Tiger Club Headcorn - Tiger Moth Flight

Take Off Runway 03

I received the DVD of my Tiger Moth flight this week and it was great to watch the flight and re-live the moment so to speak. I was pleased with the packaging and the quality of the DVD and like I've said I would recommend the experience to anybody - not just those with an interest in aviation. The Tiger Club who run this lovely aircraft also offer other experiences and are really friendly and helpful. In fact I went down there last week and signed up as a member (which I'll explain why below).

Climbing out from Headcorn

Of course this true classic of the skies looked and flew beautifully and felt really responsive. Her prop goes anti-clockwise as viewed from the pilots seat which in my experience is unusual as most light GA planes are clockwise. The difference this makes in controlling the airplane is more application of left rudder as opposed to the usual right. This I mean in respect to the effect the helix (corkscrew) of air has going around the fuselage and hitting the fin. With an anti-clockwise prop its hitting the fin on the right hand side wanting to push the tail to the left, and the nose of the aircraft to the right. For this reason more left rudder is required to counter that and keep the plane stable in its yaw. 

Starting an Inside Loop ('Loop the Loop')

I mentioned before we did some aerobatics and this picture here above is at the beginning of an inside loop (as most people would know as a 'loop the loop'). Below we are upside down at the top. Love it!

Upside down

Finally the last picture is us coming in on final approach to land ('over the hedge' as people term it). It appears to be quite fast over ground watching it on the DVD but I guess that's because of the visual effect of the grass background whizzing past me being the point of focus. 

Coming in to land 'Over The Hedge'

So like I said previously, last week I signed up as a member of The Tiger Club and I have booked myself on a tail wheel course. This is to learn the handling differences in an aircraft that has a tail wheel as opposed to what most people learn on, which is a nose wheel aircraft. The aircraft I will be learning on is a Piper SuperCub and the club have a page showing it here. It is a lot different to what I'm used to so should be a great challenge. So far in asking around I've only heard great things about it as an aircraft to learn in. 

My first lesson is scheduled for tomorrow morning!

Sunday 28 July - A hop, skip and a diversion

Sunday I took my friend’s father up for a quick jolly around Kent. This is the same friend in fact who a few weeks beforehand had been flying with me. I must have left a reasonably good impression with my old school chum (I’m pretty sure we didn’t lose any filings on landing or anything) because he didn’t hesitate to accept the offer of taking his dad for a spin!

So, usual gig really, we met at Rochester airport around 9:45 and after some paperwork and briefing, off we trekked in one of Skytrek’s C152s. It was lovely to see how pleased he was for the rare treat of coming flying.

I wasn’t too delighted with the cloud base to be honest. I mean it would have been perfect to have something like “few at 65000 ft” but alas it was not to be (maybe one day). The previous night we had torrential rain all over the county and although the outlook was good with clear skies forecasted there was still patches of dark cumulus  scattered around the 2,200 ft mark. Wind was a brisk affair from SW at around 25 knots at 2000 ft. Leaving Rochester was uneventful but as we headed south towards Rye the cloud base had dropped to about 17000 ft and so I decided to skip that waypoint and head towards clearer skies to the NE. Off I headed to Ashford where I opted to continue a northerly track to Faversham and skip my intended waypoint which was Canterbury which was covered in fairly low cloud.

Once at Faversham the north Kent coast was bathed in sunlight and great visibility so the trip back to Rochester was rather pleasant and uneventful.

Upon reflection afterwards and self-analysis on my ‘performance’ here was my outcome

1) Plus. Fuel. I departed with 80 Ltrs after taking the decision to delay my departure to put in an uplift of 35 Lts. Although without the uplift I already had around twice as much endurance as I technically needed, I obviously had the weather and a possible diversion in mind and so I was pleased I delayed my departure and erred on the side of safety. I was pleased I didn’t let my eagerness fog my judgement.

2) Negative. QDM check on line-up. Forgot to align the HI with the compass cross checked to the runway when I lined up. I had previously checked the HI against compass but then forgot the last check with the runway. Not happy with that oversight. I remembered to set the transponder to Alt on the way to lining up so I wasn’t a complete klutz, but still. Must do better next time.

3) Plus. Circuit join, Landing, FREDA, unprompted Position Reports – all fine, speed control better than the last jolly although I was in Bravo November and not Kilo Victor which I think cruises at a friendlier pace.

4) Negative. Dithering before diversion. The area I am least happy with. Approaching Rye I think I should have made the decision to divert sooner and I should have been clearer about my intentions on the radio to Lydd Approach. Heading to Ashford I could see the area beyond clearer but what if it had not been? I did an orbit about 5 miles NW of Rye for some thinking and observation time. I noticed the route behind me had started to close off in terms of decent cloud base. What if the route to the NE hadn’t been some much better. Would I have struggled? Which leads on to …

5) Negative. Weather. Was my weather briefing truly sufficient? Should I have really erred on the side of caution and stayed local for some general handling? I cross checked several weather reports (actuals and forecasts) and I did even ask an instructor for their view before I left. However, my lesson learned here was you have to be comfortable with your own limits and although I handled the diversion would I really want to repeat that in a hurry? I don’t think so. I think next time when the weather looks like it is going to be ‘one of those days’ then I will make some phone calls covering the entire routes weather or maybe even better stay local for my aviation fix.

6) Just remembered another Negative. Although I spent time checking NOTAMS before I left home, when I was at the airport prior to departure I forgot to call the last minute NOTAM telephone number. I’ve never forgot that one before. I’m determined to make that the last time I ever do.

Thinking of all this, I’ve just had an idea of a personal post flight performance review form. This might support a healthy continuous improvement process , I really want to learn as much as I can and be the best possible Pilot I can be, so this kinda makes sense. Yup - I should do this and look to complete soon after each flight. Watch this space I guess.

Oh hang on – so lets end on a positive. 1) I went flying and experienced the beauty of flight and 2) as I said to my wife in the evening. To be in a position where you can take somebody flying and make then so happy is not just a honour and privilege but a truly humbling feeling indeed.

Next step is starting a tail dragging course at Headcorn and of course start work on the post flight performance review form. Brakes Off: 10:20 Brakes On: 11:20

HOURS = 49:15 DUAL + 21:00 PIC [P1]
Total Time = 70:15

Tiger Moth Trial Flight : Did I dream that ?

I don't think I could have written about this yesterday, because my head kept spinning all day. It was like I remained high on an adrenaline rush. I could not have articulated anywhere near the sense of magnificence I had felt flying such a historic and beautiful aircraft as G-ACDC - the worlds oldest surviving Tiger Moth.

I had booked myself a 40 minute trial flight at The Tiger Club based down at Headcorn aerodrome and what a time I had. What a lovely club and what a wonderful aircraft. I knew it was going to be special. Manufactured in 1933, I believe G-ACDC was one of the first batch of ten made and is the only survivor making it the oldest Tiger Moth in the world. To be given the opportunity to take her for a spin (obviously with one of her amazing custodian pilots) was not just a privilege but an absolute honour.

My pilot for my trip was Bruce Abbott, a top guy who put me at ease from the second I walked into the Tiger Moth club room. After completing the necessary paperwork, completing payment and a chat about what I might like to cover it was outside for an aircraft briefing. At all times I was made to feel like a VIP, as the personal attention was second to none. 

I was shown into the front seat and how to buckle in tightly and then a description of the cockpit controls and various instruments followed. We were to do some general handling and some basic aerobatics. Looking at my cockpit and the basic controls and instruments I had nothing but awe for all those nervous young men that had climbed aboard for their flight training all those years ago.

The Tiger has no electrical system so the prop is hand swung and thats what happened. A great spectacle when for the first time, you are wearing a leather flying helmet siting right behind it as I was. 

Within 4 minutes of the engine being warmed up we were trundling along runway 03 into wind and were off. I was asked to take the controls and manage the climb out. This was done around the 60 knot mark and it was the first time I had used a stick. What struck me was how natural it felt and how the Tiger responded. She flew beautifully.

For the majority of the next forty minutes I had the controls whereupon I did some general handling. She handled beautifully and is such a lovely plane to fly. 


Of course unlike the C152 I learned to fly in, this has proper adverse yaw to manage. Almost in recognition of that there is a lovely slip indicator front and centre of the cockpit. This all contributed to a good rudder appreciation session.

I love doing aerobatics and so imagine my thrill when we performed an inside loop, wing over and two spins. I was in heaven! Dancing around the clouds, she looked magnificent. 

Coming back to Headcorn it all felt unreal really, I couldn't believe what I was doing - flying a Tiger Moth.

At the end as we landed and shut down it felt emotional. I had danced around the sky in a little piece of history. It was like a thunderous dream except that the sights and sounds I had just experienced were very real and would live with me for the rest of my life. 

Brakes Off 11:00, Brakes On 11:40. The Tiger Moth (G-ACDC) and The Tiger Club are unique indeed. Long may they continue!

HOURS = 49:15 DUAL + 20:00 PIC [P1]
Total Time = 69:15

Impressions of a Pilot - Gary Claude Stoker

Flight is freedom in its purest form,
To dance with the clouds which follow a storm;

To roll and glide, to wheel and spin,
To feel the joy that swells within;

To leave the earth with its troubles and fly,
And know the warmth of a clear spring sky;

Then back to earth at the end of a day,
Released from the tensions which melted away.

Should my end come while I am in flight,
Whether brightest day or darkest night;

Spare me your pity and shrug off the pain,
Secure in the knowledge that I'd do it again;

For each of us is created to die,
And within me I know,
I was born to fly

A skip around Kent - Sunday 14th July 2013

Back at the pumps "Inch from
the top please"

Yesterday was a flying day :-) and ... further more the recent fantastic weather continued. 

Temperatures have remained very high for the last couple of weeks and even at the time of writing we have had yet another hot sunny day. And more forecasted for several days as well! After the disappointment of last year it is nothing more than we deserve perhaps!

Bewl Reservoir

Yesterday was a great occasion not just because of the flying but also in that I saw an old school friend who came to be my right hand seat companion. It was great to see him. It had been far too long. 

Unfortunately for both of us visibility was not great to be honest due to the haze. Unfortunate but (hey ho), that's the way it goes. We did an anti-clockwise circuit of Kent which is very familiar to me (Rochester, Bewl, Rye, Canterbury, Rochester) but it was enough of an aviation fix for me and my old school chum enjoyed himself.

Although familiar navigation, and perhaps not that much of a challenge it still felt a bit like "a workout" on the radio as Lydd sent me to freecall Manston radar so it was a lot of changing squawk codes and passing messages which was good practice and good 'exercise' so to speak. 

Base for R20 Rochester

Turning Downwind
for R20 Rochester

Isle of Sheppey Top Right

Despite seeming to be quite high when turning onto Final a good landing was made (my passenger was very complimentary on this point and unprompted at that) although I have to say I seemed to chug around Kent without getting the airspeed I was after. I will have to check in with the school to see if that's consistent with G-BNKV at the moment, or my poor speed control, or well, both!

So then an hour and ten as Pilot in Command. The airfield seemed very quiet to be honest. I guess people are on holiday or they have had their aviation fix recently with this great weather! So logbook records - Brakes On : 10:05 Brakes Off : 11:15 PIC 1:10

HOURS = 48:35 DUAL + 20:00 PIC [P1]
Total Time = 68:35

Southend and more Aerobatics - Sunday 7th July 2013

Southend Flying Club C152 Aerobat

What a great day Sunday. In spite of a little haze, the current period of high atmospheric pressure remained and the weather was lovely and warm with very little cloud. I was headed over to Southend for another aerobatic fix. I soon realised I wasn’t the only one going towards Southend as traffic on the A127 was rather slow to say the least. Door to door it took me about 2 hours to get there. Oh well, on the positive side I was going flying what could be better and the temperature according to my car was 28 degrees coming into the Airport….. Nice!

Pete the flying instructor there is such a top guy. He really is. His style makes you feel completely at ease and I think it pays off for the student. Its relaxed but effective. Once all the checks had been done, off we headed from runway 06 out to the inactive danger area D138. This seems to be the popular playground for these aerobatic  lessons. I think this is due to the fact that people (pilots that is) generally avoid these areas like the plague so it should (in theory) mean less traffic avoidance action required.

Anyway for this session I really wanted to do some aileron rolls so that was the focus for the 45 minute session. I absolutely loved it, I really did and unlike the first session of aerobatics (which was mainly focused on inside loops)I  didn’t once feel in the slightest bit queasy. I had read up on the generic procedure beforehand and it was kind of close to how Pete showed me. Basically, this is roughly how it went on the day (btw – always seek proper instruction from a qualified flying instructor… always!)

• Throttle back to 2100 rpm
• Dive keeping wings level to 115 Kts
• Sharp pull up to about 30 Degrees
• Full throttle
• Neutralise yoke (ailerons and pitch)
• Full left ailerons (left roll)
• Going round it was a little right (top) rudder (keeping the nose from dropping)
• Approaching inverted a little forward on the yoke (as above)
• Coming back to the start position a little left (top) rudder (as above).
• Ease back on the throttle

Of course it takes a few of these to get it going well as like anything it is an unusual attitude (lets be real, you don’t fly around like that you do) and so you have to learn how much pressure to apply through a little trial and error and repetition. For example, its common to apply too much forward pressure when inverted (over enthusiasm I guess in keeping the nose up) which is what I did. I also applied too much (left) top rudder when approaching the start position from being inverted. A couple of tries and climbing back up to 3000 ft thinking about it puts it right though and my last one was really good. Pete seemed very pleased with it anyway.

Coming back to land the landing went well and we taxied back to Southend Flying School. Brakes on, brakes off 12:45 to 13:30. Superb!

HOURS = 48:35 DUAL + 18:50 PILOT IN COMMAND [P1]
Total Time = 67:25

Cessna 172 Checkride and a visit to Eastchurch

It was a gloriously sunny and warm day today which was absolutely fantastic as I had planned to take the day off work and do a checkride in a Cessna 172! Yup more flying!!!! It's just fantastic at the moment. 
So for todays treat, I headed over to Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey. This is where the instructor who took me through the PPL course is based. This little airstrip of his is situated in between a collection of farms, is totally charming and full of history. Check out the Eastchurch link above for details.

This little farm strip runway runs East - West and has a noticeable downhill gradient which runs West. Fortunately we had an easterly wind today so our landing was uphill making it a lot easier to make it in. There is also a slope running across the runway, which you can just make out on the picture below.

A look down 27

So G-FACE was the chariot for an hour and a quarter and I was absolutely struck by how clean and immaculate it was. When I climbed up to inspect the fuel I had a short sleeve shirt on and my skin literally 'squeeked' as it moved against the polished surface. In terms of the flight, I did the usual general handling type of stuff. Stalls, clean and with full flaps, recovering with no power and then with power. Glide descents, PFLS, Steep turns and finishing with some circuits. It was great experience as the airfield circuit pattern was not a typical rectangle due to the proximity of my instructors neighbours houses! 

Clean!

I found the extra power in the 172 very good and in a few instances had to use a good bit of right rudder to stay in balance. A lot more than a C152. Take off was fine (extra power was appreciated here), the approach seemed a bit fast but then I was coming in at 45 degrees to the threshold, turning right at 50 ft to track over the runway which was something I've never done before.

I found the nose attitude quite a lot lower than a C152 and the leg room very spacious indeed. Visibility was excellent, you can see right down the leading edge of the wings. Visibility is also very good behind the front seats as well. My instructor also used a TCAS unit. This little device gives a visual and audible warning of nearby traffic. It was the first time I had seen one in action and I would like to look into this interesting technology in some more detail.

At the end of the session I was getting a feel for things around the circuit and I have to say the C172 feels more solid, stable and much more powerful than the C152s that I have been used to. I think its definitely the way to go in the future although for building hours I guess the C152 will also suffice for now.

HOURS = 47:50 DUAL + 18:50 PILOT IN COMMAND [P1] 
Total Time = 66:40

A Trip down to Manston - Sunday 30 June 2013

A great day Sunday. I flew an airplane. And I loved  it. What more could I ask for.

Just arrived at Manston

I had always fancied flying down to Manston in the South East corner of Kent, and so on Sunday I headed down there to check it out. In the right hand seat was a friend from my flying school. Like me he has recently earned his PPL but he works there as well. He is a great guy and he is no doubt destined for a career flying airplanes. Good for him I say! Do it!

Weather was great I have to say, I mean it was summer weather (27 Celsius), with a moderate westerly wind. Thermals weren't really active so it was all a bit sedate really. It was a lovely day for flying. And of course going quite early in the day meant there was hardly anything else around the skies. It was really quiet.

Manston has a 2.7KM runway. It's massive. I mean, really, really massive. Whats more, its 61M wide! It's ridiculously big. I think this contributed to the  fact I landed my chariot (a new C152 they have at the club G-BMCN) a little 'flat'. On reflection of this fact later in the day I was not happy with myself and so next time I will be better prepared. Flaring before the landing was a whole different perspective with such a wide runway but I should have adjusted better. Maybe the crosswind was preoccupying me. I don't know. 

Anyway all went well coming back to Rochester, note to self experienced a bit of nosewheel shimmy just prior to take off at Manston which next time perhaps I'll catch a little earlier. My friend Ashley did the radio calls and so it was quite relaxing really. 

Forgot to mention, the landing fee at Manston is £19.50. Brakes On/Off 40 Mins each way.

HOURS = 46:35 DUAL + 18:10 PILOT IN COMMAND [P1]

HOURS = 46:35 DUAL + 18:50 PILOT IN COMMAND [P1]

Total Time = 65:25