Learning to fly, or thinking of learning? Post your questions, comments and experiences here

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By Fellsteruk
#1813500
Good stuff t6 I liked the comment about the removed before flight made me think of a T-shirt I saw the other week that’s said “insert before flight”

I guess that’s a proper dad/pilot joke. :)

The sportys bags are really good but I’ll be honest I used a rucksack which became the black hole of all thing I have for ppl wasn’t until recently I actually got a proper bag and for me made my life much easier as everything has a slot,hole,flap to live in and I can get to anything pretty quickly.

Fingers crossed Santa brings one sounds like you’ve been good.
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By tr7v8
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1813955
Flying lesson Cancelled for today, RCS has standing water on it. Not surprised after the amount of rain we've had this week. Have a lesson booked this Thursday & the following Wed. Just booked a block every Wed for Jan @ 12:00 We will see what happens. They're talking of moving a 172 down to Lydd maybe that will help.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1813989
Shame. Yep, lots of standing water up this way, too.

I've booked as close as I could get to 2 lessons a week from now to end of Feb to try and get a decent strike rate between wx, a/c tech, etc.

Monday looks fairly promising but choppy aloft. Weds looks like gusts might be outside crosswind limits though, although a lot can change before then.

As I am so low hours that I suspect my instructor may invite me to turn up anyway so I can practice the walk round and pre-flight checks because we had no time for me to do them on my first 3 lessons.
He has also mentioned a further briefing to reiterate previous lessons :roll: - I am prepared for more sarcasm, although he says he never swears at women so I'll probably be spared that :lol: . I really do appreciate the extra ground work he is prepared to do with me.
(Ah, I am going to start a new thread....)

In truth I have no idea now instructors put up with aspiring pilots who are not that quick on the uptake. I did warn him I will not be a minimum hours student! It is a testament to any dedicated teacher that they sooooo much want you to learn how to do it that they put aside their exasperation and persevere.

I am in awe of and have the greatest respect for anyone who can teach!

And as an added bonus I may also be able to further improve my upper body strength grappling to do high wing tank dipping as well :lol:
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By tr7v8
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1814019
T6Harvard wrote: As I am so low hours that I suspect my instructor may invite me to turn up anyway so I can practice the walk round and pre-flight checks because we had no time for me to do them on my first 3 lessons.

I have just completed lesson 9 and have done pre-post flight checks for every lesson. When I first started, was issued a checklist, pointed at the aeroplane & told to come back when finished. A couple of weeks ago it was 4 Degrees on the field!
I struggle to climb up to check fuel level on the 172, combination of being a FB, short in the leg & a long standing back problem. I use the ladder which we all have to do on the older 172 as it doesn't have climbing points.
I do have experience of doing pre-flights though, as I used to do it in my youth as I worked on the RAE Farnborough aircraft.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1814023
I asked for a step ladder for 'elf n safety but was told it is just a matter of technique so get on with it :lol:
Personally I reckon the cctv is giving the other staff a lot of laughs!
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By Wicksay
#1814078
Hi T6,

So much fun reading your posts. Fingers crossed I’ll have something to post on my thread with two lessons booked in post lockdown2 not to mention two exams to finish also.

Luckily I fly a robin so it’s just dirty knees doing fuel checks lol

Can’t wait to get back up in the air....,


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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By JAFO
#1814113
Wicksay wrote:Luckily I fly a robin so it’s just dirty knees doing fuel checks ...


That's what the checklist is for, you put it on the ground to kneel on before scrabbling underneath.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1814116
Thanks Wicksay. I was wondering how you were doing! You must be getting close to your skiĺls test. I look forward to your updates.

I forgot my biggest achievement last week...... I finally mastered the harness. Well, let's face it, it's a 2-part seat belt in a 152.
I couldn't elongate the shoulder part to fit onto the clip above the lap belt and I struggled* with that odd clip that joins them together. It was worrying because how stupid did that make me?!
As MrT6 often says I am not always as thick as I look, but sometimes I am.
*it's a girl thing, tricky to see what one is doing below a certain level, iykwim :mrgreen:

Compared to the harness-induced stress, taxiing is a breeze :D
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By tr7v8
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1814183
Paul_Sengupta wrote:
T6Harvard wrote: *it's a girl thing, tricky to see what one is doing below a certain level, iykwim :mrgreen:


Believe me, some of us men have issues trying to see what's going on around our waists as well.

Err yes & bending to pick the checklist off the floor when I stupidly drop it!
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1814917
Lesson 6 - improvement and doughnuts.

Warning of strong winds at East Mids (nearest TAF) so I rang before driving 90 mins to airfield. Office said all instructors were aloft so off I went.

My lesson was scheduled for 1.30. Instructor was running late so I was sent to start the walk round, instal my cushion :roll: , pull seat forward and choose sunnies or ordinary glasses. My choice turned out to be wrong because the very low, bright sun nearly blinded me later.

So today - more straight and level, to be sustained for more than 30 seconds.
In fact I was greeted by the sarcastic "Today we'll go over S & L. The key is in the title, T6Harvard, S & L." :lol:

Start up and vital action checks are flowing much more now.

I was rusty in the air and after a few poor minutes I got told to stop wallowing round the sky and keep to the datum attitude!
I soon settled to lighter hands and also a better scan. I did manage turning, anticipated correctly, rolling out onto headings pretty much on the nose. No idea how I got the timing right but it was sort of instinctive, I was pleased. Except for the instance when I just plain forgot what heading I'd been given and overshot! (a lesson there on repeating instructions :wink: )

I have never felt the slightest bit scared, nervous or anxious on any lesson but I noticed that I was somehow more relaxed today.

Slow flight and altering flaps was OK, am happy with what will happen and what to do, but was still too slow putting on full power afterwards. I was again surprised by how much pressure was required to hold the attitude before trimming. This, I think, I'll get next lesson.

Instructor was far less exasperated throughout, except when he said, "You started that well but...."*sigh* as I lost concentration on one early manoeuvre.

I also got half a bo******** when I didn't get my checklist out to do rejoin checks until I pointed out that I was told to learn airborne checks so I had. Luckily I nailed that and the other 2 main lists. A Brownie point? :D

During the lesson we turned out of the sun as much as poss, and we drifted north and east on the S.westerlies.
As a consequence I saw more of the scenic area that side of the airfield, which was very nice :)

It also meant we had a longer journey back. Sooooo, I got to strut S&L!

I actually relaxed and sustained it for a decent time. Phew.

On landing I taxiied the backtrack better and after giving way on the apron we entered a narrow taxiway so I could do a tight turn for parking. I thought, 'demo looks easy but one wrong move and I'm through the fence'....
Managed fine.

So, another first for me, doing a doughnut in the 152 :lol:

I really enjoyed the lesson. Far from perfect but it felt better and to be fair one of my not-so-level turns was only +/- 50' - that was the one I overshot the heading because I was concentrating on centering the ball :roll:

I did notice that my instructor is quietly introducing more info each lesson. Not just the demos, more snippets are thrown in without any fanfare, matter of fact and this works well for me - my brain just accepts them as straight forward, no big deal.
Sometimes I only realise a while after the lesson :mrgreen:

Oh yes, apparently my trimming was good. A rare accolade in my cockpit!

Weather for next lesson, Wednesday, was forecast wet and windy but I was asked to go anyway and we do a longer briefing to cover climbing and descending. I have homework. Homework involving lots of diagrams and the new-to-me concept of forward / rearward component of weight. It's been a while since I studied O Level physics.....

Still loving it :mrgreen:
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1814921
Wednesday.

Lesson was indeed canx due wx.

I went for the promised, much appreciated, briefing on climbing and descending in prep for the next 2 lessons.
Diagrams are not my strong point but the briefing was very good. Best angle, airspeed, attitude, PAT, APT, PAT. All made sense.
We also covered various altimeter settings and calculated setting from today's QNH. Thankfully I found that straightforward.

I sat there thinking I can see the first baby steps beginning to come together.

I did a thorough walk round and pre-startup checks, and am to be let loose on that from now on. I got a Brownie point for spotting and tightening a loose fastener on the cowling.

Not much else to report except an interesting change of tactic ......
....... I've had the stick, now the carrot is being dangled! If I am OK on climbing I will be allowed to attempt a take off. I CAN'T WAIT!

I am still pinching myself that I am doing this.

Next lesson booked for Monday. Weather iffy. Took Christmas goodies today, just in case.
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By akg1486
#1815077
T6Harvard wrote:Except for the instance when I just plain forgot what heading I'd been given and overshot! (a lesson there on repeating instructions :wink: )

It's clear how much you are enjoying this, so always a pleasant read. As you might imagine, it brings back memories for us who are no longer officially under training. (But we're all learning, every single flight.)

A tip: if your gyro compass is equipped with a heading bug, set that to the headings you are given. If you repeat the instruction out loud when doing so, you'll not only look very professional but also not forget where you're going.
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