Stalling Practice, another student takes a ‘crash course’ and Solo Flight.

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.

                

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!!

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.

One Person on Board 

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. 

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.