Sunday, October 29, 2006

Welshpool

As it has been over three weeks since I last flew the Arrow, I decided I was overdue so booked if for Sunday afternoon. This was fortuitous as it turned out to be an excellent flying day, cool to warm with nil wind, clear skies or very high thin cloud and good visibility.

I thought I would ask my neighbour, Martin if he wanted to come with me and he accepted with alacrity. I hadn’t been to Welshpool for a while so decided to go there for the obligatory £100 bacon sandwich.

Martin is keen to learn to fly and may well take a number of lessons in this country. So I showed him how to….errrr…. follow me through on taxy and take-off. He did OK given it was his first time. He underestimated the amount of right boot required to hold the plane straight on the take-off run and didn’t pull back far enough on rotate and yes, the climb was a bit erratic, but he got there. I think he enjoyed it anyway!

The flight was silky smooth as we climbed and levelled out at FL35. On the way, I let Martin try a couple of level turns to either side and nearly covered the instruments to stop him focussing on those rather than flying visually.

I listened to Shobdon Radio but didn’t call for FIS as they were pretty frantic. I called Welshpool from 25 miles out and got a surprisingly strong reply. As I neared the airfield, I still couldn’t see it, although I was approaching the runway from right angles.

Scenery on the way to Welshpool

Even at 4 miles, still no joy – so after telling them my intentions, for the first time ever, I climbed and orbited in the general area to try to spot the field. Towards the end of the first wide orbit, it dawned on me that the valley I had first looked in didn’t correspond with the map (however hard I tried!) but the valley I was over now did! Needless to say, I quickly spotted the airfield and called visual adding that I was joining left downwind at 1500’ QFE for runway 22 – adding a self-deprecating ‘it would help if I looked in the right valley!’.

Despite me knowing that it was a 1500’ circuit and that I should extend, I still turned base too soon and left myself pretty high – so I cranked everything on and side-slipped. This worked by about very short final and a bit of a bump (not too bad though) announced my arrival.

This was Martin’s first time in Wales and we celebrated in style – with a bacon bap and a cup of tea. We just sat outside and breathed the clean air and watched the planes come and go – people ask me why I fly to such short landaways – I usually reply ‘because I can!’. But it is also for moments like those, but how can you put it into words? They just look at you as if you’ve flipped and wander off giving you sideways glances!

Martin on a lovely 'good to be alive' day at Welshpool

After about an hour, we saddle up and move out. I decide to check out a reservoir north west of Welshpool. I find this easily and tell Martin that I am going to do a ‘low level’ run down the reservoir to check he is happy. I fly past the reservoir carefully checking the entry and exit points as well as any high obstructions, then drop the power and descend into the valley feeding the reservoir. The speed climbs but I am careful to keep it well clear of VNE. I spot a couple of boats out on the water (blast!), so I level out at 600’ QFE as we ‘run’ down the reservoir, then climb out at the downstream end to set course for Gloucester.

Again the air is silky smooth as the sun starts to get low (due to the clock change). We quickly spot several hot-air balloons – on a late afternoon like this, it is hardly surprising. I resist the childish urge to fly close to them to ‘have a look’, although there is a string of them over the Malvern Hills seeming to bar my way!

I contact Gloucester who are very busy, not least with a few people trying out the trial GPS RNAV IFR approach (good for them!). I don’t press for a direct approach as they are so busy, in fact I barely manage to get my ‘three mile to run’ call in at all!

I switch to Gloucester Tower and they are even busier – not helped by a numpty who clearly has simply changed frequency and gone straight into transmit without listening out, while Gloucester Tower were in mid-sentence – who are these people?

I do a standard overhead join for 04 left hand and spot another aircraft ahead of me doing the same thing – so I slot in behind him and keep him in sight around the circuit. I try to get my calls in as instructed, but I am sure I was ‘transmitted over’. I manage to get a call in on base and can clearly see one in front turning final. I hear a transmission making a different aircraft number two, while I am looking (I am sure he is behind me anyway) ATC ask me to do a right turn onto final. I query this as it is a left-hand circuit, they confirm a right turn onto final, so I comply – I assume they are trying to space me out in the circuit. Turn complete I call 1 mile final.

They really are busy as they slot a landing then a biplane departure in ahead of me while I close in to short final. The runway is clear and I am given late clearance to land. I decide to land longer than usual so I can get to the end of the runway quicker to try to help out the busy circuit – the landing is pretty smooth (though I say it myself) and I taxy to the pumps to fill up to be kind to the next group member.

As we taxy in to stand and close down, I spot the Yak out on the apron and starting up in a cloud of smoke. I don’t believe it! This is the ultimate ‘hangar queen’ in the same hangar as our – I have NEVER seen it moved or out – it always sits in exactly the same position with a thick coat of dust at the back of the hangar. Clearly no one else has either, as people wander out of the school hangars to watch. I hope this guy has had the mechanics give it a good going over – I swear it hasn’t flown for over a year! We watch as it taxys out and wait to see it take-off, which it does without incident. I don’t know much about this type of aircraft, but given that it hasn’t flown for so long, if I were flying it, I would be constantly watching for decent sized fields!

It’s been a good day as we pack up and I update the aircraft log.

Next up is IFR refreshers leading up to my revalidation in January. I have a trip scheduled to see Dan in Canada over the new year and hope to squeeze an accompanied flight in from one of the field in Ottawa, weather permitting.

Taildragging on hold

I started my new job in Peterborough with visions of leaving early once a week or so and training on the Cub to gain my tailgdragger rating, then taking evening bimbles on the long summer evenings just for the sheer joy of flying. Needless to say, it didn’t quite work out that way.

Although I have about 350 hours of flying time logged (which while still modest, probably takes me out of the ‘beginner’ bracket), I had no illusions that getting taildragger sign-off on the Cub would be easy and so it wasn’t – for me at least!
Now it is late October and the clocks have changed, the ‘late afternoon’ window has firmly closed and unless I actually take holiday time off work (and I have already planned most of them), I will have to ‘shut-down’ my taildragger training until next year.

So I don’t actually have sign-off (although I do have a couple of hours solo). Without actually counting, I guess I did six hours dual and two hours solo – and lots of landings! But no sign-off – and quite rightly so as I don’t seem to have mastered consistent landings in gusting crosswind conditions.

I was trying to get one lesson in a week, but actually, mainly due to either instructors being fully booked or the aircraft itself on loan or in maintenance, it probably worked out more like one every 3 weeks on average – not ideal.

To add to my list of excuses, I did also have three different instructors. The first instructor was unconventional but excellent and I got on really well and learned a huge amount. My last instructor was quite different – although he was hugely experienced and undoubtedly an excellent pilot, and I didn’t particularly enjoy flying with him and felt ‘on edge’ and didn’t relax into it. This may in part have accounted for my poor handling in blustery crosswinds – at least I got a lot of practice in go-arounds. I don’t normally have an issue with instructors, I have only requested NOT to have a particular instructor once before, and thinking about it, he was the same – vastly experienced, critical, jumped in a lot and generally made me feel small – so perhaps there is a common theme here!

Anyway, enough of the excuses. It wasn’t a race and I will go back to it next spring when the evening are lighter and this time stick with my preferred instructor – I am paying the bills after all!

Meantime, I will have enough to do revalidating my IMC and getting a few landaways in on the Arrow – and of course planning for the ‘big trip’ in 2007! I’ll wait to see what Flyer Forum comes up with then decide whether to go with them or do my own thing. I have my erstwhile regular flying partner who has since returned to Canada wanting to come over specially for the trip and he is pushing for a ‘Nordic’ trip (which I have been thinking of for some time.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Taildragging at Sibson

After my last taildragger training disaster, where I simply couldn’t get it right in what was after all a breezy crosswind, I decided to chill out and turn up and see what happened. Mind you, a one week holiday in Santorini in the meantime to de-stress from work helped as well!

I turned up at 16:00 to be told that the last hour or so was the first flying they had done that day. They had been fogged in until then. I work about 4 nm away from the airfield and I had lovely sunshine all day – isn’t fog a crazy thing!

I was flying with the CFI again so I checked the Cub out and folded myself in. It was stop and go circuits again, but then that is what I need right now. So off we trundled slowly in nil wind to runway 24. On the take-off run I was struggling with the sun which was right in my face, nevertheless, the take-off was pretty good. I commented on this and said I was not happy to land with the sun like that, so Frank said we’ll switch to runway 15. In nil wind it wouldn’t make much difference, except that 15 is 550m, so a fair bit shorter than 24, but still plenty for the Cub.

So I flew an odd circuit and called downwind. I was feeling very relaxed and getting into it. The approach to 15 was good, holding 75-70 all the way and maybe a little high, but a good, stable approach. Well, the combination of a bit fast, a bit high and nil wind meant I was floating down the runway, when Frank calmly called ‘go-around’. This I did immediately and we went around again. He suggested slower and lower next time.

Second attempt was a nice stable 70 decaying to 65-ish over the hedge, but again, not quite on the numbers. I ‘assumed the position’ – three pointer to you – and waited, and waited. We were floating again, and again Frank called ‘go around’. He explained that the hold off was good, but still too fast and of course nil wind wasn’t helping.

Third time, I called on the radio ‘downwind, DEFINITELY for a stop and go this time!’ which raised a chuckle from the back seat. I pegged the speed at 65-60 with a lower and very stable approach and I was pretty pleased with myself. I am sure this has happened to you, but it is one of those approaches where you swear you could let go of everything and the plane would land itself. Anyway, the speed decayed to below 60 over the hedge and I assumed the position and was rewarded with a nice landing. That’s better!

Off we went again for another. Pretty much the same. Good approach. The landing was OK until I hit a rough patch on the runway and got bounced, but I held the stick back and it settled without too much of a bump.

Off again and same again. This time the aircraft landed from the flare with a slight bump, but enough to jog my hand on the throttle and the throttle cracked open a bit. I quickly pulled it back but had to control it back to the ground – lesson learned – don’t rest your elbow on the ledge!

Around we went for a final one and this was also a pretty reasonable landing.

Frank seemed pleased and said that this was the sort of landings he was looking for. So I booked another lesson for next Thursday for the same again. I don’t mind, I am enjoying it.

As I was helping Frank put the school Tiger Moth away, he commented ‘I expect you’ll want a go in this sometime’ – ever the salesman. Yes, I certainly do, but first things first, let’s get the Cub under my belt, then I can play with an open cockpit biplane with a real honest-to-goodness tailskid – wow!

A good lesson. As ever, I learn more from my mistakes than I do from doing it right. You never know, I may be on the road to cracking this – at the very least, my landings in the Arrow are now very consistent and pretty smooth – perhaps taildragging does that for you. People have said this to me in the past and perhaps I am starting to understand what they mean.

Monday, October 02, 2006

IMC Refresher

With my second IMC revalidation coming up at the end of the year, I thought it was time to get a couple of refresher lessons in. The last time I flew in ‘real IMC’ was in May on the final leg of the trip to Italy – coming back to the UK of course! Prior to that very little for a few months. While I am still confident, I do know that I am rusty and need to ‘do it properly’ without using the GPS to aid situational awareness and to have a critical instructor.

So I booked a lesson on Sunday with one of the local aero clubs at Gloucester.

The day dawned looking quite good, scattered cloud and sunshine. On the way to the airport though, low cloud linked up and became overcast with a little rain. At Gloucester I checked the weather forecasts and it didn’t look too bad – certainly overcast, so real IMC with the odd CB forecast as being ‘ISOL’ and generally near the coast. So I checked the Arrow out and wandered over to the Aero Club.

By this time it was raining a bit harder. The instructor was about the chat to me when we heard what could have been the hangar doors opening or thunder – turned out to be thunder! So a check of the rainfall and lightning radar indicates a line of CB’s headed towards us from the Bristol channel. The next hour and a half the rain lashed down and lightning was all around. So I am thinking ‘we are hardly likely to go anywhere’, but the CFI says ‘hold on, I think this will pass’. Well I respect his judgement and sure enough, at 11:20 he appears again and say ‘let’s go’.

It certainly looks better to the south and the west (where we plan to go) and evil to the North East where the cell has now moved on to.

First hurdle is getting the plane out of the hangar – it is flooded six inches deep! So the firecrew don wellies and rescue the plane. I start up and taxy out. We take off from 27 despite a slight tailwind as the wind is all over the place and by the time we get to another runway, it may well have shifted again.

I forget to ident the local naviads on the ground so once airborne, I have to do it there where I have a lot less time (mistake number 1). Although the cloud looked very low, it was only at our planned altitude of 3000’ that we finally lost sight of the ground and were in solid IMC. This must be a cumulus cloud as we are bumped around a lot and height keeping is difficult. I manage to track the NDB towards Tetbury and hold the correct heading – height keeping is not too good though (mistake number 2 – trim it properly and the altitude becomes a lot easier).

We track to Tetbury, then track 280 degrees towards BCN as an exercise in VOR tracking. I ident this and try to track, but something is odd – damn! I had left the HSI CDI bar on GPS – however I did notice immediately and changed to VOR – so no bollocking from the instructor. The tracking was easy, but again altitude holding let me down on one occasion. I am now back under the hood as we are between layers. With 30 milles to run to BCN and now some 20 miles SW of Gloucester, we break off and I call up for an NDB / DME approach.

Instead of the expected 27, the wind now favours 09, so I opt for that. We are cleared to approach at FL45 and to report beacon outbound. I ask for a descent to 3000’ as dropping from FL45 to 2200’ on 999Mb in 8nm would be interesting. I go for the extended approach with a direct join and no hold. I am using the excellent GCap plates. On the outbound leg, I manage the right heading as we are bounced around in a cumulus cloud. I gain nearly 400’, but even the instructor this time realises that this is not me – we are simply in a considerable updraft. I get the altitude off and we get into smoother air by about the eight mile mark as I start the turn.

On the required 095 heading, the ADF seems a fair way off, so I correct to intercept. The instructor thinks the ADF is a bit off due to thunderstorms in the area. I regain the inbound track and descend in the pattern. I drop the gear to slow me down then pull on two stages of flaps. Descent profile is pretty good though I say it myself. I say out loud at about 1 nm that I am now at MDA and would continue to the beacon at this altitude and unless I broke cloud would initiate a missed approach. He kindly takes the hint and asks me to remove the hood.

I look up and as usual I am completely disoriented making the transition from instruments to visual flying. I see the airfield and the lit runway at about my 10 o’clock – not bad. I line up on 09 then do the ‘red / green / blue’ check. Airspeed is a bit fast and we have a slight tailwind, so this will be interesting. I am over the hedge about 5 kts too fast. Flare and hold off, a very slight balloon, she drops again – hold-off, more, more, more – wheel touch – nice one as it turns out – certainly a nice change from the ones I did on the last taildragger lesson!

We taxy back. I get the usual few words from the instructor. Basically, ident, better altitude holding, check the ADF on a fine day to make sure the reading errors were the CB’s, but all in all not bad. Probably one more session then do my revalidation flight. Personally, I think I will do at least two more sessions, ideally one SRA and the other an ILS at Filton.

I enjoyed that. It is a bit like riding a bike, you certainly get rusty, but it comes back fairly quickly.