That reminds me of something my AGK/Nav. instructor was telling us the other night - when he was learning to fly in the South African air force, they were in a Tiger Moth, and the airspeed indicator was out on the wing, just simply a metal flap that went flatter against the wing the faster they got, and he had to read off the speed from a scale on the bottom! :uhoh: Pretty basic to what we have now, eh, (but I suppose it worked...!)

Great summary again, Mazzy. You'll love having this to look back on once you're let loose on your own! ;)

(it's funny, those acronyms sure stick with you... I still remember HASEL from my school days... at least, I think it was hasel!!! :p)

Sky

At Last! Fellow Sufferers!
 

Mazzy et al. At last I have found some people who are doing exactly what I've done, rounding out too high, looking too close to the aircraft instead of the far end of the runway and so on.

Last Tuesday was a horror day for me on the circuit. Flapless approaches and landings, gliding approaches and landings - these went very well indeed. Tthe final circuit was going to be me demonstrating my masterful landing technique - only to have Beth grab the controls and apply power as I bounced and did my best to stall the aircraft into the tarmac from 40 feet.

So anyway, Wednesday I re read what I was supposed to be doing in preparation for Thursday - which was solid rain and cloud to 600 feet.

About 2.00 pm we found a window of clear sky and went up just to do simple circuits. I finally think I have some idea of what to do in the last 200 feet.

Get the approach right otherwise things just snowball. Throttle back to 1700 revs, hold nose up to wash off speed then chuck out ten, then twenty degrees of flap and lower nose to maintina 75 kts. Teurn final seleect aimpoint fifty yards from piano keys.

Chuck out another ten degrees to give thirty degrees of flap and position nose to give 65 kts.

Then saying under breath 65 kts, keep moving throttle and elevator to keep the aimpoint AND sixty five knots. Aimpoint - 65kts - Aimpoint- 65 kts Aimpoint etc. It seems to work.

I was rounding out too high - scared of getting too low and flying it into the grass, but the logical contradiction finally hit me. Once you do round out, the aeroplane flys perfectly happily straight and level for that 50 yards before the keys, look at the other end of the runway and then just ease back on power and hold the nose up.

Anyway we did circuits for an hour and a bit, just watching the next rainstorm coming in from over the bay. Timed it right so we had the Cessna tied down and were walking back to the office when the first raindrops hit - very satisfying.

Wednesday I go out with a Senior instructor for a check flight.

Hour 4
 

As this lesson is a continuation of the previous hour (climbs and descents) it will be quite similar from a technical point of view.

Today was quite a windy day and I actually rang the school to see if we were still flying but I think I rang a bit too early. As I am in the early stages of my training I cannot yet tell the strength of the wind purely by feel. I got to the airfield and actually thought it was quite a strong wind and that we wouldn’t be flying. I went out to the hangar and saw my instructor, he said the wind was around 8 kts in which I was amazed at as it seemed quite strong. The windsock was only about 45 degrees from the horizon. Another problem was the haze, as it was quite early in the day, the haze layer was still quite low, so he asked me if I was ok to continue and climb above for now (as if I was gonna refuse the flight yeah?!)

Ok so we went through an external check in more detail, draining some fuel to take a look at it and looking under the cowling etc. the things I learned today about the aircraft (amongst others) was the purpose of the pitot and the pitot heat. He shown me if you place the back of your hand under the pitot you can feel a gentle warm air flow, as this can freeze over in icing conditions and then you would lose the use of the ASI which wouldn’t be good. Then there was the static vent. This (in very basic terms) being a pipe running along the aircraft which measures changes in pressure and allows the use of the altimeter etc. Sorry if this sounds like a lesson to you, but writing it down and explaining helps me to understand more. Hope you don’t mind.

So, as this is a continuation of climbs and descents, it was time to make use of the flaps, a cruise climb/descent and one of my favourite parts, the ‘sideslip’. As I am aware, the sideslip has to be covered as it is still part of the syllabus, but nobody really ever uses it. Please correct me if I am wrong but was it used in earlier days when no flaps were available, to lose height at a greater rate as slow as possible? It was fun to do thought, I never knew the Tommy could have done something like that, I must have more faith!

So far things are going well, things are fitting into place and I understand what is happening. I performed the manoeuvres ok and on the way back, made my first position report/approach intentions to ATC. This was another highlight in the process as I am sure you can understand.

Now, going back to a post I made several months ago, before I had started any training. Some of you may have read it. It was about crosswind landings. I was asking how they are performed and I admitted that it seems a daunting process and that it may be something which (what’s the right word here? I don’t want to use ‘fear’) seems a bit difficult at first. Ok so we were landing on RW09 with a 120 degree crosswind, so we were being pushed to the left. I seem to recall that ATC didn’t inform us of the stronger wind, as it was significantly stronger than what was said in the ATIS report. Anyway, this is my first crosswind landing attempt. I confirmed that I was in control and was being followed through. I am going to be completely honest with you at this point, I kept the airspeed as close to 70kts as I could, I kept a steady attitude (had great verbal help from instructor) and let the plane fly itself, with physics doing the rest. The landing went very well, it really wasn’t as difficult as I had though months ago when writing my crosswind post. My landings have gone very well so far, I know I have only done 4 hours but I do look forward to the circuits, as I particularly enjoy the landing stage. I am also getting more taxi control, which is great as this has also been another area that daunted me at first Made the final call to ATC, this time, only with the instruction ok you know what to say”,

“Golf sierra alpha, passing kilo, goodbye”.

I rang up on Saturday to find out my Air Law exam result. Got 92% which was very good to know.

Thanks for reading.

Lee.

majorcan,

Erm...those who want to get a feel for the kind of things to expect from their PPL course - personal experiences rather than lesson plans from Thom.

Don't be a prat and if that doesn't work, you could always click the big back button on your browser and peruse something else.

Thanks mazzy - keep it up :)

Regards,

V1R

I think this thread is good for students, just worried about it going a bit PINK though

I have never seen the thread you are referring to, so anything in here (that comes from me) is just that, from ME! It's my own experiences and words!

What is this "pink (headsets?)" thread we hear so much about? It's famous...or rather infamous at PPRuNe...!

Last post like this from me - don't want the thread descending into something it wasn't meant to be. Over to you again mazzy et al...

V1R :D

majorcan,

Looking at the sum total of your posting history here, the only thing of value you seem to have contributed thus far is this:

Thanks to all of you who have posted comments and advice re. the flare and landing. I'm booked for Thursday (thunderstorms permitting) so I'll give the techniques described a try.

I note several people have referred to FS2004, either as a learning aid, or simply as a flying fix substitute! As a 'sad anorak' I've used FS for some years now. It's not perfect, but it's great for running through the checklists that have to be rote learned. It's also quite good for learning radio navigation (what beacons do what and how the instruments work). The photoreaslistic scenary is not bad, but flying from Wycombe (the British Airports add-on is good for EGTB) I can say that there are an awful lot of extraneous buildings in the circuit area.

I would like to join others in inviting Majorcan to go and look at another forum if he doesn't like this one. Communicating with others is a great way of learning and we'll probably end up better pilots for it. If it repeats material from previous threads, well, what harm done?

Well done Mazzy. Crosswind landings, wow! keep it up

Once again, nice summary Mazzy.

As for the comments questioning this thread's relevance, I too would like to add that I find Mazzy's posts informative, as I am about to start my training and it gives me an idea what to expect. We all learn from each other here, obviously Majorcan hasn't been here long enough to figure that out.

It's just like TV, if you don't like it, push the button and find something you do like. It's not that hard.

Mazzy, I am a tad confused about the sideslip thing. Is it the same as 'crabbing", you know where the nose is pointed to one side...? I'm not really explaining what I mean very well... There are so many different words I hear used I forget what some of them are... (blonde moment ;) )

Sky

SkySista,

No, a sideslip and crabbing are different.

When you're crabbing you are (or should be) flying the aircraft in a perfectly balanced state - i.e. ball in the middle, wings level etc. The 'crabbing' bit comes from the difference between your progress through the air mass you're flying in and the movement of that air mass over the ground. In order to line up with the runway in a crosswind you need to point the aircraft into the wind; the stronger the wind the bigger the angle for any given speed. The aircraft is pointing somewhat into the wind, but its path over the ground is different, and hopefully in line with the runway. It's exactly like swimming across a river to reach a point directly opposite - you have to point yourself upstream in order to go straight across.

Sideslipping is a different thing, but it can also be used to hold a runway heading when you have a crosswind. It involves banking the aircraft into the wind to compensate for the drift, but at the same time using the rudder to keep the nose pointing down the runway. With a wind from the right you’ll end up with the right wing down but left rudder applied. This is so-called unbalanced flight - the ball won't be in the middle and the controls will be 'crossed' i.e. the ailerons and rudder will be applied against each other compared to the way in which you’d normally carry out a turn.

In this context it's known as a 'wing down' approach. The advantage is that it allows you to compensate for crosswind while remaining aligned with the runway. It also means there’s no need to align the aircraft with the runway at the last moment before touchdown – you simply land with the upwind wheel first. Some people (including me) prefer it to a crabbing approach, but it depends somewhat on aircraft type since some are better than other at sideslips, on some sideslips are not allowed with full flap and in others they’re not allowed at all.

The other thing that sideslips are good for is losing height in a hurry without gaining speed. This technique is especially handy in aircraft without flaps, but works well in anything where sideslips are permitted.

I have to agree with most here regarding what majorcan has said. How can someone knock a thread like this, you don't have to read it mate, just stay away and let others learn from it and discuss as they are doing now. I can't wait for the discussions about whizz-wheels/nav etc, should be good reading. BRL, a bit harsh what you wrote to correct him/her but in my view right.

Fly Stimulator

Thanks for that explanation, from the last lesson I was only aware of its use in terms of a rapid descent, like you mentioned, I never knew it could be used in a xwind - very interesting!

EKKL

I am looking forward to that myself, however I know it's one of the hardest things to learn ! There will probably be a lot of discussions and questions being asked around then !

Cheers

Lee

Good Luck
 

Mazzy

Just reading this thread and like everyone else it brings back memories.

I mostly use the wingdown landing on x-winds makes life much easier (i think personally).

Have you completed a demo of a full stall (spiral descent yet -don't worry the instructor does this you just hold onto your stomach!!)

Great fun - keep it up, it only gets better!!



:ok:

Mazzy. I am sorry about some of the earlier comments posted here and I have just cleaned/deleted the posts with them in it up.(including mine.)

If anyone has a problem with what has been deleted then please PM me and NOT to comment on this thread here. Anything that is on this thread that is directed at me, the way I moderate and so on, will just be deleted so don't waste your time. PM me or even start a new thread but please DO NOT post here and ruin this excellent thread.

Once again Mazzy I apologise for having to post this here.

tired-flyboy:

I look forward to learning xwind landings in more detail, and will probably be able to determine my own approach best, as you have done. I remember a good thread a few months back on xwind landings, so that may be worth a visit later on.

With regards to the stall/spin awareness, no I havent done anything there yet, but if it is anywhere near as fun as the sideslip, then I am sure it will be another high point in my training! Fun aside though, I know these are a serious side of aviation and suppose there not much fun when you are in one that you didn't enduce yourself! :ugh:

BRL:

No need to apologise at all - I think (and 99% of others think) that you do a fantastic job, it's just the 1% that like to spoil it. Sometimes I wonder whether the negative posts are from people who are just seeking attention, or like to spark an argument, in that case, sending negative thoughts via PM is a much better idea, and I reckon that nobody would ever bother via PM because then it aint on the board for other people to see! (watch my inbox fill up now :(

Thanks guys

Lee :ok:

Fly Stimulator,

Thanks for that explanation - clears it up (though I was sitting here using my hands to mimic a plane and wind direction so I'd visualise what you meant) - once I read it thru a couple times it 'clicked' into place. I think my problem was from hearing the two terms incorrectly applied by others. (That, and a particularly trying Nav. class tonight has fried my brain! :p )

Think I'll actually print that out for future reference :ok:

As regards stalls, have only experienced stall turns and such rather than spirals (which sound exciting), but it's all something new to look forward to!

Will shut up now and leave it to Mazzy! ;)

Sky

Keep it coming peeps - this is all good discussion ! :D

SkySista..

During a correctly excecuted stall turn, the wing of the aircraft will not actually stall. This is becuase the stalling speed of a wing is a function of the load on the wing. Since there is no load on the wing, it doesnt stall.

There is a very indepth stalling discussion on the flying instrucors forum, and i dont want to hijack this thread, so ill be quiet now...

NB

The Medical
 

Whilst thinking, I thought it would be a good idea to post my experiences of the medical. In brief, I had always thought about a class 1 at Gatwick, but due to the eyesight (which is borderline) and the fact that it would be a complete nightmare getting to Gatwick and spending £420 - I went for the class 2. I just wanted to get flying and that was that.

So I got intouch with my local AME (and what a fantastic bloke he is) and booked it.

I arrived and was asked to produce a urine sample - the nurse gave me a littler pot and pointed me in the direction of the gents. After waiting a little longer, I met the chap who I spoke to on the phone a few times, my AME. He is a very nice chap indeed, a keen aviator himself so was very on par with me. He gave me the usual tests, height, weight etc and made notes as we went along, filling in forms.

The eye examinations were similar to that you would experience in an optician, but there were 2 other tests which I had never done before. One of them I think was a prism test, which involved looking through a pair of red tinted goggles, and rotating a wheel in the side, until the vertical line came into position of the light. I cant quite remember what this was testing off the top of my head. A few eye tests down the line, it was time for the ECG. This was very straight forward and involved attatching clapms to my wrists and ankles, then electrodes to my chest (which do leave a rather large red mark). Then it was just a case of relaxing for 30 or so seconds to get a reading, which turned out normal.

The thing that I had to do to pass the eyetest was get my optometrist who done my last eye check, to fill in a form with my details and basically sign it saying thay my eyes were healthy and no problems etc.

I actually had the medical 2 weeks ago and just recieved my certificate the other day. It is a hurdle overcome and one can relax knowing I can go solo (and actually get the PPL I supppose) :p

Aside from the medical - I would actually like this thread to become more than a diary - like some kind of reference or learning point (as it already seems to have done so). I will post (and others are welcome to) my difficulties and any areas that I find tough (yes such as NAV and the 'whizz-wheel') and I have no doubt in my mind that you kind people will come on and help out :ok:

Until Hour 5

Lee :cool:

Nice diary, Mazzy, keep up the good work:)

You said at the start that you had 10-15 hours on the Bulldog and some glider experience - do you think that has helped you? Oh and did you get to solo the Bulldog?

Anyway, you seem to have got off to an excellent start.

- Michael

I too had my Class II medical recently. Didn't have to wear any red goggles (!) but had a lovely stick with text on it held against my forehead...with the text being slid back and forth...! ECG was a LOT quicker than I thought as well. Funny you had to wait for your certificate - I asked when I could expect mine at the end of the session (less than an hour) and he signed his name a few times and gave me it there and then!

Quite enjoyable all told. There were even some ego-boosting phrases: "That's a low heart rate and BP, do you run?" :ok:

V1R :O

Unfortunately I never got to solo the Bulldog as it was only AEF flying. Having done these hours as a cadet was definately a great help towards the PPL for a few reasons. Mainly, it helped me realise that I do actually love flying, because some people say they love it, but until they have tried it they would never know. It also helped me because each flight was more than just drilling holes in the sky. We learned all about basic handling, even performed take off's and landings. Aero's were cool too, learning how to do them was excellent.

With regards to the medical, I had to wait until I got the optometrist to sign the form (it was something which the CAA legally required) so once I had this done and the AME had it, he issued the cert.

Thanks all

Lee

Hour 5
 

Today was the first time I thought that the lesson would be cancelled. The cloud was quite low and there was a presence of mist. I got up and drove to the airfield anyway, a little gutted that we might not be flying, knowing that we could do the detailed walk-around anyway if we couldn’t fly. However, when I got there it was decided that we could do some instrument work, making the most of the weather conditions in the most positive way. My instructor is very passionate about flying; he doesn’t like having to cancel a flight and loves to be able to get airborne too, which is great.

So we took off and this time flew south instead of north, due to the weather conditions they were slightly better around Chester. Once we were set up he went through the instruments in more detail and shown me how to do the radial scan (how sad is this; I remember this from reading the MS Flight Sim 2004 ground school and know what he means by radial scan)! I know a PPL cant fly through cloud, but the use of the instruments is in the syllabus and is still a very important part of flying, so getting used to them at this stage was very satisfying for me, I don’t find them a rocket science at all and with a little practice I was flying straight and level, climbing and descending (cruise), turns whilst climbing etc. We then went through the different bank angles and those which best to use during different attitudes of flight, for example no more the 20 degrees of bank in a descending turn etc. Each of the top white lines on the attitude indicator being 10 degrees of bank. I didn’t find this too difficult, and before long I was performing these manoeuvres using the instruments and instruments alone.

I find that as my lessons progress I get more used to the use of the throttle. People may be thinking “How hard can it be?” but the movement of around 3mm of the throttle can be the difference in 5 kts airspeed and can effect straight and level flight etc. I have been using around 2250 rpm to maintain 90kts straight and level cruise. On different days it has to be more, sometimes less. This is an experience thing, and something that can only be mastered with years of use, and I will take a guess in saying that it is the same on most aircraft. This is all IMHO of course, I only have 5 hours!

Today was good in terms of wind, being that there was none at all. It is amazing at how the landing is effected by a small breeze. Once I had the aircraft in trim and on the correct approach, it basically flew itself to the runway, which is physics for you. I find that upon flare, reducing the power to idle, it is a natural reaction to let the nose hit the ground, but I have to maintain back pressure for quite some time (were talking 3-5 seconds) to let the plane sink onto the runway nicely, and not let it go down too quick, which would damage the nose wheel, amongst other possible things.

Another good thing now that I have done it a few times is the walk around. My instructor lets me go onto the apron and do the walk around by myself, with the fuel drainer and all (I must sound like a kid) and perform the entire checklist. Starting at the left side, checking the avionics are off, master on, landing/strobe lights on, check, pitot heat, fuel vent, stall warning, control surfaces, undercarriage, tires, master off and it goes on! This is a great feeling as it is the first insight into some kind of responsibility towards the flight, and the fact that my instructor has faith in me, which is a good confidence builder. Don’t worry, the instructor still checks over things and once we are in the cockpit he can let me do all the checks and start-up etc, because he is there!

In summary today was a strain on the brain from a normal VFR lesson. Scanning each of the 6 main instruments can take it out of you, especially holding a turn or an approach. Speaking of approach, I got the first insight into the ADF, which seems basic enough, however, I did notice that it was important to obtain a specific heading from the ADF, then follow that, rather that the ADF needle, otherwise, as you pass the beacon the needle turns and I can imagine you would eventually start flying spirals! It was great also because after the flight, me and another chap (new PPL student) went out together and done the detailed walk through with the instructor, so learned a fair bit today.

Very much looking forward to tomorrow, which is exercise 9 (which should have been today) so will update again tomorrow afternoon. I would also like to thank you lot for keeping up with my diary and for continuing to read it, and hope you are still liking it. Without you following it, it would be pointless in doing it, CHEERS!

Lee.

Keep it coming Mazzy. I'm sure you must now be looking forward to this
:E
Capt. M

Hour 6
 

Hour 6 was a revision lesson, as there was too much mist in the area for ex9. We tried climbing above it, but as my lesson was at 1200 rather than the usual 0900, it was too high to rise above. So we done some more instrument work, climbs and descents, to brush up on previous lesson. I used the radios a fair bit today, giving position reports, approach requests etc. One thing that we heard over the radio from Liverpool tower to another aircraft after take off:

"you have a tail knot ten wind"

Poor guy got his words mixed up, which was quite funny at the time :p

So this lesson was simply marked as 'Rev' in the logbook, which is good as it helps me retain the skills I have learned in previous lessons and not let them fade out. One problem I had today was that on the landing, I reduced power to idle too quick, i rotated and should have waited a little longer before cutting power. It's funny because it seems that you are going to touchdown when really you still have a fair way to go!

Hopefully I will get airborne tomorrow, but due to forecast rain it may be unlikely :(

Until then!

Lee :)

Hour 7
 

Today the mist that has been lingering around for a few weeks seemed to have finally buggered off, so we had a very good horizon to do turns. After a few more climbs and descents, my instructor begin to explain turns, explaining that a standard turn would involve a 30 degree bank (if not climbing or descending) and 15 degrees otherwise. I had read in the ex9 chapter, that because you are sat on the left, then you observe a different view out the cockpit when turning, because on a right turn you are higher, and on a left turn you are lower - the difference of the nose being above or below the horizon was actually quite significant, and without the use of the VSI or if you had no knowledge of the subject, then it would be very easy to gain/lose altitude in a turn.

I performed a few 360 degree turns at 30 degrees level, both left and right, then some more turns whilst climbing/descending, only using 15 degrees. The controls become much more sloppy at slower airspeeds, so it becomes more difficult to maintain a good attitude if the aircraft is not trimmed properly.

I was also shown how to perform the missed approach (not near the airfield). The procedure is to apply full power, pitch nose up to best angle climb (65kts), once level flight is obtained, reduce flap to stage 1, once 200 has passed, obatin best rate of climb at 70kts and resume. Seems pretty straight forward. My instructor actually had to perform one in the previous lesson to me, so maybe thats the reason why he shown me at this point.

Today we flew south over Cheshire instead of north - the weather was excellent with some beautiful cloud formations, very sunny indeed. I have made extensive use of the radios today, making most of the calls. The sky was very busy, at one point there was a kit helicopter at 200ft to our right, which wasnt even on the radio. Someone taxiing saw something hanging off one of the 737's about to take off, so that was delayed at the holding point whilst it was checked, lots of radio activity which is all good for learning. Landing was very smooth and I was quite pleased with the way it went, this time I held it a lot more before touching down, just letting the stall warner go off - very good feeling when it goes well :D

Got MET exam on Wednesday so will be reading for that. Next lesson is on Friday.

Have a nice week and safe flying,

Lee

p.s check out the Liverpool thread in the bashes forum in the misc section, been trying to get a few people together. :)

I had a b*gger of a Saturday. 30kts of wind and rain with a twenty kt crosswind component.

So my intructor said it was time to learn crosswind landings. We postponed things for half an hour to let a particularly nasty squall go over, then I did a crosswind takeoff with ailerons held into wind until lift off.

The turbulence below three hundred feet was severe. I was flying the circuit with about twenty degrees of offset to compensate for drift.

Delayed descent on final because you are crawling along at 75 kts making maybe 35 over the ground.

Only 20 degrees flap, crab to keep the centreline and then right wing down and left rudder to hold centreline.

The aircraft was blown about like a leaf on final, big changes of power and attitude needed. After three tries including one partial success and two go arounds I gave it back to the instructor as I felt my confidence going.

After another demonstration I did two more and that was that. Not easy, but obviously its a necessary skill otherwise your flying is goign to be severely limited.

Four other idiots were doing the same thing in the circuit.

White knuckle dry mouth stuff at the moment.

Sunfish,

If you're doing 75kts on final and only making 35kts on the ground, you've got a 40kts headwind. Coupled with a 20kts crosswind, I figure you've got about 45kts of wind blowing at you from 27degrees from dead ahead.

Was flying in a 45kts wind a good idea? What is the max demonstrated crosswind (by a highly experienced test pilot) in your aircraft?

Rgds,

TPK:ok:

Something like that at 1000 feet.. At ground level the tower gave us a crosswind component of 12 - 20 knots. Cessna 150's have a fifteen knot limit.

My instructor did it, I have to do it. CFI approves it and four other aircraft were doing it. The conditions were a little on the extreme side, that much was admitted, but 30 knot sea breezes are the norm in summer afternoons, so Iguess I juust better get good at it.

Better day today - no wind, steep turns, recovery from spiral dives, steep descending turns, then lunch and another hour of short takeoffs and landings, which went very well.

Sunfish,

Whilst it absolutely is necessary to learn crosswind landings, please don't go getting yourself killed because "other people were doing it" or because "the CFI said so". :(

Happy flying!

TPK:ok:

I think this diary may help you retain your knowledge and skills better. When I first started learning, I did the same thing but privately and interestingly, my (initially pretty fast) progress slowed when I stopped doing it.

So keep it up.

Not that I'm thinking of myself at all here, you understand! ;)

Kinda OT...
 

During my trawls thru libraries, bookshops etc, I came across (for me anyway) a gem of a book called Flight Discipline by Tony Kern. Deals with ways to make your flying safer whether you are a single pilot PPL or an airline pilot... also things like how to deal with situations where you may feel pressure to fly unsafely, whether from other pilots or traffic/circumstances......

I found it to be quite good in giving tips for making your thought process re: checklists, remembering important things. Have not completed it by any means but it looks promising! (Even has review questions at the end of the chapter) If any of you have read it and can offer some thoughts, PM me, or if Mazzy/mods think it's relevant to this thread...... ;)

Back on topic - keep 'em coming, guys(girls?) I'm really liking this thread....

Sky :)

Bring it on Sista ! :D :D :D

I am really enjoying your PPL diary.

As someone who has 6 hours from 10 years ago I am restarting next month (only be 1 hr per month though!).

Its good to read how things are going. Half the battle is getting a decent instructor, which you have by the sounds of it.

Hour 8
 

Today has been the best flight I have ever had. I am on a high at the moment after such a superb time. Just got back from the airfield and already looking forward to tomorrow’s lesson. Firstly, I just found out that I passed Met, got 80% and am well chuffed, I took the exam yesterday and I really was doubtful over the outcome, to have passed is great for me. The weather today is exceptional, very high visibility, plenty of great sunshine and some beautiful cloud formations, not causing any problem, with a reasonably high base. We flew out over the north, then on to Wigan, toward Manchester. We over flew the JJB stadium, then used the Bolton Reebok stadium as a turning point, back towards the east. As the visibility was good, the scenery was beautiful and I could distinctively see different towns and villages. I pointed out to my instructor that it is a lot easier to orientate yourself with the surroundings on such a clear day. I think I am slowly getting used to the local environment and finding it progressively easier to say where I am and put the aircraft where I want it.

Ok so onto the training. We got set up for slow flight then the controls were handed back to me, I had to maintain the slow flight attitude of around 70kts, 0 on the VSI, and use my left and right hand (throttle and controls) simultaneously to keep the aircraft in this state. The first couple of minutes I used to get used to the more sloppy controls, and once I had a grip on the state of the aircraft and its attitude, I was managing to hold it like this for quite some time. I am aware that I need to do 4 hours of slow flight (minimum) so this is a great way to build it up. Then onto a demonstrated stall, to get a taste of them and to prep for the next lesson. Now I have a cousin who is the CFI at an international airport, who told me to watch out for wing drops, as they are fun and great to perform. I didn’t read up on them at first as I like the element of surprise, but as I was coming to them eventually in the training, I covered them in flying training. So we set up for the stall, idle power, maintain nose level to reduce speed, pitch nose up to stall (the stall warning buzzer is going mental) and there we have it, a stall, felt by a quick zero G and a loss of about 250 feet, however, there was also a very impressive wing drop in there too, a sharp roll to the right as the wing lost it’s lift and were away. A quick recover with full power, nose level, rudder/aileron as required and we are back in straight and level flight. Nothing to it right (well there is more to it). Stall’s can be made at any airspeed and several different attitudes, and the purpose of this training is to learn what the aircraft feels like when it is APPROACHING a stall, so that you can recover form it BEFORE it happens, this is important as prevention is better than cure.

I must admit that performing the wing drop was intense fun and those reading who have not yet done one will, I am sure, love it too. It did put a smile on my face. However, I will only think these are fun if I induce one myself. If a wing drop was ever to occur without me forcing it, I guess that it would be pretty scary indeed and a quick reaction is needed.

We had a crosswind today too, which I was glad about because, as said in a previous entry, I always thought crosswinds would be difficult. I have to admit, I am enjoying my landings more and more every time, mostly because I am getting used to what to expect, and I love it when they go well, such a great feeling. The only thing is, I know that there isn’t a pilot in the world who doesn’t have the occasional rough landing, so when I have one, I will tell people so that I can learn from it and stay on the never ending aviation learning curve.

To summarise: if I were taking a friend on a jolly of the local area, with some included excitement, then today would be that flight. Absolutely fantastic and loving every minute.

Best regards

Lee :D :D :D

P.S a quick question – do you think I am doing the exams too quick? I am will generally be having one lesson per week through uni, which I will finish in May – I now have 18 months to pass the remainders. Thanks.

My advice is get the exams out of the way ASAP and enjoy the flying. This thread brings back some happy memories.

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this but if you haven't already, check-out First Light by Geoffrey Wellum, a (the?) first-rate flying diary. You'll see how little has changed in sixty years.

:ok:

May I confess that I find this very useful.

I earn my living testing and approving new, usually light, aeroplanes. One of the main things such aeroplanes get used for is training - hearing about your trials and tribulations I find quite helpful in refreshing my mind about what is important in the characteristics of such aeroplanes.

Please don't stop.

G

Hour 9
 

Had a corker of a hangover this morning, you know when you go out and say to yourself “right I’ll only have a couple then stop, or I’ll regret it tomorrow”. Well I said that and it didn’t work. Any hows, getting back to my diary.

This lesson was an extension to the previous one, and I am building up slow flight time nicely. We done some more stalls, and learned different methods of recovery, like nose down, reach 60kts and no power, then the same but with power. On one of the recovery procedures, I shot the control column forward too fast and the aircraft leapt forward (great who needs a diet when you can lose 10 stone in 2 seconds?), the problem I was having was that because an immense amount of back pressure is required to keep the nose up attitude, there is always a constant pressure forwards, so when recovering, you don’t need to apply too much forward pressure, you simply control the natural force of the controls wanting to go forward, in a controlled manner. So onto full power, 60kts, wings level, back into the climb.

One thing that was more difficult to overcome was the fact that the yolk has to remain centred as much as possible, as not to induce too much angle of attack on one wing – so even if there is a slight roll as a result of the stall, I still have to keep the controls centred as much as possible – I recall from the flying training manual that roll can actually occur in the opposite direction to that of the controls in a stall attitude. One thing also today that we covered, was a spiral descent – fantastic manoeuvre to say the least. This involves banking to a high bank angle (at first I was thinking, surely this type of aircraft cant handle a bank this big) and letting the nose drop, then, to stop the nose dropping, applying back pressure – this makes the airspeed SOAR away bloody quick, I couldn’t believe how fast that needle shot round the dial – so as demonstrated, the power comes off, wings go level, nose up, power back on. I also performed it without removing the power, simply by rolling the wings level before pitching up, then straight into a climb to knock the airspeed off. I don’t know about any of you people, it may kind sound of sad, but I love a good high G feeling, its truly amazing.

I have started to develop my own external checks. The order of my checks roughly goes as follows (I wont include everything here for obvious reasons): firstly, master on with anti collision lights, pitot heat and landing light. Then outside to check these work, as well as the stall warning buzzer. Once happy, master off then to carry on with the rest of the checks. I use the fuel drainer to check the fuel etc and that from the engine, also looking into the tanks. Then I move onto the engine, looking under both cowlings. After this, I then go onto the surfaces, control surfaces, flaps, undercarriage etc. I find that doing it this way is better as it helps me to remember them in a more logical way. The order in the checklist seems a bit odd. I know this is ok, as long as I don’t miss anything out (as my instructor rightly said) so I still carry the checklist with me, and go over every item to make sure I haven’t missed anything out.

I must confess that I got a little carried away today. I was still on a high from yesterday and I think I went through my internal checks a little quick. I missed the door latch and seemed to be racing ahead, missing a couple of things out like checking left and right magnetos. So after I settled down a little I was ok. Again, the RT is coming along nicely, one thing I am trying to remember is that I should only abbreviate my call sign once ATC has done so. It’s great as my instructor is allowing me, I’d say 90% of the radio usage – it just makes the lesson a lot more satisfying when it goes right. I’ve written down a couple of the major calls, like when first contacting tower/approach. Giving position reports and intentions – I read these to myself when I drive, each time changing words (i.e. for different locations etc) and it don’t half sink in quick – its great.

Gonna start reading the human performance book, not to chase the exam, but purely as a progression thing.

Cheers

Lee ;)

Last three lessons have been short takepoff and landing and then Forced Landings.


Short take offs and landings are fun, at least with a 3000 foot strip to practice them on!

Forced landings first lesson was easy as we had a grass strip to "pretend" to land on. Start at 3500 feet, select high key and low key, fly downwind, base and break off final at 500 feet.

Second lesson a little harder, you are flying along and instructor pulls carb heat on and throttle back to simulate a failure, and you have to get through the whole procedure while flying the approach.

ie: Tradespeedforhieghttrimtobestglideat65knotscheckfirecarbheat fuelquantityfuelselectormixturemastermagnetofieldsizeshapesl opesurfaces(over&under)shoots(c)sivilisationcyclefuelmixture masteroilpressureandtempswitchesthrottlemaydaymaydaymaydayxy zxyzlocationpobihaveenginefailure -followed by the passenger brief and finally the BUSH checks - all while setting up and performing a gliding approach to your field of choice.

Next lesson their will be no warnings given nor height specified.