My flight training progress

[.matt]

Good read there mate, well done! Hopefully the flying on Thursday goes through :)

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

hahahaha, knowing my luck... Thursday has been moved to the following thursday....and that week i'm on camp

 

just my luck, but i have 2 lessons on the holidays....if i get my butt into gear i might do some work experience there......get some tests out of the way and do a flight or 2

 

 

[Robbo]

sad news jack. but plenty of other days

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

Ok, Lesson No. 3

 

Arrived at YBDG at around 10:25am with a chilly 190degree @ 10kt wind, pretty much walked out onto the flightline met my instructor just talking to a few people in the hanger. He told me to go out and start my preflight while he went and talked to a guy who had just recently obtained his CPL through the school.

 

Another school or club had something going on so the aerodrome was extremely busy, Both of bendigo aviations cheiftans were out on jobs, their Lance and Aztec were doing scenics everywhere, most of the warriors were being used. Bendigo recreational club had their tecnam out and about and other aircraft were just putting around.

 

Walked out to the Warrior and started the preflight without my instructor...which was a bit of a strange feeling. I remember hearing something about when you fly solo, do everything the same you always have and you'll be right. With that in mind i lowered the flap and grabbed the fuel tester tube. About half way through when i was feeling the leading edge of the prop my instructor came over to meet me. I continued the preflight with him.

 

Jumped in, did all our checks and engine run-up then taxiied to the hold point of RWY17/35. Lined the aircraft up on runway 17 and firewalled the throttle and rotated at 60kts. Small bumps as we crossed the tree line and made our gentle crosswind and downwind turn. My instructor told me that he thought it would be a good idea to make a departing downwind call due to the busyness of the aerodrome.

 

Out in the training area we started on Climbs and descents again, just to see if i remembered. Power is always full, nose on the horizon and flap or no flap (VX and VY) After this quick check we moved onto medium level (And steep just for fun) turns, my instructor put the aircraft into a 60 degree turn and did a few circles. It was my turn to try it, i made the turn, going very steep....until my instructor said, ok keep going thats 30 degrees! so quiet happily i turned the yoke and pulled back even harder :)

 

After that we moved onto stalls, first we started off on recognizing a stall, the buffet, low airspeed and high pitch, stall warning indicator and so on. Did that and recovered, then we went into the full blown stall....which i must say is actually very benign in a piper warrior. First time we recovered without power, second time we recovered with power. With power we lost not even 100ft, which i was a bit surprised.

 

After trying to look for some canopies miles away (just for fun) my instructor decided it was time to head back. Made my 10mile call "Bendigo traffic, piper warrior WHA is 10miles to the north on descent from 3500, inbound, Bendigo"

 

While we were on descent from 3000 we talked about descents and other non-related stuff we started hitting the bumps. quiet fun actually :D but does get a bit annoying, finished our descent on the dead side of the circuit.......and silly me! *Red Face*

 

Ok, heres what happened,

 

Aerodrome to the left, landing runway 17, nearly abeam the threshold of 17 on the deadside preparing to join crosswind, and i was thinking of making my turn and joining crosswind runway 35!!!!!! my instructor told me to join about mid field, so i delayed my turn slightly to the 17 threshold end. But my instructor knew what was going on, so he told me join right over the middle and make a left......then i realized my mistake *Red face*

 

That would have made for an extremely short downwind.....but the pattern turned out ok, i was happy with the circuit this time (even though it was slightly messed up) Turned downwind, did the prelanding checks. Brakes, undercarriage, mixture, fuel and harness.

 

45 degrees from the threshold, i made my base, brought the power back to 1750RPM and lowered 2 stages of flap. Turned final, with a bit of a crosswind from the right so crabbed into the wind and applied the last stage of flap. This approach was a nice one i thought, good airspeed, I had got it into a nice crab for landing and was on a normal 3 degree (approx) glide slope. About 100m from the threshold we were losing a little bit of speed so i upped the throttle, the cut throttle as we were about 20m from the threshold (Airspeed at 60kts, which is low) and pulled back on the yoke and the main gear hit the numbers.

 

I was happy with this landing, a little slow on the approach but was good in my books, my instructor said usually he'd have a little more airspeed and let it float for longer but other than that he was happy with it.

 

My instructor had been talking about the Piper Lance all lesson and said he would let me go have a look. So it landed a little before us so we had to hurry to catch it, to taxiied off the runway and did our shut down procedures. Logged .9hrs this lesson, parked the aircraft on the line this time (Usually parked infront of the hanger for next student)

 

Ran over to a different hanger and got to jump in the lance and have a look....and damn that is a nice bird. 6 seater, 300hp, variable pitch prop, very very nice.

 

Next lesson very soon :) hope you are enjoying my posts

 

 

[Guest Chainsaw]

Jack! Great stuff. I really enjoyed reading this. Well done. You are sounding more confident each time. I'm actually quite impressed mate. Thanks for sharing this. :)

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

Impressed? dunno about that, but thank chainy :)

 

 

[Guest Chainsaw]

Jack, you are a very fortunate fella. There are lots of people out there that would just love the opportunity to learn to fly like you have. By you sharing in detail, you will also inspire more. Yes, well done!

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

:) thanks chainy (:

 

 

[Coop]

Very detailled post, Jack. You are obviously enjoying it or you wouldn't remember it so clearly.

 

If you have access to where the aircraft are serviced, it's a good idea to have a chat to some of the LAME's (if they aren't too busy) and ask them what to look for in your pre-flight inspections. They are the ones who fix the bugs, so they will know about the common faults that are likely to turn up. For example, I always check the exhaust stud nuts-even the ones I can't see (by feel- assuming the engine is cold) because in my flying career I would have had about half a dozen occasions where these have worked loose, come off entirely, or where the stud itself has broken off.

 

Be especially diligent when pre-flighting an aircraft that has just come out of an inspection. Engineers are only human and they can make mistakes, like failing to secure all the screws on an inspection port (a recent example), or not latching a luggage locker properly. I've even pre-flighted a Pawnee after a wing had been re-covered with fabric and found a missing bolt in the jury struts!! (THe engineer turned pale when I showed him!).

 

Don't feel too bad about the mess in the circuit- most of us have done something like that at one time or another. I once reported myself to be west of the field when I was actually east.....and I've watched experienced commercial pilots make similar errors.

 

Keep up the "rubbernecking". Looking forward to your next report,

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

[Guest OzChris]

Jack - great to hear and read about your progress.

 

Thanks so much for keeping us all updated with it...

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

Lol, thanks Ozchris and Coop.

 

about that preflight inspection, when i turned downwind i actually checked that the fuel caps were still screwed on hahahahaha. i don't know why i thought it but i did check it lol

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

ok, Flight lesson No. 4

 

arrived at the aerodrome listening to the AWS on the scanner, winds were around 340 degrees at 4kts (something similar). Walked in and greeted my instructor, then we headed out and pulled the warrior out of the hanger.

 

Preflighted the aircraft and got in, we sat there for about 5mins just talking. Went through the checklist as always but this time needing the primer in the checklist, taxiied up to the hold point and made my call. "Bendigo traffic, piper warrior, whisky hotel alpha, is entering and back tracking runway 35, bendigo" As we rolled up the runway it occured to me that i've never taken off on runway 35, so something different.

 

Now, i always worry when i'm turning up the ends of the the runway, being very careful not to take out a light. So as a rule i don't let the fuel cap go over the edge of the runway. This lesson i asked my instructor where (in relation to the fuel cap) is the wheel. To my surprise it was well in, so now i can say goodbye to those worries

 

Lined up, last quick check and smoothly increased throttle to fully open and listened to the lycoming come to life. Kept the aircraft nice and centered for this take-off and rotated at 60kts once more. On climb-out, i looked out to the right to see the thruster on downwind (was out flying to get the dust off). We made a straight out departure into the training area and began the lesson.

 

First we started off with some stalls again, but this time, in the approach configuration. So power to 1750RPM and full flap, trying to maintain the altitude and keeping those damn ailerons centered (Which i found quiet diffucult) when that wing starts to drop, the logical decision is to use aileron (which i know you are supposed to use rudder). So i had to keep say in my mind "Rudder, rudder, rudder"

 

By this time i asked my instructor how long we had been in the air, to my shock, he said .6

 

So we headed back, made the 10mile call "Bendigo traffic, piper warrior, whisky hotel alpha, 10 miles to the north, on descent from three thousand two hundred, inbound, bendigo"

 

The reason for heading back at .6 on the dial was so i could do a touch and go, so we joined downwind after having to do a descending 360 turn due to our height. Made our base turn and made the call, power back, two stage of flap and hopefully be down at 1400ft by the base to final turn. Once again on 35 i was high, but no way near as high as last time. Turned final, made the radio call, carbie heat off, last stage of flap and aim for 70kts.

 

Nice gentle approach, nearly nailing 70kts on the approach, over the fence and power back. In a bit of a slip but cleaned it up, floated and floated and a very smooth touch down (with a bit of help with the instructor).

 

Flap back to one stage and make that lycoming give it all, 60kts rotate, 200ft lose the flap, 500ft lose the fuel pump and check pressure and contents. Time went and we were on final once more, another good approach, not high or low. Make the final call. "bendigo traffic, piper warrior whisky hotel alpha, on final, runway 35, full stop, bendigo"

 

Flared and landed, this landing was ok, more help from the right seat this time. Rolled down to the end, taxiied back and rolled off onto the taxiway. Then the rest was just our shut down checks and mixture idle cut-off.

 

logged 1.0hrs this lesson, i think i'm up to 4.6hrs in the book

 

hope you enjoyed once more

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

:biggrin:

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

Nice one yet again Jacko :biggrin:

 

 

[Tim E]

Good one Jack..and always be open to lisening to your intuition even if the fuel cap thing showed no problem..I'm often amazed at the number of times people say "something made me go and look /check"..and they are sure glad they did! LOL

 

 

[Guest OzChris]

Good one Jack...sounds like you are progressing well.

 

 

[PlaneInsane]

Sounds so sweet dude. I'm going for my first tomorrow :biggrin:

 

 

[Coop]

Lol, thanks Ozchris and Coop.about that preflight inspection, when i turned downwind i actually checked that the fuel caps were still screwed on hahahahaha. i don't know why i thought it but i did check it lol

Yep, I know all about that! Refuelled the Pawnee one day (D-model with wing tanks) and placed the cap on the top of the filler neck, but didn't secure it because I only had one hand free (the other was holding the nozzle) and it took two hands because it was very tight. You can guess the rest.....

 

The cap came off during the descent and a nice stream of avgas trailed out behind me. Only lost a couple of litres but it looked like gallons! Never made that mistake again....

 

Coop

 

 

[Tim E]

Think I'm on my 3rd but most likely 4th fuel cap for my little Mazda 121! I seem to make a habit of leaving them behind. I'm fully expecting them to turn up as a special collection on an episode of the Collectors one night! Thank heavens I'm not flying..thats one forgetful habit I would have to lose fast!

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

Sounds so sweet dude. I'm going for my first tomorrow :biggrin:

Paul, well done mate, have fun!!!!! i'm so happy for ya, i know what the feeling the night before is like :biggrin:

 

Thanks for the comments, another flight coming up real quick!

 

 

[Guest Chainsaw]

Excellent Jack! Thanks again for sharing.

 

 

[zenonie]

Jack, your posts certainly bring back the memories of learning to fly and what a great feeling it was. I still reckon my first solo was the third best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. Number 1 and 2 are my kids. Keep up the good reporting and enjoy every moment! All the best zenonie.

 

 

[PlaneInsane]

Paul, well done mate, have fun!!!!! i'm so happy for ya, i know what the feeling the night before is like :biggrin:Thanks for the comments, another flight coming up real quick!

ARGH! Couldn't go because of the weather, and then even those weather predictions were wrong, i should've been up there... Oh well - makes me want it more

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

Paul, you'll get there

 

On my TIF i was about 3mins from the aerodrome and i got a phone call saying... "Uh, just calling to let you know that it might be bumpy and there is a strong wind from the south, its up to you whether you want to go or pick another day"

 

You'll get there paul!

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

OK, another update

 

Yesterday i was booked in for the 100 hourly flight that goes to YHSM (thats Horsham)

 

Day began at 4:30am (yes thats correct)

 

departed home at 4:45am

 

Arrived at the aerodrome around 5:20am

 

Walked out onto the line to see a torch flashing around an aircraft, my instructor had just completed the preflight walk around. My god it was cold, the air was that dense i think 20m of runway would have done the trick. It was a pleasant 8 degrees, my instructor packed a few cans and choc bars from the company fridge. Chucked that in the aircraft and off we went......well after using the primer a few more times when the engine wouldn't start.

 

Taxiied to the run-up area and sat there rubbing my hands and looking at the oil temp gauge....do nothing at all. So i was told to do our pre-takeoff check while we waited. "In the event of an engine failure shortly after takeoff i will....lower the nose, carb heat" and on the list goes. Looked at the gauge, it was all good, did our run-up and taxiied to the hold point. As i applied the brake the sun had just risen over the tree line infront of us.

 

Made our entering and backtracking call, except using the wrong callsign! Here is what i said.... "Bendigo traffic, piper warrior Whisky hotel alpha....uh... correction, thats Lima sierra mike, is entering and back tracking runway 17, bendigo"

 

.....what the hell am i flying? lol. Instructor said the radio call was good and that i used "Correction" instead of "Um uh....uh sorry thats lima sierra mike *giggles*"

 

I don't actually know why i said correction, but i did read that somewhere or heard it. Sounded like the correct word to use, so i used it :)

 

Rolled down and lined up for Runway 17, did our last quick checks, full power and rotate at 60kts. Different departure this time, climbed to 1500ft AGL and made a right turn and aimed for a heading of 265 and an altitude....where it was smooth. So we could have flown at 500ft AGL all the way, insanely smooth!

 

Got a transponder check from melbourne centre and cruised the rest of the way.

 

With Horsham in sight (not the runway) we started looking for the runway. which turned out to be just to the right of our heading. This time my 10mile call would be completely different, due to the different location and different runway, also adding that we would be doing a straight in approach.

 

"Horsham traffic, Piper warrior lima sierra mike, is one zero miles to the east, on descent from 3200ft, inbound for straight in approach runway two six, horsham"

 

shockingly didn't make a single mistake.

 

Lined up with the runway on a very shallow descent, turned on the landing light, made 3mile final call and started our landing checks. 1mile final call, then did our final checks, carb heat off and last flap.

 

My gosh the air was smooth and my instructor did not touch the controls once. Power back over the threshold, slowly raise the nose, let it sink, raise the nose, let it sink, raise the nose, but no more than half way from the end. keep it there, keep it there *Tire squeek* and not a bad landing at that.

 

Rolled down to the end of the runway and parked the warrior in front of the big hanger doors.

 

Got out of the aircraft, big drink of water and stretched my legs.

 

Eventually the aircraft was pushed into the hanger, i was told to grab a drill and unscrew the inspection panels under the wing, so, i started on one wing and my instructor on the other side.

 

Then i was asked to do a number of things (nothing major, unscrewing things, spraying lubrication "stuff" on certain things inside the wings tail and using silicon spray "Stuff" on the aileron hinges, elevator trim tab hinges etc.

 

Talked to the engine mechanic for a bit, he quizzed me on a bunch of hard questions and easy ones which i should have known. An example of a hard 1, "name two things that could be wrong if the starter motor won't engage and makes a whizzing sound" i honestly had no clue!

 

I felt embarrassed at the easy questions i should have known, but it was a great learning experience and i learnt alot from the engine mechanic! nice blokes over there.

 

anyway jumped back in the aircraft at 3:15pm and flew back to YBDG with a few more bumps on the way over. Had a great day over there, listening to all the aviation chatter at morning break and lunch

 

Had a great day, flying and learning and looking all through the aircraft

 

Hope you all enjoyed this slightly extended trip report

 

please feel free to comment and ask questions