At Last WoooooooHoooooooooo...

[Adrian Lewer]

Today i went to ballarat airfield for a fly but of course the weather was bad so it was in the classroom.. i sat my BAK exame and passed :) 90% then sat my Pre Solo Exame and passed19/20 which is about 98% :) .

 

so now all i need to do is kick manny out when i get the chance ;) .

 

as soon at the weather clears up i will be out in force to get to do my first solo...

 

 

[Guest airsick]

Nice effort ferret but 19 out of 20 is 95 per cent! Lucky it wasn't a maths exam.

 

 

[Adrian Lewer]

yep i would be in alot of strife :) . can not wait to fly next its all you will hear about oh and i just found smileys

 

 

[mAgNeToDrOp]

Well done on the result there :) Isn't the pre solo exam 40 questions? I got 39/40 so that would be about 98% rounded off..would've sat the bak exam this wknd too but my car stopped me from getting out there argh so frustrating, and to top it off the weather is absolutely perfect to get some flying in - just to rub it in...

 

 

[Adrian Lewer]

one was 40 qns and the other was 20 qns ? not shure which was which i just sat them, got the results and then had a party :)

 

 

[Guest bigblockford545]

Yesterday I sat the 20 question Radio Exam at Point Cook. Got 18/20, thats 90%. Next weekend is the air law exam 40 questions.

 

Simon

 

 

[Adrian Lewer]

Well it is official i have done my first solo today. after a total of 6 odd hours with Manny at ballarat flying a combination of Jabiru 160/170's.

 

went to the field today and done.6 hours with Manny and upon landing manny approached the C.F.I Roger and said he is ready for you to fly with you to see if he is ready.i get into the aircraft with roger for the first time and treat him like a Passenger rather than an instructor, making sure his hatch and harness are secure, talking all the way through what i was doing and why.

 

we called and taxied to the run up bay, done the necessary checks and set up for take off configuration, and called taxi, call entering and backtracking 23 for 18, we held on the intersection and checked for traffic and call entering and backtracking 18. turn on the piano keys and line up check oil temps and pressures, gave the rolling call and away we were. on climb out at approx 500ft AGL Roger pulled the throttle to dead idle and straight away i nosed down and said "nose down maintain 70knts and land straight ahead on disused runway."his response was "perfect you now have your engine back" then i gradually re applied power leveled off and continued climb out to 2100ft (700ft AGL) and made a right climbing turn onto crosswind and leveled out at 2400ft (circuit height)

 

made the nesacary checks and called the downwind and made my down wind checks and even threw in a little bit of brownie point scoring by saying "hatches and harness secure and passengers hatches and harness secure" (i thought it might make them aware am thinking of passengers)

 

now the fun begun... i was about watching the RWY disapearing over my passengers shoulder and hear a call "traffic ballart (cant remember callsign) 10Nm north inbound 2500ft straight in aproach....."

 

i thought bloody hell if i turn now i will cut him off and if i dont turn now this will be a bloody long down wind,base and final, so i said to my C.F.I "i have never had this situation before i feel if i go base now i will cut him off i have no choice to go long circuit" Roger just shut his mouth. i turned base an kept a close eye out for the incoming traffic, i decided i should find out the aircrafts position so called "traffic ballarat aircraft on final what is your current position ballarat" they replied with their position which was 5Nm straight in. i just caught a glimpse of them and called i had them sighted on my nose. i informed my C.F.I (just incase he thought i was an idiot) i was maintaining circuit height for the turn onto final to counteract the longer final.

 

i followed on final which by now was about a 5Nm final leg of which i have never done before(should have had a cup of coffee whilst waiting to land) made the call and advised the landing aircraft ahead of me i had them sighted and also called myself #2.

 

upon touchdown (which was almost a stall landing NICE) Roger grabed the controls from my hand and jumped on the brakes and spun the aircraft around... i thought to myself (freakin hell it was not that bad).

 

he taxied to the intersection and said i have seen enough... by this time i thought ****... he's hard... and with that he said goodbye and got out looked at me and said "keep it safe if it goes bad go around good luck" and with that and a bloody huge smile i re-entred and backtracked the RWY and begun my t/o roll.

 

usualy the J160 has been getting light on the nose at 60-65kts but the thing tried to get off the ground at 55kts so released the presure on the stick to keep her on the terra firma for a tad longer. then rotated.

 

"WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW..... holy snapin duck**** yeah" i think where the words i said just before "**** no one is here"... i had no time to think ect ect just procedure,procedure,procedure.....

 

everything felt different, roll,pitch and speed,on base i was trying to slow her down but it was a bit harder than usual but i got her to 70Kts with 2nd stage flap. every thing was looking great untill the holdoff..

 

i held her but with only me on board (63KGS) i flared a bit to much and had a balloon and could have recovered (i have a saying, "if in doubt bail out") so this is what i did. graduated the power and commenced the go-round procedure....

 

the next landing was perfect... mains first just as the stall indicator started to moan and groan, then finaly the nose. cleaned the aircraft up for a fast taxi to the taxiway, gave the all clear call and taxid to the hangar, shut down and secured the aircraft, pushed into the corner and let out an enormous "**** yeah........." re gained my composure, had a cup of coffee and went home :)

 

cant wait untill next week

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Well done Ferret. I remember those same observations on my first solo. A/C leaps into the air and takes you by surprise, then refuses to land. Like you, I did 2 circuits and strangely, both landings were up with the best and smoothest.

 

see my next report in "Conversion training" which I'm about to post.

 

 

[slartibartfast]

Congrats Ferret. Well reported too.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Onward and upward.

 

Ross

 

 

[Ultralights]

congrats! that will be a flight you will never forget!:thumb_up:

 

 

[Adrian Lewer]

Buggar almost forgot !!!!!

 

Oh an i forgot one of the Major things of all, a huge thank you to Manny for guiding me through the last 7 hours of training with him.

 

Manny is a true champion with a great attitude and realy makes you feel safe but not to confident, which in my book make for a great instructor,

 

once again thank you Manny.

 

 

[Flyer]

I did my first solo in 95 and it sounds so similar to yours complete with a coffee at the end and a stupid grin I couldn't knock off for weeks.....well done Ferret and like Ultralights says, you wont forget it....:thumb_up::thumb_up:

 

Phil

 

 

[Adrian Lewer]

well i still have the grin :) LOL. done another 1Hr solo yesterday. love the idea of being able to experement a little.