Another surprise lesson today! I had a message earlier in the week that there was a free slot, but unfortunately I couldn't make it. However another message arrived early today and this time I could make it... fortunately, since this will replace my booked lesson for this Sunday as my instructor will be away!
Today's lesson was more dual nav - a second landaway, this time to Turweston. Spent the first half hour or so preparing, starting with plotting the route: Cambridge - Grafham Water - Turweston to avoid the gliders further south, and then the reciprocal route home. 20kt wind from the northeast, so predicted groundspeed was about 110kt outbound and a sluggish 70kt return! Then reading up about Turweston on their website, printing off the circuit procedures / noise abatement / airfield info for the kneeboard, phoning for PPR, and checking NOTAMs. Went out to check the aeroplane, refuelled and topped up the oil, and we were ready to leave!
As it's a weekday, we had ATC and ATIS to get the usual departure info, and things were quite quiet so headed straight out for runway 05 after engine checks, no waiting around. As we entered the runway my instructor pointed out my first mistake for the day (don't worry, plenty more to come): I had somehow skipped the checklist item for switching the transponder from standby to Mode S. Oops.
We took off, went round the north of Cambridge and headed towards Grafham Water. This is a route I've done a few times now, so I was OK with the navigation and FREDA checks etc despite it being a bit hazy. The air was super-smooth at this point and flying hands-off, in trim, was very pleasant! We switched to Cranfield on the radio after turning at Grafham Water, overhead Bedford Autodrome, and I think I got it mostly right (helped by my cheat-sheet on the kneeboard for the "pass your message" items). At this point it changed from super-smooth to turbulent and thermally, and stayed that way for the rest of the day! Much more positive altitude control required for the rest of the flight. My instructor recommended we switch to Turweston on the radio after crossing the M1, and to have a re-read of the circuit plates etc before we got there, which was a good suggestion (to remind myself of the circuit pattern, areas to avoid, and especially the 15 degree / 10 degree off-runway-heading approach and departure for 09). I made the call and got the airfield information, which was all fine (I even remembered to say "hectopascals" after a QFE of 999 was given, probably my high point of the trip in terms of competence), and we started descending to circuit height overhead Silverstone. I picked out the A43, Turweston and Brackley successfully to join downwind in the right place, plenty of distance ahead of a PA28 doing touch and go's (which was still climbing out as we joined downwind). I did my pre-landing checks, but then spent too much time looking out trying to pick out the right place to turn base and the early turn to the 15-degree-off-runway approach, so ended up losing about 150 feet of height, being late to throttle back and put carb heat on, and eventually having to just go straight to 30 degrees of flap to get set up correctly (normally I would do 20 degrees on base, then 30 on final). In the end, the approach was fine and at the right speed, so I had plenty of time to flare too high (as usual) but with a smooth enough landing on the stall warner. Vacated right and went back up the grass, and then we were told where to park.
This turned out to be next to a magnificent Cessna 170 which had a nice cream and red paint job and looked pretty smart despite its age! The apron was quite busy, with several aeroplanes starting up, shutting down, being repositioned etc, including some interesting types other than the usual Cessna / Piper / Cirrus. My good impression of Turweston was confirmed when we went to the tower to pay the landing fee, meeting the very friendly chap operating the A/G radio, and admiring the Airfix model collection. We had time to enjoy the cafe this time as well, with a coffee and sausage bap going down very nicely. This felt like my first "proper" landaway since we didn't have time to stay at Old Buckenham last time, and I would definitely recommend Turweston as a place to visit - the great views of the runway from the cafe (giving you the option to "score" the landings of arriving aircraft
) was the cherry on top.
Bap consumed, it was time to head home. Did the usual checks (this time remembering to switch the transponder on) and we were soon ready to depart behind another aircraft. This was the time for me to make my next mistake: being a bit too aggressive with the rotation on takeoff - I rotated at the correct airspeed, but pitched up a bit too much especially given how gusty it was, so had to reduce pitch a bit to climb at the correct speed. At least I remembered to turn left on to the appropriate departure track. So, another thing that I can hopefully file away and remember to do better in future!
The nav back to Cambridge was fairly straightforward, although pretty slow (70kt groundspeed) and thermally, with a lot of up and down needing constant correction. I also managed to call Cranfield before actually engaging brain, so when asked to "pass my message" I started telling them I was on a flight from Cambridge before noticing and having to correct myself (remembered the magic word "correction" after a bit of "uuuhhh..."). As we approached Cambridge, we were given the grass runway for a change, so I had another new experience - landing on 05 Grass (I have landed in the other direction before). The approach was a bit better this time, maintaining the correct height and sorting out the pre landing checks and flaps in plenty of time, with a smooth landing - getting it straight with rudder for the slight crosswind, and flaring at a better height this time.
Another 1:45 of flying time in the logbook, and a second landaway achieved! Many things to improve, far from a perfect execution of what I feel I should know by now, but a good experience all in all.