Due to Covid restrictions, I like many others could not maintain my flying hours
So my (SEP) rating has expired.
To get it back, I more or less have to do most of the flying training programme again. That is expensive and time consuming.
I'm still thinking about what to do.
Shame really.
Joe
Well I’ve been doing a bit more flying in the PA-28 and even had my first passenger (Penny) along for a ride. Because of the recent heavy rain the grass runways at Redhill are all closed and they are using an unlicensed runway (07 / 25 which is actually a taxiway) for take-offs and landings. Long ago in my training I have taken off and landed on this runway and my thoughts at the time were it is short, narrow and has a curve in it.
Before Pilots can use the taxiway runway they have to do a short training course with an Instructor and as the weather today was looking good I’d booked an aircraft and instructor to do the training. As the PA-28 was not available I booked a Katana DA-20-A1 G-BXPD which is the aircraft I did my PPL Licence test in. I hadn’t flown it since then (August 2013) so I’d get a double benefit today, approved to use Runway 07 / 25 and get certified on the Katana again.
Got to Redhill on time and it was a beautiful but cold day. Usual checks around the Aircraft and get myself acquainted with it again and after about 10 mins I was ready to go.
I had a bit of a problem talking to Redhill ATC as they couldn’t hear me but moving position and resetting the headphone jacks seemed to clear the problem. Then it was on to taxi to holding point B2 and get ready for take-off. After power checks I was cleared to take-off and by now it was obvious the runway was both narrow and curved. Still no problems with take-off and the circuit and soon felt at home back in the Katana. Coming into land was a different proposition – the runway was really narrow and the curve was obvious. Still made a reasonable approach, got the aircraft down and had to steer it on the landing run which was a bit interesting but OK. Touch and go’s are not allowed so I was sent to hold at D1 while another aircraft landed behind me. Then I was cleared to backtrack (taxi back along the runway) and line up for another go. Take-off was fine as was circuit and I got a better approach this time. I was a bit slow at the threshold and bounced the aircraft a bit and again had a slightly erratic steering around the curve. Then it was backtrack and line up for another go. This time it was better, I got the speed right and although I bounced a bit the landing was Ok. Instructor said he was happy and I was to taxi back to the hanger.
So that’s it, now qualified to take-off and land on the unlicensed runway and certified for the Katana DA20-A1 again. Result.
Google Earth view of Redhill with the unlicensed runway boxed in red
Katana and the PA-28 at Redhill – both of which I am certified to fly at the moment.
Well just over a year since I got my Pilot’s Licence and I’ve only flown 7 hours in the Katana DA-20 C1. I’ve done one set of circuits, one flight out over the Isle of White and Portsmouth with the rest out over Kent. I’m now in the second year of my licence and have to do a minimum of 12 hours this year. So to kick things off, today, I have booked to fly the PA-28, something I meant to do a while ago.
The weather today is high pressure so some early fog, light winds, with some cloud at 2800ft but fine for flying. First stage was the walk-around checks, I couldn’t find some things so had to ask the instructor, but soon had the external checks completed.
Then it was into the aircraft – it felt enormous and complex compared to the Katana I’ve been flying. The controls are much heavier, the instrument panel is more complex – especially the navigation systems and radio telephony. I still wasn’t sure how they worked despite the instructor taking me through them. Then it was on to internal checks and start-up. Engine was easy to start but the whole aircraft felt completely different, the layout was different, the controls were different and I joked with the Instructor – was he really going to let me fly this thing? He said yes and to get on with it.
Radio call to Redhill ATC then taxi to holding point G1 for Runway 08R. The aircraft steers differently and felt like a “lumbering beast” compared to the Katana. However I soon got the hang of taxiing it and after a few minutes it even seem easier than the Katana, especially on the rough ground. Then it was on to power checks and call ATC for clearance to line up. Approval was given followed by the take-off clearance, so I lined up and got ready to go.
I open the throttle and the aircraft started to move – now somewhat nervous. The aircraft didn’t swing left (like the Katana) and more or less carried on a straight line with speed slowly increasing as it lumbered across the ground. At 50Kts it was rotate and hold until take-off speed of 70Kts. Again the aircraft accelerated slowly and took a while to get to 80 Kts – the climb speed. Soon at 500ft, raise the flaps and the aircraft started to perform better so I climbed to 1400ft and set a heading for the departure point at Godstone South. Then it was on to Bough Beech reservoir, turn over Tunbridge Wells and on to Bewl Water to get well outside the Gatwick zones. By know I was getting the hang of it (apart from the navigation and radio systems) and the controls seemed really heavy and slow to respond. By now I was thinking this was a good thing as the Katana is sensitive to control movements and can be a bit jumpy. My left arm was getting a bit sore so time to sort out the trimmer properly. At Bewl Water, it was steep turns at 45 degrees left and then right. I managed them OK considering I’d never flown this aircraft before. Then it was on to a climb to 3500ft followed by a spiral descent and a simulated engine failure – all OK so far and the instructor seemed happy.
Then it was back to Redhill and a downwind re-join for circuits on Runway 08R. Circuit was fine once I could see through the haze and got my position correct then it was onto base leg, descent and final for a touch and go. I was somewhat nervous but the aircraft seemed OK as long as it was trimmed correctly. Approach was fine and I even managed a reasonable landing and take-off. Then it was another circuit this time with a flapless approach. This time the speeds are higher (80Kts approach 70 kts landing) and the nose attitude is higher. Again a reasonable approach and a touch and go. Climb out was different as no take-off flaps this time. Then it was a short field approach and landing – again all OK.
As we taxied back to the hanger, the Instructor said he was going to sign me off to fly it. Really? I was a bit surprised but then again I had managed to fly it and control it without any drama.
Well – it certainly is a different aircraft. The controls are much heavier - which is not a bad thing, it responds slower – again not a bad thing and it just feels so much heavier and bigger – which it is. Still not sure I understand the navigation and Radio systems but I can make them work. I’ll take it on a solo flight next time to get a bit more familiar with it.
Aircraft – PA28 161 Piper Warrior II, flying time 1hr 20 mins
On the apron at Redhill
Instrument Panel – radios and navigation equipment on the right
Now I’ve got my licence I’m converting to two other aircraft – a Diamond Katana DA-20 C1 and a Piper Warrior PA28. Both my previous bookings were cancelled due to bad weather (mostly fog and low cloud) but today looked good and I had a booking for the DA-20 C1, registration G-NIKK
It’s a Katana – similar to the aircraft I did my training and skills test in – but different. This one has a fixed pitch propeller, a fuel injected engine, a mixture control and 125BHP Continental engine. It’s also a bit bigger than the DA-20 A1 and even has a bit more room in the cockpit.
First stage was a briefing with the Instructor about the differences – mainly the engine, mixture control and propeller. There is quite a different start up procedure, the fuel pump operation is different, there is no carb heat and of course it has a fixed pitch prop.
The out to the aircraft and start-up. It was a bit harder to start and certainly made a different noise. The nose was also angled a bit further up so forward visibility on the ground was reduced slightly. Taxiing was similar with the same steering but the controls felt much heavier. The runway today was 36 so a long taxi out to the holding position was needed – so plenty of practice. En-route I was asked to move to a parking area so another aircraft could pass, first time I’ve seen that.
On to power checks (which are similar to the DA-20A1 except for the propeller control) then it was line up and take-off. Ground run was slower than I expected and it became airborne at 45Kts, which is a rather low speed. Climb performance wasn’t great (due to the fixed pitch propeller the Instructor told me) but I was soon climbing out to 1400Ft and departing via Godstone. Once past Gatwick airspace at Bough Beech, I climbed to 2400Ft and opened the throttle. This aircraft is much faster than the other Katana’s and I was soon at 130Kts rather than the usual 90kts. Backed off the throttle to 2300RPM, settled down at 110Kts and practiced some turns. Then it was a practice stall and a few more turns so I could get the hang of the aircraft. It needs a lot less power in the turns and was really difficult to stall, IAS was down to about 40Kts at the stall point without any flaps. I had to keep adjusting the throttle to keep the RPM constant but I soon got the hang of it.
Then it was back to Redhill for some circuits. I was cleared by Redhill ATC for a base join and touch and go on Runway 36. The aircraft was difficult to get to descend needing full flap much earlier than I was used to. Still I made a reasonable approach and even managed a rather good landing. Then it was take-off again for another circuit. By then I was getting the hang of it and did two more circuits both with good landings although my altitude control was not great due to the different propeller and the need to adjust the RPM. For the last circuit, Instructor asked me to make an approach at 50Kts rather than 60Kts to practice a short field landing. Everything was fine until the last moment when I flared slightly high and ended up bumping along the runway. I think I’ll stick to normal approaches in future. Then it was back to the hanger and shut down.
It’s been nearly four months since I last flew and this was a different aircraft but I was fairly happy with my performance. Instructor obviously was too, as he signed me off to fly this type of Katana solo. Excellent…..
G-NIKK on the parking area at Redhill
Instrument Panel
Got it. Arrived in the post last night.
I’m now officially licensed to fly single engine aircraft as Pilot in Command. It’s a bit scary and exhilarating at the same time.
Personal details removed for security – it’s not a fake (honest)
Joe
Back to the CAA at Gatwick this morning – this time with my passport. Even though I got there at 08:25am, before it opened there was a long queue. An hour and a half later I got to the desk and handed in my paperwork and log book
All I have to do now is wait for the CAA to process and issue my licence.
This is the last exam on my Pilot training programme – the RT practical. I had booked this with a different flying school (Harvard Aviation) at Redhill as they had the specialist equipment to do the test. Basically, I was given a planned route which involved a departure, a route through a Military Air Traffic Zone (MATZ) two turning points, a route through controlled Class A airspace and an approach and landing. The test is carried out with an examiner and a computer and I had to “fly” the route on the PC simulator and make appropriate radio calls en-route with the examiner acting as the air traffic controller. It also included an emergency relay call and an urgency call to a Radar controller.
The test took about two and a half hours, much longer than I expected. It was also a bit more difficult than I expected and at the end of it I was exhausted.
Anyway, I passed it so that is my training completed.
The plan then was to go to the CAA at Gatwick to hand in my documents for my licence. I eventually found the CAA building after getting lost around Gatwick several times and then discovered I needed my passport to apply. Of course I didn’t have it with me so that was the end of that. Back to the CAA tomorrow morning – at least I know where it is now.
After having four lessons in a row cancelled due to bad weather – low cloud and thunderstorms, today was bright sunny and very warm. Indeed it turned out to be the hottest day of 2013 so far. Wind was from the south so Runway 18 was in use at Redhill. This runway points directly towards Gatwick so need to take care to avoid infringing Gatwick airspace.
As this was general handling I hadn’t prepared a flight plan so after usual checks it was take off and bank left towards South Godstone, climb to 1400ft and follow the railway line to Bough Beech reservoir. Visibility was fantastic and there were great views of the city of London and all across the Kent countryside. After reaching Bough Beech I transferred from Redhill ATC to Farnborough East radar and climbed to 2300ft. Once past the built up areas of Tunbridge Wells it was time to practice instrument flying. Instructor handed be a pair of goggles which prevent me seeing out the window and all I can see is the instrument panel. First stage was flying straight and level, no problems with that, then it was turning onto headings and finally doing a rate 1 180 degree turn in both directions. Again no problems at all. I was quite pleased with this as I hadn’t practiced instrument flying for about two years
Next exercise was tracking a VOR radial to Lydd – again no problems at all. Then the instructor dialled in a different VOR radial and asked me to intercept it. I thought about it for a moment to make sure I turned the correct way, the VOR indicator was over to the left so I banked left and subtracted about 60 degrees to fly in intercept heading. I had deliberately chosen a steep intercept and once the VOR pointer started to move I reduced it to a 30 degree intercept and as I approached the radial I turned to fly exactly along it. Instructor seemed happy so we moved on to a clear area east of Bewl Water to practice stalls. After a good look out I closed the throttle and slowly raised the nose to maintain the same altitude which causes the speed to drop. The stall warning went off and the aircraft started to descend at about 500ft per minute. Stalls in the Katana are a bit uneventful, the aircraft certainly sloes height and there is a bit of buffeting but it is not very dramatic at all. Lower the nose, apply full throttle and recover – all without problems.
Then the instructor closed the throttle and said the engine had failed – what was I going to do about it. I had been looking at the emergency procedures that morning but still couldn’t remember all of them. I had a go and managed to get most of them. First I stabilised the aircraft in a glide at 70kts with one stage of flap and selected a field for an emergency landing. Next step was a practice attempted engine restart and follow the emergency drill. I forgot about the mayday emergency call as I had noticed there were electric power lines in my chosen field and I had to select another. Instructor told me to go around as I would have made my new field. On climb out the instructor closed the throttle again to simulate an engine failure on take-off. As the aircaraft is low there is no time to do anything other than quickly pick a field in front of the nose and head for that. Instructor seemed happy and asked me to return to Redhill. I could see Tunbridge Wells so headed for that and then onto to Bough Beech for a re-join to Redhill. I was cleared for re-join over Godstone for Runway 18. I joined on base leg and even managed a reasonable approach and landing. All in all a good day’s flying and I was pleased with my performance.
Having passed my Aviation Law and Human Performance exams it was time to schedule the rest of the ground exams. Pretty tight timescale as they all need to be done before 1st September 2013 as the CAA is changing the syllabus and adding extra exams.
Schedule was as follows.
18th July – Meteorology and Communications
20th July – Navigation
26th July – Aircraft Technical and Flight Planning and Performance.
Anyway, all exams went to schedule and I passed all of them scoring between 80% and 95% Pass mark was 75%. So they are now valid for two years and I now have to pass my skills test before 26th July 2015 or I have to do them all again.
It took me a lot of time studying and I had to take time off work both for studying and the actual exams themselves. I found the Navigation and Meteorology exams a bit challenging but passed them both at first attempt.
Must say, I’m rather glad they are over and done with.
Simple bit of flying this time – circuits. It’s been a while since I flew in the circuit so a bit of practice was overdue. runway in use today was 08R and the instructor wanted me to practice glide approaches. This is an approach and landing without power.
First circuit was a simple practice flight and on final approach the aircraft encountered a sink area over some trees where the aircraft lost height rapidly and which required quite a bit of power to overcome. On the second circuit (which was a glide approach) and being aware if the sink area I approached high to allow for it but even so I had to apply power to get the aircraft back on position. So not a great glide approach then. Next circuit I came in even higher and the same thing happened. The sink area required a short burst of power to continue on track. Instructor expresses surprise as she thought I would have made this one.
Anyway it was the on to flapless approach, which was fine and then another attempt at a glide. Again the sink area caught me out and I needed power to get to the runway.
So seven circuits in all and I never did get the glide approach to work.
Having now passed Aviation Law and Human Factors and Performance I’m now permitted to fly solo again. At Redhill it was a beautiful day, light winds, warm weather, a clear sky and the Instructor wanted me to do a solo flight down towards Hastings. I had prepared a wind forecast and chart so had the basic information to plan a flight. As I was short on time I planned it in a bit of a rush and when finished, the Instructor reviewed it and signed it off. My revision for my Navigation ground exam must be paying off. As I want over to the aircraft for the usual pre-flight checks I was thinking it must be about a year since I last flew solo. All was well so I started up the engine and was given clearance to taxi to the hold on Runway 08R. After power checks I was cleared for take-off and as before I had the slight feeling of nervousness as the aircraft took off, climbed out over the runway and there is only me in the cockpit. Still that soon passed as I climbed to 1400ft and headed for Bough Beech reservoir to clear Gatwick airspace.
At Bough Beech I transferred to Farnborough Radar, climbed to 2300ft and set a course for Bewl Water reservoir. My navigation and timing was fine, my flying was good and I was starting to enjoy myself. The view was fantastic – it was such a nice clear day. At Bewl Water a slight course adjustment put me on track for Hastings. I decided to stay at 2300 ft and soon overflew Hastings bang on target and bang on time. I continued to fly out over the sea a bit – mainly because I could and I wanted to turn back towards the coast to take a few pictures. As I didn’t have a lifejacket I only few about half a mile out to sea before turning back towards Hastings.
Over Hastings I set a course for Bewl Water and basically flew back the way I came. My flying and navigation were accurate and I was comfortable with all the various tasks involved in solo flying. At Bewl water I transferred back to Redhill ATC for re-join and was cleared to Godstone. Over Godstone I was cleared to join downwind for Runway 08R. Approach was good and my landing was even good as well. After taxiing back and shutting down my Instructor asked me how it went. I said I was happy with my flying and in some ways it was a shame the instructor wasn’t there to see it all.
So that’s me back to flying solo again and this trip completes all the solo hours I need. Great stuff.
Flying over the sea towards Hastings at 2400ft
Flying over Kent
Approaching Bewl Water Reservoir
After my previous attempt to do a land- away at Lydd was scuppered due to bad visibility and low cloud I was having another go. Today was much better with a clear sky and good visibility. I had planned the route in advance and Instructor gave it a quick check and was happy with it. Instructor said he was hoping to just come along for the ride and that I would do all the flying, radio calls and navigation leaving him to enjoy the view.
After a quick call to Lydd control tower to book in and to check all was well (it was) it was off to the aircraft for usual checks and taxi to the hold for runway 08R. After take-off the visibility was so good I could make out the headland where Lydd airport is situated in the far distance. I could have got there by simply pointing the aircraft at it but this was a navigation exercise so I few my planned route which was Redhill to Bough Beech, then to Tenterden and on to Lydd. Navigation was easy and I could see Tenterden and Lydd in the distance. I arrived over Tenterdan bang on time and transferred to Lydd approach for a join and landing. They asked me to report with 4nm to run – which was easy as there is a great big wind farm four miles from Lydd Airport. After reporting at the 4 mile point I was cleared to join over the 21 Numbers for Runway 03. There is a danger area just west of Lydd Airport so after turning downwind I flew a rounded approach to avoid the danger area and line up for Runway 03. My approach wasn’t very good, I was weaving around a bit and then did a bit of a rubbish landing and missed the centreline of the runway. Lydd has a wide tarmac runway which I think put me off balance a bit. Still Instructor said nothing and we soon parked up and headed for a cup of tea in the Biggles bar at Lydd. We had also forgotten to bring high viz vests which are mandatory at Lydd and hope no-one would notice or say anything – they didn’t.
After a cup of tea it was back out to the aircraft and take off for return to Redhill. Tarmac runways are very different to grass and I took care with the steering on the take off run. All went well and I set a course for Tenterden. Not quite sure what happened but I ended up a mile or so to the west of Tenterden and turned to re-join my planned route. Instructor took that moment to close the throttle and make me practice an engine failure and emergency landing. I selected a suitable field but couldn’t remember the emergency drill but at least I was making a reasonable approach so Instructor told me to go- around and climb to 1200ft. At low level, visibility is reduced and I had the sun directly in my eyes which made things worse. Instructors view was I had it easy on the way out (I could almost see Lydd after take-off) and now it was time to work a bit harder. One of the rules of the air is that it is forbidden to fly at less than 1000ft over a built up area. As I was flying at 1200ft and Tunbridge Wells was on my flight path Instructor asked me to check the height of the ground at work out if I could overfly Tunbridge Wells. I couldn’t so had to make a diversion around it which was the Instructors plan all along. Still my flying was fine and my Navigation was OK and I ended up at Bough Beech and was cleared for a re-join over Godstone. Instructor then announced my ailerons and elevator were iced up and were unusable and I had to fly using only the rudder and throttle. He jammed the control column between his knees to ensure I couldn’t move it. Surprisingly I was able to control the aircraft quite well with only the rudder and power and soon arrived over Godstone. Instructor announced my controls had thawed out and I now had full control of the aircraft. Soon joined downwind for Runway 08R and made a reasonable approach and landing. I was happy with my flying and navigation despite my rubbish approach and landing at Lydd. Instructor was happy as well.
Another morning off work to try and catch up a bit with my flying training. Today I had planned a land-away from Redhill to Lydd in Kent. I’ve been to Lydd before so wasn’t expecting any problems. Got to Redhill around 10am and went through flight plan with Instructor who was happy with it. Lydd airport is PPR (Prior Permission Required) so just before we left I called them to get permission to arrive. This is sensible as there may be something happening there or there may be some sort of other problems. When I spoke to them, they told me the cloud level was only 400ft and visibility was very poor. Looking out the window at Redhill, it was a bit cloudy but the weather looked fine. Anyway, I didn’t book in to arrive at Lydd but we decided to set off anyway so see what the weather was like on route and at least practice my navigation towards Lydd even if we didn’t land.
So over to the aircraft, do usual checks and request permission from Redhill ATC for local flight to the east. Taxied over to runway 26L and was soon taking off, turning downwind and setting a course for Bough Beech after a departure via Godstone. After take-off it was apparent the visibility was not great despite looking OK on the ground. As we reached Bough Beech I turned onto a heading for Tenterden we could see dark clouds ahead and the visibility was deteriorating rapidly. I had planned to fly at 2300ft but could only climb to 1800ft and was soon pushed lower by descending cloud. Lydd Air Traffic Control were certainly right about the poor weather conditions on the Kent coast. After a while it was obvious we were not going to get anywhere near the coast – the cloud was too low and visibility was poor. I decided I’d had enough and recommended a return to base – to which the Instructor quickly agreed.
To make things easy on the way back I simply turned North to cut the main east-west railway line running across Kent and then planned to simply follow it to Bough Beech and from there to Redhill. The plan was good and I soon found the railway line, turned west and soon found Bough Beech. I descended to 1400ft to keep clear of Gatwick ATC and was cleared for re-join to Redhill. By now the visibility was getting worse and both I and the Instructor reckoned it was near the minimum limit for flying. I could see Redhill airfield through the haze and was given a direct approach to runway 26L by ATC. This was good as it meant I didn’t have to fly a circuit pattern in the poor conditions.
Approach and landing was fine and as we taxied back to the hanger the weather conditions didn’t look too bad from the ground. Amazing the difference at ground level compared with what we had experienced in the air.
Rather shorter flight than expected but still a good training exercise.
Today I had also booked to sit my Human Performance ground exam. I finished the paper in just under 10 mins (rather than the 30 minutes allocated). The examiner was there and marked it straight away – I passed with a score on 90%
