From Zero to Forty Five - my PPL Diary

[mazzy1026]

heko - excellent job my friend, very well done indeed

Many thanks also for the writeup - much appreciated here.

I have a writeup to do myself, which should be done tomorrow (Friday).

Is anyone going to the Cosford airshow on Sunday? Me and Paul are most likely going to be flying there if anyone wants to meet up?

Cheers all, and enjoy your new found privilege heko,

Lee

[MyData]

Oh Lordy!

Those who read this thread regularly may recall that I went solo at the end of February. I haven't been in the sky alone since that date, instead focussing on completing the syllabus and doing much navigation. I haven't even been doing any circuit bashing.

Arriving at the flying school yesterday I was expecting a trip to Sandtoft for some circuits, maybe even a solo circuit. But no, a senior flight instructor was there with a piece of paper and some questions to ask me. Once I'd answered satisfactorily and he had reviewed my school notes I signed the dotted line. I was authorised to go cross country solo!

I absolutely wasn't expecting this. I was a bag of nerves. I planned a familiar route: Leeds, Castle Howard, Elvington, Leeds. Did all the appropriate checks of weather and notams then asked the FI to take me up for a single circuit at LBA - having recalled my last flight with ear problems I wanted to know that I'd be ok today.

I did the circuit extremely well. The FI got out and I was on my own at LBA. Did everything right and soon was heading for the Linton MATZ, checked it wasn't active and then flew on to Castle Howard, all going OK. Turned at CH towards Elvington. At my cruising altitude of 3100 to avoid the Church Fenton MATZ. Arrived at Elvington bang on time and turned to head for Leeds. The cloud base was a little lower so I dropped to 2900ft. A minute or two later I realised I was still in the CF MATZ. Oh Lordy! I quickly made a call to Leeds to ask if CF was active. They couldn't confirm so I made a sharp turn north to get out of the MATZ. Flew over York racecourse seeing the preparations for Royal Ascot well underway. Aware of the NOTAM next week for the racecourse then visually navigated around the MATZ. North of Tadcaster, Boston Spa, Wetherby and then homing in on Eccup for entry back into the Leeds zone. All very smoothly. Right base for R32 then an absolute greaser of a landing (why do these only happen when no one is in the aircraft to witness them?).

Parked up, closed down and back for the debrief. Absolutely amazing. It gave me so much confidence. A brilliant day of flying.

[hekokimushi]

awaiting for the paper work... have you guys got a leather cover ready for the license to arrive yet?

looong waiting ... still waiting.

hee.

[Blinkz]

it'll take 3 to 4 weeks......its worth the wait tho!

[Chequeredflag]

New Instructor

I turned up yesterday for a Nav exercise, (EMA/Bruntingthorpe/Oakham/Markfield/EMA) to find my regular instructor has crocked himself, and is likely to be off for several weeks. Now, I've only ever had the one, and he's someone I get on well with and trust implicitly (though whether he would say the same about me is something else!!)

I was therefore sent off with another chap, who has been at the school since I started flying, so is no stranger outside the plane at least. We got on very well, and it was interesting to see the difference between the two. The new guy was somewhat more laid back ("No, don't bother to speak to Coventry, we're a fair way off, and they wouldn't be very interested in us") type of thing, whereas my usual guy is a bit more pedantic. Looks like the poor souls' stuck with me for a while anyway, so it's a good job we 'clicked'

I didn't think I did very well yesterday - I was very tired, and it's surprising what an effect it has. I screwed up my ATC zone out call, something I've never done before, though the nav was spot on, as was all the other R/T. I was not over happy with my landing either, though it was pretty gusty, and, as he said "You got away with that!!" It was smooth enough, but more by luck than judgment.

Anyway, I was pleased that he was generally complimentary, and bollocked me for not completing my exams to allow me to go on solo navs etc, which are looming. I HATE the exams, but must get down to it and complete the last three (Nav/Coms/Aircraft technical) over the next couple of weeks or so - I'm just lazy I guess.....

I've just turned 40 hours now, with 3 1/2 hours solo. Todays double lesson (for PFL practice) was canned for bad weather, so I've dived into the books instead,

Cheers all, and safe flying....

[mazzy1026]

EGGP - Oulton Park - Poulton - Sleap - Whitchurch - Crewe - Chester - EGGP

Guys/Gal's - sorry for not posting for a week! I must be crazy today as I was in the office for 0730, and I am writing this as nobody is around (getting paid to prune hehe)

Well done to those who are on the way up the syllabus - cheq, it's weird at first when you change instructor, but you get used to it pretty quick. MyData - well done, it is all character building stuff

I flew last week and done my solo navigation to the south. I planned to depart form EGGP on rw09 to leave the zone via Oulton Park, something which I have only ever done once, dual. On departure, a C152 was ahead as we taxied, and as he was given clearance to take-off, I was allowed to line up and depart once significant distance between us had been made, and as long as I had it in visual (I did have excellent visual as he was a matter of feet in front of me before take-off). I also thought to myself "I can follow him to Oulton Park" but I realised this would be cheating, so stuck to my original intentions and got there spot on (thankfully).

Once out the zone, I climbed and headed west for Poulton, which is a disused airfield south of Chester - this is quite difficult to spot until you are quite close, but I stuck to my heading and got it no problem. I was chuffed at this point, as so far it was going well and it was my worst fear not to be able to find such a good feature, so early in the exercise and close to my "ponderosa" as we call it.

Now the most difficult leg (don't have my plog with me but I think it's about 21 NM) to Sleap - which is incredibly difficult to find, especially form the West side (ask DiscoChocolate ). I put the call in to Shawbury, and instead of coming back with "pass your message" he said something, which for the life of me I couldn't understand. Remembering my air law "If in doubt - shout" I said "say again". I still didn't have a clue what he said, it just sounded like a load of fast mumble, however I did hear the word "position", so I told him where I was (north east abeam Wrexham industrial area) and he then asked me to pass my details. I was given a FIS and told to report overhead Sleap. Later on, I was asked the dreaded question: "what is your position" - luckily, I knew exactly where I was (roughly in between Ellesmere and Whitchurch so there was no problems here. At this point, I think I was on the wrong QNH - then he gave me a QFE and for some phenomenal reason, I think I misread the altimeter, as he asked me several times to report my height and in the end asked me to remain at the height I was at. I realised this after he had old me, and it was only then I had the correct QFE set, however I remained at the set height.

Managed to find Sleap ok, remembering not to confuse it with Shawbury - I think Shawbury appears a bigger area viewed from above and seems a little more built up (also it is positioned to the East of Sleap) Whirly will verify this one I then turned for Whitchurch, remembering to look for the railway that enters it from the South - this was quite easy, and is not the longest leg in the world. Then it was over to Crewe, where I interrupted a conversation between the controller and another aircraft - I said my apologies and the controller replied "no problem". Felt a bit of an arse really, but hey

I very much doubt this, but if the controller at Shawbury ever reads this, then thanks for your excellent help, and thanks for putting up with me! So I arrived at Crewe in good time (this is very easy to spot, as it has a large white built up area, with a massive motorway bridge - it also has about 6 railways all meeting at a central point). Now another difficult part, finding Chester. I headed west and flew past Oulton Park, and managed to spot where I needed to be. I memorised it from the Poulton leg, where I was south abeam to Chester, so this helped. I found the VRP and got the call in, but was told not to enter controlled airspace, due to it being a mad busy day, and the GA world had literally "took off" Found a lovely golf course East of the VRP and orbited that for a while. I was a little more relaxed now, as I knew where I was and was just enjoying the view on a gorgeous sunny day. Eventually got clearance, only getting the calls in on the last minute to tower etc, as the airwaves were jammed. Got into circuit mode, lined up for 09 and landed without a glitch.

An excellent trip, one which had been hovering in the back of my mind for some time - with that kind of "good scary" feeling! My next flight is to be my QXC dual, and yesterday I had a 2 hour brief on it, planned the route, radio calls, overhead joins, studied the charts and done a mental walk-through (fly-through?). It looks immense, and I can imagine that at the end of it, I will feel totally worn out. I may even actually book a flight and go through the low level route, and do an overhead join at Blackpool - as these are two things I have never done, so it might be a good idea to be familiar before the dual.

Thanks again people,

Lee

[MichaelJP59]

Hi Lee,

Don't know if you already use Multimap but I find it quite useful before visiting a new field to check the aerial photo. i.e.

Multimap Link

Especially for those disused aerodromes where the old runways are just a slightly different shade of green!

[mazzy1026]

Hi Michael - yes I have used this a few times, it is pretty useful sometimes. I also have the VFR Photographic scenery installed on flight sim which is excellent. The problem with the airfields (or any field) is that they change colour periodically throughout the year. In the summer there are lots of bright yellow ones (don't know the names of any flowers ) - also, when there is broken cloud, sometimes the sun can appear to highlight a particular area a lot more and viceversa

[MichaelJP59]

Yes, that photographic scenery for FS is good, especially once you get above 3000ft - in fact I think that and multimap and the others all use the same aerial photo data gathered a while ago by GetMapping.

I had a tricky airfield to find the other day on a test diversion - Thorne near Doncaster.

Even when I found it I was only convinced when I got back and looked in Pooleys.

This is the aerial, spot it if you can

Multmap Link

[mazzy1026]

Anyone got the southern VFR scenery they would like to sell to a poor student?

[Whirlybird]

maz,

Well done. Sleap is a b***** to find, as you say. A few hints...find the lakes at Ellesmere, and go from there, look out for Wem, a largish village just outside the circuit, if coming from the south, go to Shrewsbury then head north. As for Shawbury controllers, remember that they train new controllers there, so the standard of THEIR RT varies incredibly! Some are very prfessional, some absolutely hopeless...or incomprehensible. Just keep telling the latter to say again till they learn to speak English. Talking of which, I'm just back from a ten day flying trip to France, half of it solo, and understanding French controllers can be.........impossible!!!!! More later; I may start a thread on it when I've time and energy; I'm suffering at the moment from......too much flying, would you believe? Not that I'm complaining; it was a great trip.

[mazzy1026]

I may start a thread on it

There is only one answer to this whirls

Ellesmere is a great feature, as is Wemm - both of which I used a lot to tell the controller where I was. Hope you had a great time, and look forward to your writeup

[Chequeredflag]

MATZ

I find the standard of ATC in the Midlands (in my limited exposure to them) very good in most cases, clear, concise and easy to understand. However, I always seem to struggle to understand the military ATC guys/gals. Their transmissions are just not clear, or indeed easy to understand - seems on occasions they gabble, and it also seems to me their equipment adds to the problem. Somehow, it's hard to get their gist, even after a "say again", and you often have to have a guess at what they are asking for - not ideal really.

Does anyone else have the same problem?

[mazzy1026]

I know the feeling Cheq - thats what it seemd like, however, when I done my northern solo, I receievd a brilliant service from a guy at Wharton - very clear and helpful................

[Laundryman]

I haven't had any trouble with English Mil but the Americans phew!! , I had cause to call Lakenheath to request a MATZ penetration, they use a slightly different phraseology and it seems to be important to them to give their message as quickly as possible. This of course slows things down and after a couple of "say again"'s they get the idea. :-))

[The Ugly Fend Off]

You must also bear in mind when talking to Mil ATC that they may be working an awful lot of military traffic on UHF that you don't know about. This may explain why their transmissions are quick. Shawbury will be especially busy at times as it is the Defence Helicopter Flying Training School as well as the Joint Air Traffic Controllers School for the military. If you are ever unhappy about the service they provide or want clarification on something then give them a ring when you land. 9/10 times they will be more than happy to talk and it may be beneficial for them also.

[MyData]

Slightly off topic...

I know it probably doesn't really fit into this thread, but I didn't want to start a new one and wanted to share my experience with those I've come to know through this thread.

I got the chance to see how an aircraft is manufactured today. Very instructive and informative to see the components from the inside out and how they are put together and how the aircraft gradually forms into a single whole unit.

This wasn't any old production line though, it was absolutely massive with 5 A380s all in various states of construction. My day job means that I'm currently doing some work with Airbus and I was due to take a look at the test aircraft today. Unfortunately it wasn't available so our hosts arranged for the tour of the production facility. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a chance to sit in the left seat on a future visit and compare and contrast the view with that from a PA28 ;-)

[Chequeredflag]

There was a superb 2 hour programme on it's development through to it's first flight on Channel 4 a few days ago. Absolutely fascinating! I particularly liked the escape shute for the crew if it went badly wrong!!

Must have been a great visit......

[MyData]

Indeed. I did my homework and watched that programme. I impressed my hosts by pointing out the camera on the tailfin ;-)

[mazzy1026]

Takes me back to my cadet days. One of the best experiences of this was staying at RAF St Athan for 2 weeks - where we visited Tornado, Harrier and Hawk Squadrons (amongst others). We got to see aircraft in all-kinds of different stages, and chat amongst the crew/engineers. Fascinating indeed, and makes you appreciate how much work goes into one of these things, and why there is so much legislation in keeping people who fly them, safe.

Lee