Cross country qualifier
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Cross country qualifier
Evening All!
Flew my PPL cross country qualifier yesterday and made it back to base safely!
Leg 1, EGPK-EGPN
Uneventful takeoff, despite a last minute runway change by ATC (no real drama as I've worked at EGPK for 10 years).
Proceeded to the zone departure point and set my heading, luckily EGPN is on a direct 45 degree track from EGPK.
Wind conditions weren't ideal (010/35x @ 2000') but the rest of the weather was perfect.
Busted the EGPH zone en-route due to confusing one of the bridges over the River Forth with another one. Once corrected by the nice lady at EGPH Radar, It was onwards to EGPN, where it was a straight in approach to Rwy 09.
After quite a wrestle in the descent, and being asked to report abeam a village I couldn't find on my chart, I made not one of my better landings and parked up.
The guys a Tayside Aviation sorted me out and I got back on my way.
Leg 2, EGPN - EGPT
Short hop this time.
Bumpy climb out and 180 onto the downwind leg, departed the circuit and headed straight for EGPT, where the choice of 3 runways meant an almost into wind landing, and after my embarrassing attempt at EGPN, this one was almost perfect.
Helpful directions to the parking from the guys in the tower, then on to pay my fee and pick up a bacon roll from the Touchdown Cafe!
Leg 3, EGPT - EGPK
Took off from EGPT, LH turnout and picked up my heading towards my first waypoint.
A beautiful sightseeing tour over to Dunblane and then turned and headed towards home!
After over-flying EGPG and a (scheduled) transit the EGPF zone, I re-entered EGPK airspace and landed!
On reflection, delaying the flight to wait for better wind would have made for a more comfortable flight, but perhaps it made for a more realistic flight.
Despite having my SkyDemon loaded in my pocket (it would be silly not to), I was adamant I wasn't going to use it, and was proud of myself that I didn't.
I would rather have made an a**e of it on my own (which I did), than have completed it successfully with assistance.
I watched a video once by FlightChops on YouTube where he "earns the right to use his iPad", which was an inspiring view on technology in flying.
Onward now, skills test in the next couple of weeks (weather permitting) and the last couple of written exams to squeeze in before the last couple of solo hours!
If anyone else cocked it up a bit on their qualifier, hearing about that would relieve me a bit!
Doug
Flew my PPL cross country qualifier yesterday and made it back to base safely!
Leg 1, EGPK-EGPN
Uneventful takeoff, despite a last minute runway change by ATC (no real drama as I've worked at EGPK for 10 years).
Proceeded to the zone departure point and set my heading, luckily EGPN is on a direct 45 degree track from EGPK.
Wind conditions weren't ideal (010/35x @ 2000') but the rest of the weather was perfect.
Busted the EGPH zone en-route due to confusing one of the bridges over the River Forth with another one. Once corrected by the nice lady at EGPH Radar, It was onwards to EGPN, where it was a straight in approach to Rwy 09.
After quite a wrestle in the descent, and being asked to report abeam a village I couldn't find on my chart, I made not one of my better landings and parked up.
The guys a Tayside Aviation sorted me out and I got back on my way.
Leg 2, EGPN - EGPT
Short hop this time.
Bumpy climb out and 180 onto the downwind leg, departed the circuit and headed straight for EGPT, where the choice of 3 runways meant an almost into wind landing, and after my embarrassing attempt at EGPN, this one was almost perfect.
Helpful directions to the parking from the guys in the tower, then on to pay my fee and pick up a bacon roll from the Touchdown Cafe!
Leg 3, EGPT - EGPK
Took off from EGPT, LH turnout and picked up my heading towards my first waypoint.
A beautiful sightseeing tour over to Dunblane and then turned and headed towards home!
After over-flying EGPG and a (scheduled) transit the EGPF zone, I re-entered EGPK airspace and landed!
On reflection, delaying the flight to wait for better wind would have made for a more comfortable flight, but perhaps it made for a more realistic flight.
Despite having my SkyDemon loaded in my pocket (it would be silly not to), I was adamant I wasn't going to use it, and was proud of myself that I didn't.
I would rather have made an a**e of it on my own (which I did), than have completed it successfully with assistance.
I watched a video once by FlightChops on YouTube where he "earns the right to use his iPad", which was an inspiring view on technology in flying.
Onward now, skills test in the next couple of weeks (weather permitting) and the last couple of written exams to squeeze in before the last couple of solo hours!
If anyone else cocked it up a bit on their qualifier, hearing about that would relieve me a bit!
Doug
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Well done! :-) We all make little mistakes at some point or other. I like Jan like your approach to technology.
I saw FlightChops also made a couple of videos where he is clearly too busy thinking about production value / filming than learning in the lesson. Quite interesting to see his reflexion later on about it.
Although this is yet to happen, (thanks to good pre-flight and carrying many spare chargers to recharge the iPad / Garmin Glo if needed) being able to fly by sight / with map is really important when it all goes wrong!
Good luck on our skills test!
I saw FlightChops also made a couple of videos where he is clearly too busy thinking about production value / filming than learning in the lesson. Quite interesting to see his reflexion later on about it.
Although this is yet to happen, (thanks to good pre-flight and carrying many spare chargers to recharge the iPad / Garmin Glo if needed) being able to fly by sight / with map is really important when it all goes wrong!
Good luck on our skills test!
The "Cross Country Qualifier" ceased to exist with the demise of the UK PPL in July 1999.
What you flew was a solo Navigation Exercise which fulfills one of the recommendations of ICAO Annex 1, and which replaced the QXCTY when the UK adopted JAR-FCL.
If you believe all Dyson's are Hoovers then it probably makes no odds!
What a lot of people don't realise is that if you increased the distance to 300 miles, it would be useable for both the PPL and the CPL
What you flew was a solo Navigation Exercise which fulfills one of the recommendations of ICAO Annex 1, and which replaced the QXCTY when the UK adopted JAR-FCL.
If you believe all Dyson's are Hoovers then it probably makes no odds!
What a lot of people don't realise is that if you increased the distance to 300 miles, it would be useable for both the PPL and the CPL
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I screwed up on the final leg of my QXC. My full route was Elstree-Coventry, Coventry-Cambridge, Cambridge-Elstree.
The final leg took me south between Luton and Stansted. I was looking out for Buntingford, but managed to completely miss it (I still don't know how). Because of this I had a minor panic and thought, rather than bust either Luton's or Stansted's airspace, the best solution was to call 121.5 and say I was unsure of position. Within about half a second some very helpful person told me exactly where I was and gave me a heading to follow that kept me out of CAS. Once I recognised where I was, I thanked them and made my way to Elstree a bit embarrassed, but also pleased with myself for not being a bloke about it, and actually admitting I was lost.
The final leg took me south between Luton and Stansted. I was looking out for Buntingford, but managed to completely miss it (I still don't know how). Because of this I had a minor panic and thought, rather than bust either Luton's or Stansted's airspace, the best solution was to call 121.5 and say I was unsure of position. Within about half a second some very helpful person told me exactly where I was and gave me a heading to follow that kept me out of CAS. Once I recognised where I was, I thanked them and made my way to Elstree a bit embarrassed, but also pleased with myself for not being a bloke about it, and actually admitting I was lost.
Last edited by londonblue; 29th Nov 2016 at 08:57.
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That puts me in somewhat of a predicament then Whopity......
From the CAA form Form SRG 1105A Issue 01 - Application for EASA Private Pilot Licence PPL(A) and EASA Light Aircraft Pilot Licence LAPL(A)
(Guidance Note 2).
I am required to submit "Original Qualifying Cross-Country Certificate".
How I'm going to do that if I haven't flown one concerns me slightly.
Also I don't see the relevance the brand names of domestic cleaning appliances has on the subject, but thanks for your input anyway.
EDIT: And for what it's worth, I have absolutely zero interest in the CPL.
From the CAA form Form SRG 1105A Issue 01 - Application for EASA Private Pilot Licence PPL(A) and EASA Light Aircraft Pilot Licence LAPL(A)
(Guidance Note 2).
I am required to submit "Original Qualifying Cross-Country Certificate".
How I'm going to do that if I haven't flown one concerns me slightly.
Also I don't see the relevance the brand names of domestic cleaning appliances has on the subject, but thanks for your input anyway.
EDIT: And for what it's worth, I have absolutely zero interest in the CPL.
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Also I don't see the relevance the brand names of domestic cleaning appliances has on the subject,.
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Seriously....
Who on earth are we paying in order to come up with "new brand names" about SIMPLE things which are OBVIOUSLY NAMED!?
Qualifier Cross Country is simply... JUST THAT.
General Flying Test (GFT) (otherwise known as Skills Test) - again is simply... JUST THAT.
Why hide it with complicated names that DO NOT reflect what you're ACTUALLY doing!?
Who is being paid money to come up with such silly nonsense!? And WHERE is that money coming from!?
Who on earth are we paying in order to come up with "new brand names" about SIMPLE things which are OBVIOUSLY NAMED!?
Qualifier Cross Country is simply... JUST THAT.
General Flying Test (GFT) (otherwise known as Skills Test) - again is simply... JUST THAT.
Why hide it with complicated names that DO NOT reflect what you're ACTUALLY doing!?
Who is being paid money to come up with such silly nonsense!? And WHERE is that money coming from!?
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Seriously....
Who on earth are we paying in order to come up with "new brand names" about SIMPLE things which are OBVIOUSLY NAMED!?
Qualifier Cross Country is simply... JUST THAT.
General Flying Test (GFT) (otherwise known as Skills Test) - again is simply... JUST THAT.
Why hide it with complicated names that DO NOT reflect what you're ACTUALLY doing!?
Who is being paid money to come up with such silly nonsense!? And WHERE is that money coming from!?
Who on earth are we paying in order to come up with "new brand names" about SIMPLE things which are OBVIOUSLY NAMED!?
Qualifier Cross Country is simply... JUST THAT.
General Flying Test (GFT) (otherwise known as Skills Test) - again is simply... JUST THAT.
Why hide it with complicated names that DO NOT reflect what you're ACTUALLY doing!?
Who is being paid money to come up with such silly nonsense!? And WHERE is that money coming from!?
Well done Dougie - I did the same route, a few years ago, for my QXC - or whatever it's called now - only c**k up was that I had forgotten how the tune the 0.25 on the radio, which made talking to Scottish Info on 119.875 a bit tricky. After landing at Dundee and as the mind calmed down, I had the biggest 'DOH' moment of my flight training.
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Jaycee46 - one of those simple tasks that more complicated the second you're airborne!
In an effort to prepare for all eventualities, I had even written down all the EGPK frequencies which I use every day!
In an effort to prepare for all eventualities, I had even written down all the EGPK frequencies which I use every day!
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I had even written down all the EGPK frequencies which I use every day!
It's quite a good habit to get in, in my opinion anyway.
I've printed out a kneeboard-size sheet with all the frequencies I could use locally. 42 frequencies. On the other side are distances and mag tracks between likely points.
It sits behind my flight note sheet on my kneeboard-sizesheet. Very helpful for in-flight directions.
It sits behind my flight note sheet on my kneeboard-sizesheet. Very helpful for in-flight directions.
I am required to submit "Original Qualifying Cross-Country Certificate".
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The CAA has withdrawn the form after they were challenged as to why they are
still perpetuating a requirement that has not existed for the past 16 years!
still perpetuating a requirement that has not existed for the past 16 years!
Not according to their website.......
SRG1105A Aeroplane - Application for EASA Private Pilot Licence PPL(A) and EASA Light Aircraft Pilot Licence LAPL(A) Current 24 August 2016
Nice little story DD .. and congrats ! 
I no longer fly for reasons various but it inevitably reminded me of my own triumphant QXC flight : Manchester (Barton) - Halfpenny Green - Hawarden and back. Mine, flown in 1975, I am sure was a whole lot less demanding than yours. I think using EGPK would have freaked me out way back then (!), though I have used all 3 of your QXC airfields since. For me, waiting for suitable weather was my main stumbling-block to progress and I consider myself lucky that I did eventually get a good day in November, like you, to actually complete the flights. I had waited about 3 months for decent weather ! No GPS comfort in those days either, of course.
Best of luck with the rest of your training !
SI
I no longer fly for reasons various but it inevitably reminded me of my own triumphant QXC flight : Manchester (Barton) - Halfpenny Green - Hawarden and back. Mine, flown in 1975, I am sure was a whole lot less demanding than yours. I think using EGPK would have freaked me out way back then (!), though I have used all 3 of your QXC airfields since. For me, waiting for suitable weather was my main stumbling-block to progress and I consider myself lucky that I did eventually get a good day in November, like you, to actually complete the flights. I had waited about 3 months for decent weather ! No GPS comfort in those days either, of course.
Best of luck with the rest of your training !
SI
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"No GPS comfort in those days either, of course."
Speaking of which, what are the rules regarding carriage of working gps equipment on a qualifying cross country flight?
Speaking of which, what are the rules regarding carriage of working gps equipment on a qualifying cross country flight?
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Thanks SI,
EGPK is the perfect airfield nowadays, It has all the advantages of a major airport (Long/wide runways, ILS, full time ATC), without the disadvantages of busy commercial traffic!
EGPK is the perfect airfield nowadays, It has all the advantages of a major airport (Long/wide runways, ILS, full time ATC), without the disadvantages of busy commercial traffic!
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Heston,
Can't find any. Wouldn't it be incredibly difficult to regulate anyway?
What if your A/C is GPS equipped?
What if you iPad has all your plates on it, but also SkyDemon or equivalent?
Even the most basic of smartphones now has a GPS/maps function.
Can't find any. Wouldn't it be incredibly difficult to regulate anyway?
What if your A/C is GPS equipped?
What if you iPad has all your plates on it, but also SkyDemon or equivalent?
Even the most basic of smartphones now has a GPS/maps function.