Night qualification diary
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Night qualification diary
It was suggested in another thread that I make a diary of my night qual to help those of you who are thinking about it, and well its nice to tell people about what flying you do. My aim is to make this thread bigger then mazzys PPL diary (I only need another 1277 posts 
)
Well today I had my first lesson! I hadn't flown for a while (6months) and also had never flown from Kidlington before so we decided it would be a good idea to go up and do 30mins of practice just to get back into the swing of things. It was a really nice evening, only a small bit of cloud and pretty good vis. Getting back into the plane was pretty good, most of it all came flooding back. One problem I found was that the OAT PA28s are MUCH better equiped then the PA28 I trained on so I had alot of new switches to be learning, but that was good fun too. Alot of my checks were rusty, I got them all done but sometimes abit late and not always in the right order, but again they got better as the flight went on and as I got back into it. We went out to the east of oxford, did some turns and stalls just to get the flying magic back again. by this time it the sun was well gone, leaving a gorgeous sunset, amazing to watch from the air! as it got darker and darker the lights below all started to come on and become more distinct. One of the major things I noticed is how much harder it is to judge speed and distance at night. All the lights make citys and roads look much much closer then they really are. Once it was pretty gloomy we headed back to the circuit, which to my surprise was really busy! for the whole flight we had 3-4 other aircraft to contend with! We did an orbit in the overheard to get a good look at the runway and the lights and with this done we descended deadside into the circuit. The circuits themselves are pretty simple, much easier then I would have expected them to be. The secret is to do your manouveres using the instruments and then to look outside again. Basically it goes like this. rolling down the runway is as standard, just keep in the middle and do the rolling checks. just before rotate you have to go to instruments because as soon as you rotate you lose all references. At the specified circuit height (airfield dependant, usually 500ft agl, was 1000ft MSL at oxford) you start your turn onto crosswind. First you look out, aircraft really are much easier to see at night, thanks to the strobes ) once you know its clear you go back to instruments and start your turn. Once settled in the turn you again look out into the turn and make sure its clear. Now if you look over your sholder you'll be able to see the runway lights appear and you can use them as you usually do to judge the correct distances for your circuit. The turn to downwind is just the same as this, but you will either have leveled at circuit height or have to do it soon. Once down wind you have a nice view of the airfield. Usual RT calls and checks and then its turn onto base, same as before. Now you start the descent. Descent itself is the same as is turn onto final. Its here that it gets abit werid. Most airfield have PAPIs so they can be used as guidance, however when learning its a good idea to ignore them. You judge angle by the spacing between the lights on the runway. If they are all joined up in a long line of light your too low, if they are widely spaced you are too high. You need to find the happy medium that you get from expereince. The hardest part imo is the flare. As you come down you have to look to the far end of the runway, when you can see the lights coming up to the level of your ears then you flare the a/c and reduce power, then you just let it sink gentley into the darkness. its really is scary landing somewhere you can't see!!! you just have to have faith and all will usually work out (my first attempt I didn't flare enough and thumped it down, making it bounce
) I had 1.45hrs of circuits which was great fun, altho pretty tiring, mainly due to the large amount of traffic!!! Loved it tho, the views at night are supurb and its silky smooth. The main problem tonight was that it was a right hand circuit which meant it was pretty hard to see the runway during the first stages of the approach. This was then compound on the fact that there was a stonking x-wind 90deg off the runway lol. Right thats enough for now, I'm hungry!
)Well today I had my first lesson! I hadn't flown for a while (6months) and also had never flown from Kidlington before so we decided it would be a good idea to go up and do 30mins of practice just to get back into the swing of things. It was a really nice evening, only a small bit of cloud and pretty good vis. Getting back into the plane was pretty good, most of it all came flooding back. One problem I found was that the OAT PA28s are MUCH better equiped then the PA28 I trained on so I had alot of new switches to be learning, but that was good fun too. Alot of my checks were rusty, I got them all done but sometimes abit late and not always in the right order, but again they got better as the flight went on and as I got back into it. We went out to the east of oxford, did some turns and stalls just to get the flying magic back again. by this time it the sun was well gone, leaving a gorgeous sunset, amazing to watch from the air! as it got darker and darker the lights below all started to come on and become more distinct. One of the major things I noticed is how much harder it is to judge speed and distance at night. All the lights make citys and roads look much much closer then they really are. Once it was pretty gloomy we headed back to the circuit, which to my surprise was really busy! for the whole flight we had 3-4 other aircraft to contend with! We did an orbit in the overheard to get a good look at the runway and the lights and with this done we descended deadside into the circuit. The circuits themselves are pretty simple, much easier then I would have expected them to be. The secret is to do your manouveres using the instruments and then to look outside again. Basically it goes like this. rolling down the runway is as standard, just keep in the middle and do the rolling checks. just before rotate you have to go to instruments because as soon as you rotate you lose all references. At the specified circuit height (airfield dependant, usually 500ft agl, was 1000ft MSL at oxford) you start your turn onto crosswind. First you look out, aircraft really are much easier to see at night, thanks to the strobes ) once you know its clear you go back to instruments and start your turn. Once settled in the turn you again look out into the turn and make sure its clear. Now if you look over your sholder you'll be able to see the runway lights appear and you can use them as you usually do to judge the correct distances for your circuit. The turn to downwind is just the same as this, but you will either have leveled at circuit height or have to do it soon. Once down wind you have a nice view of the airfield. Usual RT calls and checks and then its turn onto base, same as before. Now you start the descent. Descent itself is the same as is turn onto final. Its here that it gets abit werid. Most airfield have PAPIs so they can be used as guidance, however when learning its a good idea to ignore them. You judge angle by the spacing between the lights on the runway. If they are all joined up in a long line of light your too low, if they are widely spaced you are too high. You need to find the happy medium that you get from expereince. The hardest part imo is the flare. As you come down you have to look to the far end of the runway, when you can see the lights coming up to the level of your ears then you flare the a/c and reduce power, then you just let it sink gentley into the darkness. its really is scary landing somewhere you can't see!!! you just have to have faith and all will usually work out (my first attempt I didn't flare enough and thumped it down, making it bounce
) I had 1.45hrs of circuits which was great fun, altho pretty tiring, mainly due to the large amount of traffic!!! Loved it tho, the views at night are supurb and its silky smooth. The main problem tonight was that it was a right hand circuit which meant it was pretty hard to see the runway during the first stages of the approach. This was then compound on the fact that there was a stonking x-wind 90deg off the runway lol. Right thats enough for now, I'm hungry!
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Well, I thought that you would like some encouragement... and an extra post as you are in competition with Mazzy!
Good luck, sounds like you had fun this evening. And I would be interested to hear your diary, as it has been years since I last went night flying.
Navigation is easier (as long as you don't forget your torch!)..
Good luck, sounds like you had fun this evening. And I would be interested to hear your diary, as it has been years since I last went night flying.
Navigation is easier (as long as you don't forget your torch!)..
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Sounds Good Blinkz! Its alot nicer flying at night, the views are alot better! My instructor got the PAPI's and the Approach lights turned off and i found that really helped. We did the first 2 hours or so with the landing light off to. That really lets you get a feel for judging wher to flare because you cant see the runway at all.
Good luck with it!
Good luck with it!
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Good effort Blintz! Sounds like the wx was pretty good to. Night flying is just fantastic isn't it?! Glad you got back into the swing of the flying thing without too many problems. Look forward to reading about your next lesson.
I just remembered another preflight check you might want to do - check the condition of the batteries in your torch. My torch died on me mid flight and because of this I couldn't see the RPM counter for my solo circuits, not a big problem, but if i had been on Nav ex i wouldn't have been able to read my map, which would have been disasterous!
I just remembered another preflight check you might want to do - check the condition of the batteries in your torch. My torch died on me mid flight and because of this I couldn't see the RPM counter for my solo circuits, not a big problem, but if i had been on Nav ex i wouldn't have been able to read my map, which would have been disasterous!
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2nd lesson tonight. Weather again was nice, but again quite a strong xwind. Took us a while to get going since we had to change a/c a cpl of times due to some times getting mixed up and then one being U/S for night flying (not having all the correct lights) and when we finally got out to the a/c the refueller hit his head on a propeller (hope hes ok, but it wasn't moving, just a bump hopefully) so we had to join a long queue at the pumps to refuel. Different runway tonight however, a LH circuit this time, got a little disoriented on the first circuit but sorted it out. Did another hour of ciruits and discussed emergencies and then decided it was time for some solo time 
Instructor hoped out and off I went, all went great up until downwind.....when the radio died. Tried to make my downwind call, nothing happened, no sidetone in the headset, just what sounded like a carrier wave. Checked the headset connections, all ok, check radio display, all looked ok. Que adreneline rush......made another call, still nothing, another call asking if tower could hear me, still nothing. Ran through what I was going to have to do, which basically involved continuing the circuit and flying down the runway at 500ft ish and flashing landing lights and waggling wings. Decided to make one last call.....and bingo 2-way comms again. Radio was fine after that. Obviously then landed and decided to call it a night, firstly due to dodgy radio and 2nd because the airfield was going to close soon.
All in all the flying was good, nice landings and decent circuits. Plus abit of excitment due to the radio experience. Tomorrows plan is a quick check flight and then do the 4 remaining t/o's and landings!
Instructor hoped out and off I went, all went great up until downwind.....when the radio died. Tried to make my downwind call, nothing happened, no sidetone in the headset, just what sounded like a carrier wave. Checked the headset connections, all ok, check radio display, all looked ok. Que adreneline rush......made another call, still nothing, another call asking if tower could hear me, still nothing. Ran through what I was going to have to do, which basically involved continuing the circuit and flying down the runway at 500ft ish and flashing landing lights and waggling wings. Decided to make one last call.....and bingo 2-way comms again. Radio was fine after that. Obviously then landed and decided to call it a night, firstly due to dodgy radio and 2nd because the airfield was going to close soon. All in all the flying was good, nice landings and decent circuits. Plus abit of excitment due to the radio experience. Tomorrows plan is a quick check flight and then do the 4 remaining t/o's and landings!
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Well done on the solo and for dealing with the radio problem, I bet that was a scary few minutes! All good learning experience though.
A question for those with a bit more techincal knowledge than me - could the radio problem encountered be in anyway linked to the extra load placed on the electrical system at night, due to the extra lights etc?
A question for those with a bit more techincal knowledge than me - could the radio problem encountered be in anyway linked to the extra load placed on the electrical system at night, due to the extra lights etc?
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Good going, Blinkz
Hi Blinkz,
I'm the one who put you up to the idea of doing a night rating diary.
I think you are doing a truly splendid job of it: I shall read every word with close interest.
Congratulations on the way you handled that radio situation.
Don't worry about competing with Mazzy on quantity. What counts is quality and what you've written so far certainly has that.
Good luck and keep writing!
Broomstick.
I'm the one who put you up to the idea of doing a night rating diary.
I think you are doing a truly splendid job of it: I shall read every word with close interest.
Congratulations on the way you handled that radio situation.
Don't worry about competing with Mazzy on quantity. What counts is quality and what you've written so far certainly has that.
Good luck and keep writing!
Broomstick.
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My aim is to make this thread bigger then mazzys PPL diary
I have only just seen this now, as I haven't been prooning much recently
Well I never thought I would see you write any sort of diary! Very impressed mate - some nice writing there. I felt the adrenalin just reading that about the temporary radio failure - keep it up, look forward to the next instalment
Glad to have contributed to your monumentous effort hehe
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Lesson 3!
Well tonight didn't really go as planned. Plan was to do a quick circuit or two and then I'd go off and do my remaining 4 t/o's and landings that I need P1. Looking at the metars it was clear that the wind was much stronger then the previous two nights, and it was still across the runway. It was also quite blustery and was gusting to 25kts or so. Walkround and start up went ok, except that ATC for some reason had the wrong ATIS on, this meant that I was for the third time running doing something new! Was on the same runway 19 but it was a RH circuit as opposed to the LH I did last night. Once in the air it really was quite bumpy. I did a cpl of circuits which were all perfectly safe and ok, but nothing amazing. I just wasn't comfortable with the conditions and so decided that I wasn't happy to go solo. Was slightly gutted that I didn't manage to get it done but at the same time am pleased with myself for recognising my limits and not pushing myself too far. The plan is to now try and get the solo stuff done tomorrow night, if the weather doesn't let me then I'm going to do the XC part over with, which will be a nav from Oxford to Milton Keynes, then to Aylsebury back to Oxford, which hopefully should be straight forward (altho I've not done a nav since my skills test )
Well tonight didn't really go as planned. Plan was to do a quick circuit or two and then I'd go off and do my remaining 4 t/o's and landings that I need P1. Looking at the metars it was clear that the wind was much stronger then the previous two nights, and it was still across the runway. It was also quite blustery and was gusting to 25kts or so. Walkround and start up went ok, except that ATC for some reason had the wrong ATIS on, this meant that I was for the third time running doing something new! Was on the same runway 19 but it was a RH circuit as opposed to the LH I did last night. Once in the air it really was quite bumpy. I did a cpl of circuits which were all perfectly safe and ok, but nothing amazing. I just wasn't comfortable with the conditions and so decided that I wasn't happy to go solo. Was slightly gutted that I didn't manage to get it done but at the same time am pleased with myself for recognising my limits and not pushing myself too far. The plan is to now try and get the solo stuff done tomorrow night, if the weather doesn't let me then I'm going to do the XC part over with, which will be a nav from Oxford to Milton Keynes, then to Aylsebury back to Oxford, which hopefully should be straight forward (altho I've not done a nav since my skills test
)
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well the last week or so has been uneventful, started groundschool again on monday so have been having 6 lessons a day to compete with as well as trying to fly at night! Due to a mix of instructor availibility and weather I didn't manage to fly until last night (I manage to get as far as starting the engine before finding out via the ATIS that the vis was below limits!) Last night was great tho, quite a strong wind, 15G30 but it was straight down the runway which made dealing with it nice and simple. After 2 quick touch and gos with the instructor I was off solo! Nice night for it, really good vis and nearly had the ciruit to myself (just the odd chap coming and going) Doing the actaul full stop landings was sooooooo slow!!!! It is so annoying having to stop and then taxi all the way back to the beginning of the runway. It was made worse that at Oxford the taxi ways really go a long way out of the way so I had to taxi for ages! Did my 4 full stops (I already did on last week) and it took me 1hr 10mins. Really enjoyed it. Only one hour left now and thats the XC. The route is going to be out of oxford then track the Westcott NDB to stay clear of Weston-on-the-green parachuting site. After that will head direct to milton keynes, then south to aylesbury and then back to oxford. Route should take me around 45-50mins or so. Not sure when it will be, weather looks ok ish, but no instructor over the weekend, monday should be ok tho.
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IM glad you gat back flying Blinkz.
The stop/goes are just painfull, like you say having to stop completely just takes forever! Does anyone know why for the night qualification it has to be stop/goes instead of t/g's?
Good luck with the XC mate!
The stop/goes are just painfull, like you say having to stop completely just takes forever! Does anyone know why for the night qualification it has to be stop/goes instead of t/g's?
Good luck with the XC mate!
