Well the weather man must have read my blog last week because I've flown almost every day this week. The weather was actually good enough to fly! However, it's gone back to heavy rain and strong wind now but at least I got some good flying in before.
A little something I put together
Pre sun-rise on the apron
Another use for the map whilst flying back to Hamilton into the sun
GH on the west coast
Steep turn over Waitoa
My flights last week consisted of solo general handling and circuits, which entails going out on your own to practice stalling, PFL's (practised forced landings), steep and medium turns. It's also good practice of getting in and out of the zone by yourself and is a good confidence builder in preparation for the nav flights, which are just one flight away!
Looking back at the airport on climb out
You can only go 25 nm out from the airport which isn't really very far so the areas that you can go to is a bit restrictive but there are still some lovely views and it's a good opportunity to practice the manoeuvres and get them as accurate as possible.
You then come back in and join the circuit for an hour or half and hour, so you get a bit of everything in which is good. It's a great chance to work on your approach and landings. I've done just under one hundred landings since I've been here and I still can't grease them every time so I really try to make the most of the circuit slots, especially when there's a bit of a cross wind or a few gusts because that makes it more challenging and a bit more fun!
I've also had three IF's (instrument flights) which is fun but very draining. This is when you're put under the hood and have to fly purely off instruments. It's very hard not to chase the instruments at first, especially if it's a little bit bumpy, You have to make very small adjustments and wait a bit for the dials to sort themselves out before putting in further inputs. You spend a good hour to an hour and a half under the hood, constantly scanning the instruments and concentrating on flying very accurately so it makes you feel very tired afterwards.
Clearways from the air - courtesy of annaholly4 on instagram)
You practice flying straight and level (obviously), medium turns, rate one turns, climbing, descending, recovering from unusual attitudes and in the last lesson, compass turns. Compass turns are confusing because depending on the heading you wish to be on at the end, you must anticipate the heading you roll out on. For example, if I was to turn from heading 270 to 180, I must turn to the left and roll out on heading 210 and the compass will slowly come round to settle on 180. Depending on the heading, there are different amounts you must over-turn or under-turn by. Very confusing and difficult at first but after an hour of practising, it becomes a lot easier.
The hood
In my third IF lesson, my instructor and I went to a very small airfield called Te Kuiti to do some circuits. We covered the IF parts of the lesson going to and from the airfield. The field is literally a very small field in a valley with a small runway which is a combination of grass, gravel and tarmac. You have to be on profile otherwise you either hit a hill or over shoot the runway. There are tree's at the end of the runway so you must nail your landing and go around quickly to avoid those. It was so much fun! Annoyingly I didn't have my Gopro on that flight so I can't share any footage from that but I will try to go there again and get it on film because it really was awsome!
The view from under the hood
I had the nav mass brief during the week, starting at 06:30! and finishing at 09:30. A very long brief indeed but very helpful. It made me feel much happier to plan and fly a nav route. I have one more solo GH and CCTS lesson then two dual navs, and then I'm off on my own. Scary stuff!
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