What does this mean?
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What does this mean?
It was a lovely, calm evening as I headed out over the Solent, not a cloud about, the air smooth and with the radio silent it felt like I had the sky to myself...
The eastern edge of Southampton looked a little different tonight...although I couldn't work out why. I wondered to myself "I know it's late but it is rather odd that there doesn't appear to be any traffic around at all, not even the odd Jersey coming back from the Channel Islands or wherever. "
I stared at the instrument panel, not really focusing on any particular dial when suddenly my blood ran cold; as I stared at the nav/com stack I realised that the reason the radio was silent was because it wasn't on! It was one of those moments when you don't quite believe your eyes the first time...and continue to stare as you try and make your eyes see what you were expecting to see. Jumbled questions raced through my mind like how could I have got here without talking to Southampton? Was I infringing Southampton's zone? At what point did the radio turn itself off?...I must have used it as I took off from Thruxton...didn't I?
I realised I was infringing...I looked across at the transponder, that was also in the off position. Bizarrely my first reaction was to descend...for some reason believing that if I got below 1500ft I would be OK, which was nonsense of course because I was well within the CTR now which went to the surface. I was now facing west...with the airport (I guessed) in my 12 o'clock, although I couldn't see it. Despite realising this I didn't turn around but continued deeper into the zone. I looked again at the radio and transponder but again the thought to turn them on just didn't register...perhaps I had forgotten how to turn them on?
As I descended I seemed to be flying amongst the TV aerials. Then I realised something else; I'd descended to 150ft rather than 1500ft! By now I was panicking but as I climbed the buildings that had been below me seemed to rise with me and Southampton morphed into Manhattan. I reached 1500ft but the plane wouldn't climb any higher; the buildings, which now looked infinitely high, still surrounded me.
Despite all this the idea to turn around still did not occur to me. I spotted what looked like about 500m of flat roof; perfect I thought...as I descended towards it. I touched down on top of this huge building...stopping metres from the edge. But as I got out there didn't seem to be an obvious way into the building. Again bizarrely someone had left a parachute in the plane. I put it on and jumped off the edge...into the shoppers below.
Hours later, after trying to explain to the inhabitants of the building I landed on why I needed to get onto the roof, I was back with my plane. Minus the parachute I thought it might now fly higher than 1500ft again. I decided to risk a take off attempt from the roof. 500m was a bit tight for a PA28 but the roof seemed to have an HMS Invincible style ski jump at the end.
I remember applying full power...seeing the edge of the roof approach...and then nothing.
I dreamt all that a few nights ago and I'm still wondering: What does it mean?
The eastern edge of Southampton looked a little different tonight...although I couldn't work out why. I wondered to myself "I know it's late but it is rather odd that there doesn't appear to be any traffic around at all, not even the odd Jersey coming back from the Channel Islands or wherever. "
I stared at the instrument panel, not really focusing on any particular dial when suddenly my blood ran cold; as I stared at the nav/com stack I realised that the reason the radio was silent was because it wasn't on! It was one of those moments when you don't quite believe your eyes the first time...and continue to stare as you try and make your eyes see what you were expecting to see. Jumbled questions raced through my mind like how could I have got here without talking to Southampton? Was I infringing Southampton's zone? At what point did the radio turn itself off?...I must have used it as I took off from Thruxton...didn't I?
I realised I was infringing...I looked across at the transponder, that was also in the off position. Bizarrely my first reaction was to descend...for some reason believing that if I got below 1500ft I would be OK, which was nonsense of course because I was well within the CTR now which went to the surface. I was now facing west...with the airport (I guessed) in my 12 o'clock, although I couldn't see it. Despite realising this I didn't turn around but continued deeper into the zone. I looked again at the radio and transponder but again the thought to turn them on just didn't register...perhaps I had forgotten how to turn them on?
As I descended I seemed to be flying amongst the TV aerials. Then I realised something else; I'd descended to 150ft rather than 1500ft! By now I was panicking but as I climbed the buildings that had been below me seemed to rise with me and Southampton morphed into Manhattan. I reached 1500ft but the plane wouldn't climb any higher; the buildings, which now looked infinitely high, still surrounded me.
Despite all this the idea to turn around still did not occur to me. I spotted what looked like about 500m of flat roof; perfect I thought...as I descended towards it. I touched down on top of this huge building...stopping metres from the edge. But as I got out there didn't seem to be an obvious way into the building. Again bizarrely someone had left a parachute in the plane. I put it on and jumped off the edge...into the shoppers below.
Hours later, after trying to explain to the inhabitants of the building I landed on why I needed to get onto the roof, I was back with my plane. Minus the parachute I thought it might now fly higher than 1500ft again. I decided to risk a take off attempt from the roof. 500m was a bit tight for a PA28 but the roof seemed to have an HMS Invincible style ski jump at the end.
I remember applying full power...seeing the edge of the roof approach...and then nothing.
I dreamt all that a few nights ago and I'm still wondering: What does it mean?
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It means that a lot of people had weird dreams that evening.
There must have been an air traffic controller dreaming about a non-squawking airplane infringing his airspace, a few commercial pilots dreaming about having to go-around because of you, and a bunch of shoppers dreaming about someone descending in the midst of them by parachute.
But the weirdest dream would have been from the concierge of that building... Being harassed by a total stranger needing to get onto the roof "because his plane is up there" and then not just finding a PA-28 but also a ski ramp on top of his building. And then the pilot just gets in and takes off!
The only thing left to wonder... What did DFC dream of that night?
There must have been an air traffic controller dreaming about a non-squawking airplane infringing his airspace, a few commercial pilots dreaming about having to go-around because of you, and a bunch of shoppers dreaming about someone descending in the midst of them by parachute.
But the weirdest dream would have been from the concierge of that building... Being harassed by a total stranger needing to get onto the roof "because his plane is up there" and then not just finding a PA-28 but also a ski ramp on top of his building. And then the pilot just gets in and takes off!
The only thing left to wonder... What did DFC dream of that night?
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The day I finished up my flight instructor practical test, I walked away with my fresh temporary certificate, and climbed into my rental airplane to fly home. I did a hasty walk around, as the airplane had only been parked for a short while, since the inspector and I returned from our flight. I obtained my clearance, taxied out, and departed.
I noted during the takeoff that the airplane felt ready to fly, and indeed took off just fine, but a glance at the airspeed indicator showed it reading zero. I looked out at the pitot tube on the wing to discover that it was covered by a tennis ball, used as a pitot tube cover.
I flew home, mentally kicking myself for that, and landed uneventfully.
Checklists are there to be used, and any time one walks away from an airplane, even for a short few minutes, one should preflight it again. I knew that. I knew better.
It only takes one small lapse to put one in a world of hurt. Most of the time we discover our mistakes early, and correct them. Sometimes we discover them a little too late. When we discover them late and move on, it's too easy to forget. When we discover them late and can't recover, we won't be around to remember.
Best to read about them, hear about them, learn about them, and use that to prevent those moments from happening to us. Even just a dream can be a wakeup call and a reminder; better to learn the lesson in your sleep than in the airplane, don't you think?
I noted during the takeoff that the airplane felt ready to fly, and indeed took off just fine, but a glance at the airspeed indicator showed it reading zero. I looked out at the pitot tube on the wing to discover that it was covered by a tennis ball, used as a pitot tube cover.
I flew home, mentally kicking myself for that, and landed uneventfully.
Checklists are there to be used, and any time one walks away from an airplane, even for a short few minutes, one should preflight it again. I knew that. I knew better.
It only takes one small lapse to put one in a world of hurt. Most of the time we discover our mistakes early, and correct them. Sometimes we discover them a little too late. When we discover them late and move on, it's too easy to forget. When we discover them late and can't recover, we won't be around to remember.
Best to read about them, hear about them, learn about them, and use that to prevent those moments from happening to us. Even just a dream can be a wakeup call and a reminder; better to learn the lesson in your sleep than in the airplane, don't you think?
