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

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#1909946
Indeed - as mentioned above, it's good to have another viewpoint from someone with more experience [usermention=862]@TopCat[/usermention] (and to hear the other students' experiences, as [usermention=25385]@Milty[/usermention] said elsewhere it's interesting to see the variations in how we're taught, and to understand why).

So now to summarise what has been another excellent (long) weekend of flying for me...

Starting on Saturday morning - I was booked in for my Solo Nav 2, and the weather was happy to play ball! This one seems like a very long time ago now, so I've probably forgotten some of the details, but the route was Cambridge - Framlingham (near the Suffolk coast) - Snetterton and back to Cambridge.

I did the usual planning beforehand, again using the "traditional" method, although I have also been doing them on Skydemon on the school computer before the flight to make Notam checking easier! (Skydemon takes about 30 seconds compared to more like 30 minutes for the map-and-plog-and-whizz-wheel-and-checking-everything-from-official-sources-carefully). Upon arrival at the school, we went out to do the standard dual 3 takeoffs and landings as the "check-out" prior to any solo flying. This is becoming quite familiar now, and it all went beautifully apart from my usual forgetting to put the carb heat on before starting to turn base, on the first circuit. As I started turning I heard some growling noises from my instructor and mimed hand-beating movements, which reminded me that I had forgotten something! (I typically notice myself after finishing the turn and throttling back, but good to get into the habit of doing it early!). The landings and remaining circuits were all totally fine though, there wasn't much wind and I am very used to landing at Cambridge by now! So, after the third landing, we refuelled the aeroplane and I was straight back out for my nav trip.

Saturday means no ATC, so calls to Cambridge Traffic and an easy departure to the east on Runway 05, which was the right general direction for my nav anyway. Up to 2300' and did the usual checks, got the plog ETAs started, and headed off in the right direction. It was pretty clear despite the high pressure system so was easy to see where I was going. The radio calls were all incredibly easy as nobody was at home - so the Wattisham MATZ penetration got no response, and I just had another aeroplane making traffic calls on the frequency but they were a long way away. Framlingham popped up right on time, so I made a cheeky steep turn on to the next heading (always good to get the handling practise in where possible!) and trundled off to Snetterton, switching to Old Buckenham to listen for any nearby traffic. There was a bit of activity around their ATZ but nobody near me. However just as I was arriving at Snetterton, I spotted a paramotor at the same altitude almost straight ahead, a bit off to the left. They're easy to see (big colourful parachute) and I think they had spotted me as well anyway, so we passed at a very safe distance. A good reminder that not all of the traffic has a radio though!

Another turn at Snetterton back towards Cambridge, and the navigation here is super easy as I've done it several times before and you basically follow the A11 keeping left of the Mildenhall ATZ. Switched to Lakenheath and requested a MATZ penetration but again it seemed nobody was home. However there was a glider which told me it was over the Mildenhall ATZ around 3000' and thermalling, I soon spotted it so mentioned I was visual. A few minutes later, another glider came on frequency further to the west - all fine, again a fair distance away from me. And a few minutes later, Lakenheath Approach showed up on the frequency to ask the gliders where they were going, as they had a "heavy" departing (KC-135) and wanted the gliders out of the way. They clearly weren't bothered about me since I was doing the obvious "Cambridge run" and steering clear of the ATZ, but a 10 minute discussion with the gliders followed over the radio - one glider couldn't hear very well so kept getting the wrong end of the stick with lots of "say again", and both seemed keen to stay in their thermals and couldn't guarantee that they could comply with a "not below 3000'" request. Eventually I think they might have sorted it out, but I switched back to Cambridge before the show was over!

Cambridge traffic seemed quiet so I announced my plan to join downwind and started a cruise descent, but then a minute or two later some other traffic showed up from the north doing overhead joins, so I revised my plan to also do an overhead join so as to not cut in front of the traffic (which I could see by this point). Another aircraft also announced they were departing for circuits. Climbed back to 2000' height and then commenced the OHJ, joining crosswind third in the circuit behind a couple of PA-28s. At this point I saw the one ahead downwind, but then realised they were doing a much much wider circuit than I was used to, so I was in danger of cutting in front of them if I'd flown my normal downwind circuit! Extended crosswind and got a decent distance behind them - they then seemed to also extend downwind (maybe to add extra separation to the one in front) and finally turned base. I followed their circuit as best as I could, trying to fly as slowly as reasonably possible (since there was nobody behind me), but they seemed to be going even more slowly! They were on the runway as I turned final, but then had a long taxi down the runway to vacate at the exit nearer the far end, so as I approached it became clear that it would be tight for them to have vacated before I was over the numbers. I decided to go around, and it looked like the right decision since I was about 1/3 down the runway in the go-around when they had fully crossed the holding point and vacated. Landed on the next circuit - a mostly uneventful flight until the last 15 minutes!

I was then given the instructions for my next session, which was this afternoon. And the instructions were: "Plan your QXC".... :-o
T6Harvard, Milty liked this
#1909952
So, to today and the QXC! I have previously done a dual landaway at Turweston and at Old Buckenham, and I was booked for my lesson to be at Duxford today, and have obviously done lots of my training at Cambridge and Duxford. My instructions were "plan a flight that goes from Duxford to two of Turweston, Old Buck and Cambridge, that's at least 150nm" (well actually 270km which is more like 146nm, but a little bit more seems safer to avoid doubt).

I decided to have a think over the weekend to see what made most sense, and I'm glad I did because on Sunday I was asked if I could start at Cambridge instead - and ideally do Turweston and Duxford as the landaway aerodromes - which was fine by me as it made the choices easier! I decide to go Cambridge - Grafham Water - Turweston to start with, as I have never done a solo landaway before and Turweston was the one I was least familiar with (only been there once) so figured it would be good to get it out of the way while I was fresh! Also they have a nice cafe and I should be able to get there at afternoon snack time. Routed via Grafham as it adds a bit of distance and is a very obvious waypoint, and avoids various glider sites, air displays, ATZs, rocket firing areas etc to the west of Cambridge. Then the next stop would be Duxford, so to get the distance up to the required 150nm I decided to route back to Grafham and then to Bury St Eds (skirting along the edge of the Lakenheath CMATZ) as it is another route I know well from the air and passes directly over my house! Then Duxford is an easy approach from the east via the wind farm, and finally after the stop at Duxford it was only a short hop (7 miles) to Cambridge.

The total distance of 153 miles seemed like it would be just right, and when I arrived at Cambridge this lunchtime, the instructor (not my usual one, as he doesn't work on Mondays, but someone who I have flown with once before) had a quick look over the map and plog and was happy with the plan. He did the usual checkout ride of 3 circuits dual - I even pre briefed him that I was good at forgetting carb heat on the first turn to base, thus cunningly ensuring that there was no way I would forget it this time! First landing had a small amount of left to right movement (bit more wind than expected? or maybe slight ham-fisted inadvertent wing down) but was otherwise fine and on the centreline. However just as we were departing the second touch and go for the final circuit, ATC came on the radio telling us that a pilot had sighted at drone at around 700' near base leg for runway 23, so they asked us to join right base. It wasn't clear at first exactly what they wanted, but they eventually confirmed they actually wanted us to join right base for runway 05, and to position as required, so we finally figured out where they wanted us and I turned us round in the right direction to come back to land on the reciprocal runway we had just departed. A very non standard "circuit" procedure (first time I've done it) but was pleased that I could figure out where to go and what to do. ATC accidentally cleared us to land on runway 23 - I started reading it back then realised what they were saying, and my instructor completed the call querying if they meant 05 which indeed they did. I had ended up a little bit close on the right base, so stuck on all of the flap early and did a nice dive-bomber glide approach to the numbers which worked out quite well. So, three landings completed successfully, but ATC had now closed the airport due to the drone! It was suddenly looking dicey as to whether I would be able to depart for the QXC after all... my instructor didn't want me to leave much later than 2:30pm because it might get a bit tight to return by a suitable time...

Since we were all waiting to see what ATC would do, I spent the next 45 minutes or so having a snack, checking NOTAMs and calling for PPR on the assumption that they would open up in time and I'd be able to go ahead - I could always cancel the PPR request if needed. Proving the absence of a drone was obviously an impossible task, so it wasn't clear when ATC would decide it was safe to open up! However just after 2:30, as my hopes were ebbing away, they confirmed that the airport would reopen in 5 minutes! I resolved not to rush, my instructor was happy that there was plenty of time, and I was ready to go so went to the fully refueled aeroplane, checked it out and got ready to leave. I was the first aeroplane ready to taxi, which was good, although there was also a 737 transport which had just picked up a horse (I was wondering why there was a horsebox on the apron!!) which was going to leave first. They departed pretty quickly while I was holding further down the runway, then I was cleared to enter, backtrack and line up, pointing in the right direction for my first leg down runway 23!

Departure and climb were fine, enroute checks and radio were fine, Grafham Water came and went. It was getting very hazy to the west, but still easy to navigate and the cloud base was a good few hundred feet above my cruising altitude of 2300'. I switched to Cranfield for a basic service and then in no time I was over Silverstone and requesting airfield information from Turweston. Joined the circuit in accordance with the noise abatement procedures and landed fine. Parked up, quick call to my instructor, paid the landing fee to the friendly chap in the tower, cafe stop (coffee and cake) and a call to Duxford to get PPR. They were happy with my ETA of 17:15 (should be after the air display had finished) so off I went.

At this point, I made the only noticeable mistake of my QXC. Somehow I think I had managed to switch the transponder to 7000 and Mode S then back to standby! I departed fine, switched to Cranfield for a basic service again, happily telling them I was squawking conspicuity, and they seemed fine with that. However, turning (steeply, after checking out of the windows :-) ) over Grafham Water, I requested a change to Cambridge Approach, which was fine, "passed my message" and was told to squawk 6176, typed it in to the transponder and then spotted out of the corner of my eye that the little "SBY" text was present! Pressed the Alt button and again nobody mentioned it over the radio (I guess that perhaps Cranfield didn't have SSR available so wouldn't have noticed), but a very important lesson to myself to check that not only my squawk code is correct on the transponder when doing the "R" of "FREDA" checks, but also to check it's actually transponding! My instructor later informed me that he was confused that I magically appeared on Flightradar24 somewhere near Huntingdon, and had assumed it was a FR24 problem :-).

The rest of the flight was uneventful - flew over my house, Waterbeach, past the CMATZ to Bury St Edmunds, then another steep turn towards Duxford. There was a Dragon Rapide departing for a short passenger flight but apart from that it was quiet, nice easy downwind join and landing on 06R. Quick pit stop, phoned my instructor who informed me there wasn't much happening at Cambridge other than a school 152 doing circuits (by now ATC had gone home, so only based aircraft operating), and phoned Duxford to let them know I was off again. Short flight to Cambridge, did an OHJ in case the C152 was still around (and to check which runway was best), but I was the only one there so descended to join crosswind for 05 and landed.

A lot of flying (nearly 3 hours logged today) but am happy to report that I didn't feel tired or even particularly excited - just felt like a fairly "normal" day out, although it is sinking in that I have done what is likely to be the longest day out of my PPL today! Looking forward to the next stages of revising previous lessons etc, and preparing for the FRTOL exam (hopefully to be done in mid-May before the new "harder" one comes in :-S) and then building up to the skills test...
T6Harvard, Milty, FlyingBoot liked this
User avatar
By Milty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909962
Sounds brilliant. You seem very comfortable with it all.

I also wondered about the repeated solo checkout thing. Does sound like a bit of a con on the basis of ‘safety’ to me. Not at all like that at my school - almost the opposite in fact when at times, I’ve been a little surprised at the faith my instructor has put in me when allowing me to go on a solo nav for example.
#1909971
Interesting! I think the solo checkout ride is part of the standard procedures here - and it's only "valid" for the day of the checkout. The cynical answer could be a money making exercise - however if I was being charitable, it might be to ensure that you are still "current", can deal with the day's wind conditions etc, or something else more arcane / administrative like insurance? Or perhaps they had a bad experience in the past with someone who had previously been checked out a week or two earlier and then did something wrong. I might ask next time I'm there to see what the rationale is! To be honest, I don't mind too much - it's given me plenty of opportunity to practise landings and circuits including "unusual events" like yesterday's, and sometimes they have combined it with other lessons (e.g. low-level circuits as checkout before first solo nav).
#1909972
Congratulations on completing your QXC. Sounds like you were very comfortable with it all.

If I find flying comfortable I then start to worry a little that maybe I have forgotten something really important. Quick FREDA and really thorough lookout soon gets me back to normal. I do have an inbuilt fear of hitting another aircraft so my lookout is continuous anyway. Be very aware around Gransden Lodge for the gliders because they can be anywhere, not just close to the airfield.

I did like your comments on the previous post regarding gliders around Mildenhall/Lakenheath holding up the departure of a KC-135 but they do have the right of way over powered aircraft and were not doing anything wrong.
ericgreveson liked this
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1910021
I must say, this all sounds very good indeed. Sounds like you were completely ready for this, very well done.

You're not the first to leave the transponder in standby, and you won't be the last.

Another excellent one to try that gets the attention of the nice chaps on the ground if you have one of the older devices is to switch through 7700 without putting it into standby first. Always a good plan to do that every few years, it makes sure they're awake. Guess how I know... :oops:
ericgreveson liked this
#1910048
If the only time you ever squawk 7700 is by accident, that sounds like a preferable situation to the alternative!

Regarding the gliders - indeed, they were fine doing what they were doing - it was interesting to be on the sidelines listening to the conversation! For Gransden, Cambridge Approach were giving warnings that there were lots of gliders about there, so I stayed well clear following the A14. I'm impressed by the gliders that go on long cross countries - must be a great feeling to fly for hundreds of miles with no power, just the thermals and wind!
#1910515
Today's lesson was the first one for a while where I had nothing specific to prepare for in advance! Instead, it was a revision lesson going over lots of things that I have previously learned (and mostly forgotten) from earlier in training, leading up towards being ready for the skills test. As such, I should really have prepared for anything - but due to being overseas with work all of last week, I didn't really have time. So, my instructor told me we'd try to cover various things during a longer lesson than usual - slow flight, stalls, PFLs, EFATO, precautionary landings, steep turns, direction fixes, followed by a few circuits with normal, flapless, short field, soft field landings (and takeoffs). Then I could go out again for a bit more solo practise since I still need another 2 hours solo to reach the minimum 10 hours.

The usual refuel, startup, taxi and engine checks all went fine, and I was asked to do a short field takeoff. I knew that I should be using 10 degrees of flap, elevator back a bit, and checked the checklist for recommended speeds (which is initially a rather slow-looking 54kt climb) but my instructor recommended we use 65kt instead (a bit above Vx) for the initial climb. This mostly went OK although I could probably have flown it just above the runway a bit earlier (more backpressure) and gained speed in ground effect first.

We headed out to the north and I was asked to fly at 3000' and then slow down to 70kt with zero flap, then back to cruise, then down to 70kt with 2 stages flap, then back to cruise. This all went fine, altitude was mostly well controlled although we did catch a bit of an updraft flying 100' or so beneath some cumulus formations which needed attention. Next up I was asked to select a field for a precautionary landing. I spent a while trying to select one that was long enough in the "into wind" direction - they were almost all perpendicular to this - but eventually decided on one (my instructor later said that I didn't have to worry quite so much about this, a crosswind landing in the day's 8kt winds wouldn't have been so bad). Flew a circuit pattern around it at 1000' at 70kt with 2 stages of flap, and then was asked to make the next one a pattern to land but not going below 800' until final. I flew this a bit too tight and as such was still too high on final (at 800' but relatively close to the field) - this would turn out to be a theme for the day! When asked to go around I did this mostly OK (power, carb heat, pitch, flap all remembered) which was a small mercy.

Back up at 3500' we found some gaps in the broken cumulus layer to practise stalling. I remembered the HASELL checks (which was at least a good start) and then was asked to do a simple clean full stall - I needed to be reminded that this should be with engine idle (I reduced power but not all the way at first) and did the recovery with the right actions but with a bit too much enthusiastic nose down meaning we lost a couple of hundred feet. Was asked to do it again but with more gentle forward yoke, to minimise altitude drop, and this time it went much better. Then it was a stall in the landing configuration - full flap, some power on, but recover at the stall warner. This went mostly OK although I needed to be reminded to get rid of the drag flap (30 degrees) a bit more quickly after power on, so we tried that one again too which went better. Finally a turning stall with 20 degrees flap and 1500rpm (i.e. simulated turn base to final) recovering at the stall warner - I needed to pull back a bit more than I was doing at first to get the stall warner to sound, but then the recovery went OK. This concluded the stalls practise - not perfect, it has been a few months since I last did these, but that's the point of the revision I guess!

After the stalls were some steep turns - first a turn to the left, then to the right, then a tight steep descending turn with 20 degrees flap through a hole in the cloud. These were a lot of fun! I have been sneakily practising these during my solo navs, and they all went smoothly - altitude maintained well during the level turns, and I found it easy enough to control the airspeed during the steep descending turn. After the descending turn I was asked to turn to a given heading and then to do a position fix - so I tuned in to the BKY VOR, checked the ident, and twiddled the knob until the course bar was centred. I found this reasonably straightforward as I had my radio nav lesson just a couple of weeks ago. I was planning to fly the radial and tune another VOR to get an intersecting line (since the school C152s don't do DME) but my instructor pointed out that the box does give you a distance to the VOR (presumably based on the GPS data) and he was happy if I just used that. I hadn't brought a ruler or protractor but a bit of half-baked hand waving at the map, using a pen as a straight edge on the embedded VOR compass rose and my thumb joint as a distance measure, got me somewhere near Bourn which sure enough turned out to be visible out of the window - instructor was happy enough with this method (although suggested next time I could bring a ruler and do it properly!) and gave me a bogus heading to turn on to while he pulled the power and said "engine failure" while I was putting away my pen.

I reacted in a reasonable way, pitching for 65kt (best glide) and looking out of the window for a suitable field. I suggested that I could land at the nearby disused airfield and my instructor said yes, but he'd rather I pick a field because then we could practise a proper approach until much lower. So I chose another field that looked good, correctly identifying which way would be the "into wind" direction, and then made a plan to fly a circuit - however after about 10 seconds it dawned on me that my circuit would have me landing in exactly the opposite direction. So, revised the plan to immediately turn where I was and reposition downwind while we still had altitude, and did my engine restart touch-drill. I gained a bit of airspeed up to 75kt while doing this, which was not ideal, and I got the engine restart drill done OK although not particularly systematically ("right to left" was suggested as a better option afterward). Did some engine warming and then mayday call while trying not to lose sight of the field and direction - remembered most of the call except the "2 pob" and didn't say the altitude after the location either. Completely forgot to do engine shutdown touch drill as I was concentrating on turning (far too early again) on to final. Gave the passenger brief instead while doing this, and I think I covered the main points OK, but was clearly too high for the field as we approached. Put on all the flap at this point in the hope that we would descend fast enough, but we would obviously have been past the half way point by touch down, and the next field had a well developed crop in it. Did a go around which went fine, but it was clear that I had been flying the circuit too tight to the field and hadn't judged the height correctly.

We climbed up and I got another PFL, this time I remembered the shutdown drill but again ended up a bit high on final despite noticing a bit earlier this time and putting more flap on more quickly. So, this seems to be my weakest area at the moment, I am not that good at judging the PFL height / circuit pattern! Got given an EFATO when going around too, pitched for 65kt but there was a power line across all of the fields in front of me which wasn't ideal, then a village and no obvious large fields, so I turned a bit to the left and chose a rather sub optimal looking field by the village after a few seconds of dithering. Instructor suggested that indeed there weren't any great options there but it would be good to be more decisive and choose faster even if it wasn't the best, as there isn't much time in an EFATO situation.

I was then asked to head back to Cambridge, so I set up for an OHJ which all went well, made the right radio calls at the right time and could see the traffic in the circuit. Was then asked to do a normal landing (touch and go), the circuit and approach was OK, there was a bit of swirly crosswind (the windsocks at each end of the runway were at 90 degrees to each other) but we got down OK although could have done with a bit more right rudder and left wing down. Then was asked for a flapless landing, which was not too bad although not on the centreline (a bit of drift with the crosswind). Next was a short-field landing on the grass runway, I was a little bit high (was told to adjust aiming point a bit more before the threshold) and landed with my first ever bounce - I think this was because we were just a little below 60kt over the numbers and when I flared, the sink rate didn't seem to decrease much - probably needed to flare more than usual due to the low speed (or perhaps I should try to blame the swirly crosswind). After the little bounce, the second touchdown was OK but I could have done with pulling the yoke back a bit more to keep the nosewheel higher during the takeoff. We did another soft-field landing on the grass which went better (right aiming point, landed just past the numbers more smoothly) although again didn't use anywhere near enough right rudder and we drifted a bit to the left as I put the power back on for the takeoff. Finally, landed on the main runway - just as I was flaring my instructor asked me to add a bit of power and try to fly it a couple of feet above the runway for as long as possible - I added some power, kept it flying for a bit longer, but didn't add enough power to keep it above the runway so we touched down after a bit anyway. He then told me that it was just because it was quite a long taxi back to the taxiway at the other end of the runway and it saves a bit of time to fly just above the runway! Fair enough.

After a 15 minute break I was then allowed loose for some solo circuits to practise the various landings a bit more by myself. I did a normal landing, flapless, 20 degrees flap, two short-field landings on the grass, then another normal landing on the main runway to finish (with the air ambulance crossing just below the circuit on its way to Addenbrookes, calls to Cambridge Traffic from the both of us confirming that we were visual with each other etc). These went a bit better and I sorted out the aiming point and rudder issues for the short-field landings, and all of the landings bar one on the main runway were pretty smooth and central (one was a bit off to the side due to the crosswind changing to the other side as I was on approach and me not adjusting well enough with rudder and wing down).

Overall, a very busy day in the air but good to have the practise and get back up to speed with some techniques that I had mostly forgotten! Roll on tomorrow... more of the same!
Milty, tr7v8, FlyingBoot liked this
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