WEEK 42, 43: FINAL NAVS, GH's, X COUNTRY QUALIFIER & PT1 PREPARATION #32

Airline Prep

I've been pretty busy over the last few days. Since my last update I've had 6 flights, including my last few solo navs and general handling lessons, my PT1 profile (mock) and finally, my CPL cross country qualifier.

The conditions haven't been great for flying at all this month really and I've been battling the weather. To be honest it's given me much more confidence flying in fairly average weather and I'm sure has made me a better pilot than I would be if I just flew in still, clear air the whole time. There's been lots of cloud and rain around which means having to fly lower than planned and in the process dodging around showers or in some cases flying through them. It's been quite windy which creates turbulence in certain areas, especially the lee side of hills and mountain ranges.

CTC & NZHN from the air. Courtesy of.... _ _ _aliice_ _ on instagram

One flight I had was particularly bad! There was about a half hour stretch where I was in the lee side of the Coromandel mountain range and it's the one time since I've been here where I genuinely felt uncomfortable. I was being chucked around all over the place, constantly having to level the wings, the nose and adjust the power. Maintaining an accurate heading was near impossible. I even hit my head on the ceiling once. I was so relieved to get through a gap at the top of the peninsular and onto the upwind side where it was much smoother. However on the leg back from there I had to go to about 1500 feet to avoid going into cloud as well as having to fly through a few light showers and deal with pretty poor vis. It was without a doubt the most challenging flight I've had to date but there was a great deal of satisfaction once the wheels touched the ground back at Hamilton.

Mt Ruapehu from 8000'

I had my last two general handling lessons which I was very happy with. I really used my time efficiently to get all the PT1 stuff that I could be tested on as perfect as possible. Recently my flapless landings haven't been as good as I would like so I spent most of my circuit time practising those and in my last flight I finally went away feeling I had them down. Because the Katana is a very streamline aircraft, if you don't put the flaps down to increase the drag it just floats like a glider and is difficult to slow down. If you flare slightly early then it'll balloon and float, meaning you use up a lot of runway trying to land it. This is fine on Hamilton's big runway but if you were trying to land it on something smaller then this would be a big problem. So I really tried to touch it down as close to my aiming point as possible, which I think I did quite well in the last lesson so hopefully I can repeat that on PT1.

I've had my last flight with my instructor, MJ now which is very sad. He's been absolutely brilliant to me and I'm so lucky to have had such a good instructor and such a top bloke. We've got on really well since the first flight and he's made all my dual lessons very enjoyable. Anyone who has him is very lucky indeed.

Last flight with the legend that is MJ Kim

That last flight was my PT1 profile, which is basically a mock flight of the real thing with your primary instructor. I had to give him a brief as if he was a passenger who's never flown before which was weird. Telling him not to touch any of the controls, stay well clear of propellers, don't smoke in the aircraft or on the apron etc. It felt very silly saying that stuff to a much more experience pilot than myself!

Enjoying a well trimmed Katana in perfectly still air for once

He tested me on my general handling, instrument flying, navigation and circuits. I had to divert to a small airfield I hadn't been to before, do an overhead join and a few circuits (including a glide approach and a flapless). I wasn't very happy with my circuits, even though MJ said they were fine. I just felt like they weren't very smooth and was annoyed with myself because I knew I could do so much better. That's why I was so determined to get them right in my next GH & circuits lesson. Hopefully I'll get them spot on in the test.

Mt Taranaki popping its head above the cloud

Yesterday I finally got my CPL cross country qualifier done. I flew over 300 nautical miles and landed at New Plymouth (NP), Wanganui (WU) and Hamilton (HN). The vis was pretty poor and cloud fairly low from HN to NP and from NP to WU but it was good enough. It's a pretty easy route to navigate because all you have to do is follow the coast. It was the first time I'd been to NP and WU so I'm glad they weren't very hard to find. There was about a 30 kt headwind at both airports which made my ground speed extremely slow and it felt like I was landing a helicopter rather than a plane. It just sank down beautifully and almost stopped dead! You have to stop for at least half an hour at your two stops to refuel and get some lunch. It felt so cool pulling into NP next to a couple of Air New Zealand Dash-8's and walking in and out of the terminal freely and looking like a pilot. I can't wait to be doing that as a proper commercial pilot with a few stripes on my shoulders.

Anyway, I had some lunch and refuelled at NP whilst catching up with a couple of other cadets who where doing the same route as me. I then set off for the next leg of my flight and took a slight detour to avoid the lee side of the massive Mt Taranaki (a wise move). There was a layer of cloud covering the top so I found a gap in the cloud and just got up on top of it for a bit to get a few good pics. Finding WU wasn't an issue either and again there was a very strong headwind, making landing an easy task. The three of us met up again in the terminal there for a drink and a chat before departing for the final leg.

Refuelling at New Plymouth

3 CTC planes parked up at Wanganui

This leg was awsome for me. Initially I'd planned a diversion for a lower level route due to the cloud but when I set off it looked pretty clear to where I originally planned (Taupo - AP) so I changed my course back to that. Again, easy to navigate because you just fly at the two big volcanoes sticking out of the landscape. I managed to get to 8000' going past the volcanoes and it was a superb sight! Once I got to AP I practised a diversion to Tokoroa and then to Matamata before heading for home because I had to get a certain amount of hours done in that flight. Landing at Hamilton was very difficult because it was straight into the sun and the glare from the canopy made it impossible to see anything. Thankfully I know the ground features on the approach so I was kind of looking down to assess my position but judging whether I was on profile was difficult. Luckily a cloud came along when I was at about 400 feet and I could finally see the runway perfectly. I was on profile and made a nice landing back at Hamilton. It was an immense sense of accomplishment and it's needless to say I was absolutely shattered. I arrived at the airport at 09:00 and didn't leave until 19:00. I flew for just under 4.5 hours.

Lunch in the canteen at New Plymouth

Check in desk at Wanganui

My X Country route

I now just have my PT1 and two night flights left before my VFR stage of training is complete. I've just been given 11 days off where I intend to go to Australia to visit some friends and family. I'm just about to go and book the tickets, I'm very excited!