Hello plane spotters! Lots more flying has been happening
over the last couple of months. I have just been poor at writing it up. Throughout
December I got into a good rhythm going and got plenty more hours in.
I’ve had a couple of lessons on Stalling. Stalling an aircraft is something that can happen if you point the nose upwards without enough speed causing loss of lift. It’s worth practicing different stall scenarios and learning how to recover efficiently without losing too much height. The nose goes up, the wings buffet and the warning alarm goes off. Then the plane plummets like a stone! Recovery is achieved by pushing forwards on the controls and adding full power. Woosh!
Circuit training
Sorry- no burpees, squat thrusts or crunches. After getting
stalls under wraps I was introduced to the traffic circuit. This is the pattern
in which landing aircraft fly in order to safely navigate about the airport
without crashing into each other. From a training perspective it is an
opportunity to practice lots and lots of take offs and landings. Rather than
coming to a halt after touch down you simply roll along, go full power and
takeoff again for another lap. In an hour you can do 9 laps of the airport.
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| The traffic pattern |
We
practiced different types of approaches. With and without flaps, long ones,
close in ones and also simulated engine failure approaches (the glide
approach). The glide approach was particularly fun.
Crash Course
Going back to Friday before Christmas, I was having a
routine lesson. Practicing the circuit as normal. After several laps we came
in to land and then pulled up on the taxy way. My instructor was going through
the usual debrief and then we heard a panicky voice on the radio. We turned
around and saw this on the Runway!!
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| Stacked it |
Another student pilot (different club) was doing some solo
work and was a bit heavy handed with his landing. ‘Oops’ doesn’t quite cut it! He walked away
uninjured which is more than can be said for his plane. Bit embarrassing. Bit
of a crap thing to happen just before Christmas, poor guy. No one got hurt but
the runway was shut for ages.
Two days ago I had another circuits session and also did
some more back seating with another student. It’s always beneficial to watch
someone else’s style and listen to their patter, how they handle the controls
and the radios.
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| The control tower invited me to come up and collect the progress strip of my flight. |
When I had my turn, I did a couple of circuits, and then my
instructor bailed out (on the ground) and sent me off to do my first solo!!! I
can remember my first ever ‘solo drive’ when I was seventeen. It is eerie to be
flying in a plane all by yourself. The flight only lasted six minutes but it
was quite a thrill. An awesome way to start 2013.
Watch the vid!!! Hope you enjoy. Apologies for the cheesy
soundtrack.
