After my last post the weather turned grim, meaning I had 5 days in a row of going into the airport,
Airline Prep
planning and cancelling which was very frustrating. However, the last 6 days have been excellent and I've done a lot of flying in that time.
Me doing a solo nav with Mt Pirongia in the back ground
I've started the navigation phase of my flying which is a new challenge. It takes a fair bit of time to plan a nav from scratch. You need to choose where you're going, how far it is, what track to fly, what ground features to look out for, then work out the wind at the altitude you're going to be flying and determine your heading and ground speed from that. You need to check the weather to make sure it's good enough to go and you're not going to get caught out. You then of course need to do the mass and balance and performance sheets along with a fuel log. I get to the airport about 2.5 to 3 hours before a nav flight to make sure I'm prepared.
Flight Log
Fuel Log
Mass & balance
Mass & balance - C of G
Performance
Performance
Chart
There are techniques used to make sure you navigate accurately, such as event cycle features, which is when you look for certain ground features and determine how far away from them you are and how far away you should be. Say you were meant to be 1 mile north of a particular town after 5 minutes but were actually 1 mile south of the town, you would realise you are 2 miles off track and therefore, using the standard correction angle of 30 degrees, fly for 2 minutes to regain the track then assess why you were off track. This must be done regularly do make sure you don't stray far from your designated track. You must keep track of your time so if you reach a planned point a minute late then you must amend your ETA accordingly. You must also do regular cruise checks to make sure the compass and DI are aligned, you're on the right radio frequency, the fuel is what it should be, the engine is running ok, you know where you are etc. This is all becomes a lot harder if it's a bit bumpy and you're trying to fly an accurate heading and altitude.
6 AM walk round
Low level cloud in the valley
Kawhia Habour
West Coast
The first two nav flights are with the instructor thankfully and you get a chance to get used to the techniques. The first flight seemed so stressful because there seemed to be so much going on and it always takes some time to get used to new things.
The second nav was a lot better because I knew what to expect so could visualise what I was going to do more easily than before. We also practised some hazard avoidance, lost procedure and diversion techniques. So we flew from point A to point B normally, practising the normal nav technique then shortly after passing over head B, diverted around some high terrain then tried to get back on track. I didn't know where we were and there was very little ground features to go off. We then orbited over a small town and looked closely at the features in the area and from that determined where we were.
Kawhia Harbour
We then diverted to a different location than planned which means drawing a rough line to the point and estimating a heading, distance and time. The same techniques are then applied and if all goes well, you arrive at your diversion point on time.
Nav 3 & 4 are solo where you fly the routes you've done with the instructor backwards. So you kind of know where you're going and what you should be looking for. My first solo nav was really scary because I've never gone that far on my own before and was thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong. And for a 10 minute period after take off I thought I'd lost my radio's because all I could hear was white noise! After a few nervous minutes though it just came back to normal and all was well with the world again. I reached all my points on time and landed safely back at Hamilton which was a huge relief.
Lake Taupo
Finals turn for Tauanga
Nav 4 was probably the best flight I've had so far! It was a beautiful route to the west coast, inland to Lake Taupo and back up to Hamilton. It was an early morning flight and the weather was as clear and calm as I've ever seen. It totally justified exactly why I am doing this course and made me think there's nothing else I'd rather be doing.
East coast - Matakana Island
Lake Rotorua
Finals for Rotorua
Nav 5 is another dual nav where you do a bit of flying under the hood and do a touch and go at two airfields, both in control zones so it gets quite busy. It's important to be prepared and always be ahead of the aircraft. We went to Rotorua and Tauranga then did some lost and diversion practice. It was so much fun but hard work. I'm meant to be doing that route in reverse on my own next so it should be interesting.
Kaimai ranges
I also did a couple of general handling lessons in between navs. For 4 days in a row I have been up at 4;30 or 5;30 am for two back to back flights, each one 1.5 to 2 hours so I'm very tired now but it's been great fun!
Waitoa
On my last day off a few of us went over to Rotorua to visit a thermal spa. It's right on the lake and the pools are naturally heated. 41 degrees Celsius they were! It was nice, we just sat and relaxed for a few hours being hot and wet.
Thermal spa
I've managed to get a couple of cricket training sessions in as well as a match, which we lost on the last ball sadly but it was a good game. I think A round of golf was squeezed in some how too.
So, a very busy few days it's been but I think it's fair to say I'm making the most of New Zealand.
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!
It's been a very frustrating few weeks. This due to a combination of weather and not being booked in often for flights. This last week has been the most frustrating by far. I've been booked in to fly every day, with two flights booked on two occasions and they've all been cancelled with the exception of one, which I didn't complete due to becoming uncertain of my position so turning back seemed a safer option.
The essentials. Instagram - hiclark141
There always seems to be something with the weather at the moment that forces a cancellation. It's either been raining, too windy or too hazy, meaning the visibility isn't good enough to fly in or the crosswind exceeds my limitation. I had just two solos to complete this week which shouldn't have been a problem but I am still to complete them. Now due to monthly checks running out, I have to skip ahead to dual instrument flights, renew the monthly checks and then go back to the solos.
A typical schedule over the last couple of weeks (Red = Cancelled, Grey = Completed, White = In Progress)
A DA20 cockpit
After my first solo I had a few solo circuits which I really enjoyed, practising flapless landings, glide approaches and normal landings of course. Then when the instructor was there, a few simulated engine failures after take off were done too. This done in fairly tricky conditions too. There was one particular day where there was a bit of drizzle around and the visibility wasn't great. I also had about a 15 kt crosswind which was gusting up to 25 kts, it certainly was an interesting experience but very good practice. I feel if I can land a Katana in those conditions, I can land it in any.
I had a couple of dual lessons out of the circuit where the instructor assesses your ability to get in and out of the zone by yourself, which I did well with no issues. We practised forced landings (PFL's) and steep turns, both very fun lessons.
PFL's is basically simulating engine failure during flight which requires you to carry out a few emergency checks, mayday call and passenger safety briefing and then pick a suitable field to glide in to. Once the instructor is happy you're going to make it into a good field you go around and do it again. I really enjoyed it and the gliding experience I had before definitely helped.
steep turn to the left
steep turn to the right
Steep turns was also fun. We were one of the few flights that went up due to difficult weather conditions but we managed to dodge the showers. A steep turn is a turn with 45 degrees angle of bank. I was required to do several 360 degree turns at this angle, using the horizon (not instruments) as guidance whilst losing as little height as possible. I think this went quite well and we got some stunning views on the way back!
What a view!
Dodging showers
It was my room mate's birthday recently so I made him a birthday cake and we all went out for a meal at a nice restaurant in Hamilton. It was a very nice evening.
My wonderful assistants #the decorators
DJ blowing out the candles
The crew @ DJ's Birthday dinner
I seem to have played a great deal of golf in the last few weeks due to my lack of flying. My game is certainly improving and the handicap is gradually coming down. I couldn't think of many better ways to spend days off to be honest.
A pleasant stroll around the lake
I've been going to the local cricket clubs training sessions too and the first match should be this weekend which is exciting, hopefully I'll get to play a few games this season. I've been asked to play for the 1st team too which is very nice surprise. Let's hope for good weather to come now so I can get lots of flying, cricket and golf in!
It's been another quiet week but I managed to record my second solo circuits lesson. I was on my own in the circuit for an hour and completed 8 circuits. I really enjoyed it and thought I flew and handled the radio well so I'm feeling pleased with myself at the moment.
I had another 4 days off over the weekend and haven't been scheduled in again tomorrow. It seems to be a golfing holiday with a bit of flying on the side at the moment. Things could be much much worse!
Here's the video of one solo circuit with ATC recorded. Enjoy!
The weather wasn't great for it but good enough. It was quite cloudy but the cloud was above 2000 feet which is fine for circuits. There was about 8 - 10 kts of cross wind with a few gusts and a down draught when coming over the threshold which was a bit tricky but I think I dealt with it ok.
My first take off on my own
A change in QNH during the climb out
I had 5 circuits with an instructor who assessed my competence on flying a circuit on my own. He tested me on engine failure after take off twice which was fun, although I miss-judged my field a bit on the first attempt so had to find another one which resulted in us getting really low! before he told me to go around. I enjoyed it though. Once he was satisfied, I landed and taxied off the runway and stopped where he then jumped out and sent me up on my own.
The circuit was very quiet thankfully for my solo, I was number one and cleared for the big runway, 36R. EASY!
There'd been such a big build up for it and it was done in about 5 minutes. I hardly had time to feel nervous.
ATC congratulated me once I'd landed to which I responded; "Taxi CTC, cross 36 left, thank you, time for a beer!"
Sadly my camera fell off during the flight so I didn't catch it on film which is very disappointing. I'll just have to film the next solo circuits lesson I do.
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