Wed May 02, 2018 12:51 pm
#1608839
So I'm new on the board but thought I'd kick things off with a confession. Not too bad a mistake but bad enough that I still squirm to think about the way I reacted.
Relatively newly passed PPL, but I'd already taken a few passengers up and was comfortable having pax on local flights round the area. One evening decided to take my neighbour for an evening flight up towards the Wash / Kings Lynn area.
So being new to a PPL, I'd only just started to get familiar with the joys of GPS and Sky Demon. (That's another subject but why they don't teach you how to use those things as part of the PPL course I just don't know...)
It seems that the default setting for Sky Demon when you plan a route is that it gives you warnings if your route infringes airspace but it _doesn't_ warn if your route goes through an AIAA (area of intense aerial activity). My route just nipped inside the Wash AIAA near Kings Lynn and I didn't notice it.
Lesson #1 - plan your route properly and _never_ assume there are no hazards just because a computer program gives you a green light
But that wasn't really the bit I'm embarrassed about. So we begin the flight, beautiful evening, all going well, and as we get closer to Kings Lynn Sky Demon puts that funny ring around the plane which warns you're near something you need to be aware of. I wasn't that familiar with SD at the time and didn't 100% know what it meant, but I was on track at the correct altitude so I figured it wasn't anything to worry about.
Then as we neared Kings Lynn Sky Demon tells me "entering AIAA" or something similar and flashes up a red warning that it might be 'active'. I'm ashamed to say:
- I couldn't remember what an AIAA was and, worse...
- Instead of reacting "This is worrying, I'll turn around, get out of it, and then assess what it was", my reaction was something along the lines of "I don't want to admit to my passenger that I don't know what's happening, so I'll just ignore it"
I'm incredibly ashamed of that reaction - just shows how the pressure not to look stupid makes you do stupid things. Looking back on it it's really clear that you just have to swallow your pride.
I'm now a year on from that and have never made such a mistake again, even when faced with a similar situation (e.g. aborting a flight with a passenger because I was slightly worried about an engine vibration during runups that turned out to be nothing) so I'm fairly sure I've learnt my lesson.... but I squirm just thinking about it.
Could have been so much worse. Of course, there's no legal obligation to obtain clearance to enter an AIAA but you'd obviously be mad not to call up the relevant station and ask for a service. There were apaches doing exercises in the Wash at the time
...
Relatively newly passed PPL, but I'd already taken a few passengers up and was comfortable having pax on local flights round the area. One evening decided to take my neighbour for an evening flight up towards the Wash / Kings Lynn area.
So being new to a PPL, I'd only just started to get familiar with the joys of GPS and Sky Demon. (That's another subject but why they don't teach you how to use those things as part of the PPL course I just don't know...)
It seems that the default setting for Sky Demon when you plan a route is that it gives you warnings if your route infringes airspace but it _doesn't_ warn if your route goes through an AIAA (area of intense aerial activity). My route just nipped inside the Wash AIAA near Kings Lynn and I didn't notice it.
Lesson #1 - plan your route properly and _never_ assume there are no hazards just because a computer program gives you a green light
But that wasn't really the bit I'm embarrassed about. So we begin the flight, beautiful evening, all going well, and as we get closer to Kings Lynn Sky Demon puts that funny ring around the plane which warns you're near something you need to be aware of. I wasn't that familiar with SD at the time and didn't 100% know what it meant, but I was on track at the correct altitude so I figured it wasn't anything to worry about.
Then as we neared Kings Lynn Sky Demon tells me "entering AIAA" or something similar and flashes up a red warning that it might be 'active'. I'm ashamed to say:
- I couldn't remember what an AIAA was and, worse...
- Instead of reacting "This is worrying, I'll turn around, get out of it, and then assess what it was", my reaction was something along the lines of "I don't want to admit to my passenger that I don't know what's happening, so I'll just ignore it"
I'm incredibly ashamed of that reaction - just shows how the pressure not to look stupid makes you do stupid things. Looking back on it it's really clear that you just have to swallow your pride.
I'm now a year on from that and have never made such a mistake again, even when faced with a similar situation (e.g. aborting a flight with a passenger because I was slightly worried about an engine vibration during runups that turned out to be nothing) so I'm fairly sure I've learnt my lesson.... but I squirm just thinking about it.
Could have been so much worse. Of course, there's no legal obligation to obtain clearance to enter an AIAA but you'd obviously be mad not to call up the relevant station and ask for a service. There were apaches doing exercises in the Wash at the time

