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

Moderator: AndyR

By pipvac
#1909754
Sharing on here and reading the feedback has been quite cathartic, and some great ideas from others. If this is not of interest let me know please.

Weather calm, scattered cloud and some blue skies. Wind was low to start with but choppy and gusty over 300 feet once in the circuit, picking up to around 15 kts. Haze obscured the horizon. Soft field short runway (need to get down well inside the first 3rd otherwise go around).

More confident with my ground work and taxiing. Some small details to iron out, but was somewhat pleased with almost no intervention from my FI, and making all my radio calls, etc. :)

First line up and take-off was procedurally ok. Not the smoothest as the gusting winds made life tricky above the tree line. Managed the plane entirely myself, which felt good. Speed and heading management were a struggle until around 400 ft, clean configuration and in smoother air. A common theme throughout this lesson was not being able to get the plane trimmed well enough for what I was doing. It may have been the conditions, but I'm not sure. :?

Was ahead of the plane as we climbed out of the circuit for a little slow flight practice before rejoining for some landing practice.

BTW, despite the fluctuating conditions, the view was breathtaking. I made sure I gave myself a mental break to enjoy that for a few moments. 8)

We then flew an imaginary circuit, practicing checks, turns, and descent, plus a couple of go-arounds. Again, whilst the turns were adequate, controlling speed and ROD was flaky at best. :(

Next, a quick FEMDO, and I radio for a rejoin, and fly this entirely myself. Overhead join, descending on the dead side for a left hand circuit. I thought the overhead was flown like the circuit, but from crosswind to base was more of an arc following my instructions (lesson learned).

Whilst turn accuracy was ok, speed and engine management were not. Unconsciously too fast, and not managing this enough on the downwind leg. Checks were all good and correct. Height was generally ok, but plenty of times the wind would bounce us about a bit.

Then comes turning onto base and this is where I was struggling. The turn was fine as there is a good landmark to align to. Getting speed inside the white arc and setting flaps was ok albeit untidy. Speed management and controlling ROD was terrible. Whilst focusing on this, I mistime my turn to final. Pre-turn and when on final I have sufficient wits about me to be aware of the traffic and runway condition, so that's a relief. Radio? What radio? Final... too high - go around... next - we just about make the first third and a reasonable settle, followed by a touch and go. Felt good as it was mostly me with the occasional nudge on the rudder and yoke from the FI. Next one was similar.

Feeling flustered I was making mistakes on the radio when I remembered to make a call. I was frustrated with myself with the lack of speed and ROD control. More or less point the nose at the numbers and come what may, that's where I am going... speed? ROD? nah.... fixated on the numbers! :oops: :| :cry:

I felt I could and should have done better.

Processing the lesson, clearly this is a very early attempt at circuit work so guess what - I'm not good at it yet. Moving about the sky before the circuit work seemed ok. I was aware of other traffic, heading and altitude management was fine. My FI giving me a heading and altitude and being able to hit that on the nose whilst dodging traffic was actually a very nice feeling. A couple of my radio errors were cringeworthy, and you could tell by the airfield response (you know the tone right? the... wtf are you saying? I think you meant....).

By the time we got back to the school I was absolutely shattered! I sat there for a good 15 minutes just thinking about the lesson and resetting myself before attempting to drive anywhere.

A mixed bag of having come along way from working out how to fly straight and level, to moving about the sky with reasonable execution, but realising I'm not Douglas Barder just yet and much much much more practice is still needed. Oh well, I'll just have to force myself to do another lesson again.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Milty, bladerunner911, T6Harvard and 2 others liked this
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909768
If this was your first time in the circuit, then this all sounds pretty good to me.

If you've read any of the stuff about landings that I usually bang on constantly about, that may come as a little surprise. But actually I do remember the utter chaos in my head when I started circuits, and it came after all the basic handling exercises which had all seemed fairly straightforward.

The only thing that concerns me even a little bit is your comment that you could and should have done better.

You will do, and soon, I'm quite sure. But don't beat yourself up because you didn't fly perfect circuits on your first attempt. Concentrate on the flying, not on whether you meet some arbitrary standard you've set for yourself, because that won't end well - guess how I know!
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By Milty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909777
All sounds pretty standard stuff to me and good at that. I remember well the need to sit in the car for a bit and regather myself before heading off the airfield in the early lessons.

Radio is a funny old thing. I was practicing all last week how to request a MATZ penetration and in the car on the way to my lesson, was getting it perfect. Different thing up in the air and kept forgetting the order and then forgetting to give the routing. It will come with time though. Circuit calls were a nightmare to start with but now, they just sort of happen without thinking too much about it. I suspect you may struggle with hearing your calls and also understanding where other traffic is from radio calls but again, that comes with time and suddenly, you realise you’re getting quite good at it.

I’d echo Topcat’s comment about don’t beat yourself up too much. Pot, kettle, black etc if you read my earlier reports (and probably some in the near future too) but there’s little positive to be gained from it. Liberating if you can find a way to accept you’re learning and not meant to be perfect.
Last edited by Milty on Sun May 01, 2022 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By T6Harvard
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909783
Sounds just fine to me, another step on the way and soon you will wonder what was so exhausting! Well done.

It's good to write it down and in doing so recognise what was happening. Over the next few days you will, no doubt, re-visit it all and next time you fly your brain will have sorted out some stuff while you were doing other things.

When I first had a double lesson I was so exhausted after touchdown that I had a cuppa and just sat in silence for a good while. I actually though 'Someone should have warned me not to try and drive home yet'. It was about an hour before I felt safe to drive!!
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By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909787
JAFO wrote:
>
> One question, what is FEMDO?

Ah, FEMDO. I was taught FEMDO.

It's one of the zillions of versions of enroute checks. FEDRA is another one, isn't there FREDA as well. Can't remember what any of them stands for any more.

<dredges up long lost memories...>

I think....

Fuel - pump as required, correct tank selected
Engine - Carb heat check, Ts & Ps, suction all ok
Mixture - as required
DI synced to compass, heading as required.

Not sure about O. Orientation, as in, where you are maybe? But I don't do any of that as a mnemonic any more.

[usermention=25762]@pipvac[/usermention], what have you been taught they mean?
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By Milty
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909797
I was going to ask the FEMDO question too. I assumed it was something similar to FREDA which I guess it is but looks more related to circuits with the orientation part although I wonder how I fits with BUMFILCH (and the numerous variations thereof).
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909798
Milty wrote:
> I was going to ask the FEMDO question too. I assumed it was something
> similar to FREDA which I guess it is but looks more related to circuits
> with the orientation part although I wonder how I fits with BUMFILCH (and
> the numerous variations thereof).

No. FEMDO is enroute, not pre-landing.

What does the ILCH above stand for? I've guessed BUMF...
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By WelshRichy
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909805
I'm so glad someone else was asking about FEMDO as I too was going to ask, guessed it was something to do with en-route checks but couldn't place the "O". I was taught and have used ever since FREDA:

F - Fuel Tank Correctly Selected (Change if Necessary) and Sufficient, Fuel Pump On/Off as Applicable
R - Radio's correctly tuned, check volume (press to test) if not heard anything for a while, next frequency (if known) selected on standby.
E - Temperatures and Pressures in the Green and noting any Trends in the readings. Carb Heat Check (though I put the carb heat on before starting F and off once finished with A just so that it has plenty of time to do something useful).
D - Direction Indicator aligned with Compass
A - Altimeter Pressure Settings correctly set, obtain new setting if necessary.

Sounds like your first stab at the circuit sounds rather familiar, brings back a lot of memories from mine many years ago.
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By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1909816
WelshRichy wrote:

> E - Temperatures and Pressures in the Green and noting any Trends in the
> readings. Carb Heat Check (though I put the carb heat on before starting F

Does E include mixture in current FI thinking, or is that just top of climb checks?

I re-lean at the end of any significant altitude change, but otherwise I leave it mostly alone so including it in periodic enroute checks seems a bit pointless.

It's only going to change in the cruise if I confuse the knob with the carb heat, and if I do that, it sure as heck ain't going to need any checking.
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