Sunday 12 May 2013 - Aerobatic Trial Lesson

What a fantastic day! A day I'll always remember.

I had a rough night Saturday night because my 19 month old son was up wailing his head off for a good part of it, but once calm had descended on the house once more, wild horses were not going to stop me getting myself over to Southend airport for a midday trial lesson in basic aerobatics. Tired and slightly heavy headed I arrived 45 minutes early in the excitement. 

I had booked my session with the Southend Flying Club which is situated on the west side of Southend Airport. A friendly bunch they are, and I (like many before me I'm certain) was extended a warm welcome. It was the first time I had been there. Obviously I had flown over it on my Skills Test (eventually ... as I was told to stand by for quite some time) and obviously I had talked to Southend Radar. I think since about the time they had EasyJet start operating from it. I remember their ATZ was temporarily extended out touching the one at Rochester. It's quite a big place and people were there in abundance getting ready for their holidays. It seemed quite surreal really, especially when I arrived seeing people pulling suitcases. I would be using the same taxiway as them!

When I arrived I met Pete who was to be my excellent instructor for my lesson and he immediately made me feel at ease. A complete professional. Off we went into a briefing room for a chat about the lesson and a good briefing as to what we would be covering. It was good that I was familiar with a C-152 as that saved a lot of explanation I'm sure. I was to take off, get us out to our designated 'play area' (actually D138 - a danger area but inactive for the day) and he would start the session. Pete was to to prompt me on the radio calls.

Once all the internal checks were complete I requested the tower for a taxi clearance which was immediately granted. We were to be on Runway 24 and QNH was 1015. It was a gorgeous day for flying with a scattering of cumulus clouds at about 3,500 feet. See photos - lovely eh! I held off my taxi and waited for an EasyJet airliner which had just vacated to pass us on the taxi way, one of the crew (right hand seat of the cockpit) smiled and gave us a wave which we returned with a smile. Pete informed me he had trained many of the crew here at Southend.

Off I went on the taxi, (probably the longest I have done) and in no time at all I was at holding point Alpha 1 performing my power checks. One of the Mags (Magnitos) seemed fouled up as the mag test resulted in about a 400 rpm drop so with brakes applied I ran the engine up to about 2,300 RPM and held it there for about 15 seconds. This seemed to clear it and so after completing a final visual check of the approach path, runway and departure path advised the tower I was ready for departure. I was given clearance to line up runway 24. The drop bars were not illuminated and so I proceeded to position myself on this mammoth runway. No flaps needed today! Once clearance was granted for takeoff I proceeded down the runway rotating smoothly at about 60 knots and climbing to about 400 feet before I had reached the end of it! Upon rotation the aircraft wanted to weathercock into the crosswind from the right but I corrected this with aileron and held her nicely on the 240 degree heading. Pete complimented me on a nice take-off! I was given an instruction to turn left at 600 feet and climb up to 2000 feet and head over to Danger Area 138 . Here we would use the coast line as our positional line while performing our aerobatics. We were transferred from the Tower to the Radar service obtaining a basic service in the process and climbed to 3000 feet in preparation for our activities.


Pete performed the first inside loop (once termed a 'loop the loop') which was (as he predicted) rather a blur to me. I remember being hit by the positive G in the stomach. The feeling drifting over the top, (neck craned waiting for the horizon to appear right side up) is pretty awesome. One more loop completed (this time with me feathering the controls) and it was my turn. Back up to 3000 feet I put her into a 2100 rpm dive and watched for the 115 Knots Airspeed. Once there and wings leveled I pulled back on the yoke to bring the nose right up, applying full power and over we went. Just past the top I retracted the throttle and kept the yoke tight into my stomach. As we came back round the horizon reappeared and I leveled her off nicely. Pete seemed very pleased with how it went and so we did another one. It was fantastic that’s all I can say. It is certainly easier on the stomach when you do it yourself as opposed to being a passenger. I guess this is because you are concentrating on something. After this Pete did a couple of aileron rolls and and stall turn and it was time to head back. Switching from radar back to tower I joined on base and turned onto Final at about 5 miles. The tower asked to be contacted with 2 miles to go which I did and then proceeded to land well. We had a shorter taxi back to the club which is situated at the west end of the airport whereby I parked up and shut down. Pete complimented me on some good flying and off we went.

I felt elated and quite light headed at the end of it all. I'm not sure how some people attempt this with absolutely no experience in a light airplane. That must be quite stomach churning. Pete says its about 50:50 people who make it through ok and there is no telling who it is going to be.

Anyway, would I like to do this again? Absolutely. I really loved it and I think I would like to carry on every now and again to do a lesson with a great instructor like Pete. It doesn't have to end in a rating, its still knowledge and it's challenging and therefore it is all good experience. Definitely a day to remember for the rest of my life. 

Logbook
12/05/13 C152 G-BGAF EGMC EGMC 11:40 12:25 0:45 Loops, Rolls, Stall Turns

HOURS = 46:35 DUAL + 15:50 SOLO

Book Review: Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesch

This book is one of the so called 'classics' for people learning to fly. For some reason or other, I never read it until recently and to be honest I really wished I had done so earlier. Its very easy to take in because the author has a unique and simplistic way of describing the 'Art of Flying'. To its credit it has been in print for over 60 years, so clearly his prognosis has easily stood the test of time. 

I bought the hardback cover version published by McGraw-Hill Inc. It contains about 390 pages split into 7 main topics, an index and a special appendix on "The dangers of the air". Interspersed throughout the book are diagrams to assist the authors efforts in getting the message across. For anybody interested in learning to fly at whatever stage I would highly recommend the book. For me personally I liked the way the author used the analogy of the "kid brother" telling you how to fly an aeroplane. For example... if you asked your kid brother how to gain altitude he would say pull back on the stick etc... he uses the analogy of the over simplistic, often misleading view to remind the reader what is really going on with the aircraft. I think it is a very effective approach to learning. I will definitely pick up the book again and dip into different sections of it, as I think it is a educational yet entertaining read that can be enjoyed time and time again. It gets a very solid 8 / 10 from me!

EASA PPL Licence and Trial Aerobatics Lesson

Hurrah! Hurrah! Finally!! .... I finally got my hands on my EASA PPL licence today. It was admittedly almost child like how I tore at the envelope to get my hands on what I had been waiting for! Actually, nope.. it was totally child like to be honest.

In my defence, I have been on holiday for the past week knowing that it had arrived and was safely locked in my pedestal at work, and so the suspense was killing me.

I have to say, I had been tipped off (by Gary at the flying school) that it was going to be a piece of A4 paper carefully folded and a plastic wallet.. and yup.... that is exactly what it was :-) I think he said "... it's like its been printed on a home computer!".

Still ... I don't really care about that! It could have been the size of a postage stamp written in Klingon because it wouldn't have distracted from the pleasure of finally holding the coveted prize. Hurrah anyway I say!

Other news, well I have been thinking a lot about the Micro-lighting experience the other day and that led me to look into some general aviation aerobatic options as well. One of the problems with Flying is you get bitten by the flying bug. This was one of the lessons my flying instructor told me, and he was right.  As I was off work for a week I bought and finished a good book called Basic Aerobatics by Geza Szurovy and Mike Goulian. I'll do a review on that separately (it's rather good) but suffice to say it led me to pick up the phone while on holiday and call an aerobatic school to book a trial lesson in a C152 aerobat. I'm not saying it is for me yet as I don't know until I've tried it, but the challenge really appeals to me. I like the idea of getting to grips with the more advanced handling of the aircraft.

Anyway ... so this aerobatic trial lesson is booked for Sunday weather permitting of course. We shall see. I hope I don't turn out to be a complete wimp begging for mercy after the first aileron roll!

Very excited!

Microlighting Trial Lesson - April 28, 2013

I had been promising myself a trial flight in a microlight and so this week looking at the weather, I thought to myself that Sunday seemed to be a great day to check it out. I had been once before but many years ago. Anyway, off I trotted to Medway Microlites based at Stoke Airfield on the Isle of Grain. They are a friendly bunch and Chris the CFI there was to take me for an hours orientation (Trial Flight). 

I arrived at 10:30 and after signing up for a days membership donned my overalls and headed out to our chariot. As you can see from the pictures it was a beautiful morning and the grass had recently been cut so although it wasn't yet warm you could still smell summer just around the corner.

When we got to the trike Chris explained the basic parts. As I am a  PPL (A) he obviously skipped some of the obvious points and soon I was sitting in the elevated position at the back with helmet on and headphones ready to go. By the way I have to say the headphones were excellent!

Chris  talked me though the cockpit and all the do's and don'ts and soon we were on our way trundling down the runway. With a positive jerk of the bar we were airborne and I was impressed with the rate of climb which was 1000 ft per minute. We were soon crossing the River Medway and heading to Gillingham at 3100 feet. I noticed the air blowing around my feet was making my ankles and lower shin/calf  feet really quite cold. The rest of me was suitably warm  though (note for next time wear boots). Crossing the river lots of boats were out and it was great to see.

We headed over to a small airstrip (Farthing Corner) and also saw the Detling VOR before Chris asked me to have a go. At first I found it unusual as you can't see anything with the instructors crash helmet in front of you and with no view of the horizon or VSi wasn't sure if I was flying level.

Everything is in reverse to normal flying of course and so I found myself pulling the bar back slightly which means lowering the angle of attack temporarily and in my case increasing speed from 65mph to 70mph. Chris is very good and told me what I was doing. After a while relaxing it became more natural and started to make more sense. It is a very stable machine. It 'wants' to fly. After a few twists and turns we headed back to the marshes at the Isle of Grain. I wanted to go there to get a birds eye view as it was something I had not properly seen before. 

Chris knows a hell of a lot of local history and gave me the complete run down of the area. He was like a proper tour guide and made it all very interesting.

 Once over the marshes I had another go and then Chris took the reins for a fly along the sea wall. This is a long sea wall set against a great peaceful backdrop. Apparently this is a lesson the students do a couple of times during their course. They have to follow the contours. It is quite thrilling and again Chris flies you along while giving a total history and current affairs guide at the same time. 

After exchanging waves with a few ramblers and a brief low flying exhibition (to look at what a group of people were doing on the beach) we headed home. Coming back to the circuit Chris explained that there was no dead side as such (meaning the circuit was always on the river side) and the join was along the length of the runway turning (kind of) crosswind we rounded the circuit. Chris made me position onto Final where he took over.

He talked me through the decent and it panned out exactly as he said it would with turbulence kicking in at exactly 300ft. Stoke is 10ft above see level. It looked like at this point you have to be ready up your game as the wind can knock you around a bit and being so close to the ground you have to act quickly. Needless to say we landed safely with what felt like a fast landing. However that was no doubt due to the proximity of the ground. We backtracked along the runway and closed down.

As a complete novice the thing that strikes you the most about the airfield is the proximity of the railway track and electric pilons. The former not being too much of a concern but the latter somewhat! On my way back to the car I took some snaps and you can see what I mean. When I spoke to the nice lady paying my money she said they didn't notice them anymore. I can imagine what she meant but as a newbie they certainly dominate the area.

As I was leaving, the airfield was filling up and Chris had another 3 trial flights to do. I didn't mention earlier but this lovely microlight was a Pegasus GT which is 100HP. Quite tasty in a scrap I suppose.  I am going to think about doing this again actually, it was a lot of fun. You feel like you are flying (at one, intimate with the machine) and I can imagine doing this for the pure exhilaration of that.

I suppose, next time I would ask to sit at the front where the view would be better and I can get a better feel for the controls.

Who knows .. could be my next challenge... we shall see ;-)

It was a great day today.

Beaten by the early morning fog

08:00 BST

This morning, I had promised myself a cross country navigation trip round Kent (Rochester, Wadhurst, Rye, Canterbury) but when I got to Rochester Airport it was clear the weather was not going to allow me. Despite good forecasts for the south east of England the airport was fog bound and it was only when I was leaving did things start to improve. Although conditions were rapidly on the mend (see photo below) the aircraft I had booked, G-CEPX was due to be in use so unfortunately I could  not hang(er) around and fly later.

One positive note though was I did find time to visit the cafe and have a cup of tea and a super size bacon baguette! I re-booked for next week. Hopefully the weather will be the same, as it looks like it is going to be a glorious day, but without the early morning fog.

09:30 BST

Book Review: Vulcan 607

A true story set at the time of the Falklands War about the RAF mission to destroy the runway at Port Stanley. At the time, the longest ever recorded non-stop bombing mission - 8,000 miles.

Shortly after finishing this book I was inspired to research this enigmatic aircraft and sure enough it did not take long before I was watching a full blown TV reconstruction of this mission on YouTube! Hmmmm, anyway, I would recommend both (the book and the film) especially if you are interested in military aviation and this unique aircraft.

I enjoyed the story and in particular understanding the dire situation behind the scenes and the bravery of the RAF men involved. The bleak logistical situation behind the scenes is the one we never got to hear about at the time of the Falklands war. I think as a teenager I believed, like all my friends we could send such aircraft anywhere and achieve anything we wanted. Of course totally ignorant to what is involved in such an operation. This was unquestionably an above and beyond mission that saw aircraft take off well above their MTOW. Fuel calculations were pure guesswork because they were in such unknown territory ... and so it proved to be given the critically low situations they subsequently found themselves in.

If I was forced to criticize it I would say it is a little on the large size (dimensional speaking and story wise). On a positive side though, the prose is written in an easy to read,  free flowing style which is not at all tiring. For me personally, I found it educational which was the primary reason I bought it. Did it leave me in an emotional kind of awe like Sagitarious Rising? No, but in fairness it is a different type of book and so in this regard I would still congratulate the author for persevering to write the story in the first place (against the isolated opposition he faced) and just giving us a good read. 7/10 for me.

Skills Test - April 7, 2013

It was a week ago today, on April 7, 2013 that I finally had my long awaited Skills Test. I passed. The feeling of nerves in the build up is quite draining and at the end of it all, in the evening I felt tired but elated. 

It was a humbling feeling to be congratulated afterwards by the kind people at the SkyTrek flying school. I guess everybody remembers their first solo, their Qualifying Cross Country and of course their Skills Test. On the way back to my car afterwards I passed a young lad returning to the flying school with his proud father. He had just completed his first solo flight. We had all watched from the flying school window. I stopped to shake his hand and congratulate him, knowing just how he was feeling. It was smiles all round.

To be honest, it has been a very long journey. I don't think I would have believed on the day of my first solo that I would have to wait another 23 months before I would finally get a chance to complete everything. But I have been unlucky. Very unlucky. Last years weather was incredibly poor, and of course we had the Olympics which closed off a lot of airspace. The winter weather saw no let up either and so here we are nearly two years on from that magical day. 

Upon reflection, even with all the cancelled lessons and the cancelled skills tests and the cancelled Qualifying Cross Country sessions, it was a real excitement to do this. I have been really fortunate to have had this opportunity. 

... I have filled in all the forms and sent off for my PPL (A) licence.

What next?

Are you kidding? ... Carrying on learning to fly of course. 


Logbook
07/04/13 C152 G-CEPX EGTO EGTO 13:30 16:10 2:40 SKILLS TEST PASS

HOURS = 45:50 DUAL + 15:50 SOLO

Lesson 53 Refresher Circuits - Saturday, April 6, 2013

The weather had been absolutely dire for the last 4 weeks and so after many cancelled sessions and even a skills test I finally had the opportunity to do 40 minutes of circuits. The session went well which was just as well as I had my skills test booked for the day after (Sunday April 7, 2013).

I went up with Mike (my usual instructor) for a critique and was on runway 02 which was quite unusual. It had been some time since I had used that and I had forgot how the sink hit you coming up to the high ground on the final approach.

Anyway, like I said it went well enough and I was set for the following day, my skills test. The weather was set to be good. 

Logbook
53. 06/04/13 C152 G-BNKV EGTO EGTO 10:20 11:00 0:40 EX12/13(FL/FF) PFL

HOURS = 45:50 DUAL + 13:10 SOLO