19 October 2015

What with moving house recently I've had very little free time so it was a relief to get an opportunity for a brief flight to keep my currency. I had been trying for several days but the weather was scuppering me every time. As it turned out it was not a particularly nice day with lots of low cloud around however towards the end of the day the cloud was high enough so I popped up to Rochester Airport after reserving a C-152 (G-GDIA). By the time I got to fly after my checks it was quite gloomy and dark however I snuck in a flight just in time.

Note: I took my Garmin Virb+ Elite camera up with me but with the prop filter on it makes it prone to issues coping with low light and afterwards I noticed the film was so dark I couldn't make anything out. Disappointed, I didn't bother posting it to YouTube. I think placing it at the top of the cowling (like I normally do) would have made a slight improvement as I had it stuck to the passenger window this time. Lesson learned I suppose. I could always take the filter off as well and put up with the distorted prop image. We'll see.

Anyway - Runway was 02. All went well but not the best weather for flying. At least I'm current which was the main point of the exercise.

19.10.2015 - Brakes off 15:30(Z) Brakes On 16:00 (Z) Total: 0:30
Total Time 141:00

20 September 2015 - Maks Goes Flying

One of the biggest pleasures about having a Private Pilots License is you then have the great fortune and opportunity to make others peoples dreams come true by taking them flying. Last month I took a young lad flying, Maks. His family are good friends of ours and I knew he loved all things about aeroplanes. I had always promised him I would take him flying and he had been waiting patiently. 

The opportunity to fulfil my promise came with a break in the weather. It was a calm bright morning and I thought conditions would be perfect. Needless to say our trip was a lovely occasion and it really made him and his family happy. It was also a proud moment for me to be able to do this for friends. I've included here a little video of the occasion.

20.09.2015 - Brakes off 09:50(Z) Brakes On 10:35 (Z) Total: 0:45
Total Time 140:30

2 September 2015 - Quick Local

What with holiday and weather issues it had been a few weeks since I'd been in the air so I took a quick local flight just to keep my hand in. Only 40 Minutes Brakes Off - Brakes On but enough to keep me current. All went very well. Landing on Runway 34 felt very nice indeed. Forgot my video camera which was a shame as the weather was quite nice.

02.09.2015 - Brakes off 08:45(Z) Brakes On 09:25 (Z) Total: 0:40
Total Time 139:45

9 August 2015 - Pam goes flying

Beautiful start to the day so I took the opportunity to grab half an hour and take my mum flying. It was the first time for her in a light aircraft but she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Short video enclosed below. Great flying conditions!

09.08.2015 - Brakes off 08:35(Z) Brakes On 09:05 (Z) Total: 0:30
Total Time 139:05

2 August 2015 - Lazy Sunday Morning Flight

I didn't have plans this weekend to fly but Sunday morning was forecast to be so lovely I couldn't resist. So, late Saturday afternoon I called the flying club to see if anything was available. Matt told me G-BNKV was having a new starter motor installed and if all went well would be available first thing. 

Sure enough all turned out well and I had my plane for the first slot in the morning. I only wanted to get up flying so was happy for 50 Mins in the local area which is what I did in the end.

I spoke to Clive, my aerobatic instructor during the week and he was on the case to sort out some aeros possibly at Headcorn. If it went this way, this would enable me to complete the EASA course I had started. He had been rather busy of late sourcing a new C152 for the club, so I said I would check back in a couple of weeks.

02.08.2015 - Brakes off 07:55(Z) Brakes On 08:45 (Z) Total: 0:50
Total Time 138:35

29 July 2015 - Just needed to fly...

Cancelled flights abound recently (weather, technical issues etc), so I took the opportunity for a brief flight to get up and blow the cobwebs off. 

Recently the club aerobat G-FLIP had a bad accident on landing (a students first solo as well) and so it looks like no more aerobatics for a while. It's probably an insurance write-off as the wing took quite a hit as well. A bit of a shame to be honest as I only had an hour left before the rating. The important thing though is the student walked away unhurt. I spoke to him earlier today and he felt embarrassed but I just said it can happen to anybody, especially to a low hour student. It was good to see him pick himself up and carry on!

Anyway, today, I didn't have much time available so did just a local flight. I hadn't flown G-BNKV for a long time and was really pleased with the quality of the radio - it was so clear. Everything went well. Felt a bit bouncy on landing mind, part due to the actual timing of the landing on R34 (it has a 'ski jump' bump at a certain point in it, which if you hit it just right, launches you skyward). I think my mini relaunch was down to the fact I was later than normal chopping the throttle coming over the hedge.  Normally I would have have landed earlier and met the bump with a lower ground roll speed than I did but hey ho - a nice reminder of the buried gas pipe in R34!

Not sure about the aeros now which is a little bit of a downer as I was enjoying that but I'll just have to wait and see. Flying teaches you patience as I always say and I still consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to pursue this passion of mine.

29.07.2015 - Brakes off 15:25(Z) Brakes On 16:05 (Z) Total: 0:40
Total Time 137:45

Sunday 5th July and Wednesday 8th July 2015 - Aerobatics

Sunday 5th of July was a bit of a disappointment as the bad weather cut short my aerobatic lesson to only half an hour. It was pretty much ok until departure whereupon a wall of cloud and rain came thundering into view! We headed over to the Isle of Grain anyway and had just enough time for a loop, aileron roll and stall turn before deciding to head back to Rochester to be on the safe side. It was the first time I had made an approach and landing in rain so that was good practice in a way

However, Wednesday 8th of July I fared much better with the weather. There was still cloud and rain about, but the cloud base was kind and I managed to squeeze in 55 minutes. A summary video enclosed below.

05.07 - Brakes off 07:30(Z) Brakes On 08:00 (Z) Total: 0:30 [Aeros]
Total Time 136:10 

08.07 - Brakes off 15:20(Z) Brakes On 16:15 (Z) Total: 0:55 [Aeros]
Total Time 137:05 

Sunday 21 June 2015 - Dave Bond Goes Flying

Sunday morning I took a friend from work flying. Just an hours 'put-put' along the coast and back. Bit of a cross wind take off and landing to deal with but it was ok. I was on Runway 20 with a wind 270 and 18 Kts. My aeros lesson was cancelled the day before due to the weather so it was good to get out flying again.

Brakes off 09:25(Z) Brakes On 10:30 (Z) Total: 1:05
Total Time 135:40