Post Training Flying Diary

Aerobatics Competition - BAeA Beginner's Open at Sleap - July 2013

I woke up to glorious sunshine in Lancashire. An early start at 6 am – One hearty breakfast later (Porridge - food of the Gods!!); loaded the car and drove to Sleap in beautiful Shropshire. Not my first ‘competition’ or ‘contest’ as I believe we are not supposed to say ‘competition’. I’d ‘contested’ at the Little Gransden Beginners Day earlier in June in Adrian’s Extra which was a fantastic experience, not least because there were quite a few entrants and we were all doing our first contest together. We were all on the same journey and we all left as friends.

Sleap Airfield was manned by tweeting birds and being the Shropshire equivalent of ‘sleepy valley’ was nice and peaceful at 08:30 hrs. I met the BAeA team Emily, Steve and John. Already knew Jen from the previous contests as a contestant and scribe on a couple of occasions. Unfortunately, my best friend Jack the mongrel and his sweaty tennis ball didn’t make this contest so no chance of distracting the judges during a sequence with deftly placed under armed lobs designed for Jack to cause maximum destruction on the judging line. I’d obviously have to resort to more subtle techniques like flying a sequence correctly. I also met the other contestants John and Steve both first timers to contests. Another chap was weathered in so it looked like just the three of us so coming third didn’t sound at all bad if you were batting against the home team.

At 09:30 hrs were given our detailed briefing. Straight forward and becoming more the norm having sat in on a few. The safety frequency is a good idea especially at a busy airfield like Sleap. Being able to be contacted or clarify with the Chief Judge provides peace of mind. Extremely impressed by the volunteers at Sleap who can seamlessly manage aerobatic boxes and normal traffic with no fuss like professionals.

Third up to fly; the butterflies were starting. I know I can do it but having the capacity to do it well when it counts. This was my first time solo contest. The Slingsby looks very graceful from the ground when performing aeros; in the cockpit I seem to have to get all agricultural to make it do what I want it to do. Being lined up on axis and being in the right place was for me one of the things I struggled with but thinking through your sequence you can plan out some of the positional issues beforehand. The BAeA team gave some good advice on this during the pre-briefing. Sleap is not a bad place to compete because of the long tarmac runway for orientation. Start height was another issue I had to think about. Whilst doing most of my aeros prep at a much higher height I’d only dropped the height to competition heights two days before and figured a run in at 3200 ft gave me the personal safety factor I needed. My experience in the Extra at Little Gransden clearly demonstrated that ensuring a good line down after the stall turn and also showing decent inverted 45 deg lines on the ½ Cuban was money in the bank traded for height loss.

Flight 1
When my turn came I took my time making sure everything was right in the cockpit. There was no rush. That would certainly be the wrong sort of pressure to apply to beginners. Climbed through the box to have a good luck at the overhead. I forgot to do the ½ roll to check the inverted systems, check for loose items and the tightness of the negative G straps. I personally found that flying square legs to the box helped me to line up and mentally prepare because with a low wing the box was partially obscured. My first sequence went by in no time at all. I mentally recorded errors but actually thought that’s not far off feeling like my best; I must have done OK. When you get to the last wing rocks and you know you completed the sequence in the right hemisphere and can plot a route to landing you get this sense of; wow I can really do this. I realise its only beginners but it is a lot more to it than just flying aeros. The BAeA team do a great job of filling in those other gaps too

Here is Steve going into great detail .

By far the most rewarding part of the process is receiving feedback. I was pleasantly surprised to get 73% and be leading the group; I received excellent feedback that was clear and concise. With this this feedback I was mentally able to walk through my sequence and apply the learnings. Positioning could be better although I received a good mark. I started slightly early and was Right. So a later start. Came out lower on the loop; I was positive up and down the stall turn; I was shallow on my half cuban inverted 45 both legs; too shallow on my up and down lines on the wingover. My roll got good scores. Think I finished at about 2000 ft, (Lost 1200 ft through the sequence)

Flight 2

I was feally fired up to make the changes and was going to force improvements. First time through the box I performed my half roll. All good although I dished out of it oiff heading - Message to brain - Include feet in all email correspondence! Started at 3200 ft and put my back into it. Purposely went slightly negative on the upline and downline of the stall turn. I'm sure the judges see a slightly lesser angle than what it feels like in the cockpit due to the angle of incidence. Held the downline for longer to nail the points trading some height. Went steeper on the inverted 45 although still dishing out of the horrible roll erect. Again held this for longer to get clear lines. Turned away on my wingover because I was getting closer to the judges. Held the downline for longer and really used up all my available height so that I actually rolled at 1400ft!! Of course the altimeter jumps about and you are never sure what altitude you have precisely until the lag time has elapsed - by which time the judges would have given up and gone for lunch. The roll was a little scrappy on exit and I knew I'd dropped points compared to my first sequence. Over all I felt a little deflated as I felt I tried too hard and it felt scrappier than the first with a possible disqualification. As it turned out the I'd gained 5% more marks. Must admit I thought that would ensure the beginners plaque. However, it wasn't to be Steve's improvement was also good and he pipped me by 0.15%... bugger. Infact both Steve and John clearly demonstrating that the quality of the feedback and the learning environment was just right. I was very happy with my perfomance and feel that it was as good as a win; knowing what wasn't quite right is all important and the BAeA team are experts in making that process happen. An excellent day out.. Humbled away by the selfless professionalism of those running the event.

Might even be ready to progress to the next level - Standard... now there's a thought

Aerobatics Competition - BAeA Beginner's Open at Little Gransden - June 2013

Flight 1

After hanging around for a while at Little Gransden taking it all in and being a general hanger rat I was offered a ride in a Bulldog with a very nice instructor called Fran, who let me fly almost the whole flight!!! It was awesome. Love the Bulldog. Of course not my only flight in a Bulldog and a lovely refresher. He even let me do a wingover :-)

Pre Flight - Introduction

The Extra - I didn't really want a check out I just wanted to compete in the competition. Flown solo from the back I very was offered the back seat by Adrian the owner but declined out of not wanting to break his aeroplane and get overloaded. All I wanted on the Friday before the comp was to experience how it aerobats. I wasn't disappointed. Getting in..there quite a soft breakable plastic cockpit facia on the second seat. Just a plastic moulded seat angled right back with your legs almost as high as your chest (have that impression because of the plane incidence sat on the tail wheel). There was a nic metal frame to hold onto. Straps were interesting. (finally figured them out after flight number 3) I did most of the taxi-ing, Adrain did the first take off then handed to me on the climb out. It shocked me that he rammed the stick forward as soon as full power was applied; Not what I do in the chippy!! Interesting. 84 knots was the best rate of climb, no forward view so dippled the nose to look ahead every now and again and tweaked the ailerons trying to get a sneak preview on what the roll rate was going to feel like. Faily slowish climber. Think I was expecting a rocket but its only a 200 HP version

I demonstrated a loop and straight away I could tell that anything other than a delicate touch was going to ramp the G up in multiples. Loved the sighting devices. we worked through the repotire of figures before I attempted the sequence. Loops, easy to flick on the exit with manhandling, could look at the world turning around those lovely wings all day. Rolls absolutely no nose up required if you use slow roll rudder technique and push under. Lovely. Adrian taught the wings level technique for the wingover and I must admit it suited better. Interesting stall turn technique. When kicking round apply full ailerons then a small push. It worked really well, the kick straight and vertical same as all the others except the rapid acceleration was breathtaking. My sequence wasn't half bad - no idea how much height I was losing. I did a very nice landing talked down by Adrian, 85 on approach, 80 at the threshold, He told me to use power for speed and elevator for height! I closed the throttle fully on his request at hedge and felt a little high in the round out bit it handled it perfectly rewarded with a light touchdown and easy roll out; No stick straight back like the Chippy to avoid flying again!

The Practice Round

Took off headed away and did one full sequence for Adrian; I did get critique which I forgot and then ran in for the competition box heading for downwind. Positioned best I could on the wood because of the on judge wind (not far enough as it turned out). Cloud base meant a 3000ft start which I thought would be enough but it turned out that it wasn't. I did two wing rocks on the level to get them out of the way dove for speed. Should have wing rocked on the 45 but forgot and did it on the straight instead. There's no penalty for that but not the most efficient. My loop seemed OK, held a nice long 4 second line before Stall turning -  went off reasonably well I held a long vertical downline. I was drifting towards the judges now; actually that was then last point at which I had situational awareness. I thought my 1/2 Cuban was good but I held a steep downline and for too long. The combination of low start height, long vertical down, and steep inverted 45 my height was too low. Adrian suggested a break which I gladly took - I climbed back up reset my position again and did a very nice wingover and slow roll. Very surprised with my first placing and 79.8% score!!

The Round that Counted

Straight into it (12 minutes of flight time). I thought my initial positioning was better however I still ended up RR and NN. The cloud base was higher and this allowed me to run in at 3400 ft. Once the wings cover the airfield and judges its very hard to guess where to start. To me it was a lot better even though I actually scored lower, I think I finished at 2200 ft. 75.3% third out of nine and I got a perfect 10 for my slow roll which is just great.

All told great feedback received lots of food for thought

Tiger Circuit July 2012

After many cancellations due to weather I was lucky enough to fly the Tiger Moth finally. Strapped in with a four point harness. Proper biggles type flying helmet :-) I was sat in the front. Martin had to be sat in the back as P1 but being a tailwheel pilot he'd let me fly her. He had the brake in the back - literally all I had was a stick, rudder, throttle, friction nut, fuel cut-off and trim. Very quick run down of what was what and we were to taxi to Alpha 3 Hold. Throttle the same as the chippy, infact, same engine. The tiger was quite a large beasty and I could see very little out so I had to taxi and constantly weave to be able to see where I was going. Start any taxi with stick back then as soon as she is moving adopt the correct stick position based on the wind. I was aware of a large downwind wind component however the weaving stick positions had to take precedence... Stick back of neutral co-ordination same stick side as the rudder used to turn and weave.. Feeling the power I achieved this quite well. No handbrake and no power checks as she'd just been flown and Martin said he'd done them at the start of the day with chocks!!! The LH turn from looking down 27 to passing A3 took a little more than stick rudder and power, I asked Martin to use some differential brake from the rear and it worked a treat.

Line her up, tail wheel straight, I gave full power then 4 seconds then raised the tail; Although I pre-emptied rudder for the power on I was a little late with the the swing or I had too much LH rudder on as she swung left by 5 degrees. I corrected with some oscillations and held the tiger tail up on the stick to get the ground speed up and not lift off too early. Martin asked for 55 and I missed it as when I eased the stick back a little upon Martins request to lower the tail slightly I could feel her light on the wheels and before long the inevitable happened and we were up. I'd taken off a Tiger Moth!!! Martin suggested climb out at 55 mph; must admit the nose was high and I had 60-65 and didn't want to induce any quick pitch up change. I chased it but never achieved 55 mph. The trim was nice although not a motor skill yet. At 500 ft turned it into a climbing turn; levelling out Martin said I could roll on a point; Everything he'd said about the tiger was right although I think the controls were stuck in quick sand and super glue!! The aileron was almost ineffective and the rudder was horrible. I rolled on a point; Wanted 60 degree wing downs. The nose was all over the sky and I could see that getting this right was going to take a while. I was quite aggressive with the aileron but it had no real effect. I had set 1900 rpm to cruise at 75 but I don't think I had the throttle friction nut right as every time I scanned I'd find the RPMs back to 1600 RPM. I was holding the nose too high as well and dropped it on Martins request. Definately better view... Didn't seem to make any difference to the speed or trim!!!

Martin said I could fly a wide circuit. Before I knew it I was late downwind. One ahead and we were fairly close. On late Base I set 1300 RPM. Purposely overshot the centreline and then S turned her in since I could see ahead. I approach configuration at 60 mph the whole runway was under the nose and I could see bugger all. Went over the Motorway at over 500 ft; In my view we were too high and suggested a side slip to Martin but he assured me that the rate of descent was good. Sure enough we arrived at the runway at an acceptable length in. I closed the throttle. My picture was not tail down enough and Martin asked me to lower the tail more. I did so and we were rewarded with a nice touch down. Wind was head on so no offsert aileron required. After landing checks - very important is the strong trim - throttle friction nut. Taxi'ed back to the waiting team and turned towards them and closed the throttle. Martin had the mags off and I cleared the throttle as the engine stopped. What a bloody privilige it was to have that hands on experience.

Wet Summer 2012

Well climate change caught us again. Did manage a nice trip to Wellesbourne via Sleap (to pick Jason up) Ludlow. Then again via Sleap on the way back.

The next day it was Haverfordwest via Sleap again for Jason, and Shobden's overhead. Ran short on time and had to divert back to Sleap as we couldn't make the Wolverhampton leg. Fantastic day. Loved flying so late in the day when the wind is lowest and things were very quiet. Infact, small steps forward for me. Sleap was closed when I arrived so operating from an airstrip that was closed to drop someone off was a slightly weird experience. I know some people do it all the time.

Isle of Man Trip (April 2012)

Alot of planning went into this. Started off badly with not making the agreed take-off time as I was stuck on the motorway in horrendous traffic. Paul had been a star and VA was ready to go on 32.

The immersion suits were great and turned out comfortable. The life jackets were a pain in the rocks... I'll be looking for others I think. Flight Plan filed and activated when were were airborne thanks to Lynsey. 130 knots there and 65 knots coming back. Planned for Marshside >BPL> EGNS. CAR was u/s on the island although RWY and IOM were all I needed push comes to shove. The ADF was being very slow and sluggish. Mush remember to cleran the antennae before my next flight. Getting a car from the Manx Aero Club made the day really. Ronaldway was easy and the ATC were very helpful. Filed the flight plan over the phone for the way back. I fuelled up to the gunnels as well knowing that the ground speed was going to be low so we could stay up for 4 hours if required. Coming back to Barton the airspace was quiet. I requested the wind and it was gusting down 09L upto 25 knots. Brought her in at 70 knots to maintain some measure of control and made an absolute greaser of a landing. Top day out

Some pics from the day

The road to fraggle rock

Douglas

Immersion Suit was more comfortable than it looked

Final Approach to Ronaldsway Runway 08

Andreas Aerodrome - North Shore

The hydrofoil we were racing back - with the wind in our faces it took some catching up

Morecambe Bay Gas Production Platform

Southport Pier

Winter / Spring 2012

I did manage some aeros in the Chippy. My VA sorties mainly revolved around local sorties taking advantage of this wonderful privilige. See for yourself

Summer 2011

Although I spent most of it in the chippy and the rest in VA I didn't get to do any big landaways due to dodgy weather. I did do alot of experience flights

I did however drive to Little Gransden to bring Mike back after dropping the Yak off for its Annual. Here are some of the interesting yaks on the airfield

Perfect Yak 11 that was starting up. I got to see her start up and taxi

Pristine Yak 52 in DOOSAF colours

Yak 52TW variant

Yak 52 with a Ukrainian paint scheme (I think)

Mike taxi-ing Fox Alpha

Spring 2011

Day Trip to Fife March 2011

Had a fantastic day out with Jason and his Dad. Probably the longest single leg trip I'd planned and flown

Winter Hill

The Lake District

Overflying busy Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh

Forth Rail and Road Bridges

Fife Aerodrome

VA looking great in the sun

Heading home, looking back over the Lothian Coast

We flew over a military exercise in progress

Beautiful desolate England

Back home to Barton

Day Trip To Beverley and Brieghton on my tod

Another nice day and I decided to go to Beverley Aerodrome on the East Coast - The locals were very friendly and insisted I tried their pie and chips!!!

Beverley Aerodrome

On the way home I dropped in at Brieghton to see if there were any interesting aircraft

Beautiful Bucker Jungman

Pristine Chippy flown in solo by the CFI of Sherburn. A nice chap

Interesting overheated engine!!!

Garmin 1000 Familiarisation and Checkout in Echo Alpha (Part 2) The Sign Off

A windy showery blustery day. Just perfect for the completion of my familiarisation and sign off for the Garmin 1000 equipped Cessna 172. I was hoping to do some ILS's at Hawarden. However, they didn't want to do it. Blustery winds and I noted that the base turn for Runway 22 was actually in Liverpool's airspace!! I guess blundering around lost in cloud there may have ruined their day and Liverpool's. So after checking her out and starting her up (easy once the fuel shut off is in - I need to adjust the checklist as it is not too clear)

Programming in a flight plan based on existing user defined routes was a doddle. Basically just worked out like my 296. This time I had no probs figuring out the balance ball scenario (or balance triangle - its not too intuitive and could actually have been a ball in a slide). We went down the corridor again and I was shown the auto pilot function on heading and altiude. Fairly straight forward and moved slow enough to give me a warm feeling whilst I was only at 1200ft. Happy with using it on Hdg and Alt now. I will probably use this.

Our turning point was Crewe. I went under the hood and hand flew in Simulated IMC all the way back to Barton. The scan of course is different due to the instruments being in a different format on the G1000 and I found this excellent practice and felt that I flew very accurately with the precision I was going to need in real IMC. Enjoyed this alot and think I should re-visit the Hawarden scenario with Gary on a better day and do an approach with EA

Again I greased the landing on R20.. The stall warner goes off in the flare. That's not a problem just a reminder that EA is heavier than VA and will stall at a slightly higher speed. Something I need to keep an eye on. Gary said he was happy. All signed up and ready to HIre EA

Garmin 1000 Familirisation and Checkout in Echo Alpha (Part 1)

Given that Victor Alpha will be out for a while after one of the other group members had a propstrike I was snookered for a Cessna to fly. It turned out that Echo Alpha was being used by Jason (another group member) to do his IMC rating in!!! Its a Garmin 1000 equipped new Cessna 172SP with a 180HP engine. Whilst I didn't feel any greater poke it did like to cruise at 105 knots with 2350 set for RPM. NO carb heat and auto slaved HSI...One might be tempted to ask is there anything you do have to do!!! Well the G1000 has alot going on and with it all being digital it all changes constantly. I found this rather distracting and forced myself to take breaks and spend more time on my scan. The numbers slightly different than VA, Vx=60 Vy=75; on approach 70 then 60 on final...

Whilst I would have chosen a normal fit over a Garmin as I like steam driven kit (and the more steam, oil and grime the better..) beggars can't be choosers. I was pleasantly surprised. It fly beautifully, very stable. The turn and slip indicator is abit of a mystery. The start up procedure I was used to from when I did my night quali in an SP. That it start it lean then feed in the mixture. The heading and altitude bug deal was good. Of course you have to make sure you have the same pressure setting otherwise its all bollox. You have to set the pressure in three places, the G1000, the autopilot and the normal altimeter. Nav com was easy, Gary my instructor demonstrated the VOR and we took a radial from Manchester whilst we were transitting the corridor. For some reason Whitegate wasn't transmitting. Not the first time I've been unable to get it whilst transitting the low level corridor.

I liked the fact that you can have 4 coms close to hand. All this will make X countries much easier. The Xponder is easy and mainly automatic although pressing the numbers when the planes bumping around is fun.

We finished the sortie with a couple of touch and goes and I nailed both of them very easily. Little crosswind that disappeared in the roundout. 60 knots must be close to the short field as I had the stall warner going off on all my roundouts. No dramas all went well. I was happy to play out longer and throw in more fun with some failures but Gary had to get back on shift (Policemen). Nailed the landing then joined the rodeo on the bumps in the middle of the runway. Next session Gary promises planning a flight on the Garmin 1000 and some some ILS approaches at Hawarden. Look forward to that.

Winter 2010

January was a write off. I managed one currency flight with Peter in very marigal visibility. Infact by the time we got to the Reebok the Winter Hill mast had disappeared. Four touch and goes later (one was flapless and one glide) I was current again. End of Feb /March - Wow all the crap weather went and I had a great run of flights. Took Paul to Shobden. Routed via SWB and flew partially in cloud tracking to and from the beacon. This really is the first time I've been using my OMC rating in anger and it felt good and I was fully in control. What a lovely place Shobden is. Busy as hell with gliders and microlights. We were cut up on base and had to go-around but I was enjoying the view anyway. I flew both way as Paul just wanted the ride. Great day out. Next came Sywell with Geoff. Weather was bit iffy and we spent the first part of it at 1700ft. Things were faairly static so we expected the same on the way back. As we got further south things opened up into glorious sunshine as they always do when you go south!!!! Sywell grass is amazing. Just a big field. We landed uphill oj the short runway 33. Taxied via the new tarmac runway. Super cafe and facilities. The Blades were making practice sorties every 2 hours. I flew on the way back and tracked LIC back in partial IMC; I was forced to descend by the thickening cloud and being close to zero on the OAT it wasn't too safe to continue. Back down to 1700ft and an uneventful arrival at Barton.

Took Georgie up for her first flight. Beautiful day and we did Clitheroe, Fleetwood Blackpool Southport Winter Hill Barton - all in 1 hour 20 mins.

Had a nice trip with Geoff to Leicester - We were treated to lunch. Then I flew us back via the easter edge of Manchester zone through the Peak District over Hathersage and Bamford where I used to live. See Ladybower Reservoir and the Snake Pass. One the left of the dash is Win Hill our favourite climb and butty stop!!

Peat Hills near the Woodhead Pass

Winter 2009

Bit of a miserable Winter. However a great opportunity to get up with Martin in GBOIL for some IMC refresher. Turnrf up and there a problem with BOIL so we jumped in GISHA my old favourite. Nice to be back in a PA28 although do miss the room of a C172. Did an SRA to 20 at Barton and a LOC/DME approach. All went really well. The next IMC session a few days later in GBOIL over to Blackpool. We'd planned two Radar Vectored on the ILS but after we'd got a service from Warton Radar they announced that BLackpool's radar was US would we like Procedural ILSs on 28. Yes please. I was ready for this. We then did two approaches after tracking to BPL making a parralell entry into thr hold. Our descent was delayed and we had to drop pretty quick and just made the right height for the procedure turn. The second approach was better still abit rusty. Headed back to Barton back tracking BPL and we did Martins LOC DME procedure. Partially in cloud "the real thing" it all went reasonable well.

Twin Otter - Shotgun for a Commercial Revalidation

I was lucky enough to be invited on a Commercial re-validation of the First Officer by the training Captain our Twin Otter at work. It was 2 1/2 hours of fun. Basically just like a skills test for singles except no VFR Navigation required and there was an instrument plate for a holding exercise and IMC approach. Of course being a twin there was all the assymetrical stuff which was new to me.

A week earlier I had been in the RHS for some engine tests after the Mechanic had chaged the oil filters on both engines.

For the Flight Test I had the mechanics headset so I follow the whole test. Enjoyed the simulated engine fire - one was shut down then the

re-started in the air.

Note the RH engine shut down flight from the instruments below

Thoughly enjoyed the 60 deg steep turns and the unusual attitudes had me giggling like a girl cos it was being thrown around like an extra.

Stalled just like VA .... Asymmetric  go around and touch and go. There was an approach plate for our location based on a GPS reference point so with the LH cockpit window blocked (I didn't realise that it was a mini IR renewal to!!) Once around the hold then outbound to a base turn. The usual TGs in different configs including a very short stop our dirt runway. Great stuff. 65 over the threshhold!!! 1000m runway and the abandoned take off reached V1 before the anchors were thrown out. Exciting stuff. Interesting to see how much of a 4 handed job it was. Even on the ground it had to flown whilst taxi-ing in wind and the small steering handle made it awkward for the PIC to do this so the Co-pilot does this.

Unusual Attitude Up

Unusual attitude down

I saw the training cap at dinner and went through a bunch of questions. A great learning experience I would have paid for.

Post Ruptured Achilles

I had a pretty miserable summer laid up for 7 weeks with a leg brace; Saved too much money..... In September after 5 months of rehibilitation, I re-validated with Martin; Felt as though I hadn't been out of the cockpit at all. All went well and my flying skills were still there. I made a couple of local flights did some more approaches. I also had a very nice trip curtesy of Geoff in his new PA28 down to Blackbushe to pick up his son from Uni. Coming back we dropped in on Wellesbourne aas his son was being sick in the back!! Then I took Gabs to Wellesbourne. It was a nice trip. Gabs ate the mother or all cheeseburgers followed by a huge slice of chocolate cake against my better wishes and snoozed all the way from Wolverhampton to Cheshire!!

Pre-Ruptured Achilles

I had a nice trip with a friend Shaun to Caenarfon. Vis was fab and lovely weather. Pretty bad shimmy whilst I was taxi-ing after landing!!

Did Wellesbourne with Jason; A few local flights. Had some fun with Geoff making Steep turns from the right hand seat!!!

Wings and Wheels Halfpenny Green with Jason

Wx was great at Barton. The Metar and Taf was showing alot of haze so I stuck enough juice in VA to make it back if things were too bad. I did the take off and landings. Jason did all the rest of the flying.

Once through the low level corridor the vis closed in and the horizon disappeared. Difficult conditions to fly VFR accurately. Shawbury was closed although one nice chap answered our calls to tell us his position.

We told Cosford Radio that we were going to overfly at 3000ft then we descended quickly into thicker haze and there were a few clouds in the circuit. Glad I tuned WBA. Crosschecking between this and my GPS I positioned for a join from the south. I kept a tight circuit because it would be easy to lose the aircraft in the haze.

After a hearty meal (more like heart attack!!) we had a look around. Picked up an old intersting book and the highlights for me was the De Havilland Dragon Rapide.

Going home we took off after the Dragon Rapid into the haze. Uneventful trip back. We routed via Bridgenorth to avoid Cosford. I had SWB tuned just incase we needed to use it for tracking through some murk. Jason obtained a basic service from London Information to cover us on the way back. They wanted to know our shoe sizes!! Great to know someone professional was monitoring our progress.

Great day out. Great experience for Jason as a student.

 MovieClip

Summer Flying 2008

Very disappointing summer it was as well. Apart from a few local flights managed Tatenhill with Paul; Caenarfon with Geoff which was just brilliant routing North of Liverpool zone flying out to sea. You really don't need a map for this journey. The view of the Welsh mountains was great. One to do with Non-flying passengers methinks. Last of all before the annual I had a half decent trip down to an old WWII airfield called Little Staughton in Cambridgeshire. That was excellent. I put alot of planning into it and it paid dividends in a fab trip to a new place with a large cod and chips consumed at a local pub. Two things of note. Firstly it was the first time I'd flown VA high enough to lean. Secondly, prior to heading home I decided that the Pooleys plate was wrong and the 925m of runway from the taxiway was incorrect. I took one look and decided a backtrack would be more appropriate. Great trip. I did the radio and the flying Robbo confirmed our position manually with the map and I think he enjoyed his fix.

Ultimate High - Basic Spinning Course Late Summer 2008

Had another fab day out at Ultimate High - Just thought I'd share it with you. Pete came with me too (thanks for the company Pete and the official photography services) The weather on the way down to Kemble got progressively worse just like last time. After some discussion it became apparent that the cloud tops were not right for fully developed spins so I decided to do my biennial 1 hour flight with some extras thrown in. What a fab day out. Fully recommend this bunch. A wobbly prop bulldog; Romeo Sierra. I did most of the checks, the taxiing and 90% of the calls. The 1 hour 15 mins included biennial included, the take off, climb through clouds in IMC (Rich did that- my first experience in a light aircraft). Firstly steep turn revision � my first attempts were not great but once I'd nailed the picture of the cowling and where it should be for left and rights they were sorted; clean stall, approach stall went well. Next came upsets. I made recoveries from one extreme UP at high speed; one extreme DOWN at high speed and one extreme UP at low speed (which I hadn't done before (power off; just centralise the controls and wait for gravity to make the heavy end point down before recovery).

Rich then showed me something I'd not done before. We explored the light buffet and heavy buffet performance in 60 degree steep turns - fantastic learning experience. There was a slight difference between light buffet and maximum wing lift and a slight increase of AOA which led to the lift fluctuating and heavy buffet (i.e. on the drastically dropping side of the lift curve). Both done with the stall warner bleating away in the background and just ignored. Opened Pandora's Box on my understanding of what's happening and the effect on performance. Rich said that aero pilots fly on the light buffet when competing. I re-visited incipient spins Rich did one demonstrated then I recovered the second one without too many problems. I really enjoyed this. It's an extreme maneuver which scared the bejesus out of me last time I was at UH but now I couldn't wait to do it again. I asked to do my own entry. Whilst I was at the buffet just about to give it a bootful of left clog Rich kicked right rudder instead of my intended left. This was challenging as we flipped over as expected (me being in the left hand seat of course being thrown over the long way around. It appeared that we adopted a completely upside down just dropping out of the sky with a flat attitude waiting for spin or recovery, gravity won over auto gyration and I recovered without too much screaming. New for me loops - one demonstrated then I did my own - outrageous fun - pulled 3.5 - 4 g. Thoroughly enjoyed this and could have happily spent the rest of the day making circles in the sky. Aileron rolls - one demonstrated then I did one left and one right - Good lesson in energy transfer and gyroscopic effect on roll rate when rolling to the right.

Rich my instructor wanted to head back so we found a gap in the 99% cloud cover and he talked me through all the risks and issues that I'd not thought about never having been in that situation before. We descended through the gap at high speed then found Kemble. I made all the calls and joined the busy circuit. First Bulldog circuit revision, speeds, flaps and a go around then I did a touch and go which couldn't have gone better and was fairly easy as a bulldog climbs with 40 degree drag flap so there's no hurry to get flap off on the runway. Next came a glide approach from the late downwind position - was pretty easy but we were right up the arse of another aircraft so I went around at the last minute (reckon I would have shot him down)

Finally a different slant on EFATO - My instructor took up down to 400ft on final at high speed. Zoomed up to 700 ft and pulled the power for an engine failure. Massive pitch change required to obtain glide speed then I glided to a landing. Imagine doing that over the flats (you would have to go under the bridge). A good demonstration in how little time you have and how hard you have to push the nose over to avoid stalling speeds at low altitudes. The point was clearly made and good food for thought.

I've not had a more fruitful or fun 1 hour and 15 mins. Think all my biennials will be an excuse to go down to UH and have some fun.

Ultimate High - Basic Spinning Course Summer 2008

I booked this a long time ago with a view to doing spin training as its no longer on the PPL syllabus and I didn't want the first time I spin to be my last. Didn't fancy it in club aircraft with instructors who would be less than current. So from the Flyer Forum I discovered a company based down at Kemble called Ultimate High who specialise in, inter alia, advanced PPL training. Just the ticket!! I also managed to get Geoff interested in some training. We signed up for the basic spin package.

The day consisted of:-

- Welcome coffee with "Hooligan" (ex RN Pilot cum commercial) and Helen (ex world wingwalking champion) - Suiting up in some great flying suits; at least we looked the part!!! 8-) - Briefing - I was enthusiastic before - I felt a sense of impending doom and "what the hell have I signed up for??" after it. The official term was "shitting myself" - Hooligan took us out to Romeo Seirra and Geoff and I sat in her and got a feel for the instruments and where everything was. All very cosy and somehow it felt right. - Lite bite - After getting a feel for the Bulldog the chaps asked us if we could wait to see which way the weather will go so we went for a bite. The AV8 restaurant had excellent fair, very friendly staff and most definately Ultimate High prices

When we got back it turned out that the cloudbase was +- 1500 ft and there was a gap between the top of this and the next layer at 6000ft. "Greeners" the MD and my instructor said we could go and take a look anyway.