Compton Abbas and S.O.J.'s
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Also, having visited Compton myself several times, be aware of the possibility of wind rotors if the wind is from the Northerly sector, due to 'curling over' the runway edge. Many's the time that I've been nicely set up all the way down the approach there, lulled into a false sense of security, only to have a desperate fight for the last 50 ft of descent with wings lifting and dropping *very* sharply!!
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Quite agree with Monococks remarks about this, a lesser ppl might have been put off this forum for good or perish the thought flying in general, the comments made by BRL were at best poorly worded and one expects far more from a moderator, even given in tongue in cheek. I appreciate that different parts of the country have a variance on sense of humour (or in some N.W area's so called humour) however none of us are beyond learning and what can be seen as a simple task for some can be a nightmare for others. Good to see the excellent input from IRV (again-well done) and its pleasing that Trislander has taken this and other good advice to help with his original question.
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It wasn't you Irv who took me from Bournemouth to Compton Abbas for the first time was it 
....Compton Abbas is just NW of Tarrant Rushton VRP.....but that won't help either as its impossible to see, so it sort of goes like this:-
"Can you see Tarrant Rushton yet....no....Can you see Tarrant Rushton yet....no....Can you see Tarrant Rushton yet....no....Can you see Tarrant Rushton yet....no....its right below you....oh" shortly followed by "Can you see the field yet....no....can you see the field yet....no...can you see the field yet....no....can you see the field yet....no....its right below you...oh"
....Compton Abbas is just NW of Tarrant Rushton VRP.....but that won't help either as its impossible to see, so it sort of goes like this:-"Can you see Tarrant Rushton yet....no....Can you see Tarrant Rushton yet....no....Can you see Tarrant Rushton yet....no....Can you see Tarrant Rushton yet....no....its right below you....oh" shortly followed by "Can you see the field yet....no....can you see the field yet....no...can you see the field yet....no....can you see the field yet....no....its right below you...oh"
High Flying Bird
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I only ever did two overhead joins during my training, and two dual grass landings. A lot of it will depend on where you trained. At Coventry it's very rare to join overhead.
BRL's right though... you would have been stuffed at Popham on Saturday!
BRL's right though... you would have been stuffed at Popham on Saturday!
Thread Starter
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Hi there,
Well I said I would report back and here goes.
The standard overhead join was no problem, in fact that went went rather smoothly. I did have a couple of other problemos though.
I was too high on my first approach as I turned for final too early, and when I was still in the air halfway down the runway I initiated a go around. Simple I thought, I've done loads of go-arounds before, but had I done a go around from an airfield with an 800-foot elevation, strong gusty x-wind, fuel tanks to tabs both sides and with 4 pax? The answer I soon found out was no, as it took a while to regain any height after applying full power! I kept a level head and made a good landing on the 2nd attempt though by extending the downwind leg.
Lunch was great, a real nice place to fly in and eat some lunch. My passengers and I enjoyed watching a Yak-52 carry out some Aeros before getting back into the aircraft and departing. Unfortunately, the take-off was about as good as the go-around. We then headed back to EGHI.
A PPL is a licence to learn, and today's lessons learned were:
1. Next time, only go with one or two (at most) other people to a small grassy strip.
2. If there are 4 of us again, go somewhere else with a longer runway.
3. With the above points in mind, I will probably never carry out take-off that bad ever again!
There were a lot of factors against me today, some of which were out of my control, i.e. gusty x-wind and a bit more fuel in the tanks than was required. A mass-balance calc. was completed before flight and all was in legal limits.
Thanks everyone for your encouragement. Despite the take-off/go-around today, the rest of the flight was v.comfortable, and I can't wait to go up again. Just for the record, all three of my passengers asked when they could next come for a flight, so it cant have been too bad!
Regards, Trislander
Well I said I would report back and here goes.
The standard overhead join was no problem, in fact that went went rather smoothly. I did have a couple of other problemos though.
I was too high on my first approach as I turned for final too early, and when I was still in the air halfway down the runway I initiated a go around. Simple I thought, I've done loads of go-arounds before, but had I done a go around from an airfield with an 800-foot elevation, strong gusty x-wind, fuel tanks to tabs both sides and with 4 pax? The answer I soon found out was no, as it took a while to regain any height after applying full power! I kept a level head and made a good landing on the 2nd attempt though by extending the downwind leg. Lunch was great, a real nice place to fly in and eat some lunch. My passengers and I enjoyed watching a Yak-52 carry out some Aeros before getting back into the aircraft and departing. Unfortunately, the take-off was about as good as the go-around. We then headed back to EGHI.
A PPL is a licence to learn, and today's lessons learned were:
1. Next time, only go with one or two (at most) other people to a small grassy strip.
2. If there are 4 of us again, go somewhere else with a longer runway.
3. With the above points in mind, I will probably never carry out take-off that bad ever again!
There were a lot of factors against me today, some of which were out of my control, i.e. gusty x-wind and a bit more fuel in the tanks than was required. A mass-balance calc. was completed before flight and all was in legal limits.Thanks everyone for your encouragement. Despite the take-off/go-around today, the rest of the flight was v.comfortable, and I can't wait to go up again. Just for the record, all three of my passengers asked when they could next come for a flight, so it cant have been too bad!
Regards, Trislander
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Holdposition.
You have got to be kidding. If a PPL takes what i said seriously, and is put off flying by it, then they shouldn't be allowed near a paper aeroplane, never mind the real thing.!! 
Clearly, humour, regardless of where one is from, doesn't travel to well over the internet does it.
Quite agree with Monococks remarks about this, a lesser ppl might have been put off this forum for good or perish the thought flying in general
Clearly, humour, regardless of where one is from, doesn't travel to well over the internet does it.
Last edited by BRL; 6th Jun 2002 at 01:09.
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BRL
Clearly not as the above feeble attempt aptly shows, once again BRL you have been "hoist by your own petard"
For answers read below: Namely the banks of the mersey
(tidied up a bit 'cos i am like that......)
"Clearly, humour, regardless of where one is from, doesn't travel to well over the internet does it."
Clearly not as the above feeble attempt aptly shows, once again BRL you have been "hoist by your own petard"
For answers read below: Namely the banks of the mersey
(tidied up a bit 'cos i am like that......)
Last edited by BRL; 6th Jun 2002 at 23:25.
Now now, settle down children
Trislander, glad you enjoyed the trip I hope you found it easier than englishal (and myself) did.
It's always enjoyable to watch people misjudging the dip in the middle of the runway when you are sitting down with a cup of tea after doing the same thing yourself
Trislander, glad you enjoyed the trip I hope you found it easier than englishal (and myself) did.
It's always enjoyable to watch people misjudging the dip in the middle of the runway when you are sitting down with a cup of tea after doing the same thing yourself
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Yes, the famous Compton up'n'unda!!!
I've had fun there before, departing to the NE, just accelerated to the point of rotation and the ground starts to fall away...... whoopeee, I'm flying, I think!
Next thing I know, I've got to the opposite side of the dip and the ground is rising at the same rate as the aircraft in the early climb phase, paddling the nose wheel along the ground for what seems like *ages*!!
[edited for lousy typing!]
I've had fun there before, departing to the NE, just accelerated to the point of rotation and the ground starts to fall away...... whoopeee, I'm flying, I think!
Next thing I know, I've got to the opposite side of the dip and the ground is rising at the same rate as the aircraft in the early climb phase, paddling the nose wheel along the ground for what seems like *ages*!!
[edited for lousy typing!]
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- I never did an overhead join during my PPL
- I never used a grass runway either.
However, I did lots of ATC, controlled airspace, radar vectors, fitting in with jet and turboprop traffic, PARs, VDFs, "sort of" ILSs (yes the localiser was helpful on hazy days when following ATC directions for a 10 mile straight in over featureless ground.)
Personally, I'm glad I did it this way, as learning overhead joins and short grass field handling was easy to bolt on, whereas growing up with the "big boys" makes me pretty happy to operate anywhere, e.g. McCarran at Las Vegas, which is the biggest/busiest field I've operated out of.
- I never used a grass runway either.
However, I did lots of ATC, controlled airspace, radar vectors, fitting in with jet and turboprop traffic, PARs, VDFs, "sort of" ILSs (yes the localiser was helpful on hazy days when following ATC directions for a 10 mile straight in over featureless ground.)
Personally, I'm glad I did it this way, as learning overhead joins and short grass field handling was easy to bolt on, whereas growing up with the "big boys" makes me pretty happy to operate anywhere, e.g. McCarran at Las Vegas, which is the biggest/busiest field I've operated out of.
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I know that overhead joins have been done to death in this thread, but I am still waiting for someone to repeat the best bit of advice that I got from my instructor.
When approaching an airfield to do an o'head join, how do you sort out in your brain how to align yourself?
Simple - If they tell you right hand circuit, get the airfield on your right hand side and vice versa (left hand circuit means airfield on your left).
It means that you will be well above circuit height if on the live side, you have time to get your bearings, keep turning until you have worked out the runway in use, cross onto the dead-side, decend and join the circuit correctly. I have found it works every time.
In fact, I find that o'head joins are great fun. They give you a good view of the airfield, time to get your act together, listen out and look out for the opposition and a nice, gentle, scenic cruise decent into the circuit. I do them even if I could join straight in. Great fun.
CAVOK
When approaching an airfield to do an o'head join, how do you sort out in your brain how to align yourself?
Simple - If they tell you right hand circuit, get the airfield on your right hand side and vice versa (left hand circuit means airfield on your left).
It means that you will be well above circuit height if on the live side, you have time to get your bearings, keep turning until you have worked out the runway in use, cross onto the dead-side, decend and join the circuit correctly. I have found it works every time.
In fact, I find that o'head joins are great fun. They give you a good view of the airfield, time to get your act together, listen out and look out for the opposition and a nice, gentle, scenic cruise decent into the circuit. I do them even if I could join straight in. Great fun.
CAVOK
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Probably a bit late but there are good pics here;
http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cg...700&height=410
The 'dip' is clearly visible if you zoom in a bit.
At least I think thats the one. Never been
http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cg...700&height=410
The 'dip' is clearly visible if you zoom in a bit.
At least I think thats the one. Never been
