the skies the weekend before last after 5 weeks off due to wx etc.

Circuits at Leeds / Bradford in the mist (but still VFR of course!). It was a novelty doing the circuits at a major airport. I came unstuck and found my altitude, handling, approach and first landing all really quite poor. I was shocked at how much capability I had lost. After 5 circuits I was back in the swing of things, even had to do a land and wait on the main runway to avoid the wake of a departed 737. That was odd, sitting in the little PA28 on the runway, just passing the time ;-)

Then last Saturday I started on navigation. The wind was really blowing a gale (for a PA28) with 25kts at 2000ft over Yorkshire. The instructor had to take off and land the aircraft but once in the air we flew around the vale of York and my headings and timings were spot on. I was frankly amazed at how precise the calculations had come out. I was also finding visual navigation much easier than I had expected. I managed to get another lesson in on Sunday - more navigation to different locations. Again all covered with ease - I was getting to thinking that nav would be much more difficult than it is. At least I have the basics covered.

We did a bit of general handling - stalls, PFLs etc. and again it was shocking how much I had forgotten. But here's to the summer days with hopefully lots of opportunities to consolidate the knowledge and get licenced some time this year!!

[DiscoChocolate]

I dont usually post on here except to whinge about the wx, but i will make an exception this time as I finally did my QXC yesterday!! So after waiting nearly 5 months for the chance, yesterday was the day and what a truly superb day i was!
I turned up at the school expecting to do a one hour solo trip out the zone to practice general handling. My instructor thought otherwise. A quick check of the weather to make sure the idea was feasible and then i planned out the flight and talked the instructor through it. It was only now that i began to realise just what i was undertaking. Previously, my logest flight had been 1.5 hours, now this was to be close to 3 hours with 2 land aways, crossing through 3 MATZ and a low level route. Clearly i would be under a lot of pressure. I phoned Wolverhampton(my first destination) for weather information and to tell them that i was on my way. The ATC guy was very friendly and helpful and this settled the nerves a lot, as I knew i would be in good hands once i got to Wolverhampton. My aircraft for the day would be the flying schools latest Tomahawk. The CFI had been the first to fly it, but i was to be the first student to take her up, obviously this added to the excitement. I checked her out, booked out from Liverpool and off I went. I was feeling fairly confident about the first leg as I am I familiar with the area that I would be flying over.
Taxying out to RWY 27, i was behind a row of 5 Tommy's, for once Liverpool was under siege by GA aircraft and not orange buses!
I left the zone routing out of Chester and the first thing that became apparent was the FANTASTIC visibility. I could already see my first turning point Whitchurch which was 16miles away!!! Brilliant! Once clear of Chester I dialled up Shawbury Radar to get a radar information service and the first MATZ penetration. It was the first time I had done this while solo so this was the first challenge. I found the RAF controller very helpful and patient with me even though he was busy. Again this was helping me to relax. With the MATZ penetration approved I entered the zone making sure i maintained the correct height. The area was busy with GA aircraft and military traffic so I had to keep a good look out going while making sure I was sticking to my track line. Once clear of the MATZ it was time to talk to Wolverhampton to get WX and joining instructions. This is where I made mistake number one. After telling shawbury that I was changing to Wolverhampton Information I did a quick freda, checked the map and flight plan and had a good look out. And announced on the Radio "Wolverhampton Information, Golf Bravo Mike Mike Lima"... the response was "Golf Mike Lima, you are still talking to Shawbury Radar" how embarresing! Lesson 1, after telling someone you are changing freq, actually do it! I dialled in Wolverhampton and got wx and joining instructions. I was to report overhead and expect to join a left hand circuit for RWY 28. The nerves jangled. This would be my first solo land away. I entered their overhead at 2000ft and descended to enter the circuit at 1000ft. I lined up for final for 28, bugger no PAPI lights! I must admit I had become a little bit reliant on these recently as I had been flying into Liverpool with all its fancy kit. The landing was not so great considering there was hardly any wind, but it was safe and I had got to my first destination! I parked up next to the tower as I had been advised, shut down and went to the tower to get my certificate stamped... I was greeted by a friendly bunch of people who seemed impressed with my airmanship and landing... so far so good they even did the booking out for me so that took a bit of pressure of. I grabbed a quick drink and some much needed energy in the form of chocolate and called up Blackpool to tell them my intentions. Again ATC was friendly.
A quick walk round check and I was ready to go. Mistake number 2, i taxied to the holding point for the runway without getting permission from the tower. I apologised and they were again very helpful. Before giving me instructors to line up, they got the other aircraft in the circuit to extend their downwind leg so I could depart ASAP, which was very kind of them.
Once I left Wolverhampton I was to head north but this would take me very close to Cosfords zone, so i dialled them up and told them i would fly west abeam their airfield. Once clear of Cosford it was back to Shawbury Radar to request another MATZ penetration. This time the controller was very busy. Seemed that there was a lot of traffic in the area so I had to pay a lot attention to the radio and keep a good look out going, this leg was getting tough even after 15minutes! I was getting very close to entering the MATZ but had not been given permission to enter it. I mentally prepared a route that would take me round the MATZ if permission was not granted. As the freq was very busy i started to execute my diversion round the MATZ, as I couldn't get a call in to check that I was allowed in the MATZ. Finally I got the call in and was allowed to enter the MATZ. I crossed the MATZ and left shawbury radar to talk to manchester approach so I could enter the low level corridor. I was to enter the low level route at Ashcroft farm. As this is a grass strip located in an area full of farms it was quite difficult to identify, but i just trusted my flight plan and watch and it appeared, in the right place at the right time.
Flying the low level route was the most difficult part of the trip. Flying at 1200ft is unervingly low and i was having trouble sticking to it and more than once i found my self at 1300/1400ft. I also found it incredibly difficult to navigate it,as there a very few notable land features, so I was using the motorway and railway networks as my visual aids.
After leaving the low level route I quickly got the ATIS from Blackpool before speaking to Warton Radar. My plan was to route to the Marshside VRP to get to Blackpool as this would keep me away from Warton, but the controller allowed me to fly direct to Blackpool, which made life a lot easier. While landing at Blackpool I could see some clouds moving in from the sea and i was starting to wonder if I would be able to fly out of there that evening. I paid the landing fees and got my certificate stamped.
going back to the aircraft and weather was looking worse. The ATIS was giving 18miles vis and scattered cloud at 3000ft, which was withing limits. Thank god. Taxying out to RWY28 ATC were telling me where to turn and again were very helpful and accomodating. I hope they are like this once i pass!
The flight back to liverpool was fantastic and all the way back and the grin on my face was getting bigger and bigger. The landing at Liverpool was as good as they get so that topped it off nicely.
The day was truly fantastic and incredibly rewarding especially after such a long wait. It was exhausting though as I had to concentrate very had for close to 4 hours, i'm still tired from it now...

Apologies for the long post, hope you are still awake after reading all of that!!

[Whirlybird]

Well done DiscoChocolate. Especially as the weather around Wolverhampton was not at all nice, at least when I was there. I set off from Sleap to go to Wellesbourne. At Bridgnorth I was confronted by a wall of cloud lower than I was...and I was down to 1300 ft. I told Wolverhampton I was orbiting to decide what to do, and looked for a break, but couldn't find one. Then I looked behind me and the cloud was getting lower there too! I decided to go home before I scared myself. Of course it cleared up beautifully later, sod's law.

So, if you heard a female voice trying to understand Shawbury with a rather iffy radio, and then undecided about what to do around Wolverhampton, that was me.

[Aussie Andy]

DiscoChocolate - well done! I really enjoyed reading your write-up as it brought memories of how I felt doing my QXC a few years ago! I think it gives a greater sense of achievement than the first solo: it really proves you can bring it all together at once! Again, well done!!

Andy

[Vee One...Rotate]

Chequeredflag,

I'm truly sorry to hear about your friend - I wish him well.

You say you flew into Leicester recently - that's my base. How'd you find the landings? None of this PAPI/ILS malarky - grass roots flying I tells ya 28/10 is nice...plenty long enough. 04/22 and 15/33 are a little bit more diddy.

DiscoChocolate,

Great post on the QXC - interesting to see what it involves.

V1R

[mazzy1026]

Neil (Disco) BLOODY WELL DONE ! ! ! Absolutely fantastic, I know you have been waiting ages for that so glad you got through it so well - thanks for the great post too, very informative and an enjoyable read - I will be speaking to you quite a bit before my QXC as it will be identical!

Cheq - bad news indeed - I hope all goes well for your friend, please send our thoughts.

Best wishes,

Lee.

[Chequeredflag]

V1R,

I was there this morning, using runway 10 for some shortfield landing practice (we were kicked out the circuits at EMA due to a Monarch A321 training new first officers). We did not stop so cannot comment on the facilities, but rather like my recent visit to Nottingham, the runway looks a lot smaller on approach than I'm used to.(though in reality there's lots of metres available for GA).

I did find the runway pretty rough in parts, and the different standard of ATC is very noticable (they acknowledged very few of our transmissions), but it was good to go there, and get used to smaller fields. By the way I am not allowed to use the PAPI's at EMA for approach - it took a while to ignore them, and in the very early stages, my instructor asked ATC to turn them off for one approach. I was quite surprised that they were happy to cooperate, and I was also pleasantly surprised to find such a good relationship between the School and the ATC - the guys/gals in the tower are very helpful (and at times, patient!!)

DiscoC,

Well done, and thanks for a great read - such write ups are a great help to the likes of myself, who have such fun to come!!!

Safe flying all,

Mike N

[MyData]

DiscoC

Wow! I was getting tired just reading that and trying to visualise the route, ATC switches etc. It is very, very reassuring to hear that there are friendly and accommodating ATCs out there who understand and assist us to make things a little easier even when we may make the occasional error ;-)

I'm still finding R/T work the hardest part of the job - I've passed the written exam and am lining up for the practical. My instructor (and the books) impresses upon me the importance of being terse and using standard phraseology. Sometimes though I feel the need to 'chat' to confirm my understanding - but I know I can't chat so I try to put things into standard terms - by which time there has been a long pregnant pause and so the instructor makes the call. But I'm learning and forcing myself to bite the bullet and just do it even if sometimes my wording isn't quite correct or in the right order - the ATCs always know what I mean ;-)


Cheq - pass on my thoughts to your friend and wish him a very speedy recovery.

[benhurr]

MyData, If you are finding RT the hardest part of the job then get your instructor to arrange a tower visit - really helps to see the people you are talking to are human and are actually nice people. (Well they are at EMA can't really comment on elsewhere!)

Mike,

Not necessarily a different standard of ATC rather a different service. Leicester provides an Air/Ground service, and the lady in question (Best voice for radio I have ever heard btw) also arranges the booking in, answers the telephone etc. Your position calls are mainly for the benefit of other traffic - and in a busy environment like Leicester are very helpful. The only ackowledgement you would expect to get to position calls would be "roger" anyway.

Shame you departed when you did, I was on short final on runway 10 when the runway was changed to 28 (LH ccts) for joining traffic- you could have got a practical answer to the question you asked!

[mazzy1026]

PAPI's

This has got me thinking, why do people who fly light aircraft use PAPI's? They are set for a 3 degree glideslope (correct me if I am wrong) and are designed to assist airliners - so why use them? Personally, I dont even notice that they are there, I purely use visual reference and try to build up a picture of what the runway should look like, i.e too high = narrow runway and too low = wide runway etc etc - any thoughts?

Dont worry about the RT MyData - the more flying you do the better it will become. I done my RT test quite early on and found it very difficult indeed, but if I were to retake the test now I am sure it would be easier as I have exprience of the radio calls involved

Cheers,

Lee

[benhurr]

People who fly light aircraft shouldn't use the PAPI's - try doing a glide approach from 2 red/2white position and see how far short you end up. (During the day).

However, SEP at night should use the PAPI's, not sure I quite understand the logic but there you go...

[Chequeredflag]

Without going back into the text book, I seem to remember there was something in Air Law that mentioned runway lights at night tending to make the runway look further away than it is. Prersumably, that is a situation where the PAPI's would assist, even if they did make the approach more shallow than normal???

[Blinkz]

Congrats disco!

Yeah we shouldn't be using PAPIs. Like mazzy said they are set for a 3deg glideslode and for airliners. It much better to just do the landing visually, I don't think I've ever done more then glace at them anyway.

I'm down in hampshire for a couple of days, visiting some ground schools. I'll be back in edinburgh on 21st and hopefully will get my PPL asap!

[mazzy1026]

Ah Blinkz, I thought you may have gone, as MSN has been very quiet recently

Good luck in finding the right school, hope it works out for you and let us know how you get on. My situation is still the same, waiting for the northern nav to happen, so until then, apologies for the lack of diary!

Bests,

Lee

[pulse1]

I think you'll find that there are a few instructors around who teach students to use PAPI's because it is easier than trying to teach about runway aspect and that sort of thing.

I met one of these during a check flight when, in my opinion, I was beautifully set up with the runway aspect constant, with four white lights.

Instructor: "You're too high".

Me: Did, said nothing.

Instructor: "you're too high, reduce power".

Me: Did, said nothing.

I did not touch the power until I closed the throttle to touch down gently just past the numbers.

Instructor: "Bl@@dy hell!"

Me: "Why did you say that I was too high?"

Instructor: "Because you had four white lights".

Me: "Am I always supposed to use a 3 degree glide path then?"

Instructor: "No"

Me:

[MyData]

Flying in/out of LBA I get to see the PAPIs on every approach. I was told by my instructor to ignore them as they are set for a glideslope for multi-engined aircraft. If a SEP were to follow them and then have engine failure the glide approach would be so low that you may have trouble reaching the field hence SEP approaches are at a greater angle.

Made sense to me. So now I simple use them to identify the field when entering the zone and to line up for finals.

[mazzy1026]

Actually, the first time I was told about them was on the trial flight. My dad was gonna take a picture of the approach, and the instructor jokingly said "wait for two reds and two white's" ! My dad thought it was some kind of rule, not being able to take pics with 3 red, but I saw the ever so slightly funny side!

[Yorks.ppl]

mydata, I think your instructor is absolutely right.

I too trained at LBA but my instructor always taught me to "fly the lights"
I then had a panic when, returning from a solo nav ex, I found 32/14 closed due to a burst tyre and was offered 09 with significant cross wind (no PAPIs on 09 for those who dont know LBA) This was only the second aproach I had ever made without the aid of PAPIs and I found it very daunting at the time. (especailly as the approach seems to take you through the bedroom and landing of the house at the end of 09)


I think that to blindly train students to use PAPIs and give no other approach training is poor practice, it not only makes it dificult to then fly into places where there are no PAPIs but it also has a significant negative effect on both glide approaches and PFLs

I subsequently started flying from an airfield with no PAPIs and paid for several extra lessons of circuits untill I felt confident to make the approach without any help.

I now find that I can use either method depending on circumstances, but like all aids to flying you need to be able to do the basics first. After that use the PAPIs if you like but keep in practise without them as well.:

[mazzy1026]

I subsequently started flying from an airfield with no PAPIs and paid for several extra lessons of circuits untill I felt confident to make the approach without any help.

Precisely the correct thing to do !

[kookabat]

I dont usually post on here except to whinge about the wx

...sounds like me. BUT...
Progress at the station - passed my PPL this morning, yay! Now I've just gotta wait for all the documentation to come back but damn, it's a good feeling!

Speaking of ATC... when doing my second solo nav (into CTA), I did at one stage get a little lost after I was vectored off course due to some high-speed traffic that they'd just launched off the same runway as I had (me in a 152... they caught up pretty quick... ) - this knocked my navigation about a bit, ended up getting radar vectors to my next checkpoint, the controller was very careful to ensure that I was happy with where I was and where I was going before he released me - they're there to help, all you have to do is ask!!