Mic. Happens

[mnewbery]

See my last post for the background

 

[ame=http://theaussieaviator.net/showthread.php?t=42411]New GA and RA Flight School in Goulburn YGLB[/ame]

 

Two things make my life nicer:

 

1) Trading cash for experience

 

2) Trading avgas for altitude

 

Recently this got a lot harder due to some things I thought were unrelated. Specifically 700 junior scouts camped out on the town side of Cotter Dam and my handyman qualities. It turns out that kids break stuff more often than you think, in ways you can't imagine. When you turn your back another kid does it again. The adults supervising them are usually good with kids not hand tools and glue. This added up to some very early mornings but get away from all of that I did.

 

Nobody said brownie point were easy to earn. Sometimes its makes the experience more valued. Sometimes its a crock of manure and you wish kept your wallet shut.

 

After weeks of planning and angst, scheduling and re-scheduling ... plane and pilots were in the same place at the same time. Our ride returned from Adelaide the night before after an unexpected week long delay.

 

We arrived at Canberra late. Nobody was waiting for us and we had the rest of the day to do as we pleased, or so I thought. My fellow pilot left fairly direct instructions for his wife to call AUSFIC (the people who cancel your SAR time) if we had not arrived and called in. We were on our way to Goulburn and we expected to be in the air for 24 minutes... Nope. Delay after delay plagued our efforts. Nothing serious or safety related, just stuff happening like a quiet 4km taxi to the opposite end of the aifield and being fourth in line for the departure line up.

 

So it was no surprise that, immediately after shutting down fellow pilot (we'll call him PIC) interrupted the call between the wife and AUSFIC. The AUSFIC operator said "Nah they left late, I've got the clearance time 35 minutes after the flight plan time and they could not have travelled that fast. By the way, tear 'em a new one for me because they didn't check in..."

 

And so it was. Note to the wise: Figure out what your plans are and at least double the SAR time duration if you are leaving a note with a friend and its a SHORT (< 1 hr) trip . You don't have to race the time, just know that delays accumulate and deal with it. I dunno, maybe the non flying pilot (me) could have sent a text message or something.

 

Flying over Lake George was something I was planning to do since March last year. Then, again everything got in the way and I even tried bribing someone for free stick time in a Duchess for a trip over the recently and rarely flooded 'dry lake'. I can see why someone would want to go out to Lake Eyre to see the same thing. The other thing about Lake George was that, at 5500 feet, it was calm. I mean eerily calm like if you closed your eyes it felt like you were in a theatre with a really cool sound system and not actually moving. Noise cancelling headphones helped. See my post [ame=http://theaussieaviator.net/showthread.php?t=38898]fettle your headset[/ame].

 

The view was spectacular as I expected, everything and everyone was doing what they should and I had a flying lesson booked at Goulburn. I had not seen the ground from this far up since August even though I crossed the equator twice. Low and slow flying is a delicacy to be savoured.

 

After one of the most thorough pre-flight briefings ever I strapped on a Cessna 150 Aerobat (you don't climb into it you fold yourself up and unfold inside it like an inflating origami water bomb) and slowly ascended into the training area south of Goulburn airfield. Cessna 150's climb relatively poorly. Maybe a hang glider has less climb. One of the really cool things about flying over a ploughed field is that dark earth means thermal uplift. At the training area, nothing but green and patches of trees greeted us. It was hard work just staying straight and level at 70 knots. No lift today! Somehow we got to the mandated 3000 AGL for ... Stalls, spins, spiral dives and wing overs!

 

This explains the super duper thorough pre flight briefing. It was my third visit to this particular lesson and to be honest I was still apprehensive because of previous lessons involving screaming. Sometimes mine, sometimes the instructor's but not this time. Oh my, I finally found a patient instructor. You'd want to be, climbing was a long running chore in the afternoon sun. Due to my previous experience with stalls we re-covered that bit quickly which was confidence inspiring and provided no intestinal side effects.Next was fully developed spins. This was an eye opener. I can see why you would want to skip this part of training if you could. Don't avoid it if you can help it. Take motion sickness medicine for the first couple of tries.

 

Spin recovery isn't a mandatory part of the CASA PPL(A) day syllabus. I know why and I understand the reasoning (not covered here). Here I was in this tiny little flying tank with these "OMG they are huge, what do we need them for" acrobatic harnesses and a VNE so high I don't think you could reach it without being shot directly at the ground from a long, long way up. I thought "bugger it what could possibly go wrong, the guy in the other seat doesn't want to die either".

 

And so it was. The instructor noted that Cessna's don't kill pilots, it is the other way around. It is really hard to get this type to do anything that isn't benign unless you are very deliberate. That's not to say the type is safer because there are plenty of things you can do wrong, like not using carb heater. We covered developed stalls, spins, sprial dives and their relevant recoveries all without going outside -0.0 or +2.0 Gs. I'm not a fan of low G (e.g. less than 1G holding you in your seat) manoeuvres and I really didn't like spin entries and recoveries but after the third one I was jazzed like a kid with a new car licence and I wanted more. Spiral dives gave me this in spades and hopefully I can do this again really soon. Continuous 90 degree banking (e.g. knife edge flight) is a new way of viewing the world, not coming to a rollercoaster near you anytime soon.

 

To celebrate we did a couple of wing overs on the way back. This positive G acro manuoevre also caused me some angst previously so I wanted to get a handle on them, which under the patient and concise guidance from the other seat, I did at least once without a loss of altitude. Apparently the view of the manoeuvre from the airfield made the aircraft look like a lost, demented and angry marlin leaping into the air so I got quizzed when we landed. Envy!

 

For the first time in a while I didn't feel totally shattered after a lesson. It may have been the masses of chocolate I ate or the relaxed and pleasant environment - still no turbulence and no rushing back to the field but I don't care. The point is, this is the way I expect lessons to be conducted every time. Do that and you have me as a client pretty much forever (or until the money and leave passes run out).

 

Unfortunately we did need to do the Harold Holt soon after landing. Fortunately for me there is a C152 Aerobat waiting in Qld in a week's time. While the PIC made his inbound call to the wife (her being the keeper of the SAR time) I molested the navigation aids for the return journey, did a quick check of my maps and notes, like where did I put them, and waited.

 

It turns out that two people communicating and co-ordinating their pre-flight activities can do it a lot quicker than on and a lot more safely. Little tiny mistakes and differences of opinion are discussed and sorted very quickly. Progress is efficient and before you know it, you are nearly home. We entered the Canberra circuit area and were greeted by some very scratchy, loud 80's rock music on the tower frequency. PIC and I looked nervously at eachother. This bug smasher didn't even have an FM radio, where was it coming from? Was it my new whizzo headphones playing a trick on us? I could tell it was an open microphone somewhere because I could hear other noises. I thought that it would end eventually and it only lasted 30 seconds ... in the middle of the critical bit where we joined base, dodged other traffic and tried to be at the correct height, speed, configuration and a whole other bunch of choices that are supposed to end in a landing and a re-useable hired aircraft.

 

Mic. happens, even to the best of us. The worst bit is that the operator doesn't even know its happening to them because everything sounds normal. Who listens to Pearl jam while flying anyway?

 

Speaking of origami, does it really have to be that hard to put a cover back on a plane? Instructions and markings (like "this bit goes under the right wing, flap A to slot B") would have saved us a few minutes. Drinking time people! That's what I'm talking about!

 

Summary:

 

1. Flying to your lesson is way cooler and much more fun than driving the same distance.

 

2. Watching someone else pilot and knowing what they should be doing is educational. Roles reverse often enough and its fun to figure out how to politely remind them they missed something, then try not to get caught missing it yourself.

 

3. Flying with another pilot isn't only safer, it's cheaper, easier and more fun too. Plus if you are learning it consolidates what you already learned.

 

4. Acro aircraft are tough and that makes me feel safe. So does height above the ground. Put the two together and its a recipie for some "mamma didn't tell me there'd be days like this and I've still got my pants on" kind of fun. Speed and power don't need to come into it. Try it before you die!

 

Aftermath:

 

We returned to the scene of the crime. PIC's house was full of teenagers who appeared to have not moved since we left. I asked them what we missed.

 

One of the unblinking video game contestants replied without looking up "Not much!"

 

 

[Coop]

Great write-up! You have a delightfully refreshing turn of phrase. In your doddering years, when the Medical Examiners have told you that it is time to hang up your wings, have a go at writing- you'll be a hit.

 

On the other hand- why wait? There are enough days when aviating is'nt possible for those of us lacking instrument ratings- so keep on writing- you're good at it!!

 

Coop

 

 

[Zordah]

Definitely keep writing, I'm really enjoying your postings.

 

I'm currently learning in a Cessna 150 and getting close to my first solo I think...*gulp*

 

 

[mnewbery]

I've got more time in a C150M than anything else. They are ok at sea level, which YRED and YBAF are. In Goulburn YGLB the choices are A150M, Gazelle, C182 or PA-28 140 Cherokee. The A150M (Cessna 150 Aerobat to you) would be grounded at Goulburn on a hot, low QNH day. At 18C OAT it gets maybe 280 FPM climb with MTOW. You do what you gotta do. I knew I was going to hire the C172S, post licence so I coughed up for the training. The difference in mental processing speed between a 100 Hp and a 180 Hp trainer is not to be underestimated either. I struggled to stay ahead of the faster aircraft for a time. Do yourself a favour and seek out one other training airframe before you pass your GFPT - only one, mind, and only for an hour or two or it will confuse you. You will be glad you did

 

 

[Coop]

The A150M (Cessna 150 Aerobat to you) would be grounded at Goulburn on a hot, low QNH day. At 18C OAT it gets maybe 280 FPM climb with MTOW.

280 FPM? Looxury!! The method by which Austers gain altitude on a hot day isn't called "Ausmosis" for nothing..... :-)

 

Coop

 

(Who is thankful he was once a glider pilot...)