Another step closer 2

[Guest Flygirltake2]

Well g'day fellow aviators

 

It seems so long ago I posted the thread following my first thread Another Step Closer and it is that long since I've flown! Seems like it's that time of year when the weather, kids sports, health or grounded/booked up aircraft have conspired to delay my second nav!!!

 

I have to admit that last Saturday when I finally took to the skies again I felt that I'd lost my momentum. The plan.... Moorabbin, Pt Ormond, Williamstown, Bendigo, Nagambie, Mangalore, Kilmore, Sugarloaf, Moorabbin. In fact whilst my instructor assured me later I had flown the aircraft well I felt my cockpit management was exceedingly poor. As a female I was confident my species had endowed me with the ability to multi-skill better than any male including my instructor. OOOPS! In spite of my previous knowledge I managed to:

 

• stray off track evertime I concentrated on something else
   
   
  
• veer left evertime I looked down at my map
   
   
  
• poor entry into Bendigo although my landing was actually pretty good
   
   
  
• Poor broadcasting intentions - instructor took over
   
   
  
• mis-read my position although not drastically
   
   
  
• had paper everwhere
   
   
  
• lose my pen
   
   
  

 

Sounds bad but.....

 

• did not get lost
   
   
  
• did not stray into Melbourne controlled space (Yay!)
   
   
  
• my nav calcs were spot on
   
   
  
• survived a barrel roll and loop courtesy of my instructor during a 'boring' leg
   
   
  
• succeeded in .5 under the hood without incident
   
   
  

 

I have a way to go yet I know... but I'm loving every minute... when it happens.... Hopefully I'm back again in 2 weeks. Will fill you in on ASC 3 when it happens.

 

PS Ian..... "Shouldn't you be going to bed soon, Karen[/COLO"]Recreational Flying?" when I log in....... I'm a big girl now.....Mum with 2 kids etc etc.....hmmmmmm Now is the only time I get.... but I'm taking your advice - good night!!!!!

 

 

[facthunter]

Assessment.

 

flygirltake2, at least you are honest with yourself. A post operational debrief is the best way to do it better next time.( It really is important to assess your performance). You don't have to do it publicly. We've all been there Nev...

 

 

[cazza]

Your nav adventures sound very like mine last week when I flew from Temora to Moree, to Lismore, to Boonah, to Port Macquarie, to Maitland, to Dubbo and then Temora. I have 400 + hours and whenever I look at my chart for 3 seconds, I end up 10 degrees off heading and 200 feet + or _ in altitude. Never mind, you never stop learning and it used to be worse.

 

Cazza (another female multitasker)

 

 

[Mazda]

These things happen. My aircraft isn't all that stable and drops a wing whenever I let go, so I'm trying to learn to write left-handed!

 

One thing you can do though is to work out a way to sort out your knee board before the flight.

 

This works for me but you might have a way that works best for you. I tie my pencil (which has WAC distance marks on it) with string to the clip of the board. Then if I drop it I just pull the string rather than putting my head down. I actually use AirNavVFR so I have my charts printed out to fit the board, but if using real charts you can have them folded and in order. I clip my charts to the board so I can't drop them (keep in mind mine are A4 single sided pages though). I have my flight plan, fuel plan etc clipped to the top of my board (which opens towards me), and the maps clipped inside, top and bottom. I also have the aerodrome information (ERSA) clipped on the front of the board, under the plan.

 

On the aerodrome diagram you can draw in the direction you will approach the airport, and from that you can make a plan in advance (or enroute) as to how you will enter the circuit. You can also draw in right hand circuits (if any) and where the wind is forecast to come from so you have a good idea of which runway is more likely. You can note the elevation and work out overfly height and circuit height.

 

If you are feeling rusty you can always practise radio calls (without pushing transmit) enroute, or if you are really feeling rusty you can write down each radio call in advance and read it out (keeping in mind any variations which may happen on the day!)

 

 

[facthunter]

Ready.

 

Great preparation- makes it happen- without panic and uncertainty-keep ahead of the aircraft. I've mucked up an all-girl thing, all being pilots too. Keep it up. Nev..

 

 

[Guest Flygirltake2]

Some very useful tips everyone thank you:juggle: As with anything, I guess that the more one does something the less one has to think about it and the more automatic it becomes. I'll get there eventually......

 

 

[Yenn]

Well flygirl, you did a good job of demolishing your efforts and I am sure yo will be on top of it all next time. far better that way than to be overconfident and blind to your mistakes as some of us are.

 

My secret for charts in a very small cabin area is to run off the route on A4 photocopies, put in a track line and distances, plus note radio frequencies, field elevations and runways, so that all I need is in one place and easily available.

 

I did some of my cross countries through Moorabbin and it was great for navigation.

 

 

[Guest Flygirltake2]

Thanks for your comments Ian. I try to be honest about where I went wrong so others can possibly learn from my mistakes. This is a great forum for doing that. As you said, sometimes, overconfidence can lead to mistakes and it is perhaps a little easy to get overconfident sometimes. I thought I had it all organised but I could have been a lot better. I learned to fly in Florida which is a) very flat and b) go east or west and you'll hit a coast... bit hard to get lost!!!! It is a tad harder here!!! Karen

 

 

[djpacro]

Flygirl, was that you departing for Ballarat in the Alpha this afternoon? Looking forward to your next chapter.

 

 

[Guest Flygirltake2]

Sprung!!!! More later when I get a chance..... ;)

 

 

[Guest Flygirltake2]

Another Step Closer 3

 

Saturday presented a perfect day for me to take another step towards getting my Ozzie PPL. The plan was YMMB, YBLT, YCLC, YTQY, YMMB. I have to say that I felt confident I knew where I was the whole way and my cockpit management (thanks to some earlier RAA member tips - MAZDA - yours in particular was a good one) was a whole lot better. Everything went as planned and my only self (and instructor more so) criticism was that my radio calls were not up to standard. I am hopeful that my PPL is not far away.......

 

 

[storchy neil]

hi flygirltake2 i new you would do it keep it up will all come to gether:clap: neil

 

 

[Guest Flygirltake2]

Thanks Neil!!