05 November 2013

THE FRUSTRATING LITTLE MATTER OF THE BFR

Tuesday 5th November

I may not be the most organised person on the planet but I thought I had things well sorted for getting my BFR (biennial flight review - that is, going through all the elements of a PPL flight test with an instructor who then "signs you off" for another two years) done and dusted by my anniversary date of 18th October.  Well, best laid plans and all that....
I had made two bookings to go up with chief instructor, Roger in WAM on two successive Tuesdays, the 8th and 15th October.  Should be OK, or so I thought, two chances to get it all sorted (unlike a flight test, it does not have to be done in one go).  I got an email from the club a few days before the first booking cancelling both the above as Roger was not available.  A quick phone call sorted a new booking, same time for the 15th with 2IC, Peter, also in WAM.  Well, that didn't happen as, you may remember, the weather on the 14-15th was awful - storms moving up the country with winds up to 70knots reported at Wellington and the wind here on the morning of the booking was westerly, 28 gusting to 35 knots so, no-go there.
I was away visiting eldest daughter in Melbourne the next week so booked for the 29th.  Well, anyone connected to the club or who reads the news will know that WAM was involved in a wee incident a few days before that date and will be in maintenance for some time as a result.  So, farewell that booking (it was re-scheduled to a Tecnam but that wasn't possible, either).
Finally, we come to today.  I had booked the club's other 172, JGP, fresh from its overhaul with Peter and finally, I get to go up.  Not that the weather was too flash.  Wind 030º at 15-20 knots on the surface, showers around, so could be challenging, especially as; a) not flown for 5 weeks, b) not exactly current with cross-wind landings, and c) not flown JGP for about 8 months.
Well, things started fairly well, a good take-off, Peter closing the throttle for an engine failure simulation which I handled OK, and we headed out South-east which looked the clearest area.  We managed to get through medium, steep and compass turns, basic, power and flap, and wing drop stalls without too much drama. Then Peter asked me to pick a paddock and get set up for a forced landing simulation which was also pretty good.  Finally there was a bit of low flying in the bad weather configuration (power back, flaps 10º, trimmed for around 80 knots at 7-800' above ground) and Peter then got me to choose an area for a precautionary landing.  I chose an appropriate field and we did the 500' fly past, I told Peter that I would normally then do a lower pass before setting up for landing, but he told me to just do an approach and, as I had that sorted out OK, I was told to go-around and we headed back to the airport.
The next bit wasn't so good.  With the above wind it was a 9-12 knot crosswind on any runway and we were instructed to join right base for grass 07.  This proved very tricky.  There is a grove of trees just short of and to the left of the threshold and this was causing a bit of turbulence which was just enough, coupled with the wind direction to make short final kind of challenging. Too challenging as it happened.  After going around twice, Peter reckoned it was time to call it a day and do the circuit part of the BFR another time in more benign conditions.  I agreed fully with that and we landed on the third approach - Peter helping out a lot!  So, I have booked again Saturday week and, hopefully, will be back to PPL privileges again after that. 

06 October 2013

AERO CLUB DINNER

Saturday 5th October

2013 is the 80th Anniversary of Waikato Aero Club and the theme for the dinner was the 1930s.  A good proportion of the attendees got into the spirit of the theme; a good number of "Flappers" (google that if you don't know what they are), bow ties and boaters were in evidence.



After an excellent feed (I had the beef; my good lady the chicken), we had an informative and amusing talk from Ian "Iggy" Wood, a club member and former RNZAF pilot (Vampires, Skyhawks and a Harvard instructor), and then it was on to the trophy and certificate presentations from the recent Club Competitions.  This involved calling up the first, second and third placegetters in each competition in no specific order and then presenting certificates to 3rd, 2nd and certificate and trophy to the winner.  Much to my surprise I was called up no less than four times;  Richard (pilot) and I (dispatcher) gained third in liferaft dropping and I placed second in non-instrument circuits, senior landings and Gentleman's circuits (only 1 point behind the winner in the last of those).  I was very pleased with my overall effort and I will collect my "drinkable trophy" from flyinkiwi in due course as I won our little senior landings challenge.
After all that excitement I now have my BFR (Biennial Flight Review) to look forward to in nine days' time.

08 September 2013

CLUB COMPETITIONS DAY 2

Sunday 8th September

So, day 2 of the club comps; bombing and liferaft dropping.

DXP with pilot's door removed ready to go

My first flight was in the back of C-172, DXP acting as dispatcher for Richard who was first up for liferaft dropping.  This is a team event with pilot and dispatcher needing to show a bit of co-ordination.  The dispatcher sits in the back behind the pilot with two weighted canvas bags beside him/her which simulate a deflated liferaft.  The pilot flies a low level circuit (500' agl) and on downwind tells the dispatcher to, "Prepare liferaft", the dispatcher places the first bag on his/her lap and reports, "Liferaft prepared".  On final the idea is to descend to 200-250' agl (higher and it's points deducted; lower is a disqualification for that run).  Once set up the pilot calls, "Stand-by" whereupon the bag is held out of the open door, the dispatcher hanging on (quite hard in the slipstream) until the pilot calls, "Drop", the guy/gal on the bag lets go and down it goes, announcing, "Dropped".  Then climb back to 500' and repeat the procedure.  These two drops were consistent (only a few metres apart) but well short of the target area :(

After a short break I was up in WAM for bombing (dropping a plastic coated small beanbag out of the open window) with air judge, Charlotte.  This was somewhat of a disaster, really.  I descended below 250' on my first two finals runs which is -50 points and a disqualification. At least on the third and final go I kept my height correct at 300' +/- 25' but the bomb was well off target.  To cap it all my landing back onto 25R was not one of my best.

Feeling very humbled, I ambled back to the clubrooms to find the air judge for liferaft dropping, Russell sitting around with no takers.  So, give it a go, I thought, can't be any worse than the bombing effort. So, off in DXP which I had never flown before (it is privately owned by a club member and being used today as club regular JGP, which I am well used to is in maintenance).  DXP took some getting used to - not as much power as WAM or JGP, only 20HP less but felt more with three up (Russell, self and dispatcher, Andrew plus the rafts). Our first run aborted as a go around (control tower call).  The next two? - at least I didn't DQ myself and was bang on just over 200' agl but was too far to the right (North) for both my drops and, to add insult to injury, my landing back on 25R was a real mess; round out too soon, blip of power, floated for a bit before touching down an unacceptably long way down the strip.  GRRR!  OK, the wind by now was 15 gusting to 25Kt but it was pretty much straight down the track and no excuse!  Safe, but a pretty piss-poor effort really.

So, a couple for the learning curve there (starting near the bottom for both exercises so the only way is up).  I was jolly cross about the bombing effort but, there's always next year, and I am consoling myself with a glass of Syrah while writing this.


07 September 2013

NEW HALL OF FAMERS

Having a bit of an aviation blog "session" at the mo', so time for a Hall of Fame update.  Two additions, one from each World War, and both should need no introduction but a few words on each would be appropriate, I think.

Captain Albert Ball VC, DSO(2 bars), MC: from the "first lot", transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) from the Sherwood Foresters having earlier paid for his own flying training getting this done in the early morning before military duties (having had an engineering interest from an early age).  Although rated an average pilot during training he rose to become one of the top Allied aces of the First World War.  He was killed in action on the evening of 7th May 1917, Lothar von Richtofen (the Red Baron's brother) being credited with shooting him down by the Germans but this is unlikely, it being more probable that Ball crashed after becoming disoriented during the dogfight after flying into a thundercloud.  His final tally was 43 aircraft and one balloon destroyed and several unconfirmed "kills".

Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson VC, DSO, DFC: came from a somewhat atypical background, his parents separating when he was only six years old and his mother subsequently a victim of alcoholism. Albert Ball was his boyhood hero. Having initially been rejected by the RAF (possibly for having legs too short!!) he was accepted in November 1936, and, after learning to fly under civilian instructors, he commenced his RAF career in early 1937.  The rest, as they say, is history.  He became arguably the most famous bomber pilot of the Second World War, leading the Dams Raid (Operation "Chastise") in May 1943 (after previously completing 3 tours of operations; interestingly, the middle of these on night fighters with 5 confirmed "kills") and was later killed in action flying a pathfinder De Havilland Mosquito on 19 September 1944.  Having read a bit about him he sounds a somewhat intense sort of character that I, personally, would have had difficulties getting on with (as did a number of his contemporaries) but that is common to many high achievers and he certainly deserves his place here.

CLUB COMPETITION 2013 PHOTOS

As promised, a few photos from today's comps........

"WAM" clears the "fence" at 25L threshold

"WAM" lands under the scrutiny of ground judge, Euan

Striving for the grid

Ladies' Circuits, anyone?

Lindsay in UFS about to touch down

CLUB COMPETITIONS - DAY 1

Saturday 7th September

Well, despite the rather poor weather forecast (showers and westerlies) the competitors and judges managed a full day of flying.  I had entered myself for Senior Landings, Gentlemans' Circuits and Non-instrument Circuits for today and arrived at the club just before 0830 where things were just getting underway.  The wind was around 300º at 7-8 knots (and steadily backing around to the Southwest during the morning) so Grass 25L was our nominated runway for the competitions and the first thing to do was set up the grid.  As the first person there in a suitable vehicle (small SUV) I was volunteered to drive the car onto the airfield to pick up the cones and sheet marker for the landing grid layout and transport them over to 25L (the white sheet is laid out beside the runway at the mid-point of the grid - it is visible from 500' agl - the cones on each side aren't until you are pretty much on the ground!).  Now I know what it is like to be in the Fire Vehicles driving around the field.  Lights and hazards on and driving dead slow looking out for moving aircraft.  The tower asked us to pick up some rogue plastic which was quite near the runway so, having dropped the gear off, I headed down to the western end of the perimeter to pick up what turned out to be a supermarket bag.
Having re-parked the car I donned a high-visibility jacket and took my place on the grid for a bit of ground judging and photography.  The cloud base was around 2500' so marginal for the forced landing comps but the two guys competing in C-172 ZK-WAM went first and completed the exercise despite brushing the clouds (so it seemed from the ground).
After that I was next in "WAM", first to go for Senior Landings with instructor, Andrew as air judge.  This is judged from late downwind with the turn onto base, the speed for the base leg (I had nominated 70Kt) and short finals (65Kt) and then landing as accurately as possible on the runway grid.  Within the central 10 metre length scores 50 points and goes down 10 points per 10 metres short or long of that.  There is an imaginary 1 metre fence at the threshold (40 metres from the first cone marking the start of the grid) that you have to clear as well.  I flew the first approach OK right up to very short final where, as I was a bit high (I thought) I closed the throttle and dropped a little faster that I anticipated and, although I cleared the fence I was short and only just landed on the grid (10/50).  The next approach was much better and the landing near perfect just beyond the centre "cell" for 40 points.  OK, 50% average for those two - will have to wait for the air judges assessment.
After a couple of hours "on the grid" - the weather getting steadily brighter but windier - it was time for the sausage sizzle lunch and then up in the air for non-instrument circuits with air judge, Charlotte.  A fellow blogger, flyinkiwi, has described what this entails in great detail in one of his recent posts so I won't go into it further here.  Briefly, this is a challenging exercise; with the instruments obscured from the left-hand seat one has to fly an accurate circuit and achieve an acceptable landing.  We ended up doing three circuits instead of two as we had to extend a fairly long way upwind after the first touch and go and Charlotte said she would not mark that circuit.  I survived but wasn't too happy with my performance.  Charlotte told me I was consistently high on downwind and I got too slow on short final on the first circuit and was warned about it (a disqualification, perhaps?).
Then, after a bit more time on the grid getting chillier as the wind increased, it was "Gentlemans' Circuits" (sounds as though it should be flown in a vintage aeroplane from the 1920's or 30's such as a Tiger Moth - especially as there is "Ladies' Circuits" as a separate competition).  I think this was my best performance, certainly air judge, Hannah, was quite complimentary, and, also, the wind was getting gustier so I was particularly pleased to have a glimpse at my landing sheet after (it was on the top of the sheath of papers I trotted back to the clubrooms with) - a "30" and a "40" - not bad at all.
So, a tiring but satisfying day.  The first time I have entered the Club Comps and I am not expecting much - just happy to appear to have been competitive. I shall have to wait until the Club Dinner in 4 weeks to find out how well I really did.  I will sort through my snaps shortly and publish a few in a separate post. Tomorrow it is "Bombing" for me (I haven't entered "Liferaft Dropping").  More fun!!

10 August 2013

A GOOD MONTH FOR FLYING

JULY - not the best month for flying you would reckon, being mid-winter (think: only foggy when it's not raining!!), but this last month has been one of the best for my flying for some while.
Not that I have been anywhere in particular, just circuits in the Stearman at Tauranga and circuits here in Hamilton in C-172, WAM, but my logbook shows 5.5 hours for the month, the most since April last year which was inflated somewhat by the club trip down to Queenstown for Warbirds over Wanaka.
It was good to be up in the air and the weather on my flying days has been remarkably benign.  The strongest wind was about 12 knots but straight down runway 18 at Hamilton and one of my two sessions in the Stearman was with a 5-6 knot crosswind (enough to keep you honest in a taildragger).  All other times the weather was calm.
Talking of the Stearman, after its long period in maintenance it now flies much better - a little faster when straight and level and general handling a lot better.  My landings seemed to have improved as a result but Pete was telling off a little for doing "wheelers" rather than 3-pointers for the first few circuits.
WAM is also a bit of a revelation after its period at the "menders".  Handles like a dream and performance significantly better.  I went up today (August 10th) and was climbing out at 80-85 Knots and 1200fpm rate of climb!  Try a maximum performance takeoff as I did a couple of weeks ago and the VSI goes off the scale (1500fpm+)!
I have put my name down for the club competitions next month, gentleman's circuits, senior landings, non-instrument circuits and bombing.  Will be my first time as I am not overseas, on-call, at a conference, or otherwise engaged on the scheduled weekend for a change.  Looking forward (a little nervously) to the challenge.

12 June 2013

JUMPING THROUGH THE HOOPS!

Well, it is May, an odd numbered year and it's........ medical time.  Oh, JOY!! 
I had sort of put this off (or, maybe forgotten about it) and only got around to getting an appointment after my current medical had expired.  I decided to go to a local Grade 1 Medical examiner (ME1), someone I knew professionally (I am a medic in my day job) but haven't come across for a few years.  He is also a microlight pilot.  I had previous medicals with someone else (an occupational medicine guy) but thought it better to go to someone with some sort of aviation experience.
So, the medical itself wasn't too much of a hassle (see later) but the new CAA rules are a bit of a burden.  Let me run you through it:

Before you even present yourself for a medical you have to pay a "Medical Certification Application Fee" which the CAA charge you to cover their "Administration Costs";  $ 313
OK, I have done that, got the appointment and it is off to the medical laboratory for the blood tests; $  25
Found I don't need an ECG this time - good - so I present myself for the medical appointment;  $ 245
That goes (almost) OK, but...
I then discover that records of my previous spirometry 4 years ago have been "lost" so I need that doing again;  $  60
My blood pressure problem ("White Coat Hypertension") rears its ugly head and it is off to my "own doctor" for a Ambulatory 24-hour BP monitor, more cash and more time; $  85

So, finally, I get a call from the "Aviation Nurse" today at work to tell me my Class 2 (PPL; non-IFR) certificate is all ready to be collected (another advantage of going to an ME1; he can issue the certificate straight away, the previous chap had to be "rubber stamped" by an ME1) - Hooray!!

So, $728 lighter (any back pain should improve with that lightening of my wallet, right?); I am "good to go" once again.

For discussion; $700+ is quite a lot of dosh and, although I can afford it, 43% of that is the CAA "Medical Certification Application Fee "; a little disproportionate, what?.  Also, I guess some recreational pilots might baulk at that sort of money - about 3 hours single engine private hire flying time (more in an ultralight). Any comments on that? (and, yes, I know there has been a lot of talk on various aviation bulletin boards).

Back in the air soon, weather permitting, of course......






17 May 2013

AT LAST.......

Tuesday 14th May



Well, it has been a while, but, I am posting again, and Stearman 03 is back in action after a few months of airframe maintenance and a repaint. I had my first fly in it today since last November - just over six months.
Instructor, Pete, decided we should do a bit of basic manoeuvring first and then a few circuits.  Conditions were ideal, variable 5-6Kt wind at ground level and no significant cloud.
After the usual preflight I slid myself into the rear cockpit, Pete gave the plane a "six and six" (that is; six blades prop rotation and six primes), got in himself and, with a little bit of extra priming from the throttle the radial at the front fired up at the second attempt.
We taxied out to hold for grass 25 and were cleared for a Matakana one departure tracking out just seaward of Matakana Island at 1000 feet.  Once clear of the zone we did some medium and steep turns left and right and, as Pete seemed pretty pleased with all that, headed back for circuits.
The first approach was via the Mount harbour entrance passing beach side of the Mount itself to join right base for grass 25 and a touch-and-go.  This wasn't my best landing needing a wee bit of a reminder from Pete about speeds (70 knots on base, 65 on final and 60 over the threshold but my "rustiness" really showed after lift-off when I pointed the nose up too quickly before letting the speed increase to the ideal climb out of 70Kt (or maybe that's all the Tecnam circuits I have done since New Year?). 
In the Tauranga circuit and lack of local currency showing.  I was rather wide on downwind with a touch longer approach on base, finding myself a bit low turning final but from over the golf course (short final) Pete said nothing at all, letting me sort it out and an acceptable three-pointer resulted which was very pleasing.
Two more circuits, the landings not quite as good as the second one but, overall, I was pleased with the mornings efforts.  
One slight hiccough, though.  While taxiing back, I noticed the fuel gauge was less than half and suggested pulling over to the pumps.  Pete agreed so we pulled over and shut down.  Fuelling went OK - great care to avoid the lovely new paintwork. However, on restart the prop would only turn about 30º and then stop on each start attempt - flat battery!!  (A new one is due to go in shortly).  So, we pulled the plane onto the grass and Pete walked off to the hangars to get the tractor to pull the Stearman back.  I was left "minding" the plane.  The fire vehicle stopped by to check what was going on (nice to know they care).  Pete returned and I got a ride on the tractor back to the hangar with the biplane in tow to be connected up to the battery charger.
Another go quite soon, hopefully, as long as the "weather gods" prove kind.

06 March 2013

A NICE SET OF CIRCUITS

Tuesday 5th March

Well, to consolidate my Tecnam type rating gained three weeks ago I thought a few circuits would be a good thing to do so I booked "WHZ" for this morning.  The weather conditions were just about perfect; variable, 3 knot wind and scattered cloud at 5000 feet.

Now, it wasn't quite a perfect flight because after start-up I was wondering why the engine was revving a bit fast when the stick waggled from side to side and there was Roger at the wingtip mouthing "Choke" at me - ooops!!!  Having closed that everything fell into place.  18 was duty runway and, remembering the lesson from last week, I requested taxi to "Golf 1" for circuits and was cleared for that.

First take-off good into a very quiet circuit.  Everyone else seemed off on cross-countries and on the first three laps I was either "number one" or "cleared touch and go" at the downwind call.  I made two standard approaches throttling back nice and early and getting the plane trimmed up for 60-65 knots on base and 60 knots on final with full flap and two very nice T&Gs resulted.  I decided the next would be flapless so I extended downwind to just beyond SH1 slowing down all the time so I could lose height on base not worrying too much about speed until final.  Having set attitude and trimmed for 65-70 knots I found I was much too high so a bit of side-slipping was called for.  A gentle bit of left rudder and right aileron first, straighten up, still a bit high so I slipped the other way briefly and was then about right for a smooth touch down a little further along the tarmac than before but would have been able to taxi off at "Echo" if it had been a landing.

The next time around I was called for a short approach quite early on downwind, was way too high turning final and made an early decision to go around, overflying at about 500'.  Two more circuits and my time was up (had to orbit once and extend downwind on the first) and the final landing was also pretty good.  Back at the club instructor, Andrew said it all looked fine from where he was watching so I was very happy with all that - a real confidence booster in the new type.  

04 March 2013

STUNNING DAY - STUNNING FLIGHT!

Tuesday 26th February

Well, it was certainly an absolutely wonderful day, weather-wise, with a variable 5Kt wind on the ground, visibility 40Km and "NSC" (No Significant Cloud), as you can see from the photo below:

"JGP" basks in the morning sun awaiting a trip South
I arrived at the Aero Club just before 0900 for a trip down to Taumarunui (about 60Nm South of Hamilton) with CFI, Roger, the idea to get a bit of terrain awareness training down in the rugged King Country and anything else Roger should choose to "throw at me".

JGP had almost full fuel on board and there were no issues at preflight so I started up and, after receiving the ATIS called the tower.  Here was the first lesson.  I asked for departure "On track to Taumarunui" and the tower duly cleared me for an East Departure and taxi "Echo 1" for runway 18. Roger reckoned I could do better than that.  The grass at the airfield is really dry, dusty and a bit stony thanks to the drought-like conditions of late and the best place to do run-ups for 18 is at "Golf1" across the two grass 07/25 runways where the grass is much greener.  Also, I should have asked for an East departure via the Swamp Sector as it is rare these days to get a direct clearance.  More assertiveness needed on those radio calls - ask for the best option for you (they can only say no but it will usually be yes).

After all that we did the run-ups and pre take-off checks and Roger got me to do a maximum performance takeoff, rotating well before my nominated point at E1.  We were cleared 2500' or below not long after and, once south of Otorohanga levelled off.  Shortly after that we were over the valley about 5 miles west of Bennydale where we started to discuss forced landings and gliding distances.  Roger asked if we would be able to glide to Bennydale, I reckoned we could, whereupon Roger closed the throttle and I slowed to best glide speed (60-65Kt) trading speed for height as you are supposed to and remembered to trip appropriately.  Well, it was an easy glide.  We were at least 500' above ground level over Bennydale where we went around and back on course to Taumaruni.

At Taumarunui we joined overhead at followed a Katana into the right hand (standard) circuit for 01 for some circuits.  Well, the first one was pretty poor.  I was way too high on both base and final and ended up landing really long with not much of a flare!!  Not good at all.  The next three touch and goes were much better and by the third (second to last) I was rolling the mains onto the grass at my nominated point abeam the hangar which is about 50 metres (at most) from the threshold.

After the last "go" I set course for Hamilton which takes you over the hills just north of the airfield - OK in these calm conditions but not, as Roger pointed out to me, in a 20Kt or so headwind with likely downdraughts, etc., so would have been better airmanship to turn right as if going into the circuit to head up the valley to the north-east a wee way to give more time to gain height before turning onto the Hamilton track.
So, on track to Hamilton.  On instruction from Roger I levelled off at 2500', trimmed, and settled in for the ride.  It was smooth flying and we were having a good chat about stuff other than flying and admiring the scenery on this lovely day. What could go wrong?  Well, anything can happen at any time.  Just after passing Te Kuiti I spotted another 172 on our "10.30" 5 miles or so away, about 500' higher than us.  I am not sure who saw it first but when I pointed it out to Roger he said, "Good".  I guess he had already seen it and was pleased I had spotted it too.   He/she was just about on an interception course and appeared to be descending and, maybe, didn't see us.  Roger nudged the column to the left and I took the hint and turned to direct us away from any possible conflict and by the time the other plane had passed us and was on our 2 o'clock it appeared to be level with us.
Now for a bit more fun.  "There's a farm strip just down there", says Roger, "Can you see it?".  As we turned to the right I said I could and then Roger said I should do a touch-and-go on the strip in the direction we were heading so I descended and got myself set up on a downwind leg and, putting into practice what we had done at Taumarunui, set up for a precision touch and go nominating a point to touch down abeam a barn by the side of the strip.  This worked out quite nicely in the end.  On the base leg I was somewhat high so went to full flap and on short final when still high, Roger encouraged me to gently side slip which was just enough to get me on target for the lip of a dip containing a creek at the threshold. With a trickle of power to lift us a tad the mains touched on the grass pretty close to my point.  Power on and go with plenty of room to get airborne again.   Touch and go on a farm strip - a first for me.
Then it was back to Hamilton.  We called the tower just South of Kihikihi and made a Mystery Creek arrival and straight onto a left-hand downwind for 18.  A fantastic flight with a lot of learning points which really came down to fine-tuning of the basics, for example:  attitude, particularly the old "airspeed for height equation; approach good - landing good (and the reverse!!); trim, trim, trim, "then you are in control of the aeroplane rather than it controlling you"!!.  Thanks, Rog for a great morning.

13 February 2013

P2008 TYPE RATING - SORTED

Tuesday 12th February

I had Tecnam P2008, "WIP" booked for a couple of hours this morning with instructor, Andrew, the mission being completion of my type rating with a maximum all-up weight (MAUW) flight.

Well, the day didn't start too well.  When I arose from my slumber at just after 0700 I could see the fog over to the South and checking the ATIS on-line it showed visibility of 200 metres with fog and a cloud base of 100 feet!!  However, after a cup of tea it was becoming noticeably clearer and by 0815 the ATIS was showing visibility of 40 Km and "NSC" (No Significant Cloud).  Wind was variable at 2 knots.

So, I arrived at the club at just after 0830 to find that "WIP" was unserviceable with a cracked windscreen.  Oh, dear.  A bit of phoning around by the office "legend", Edna and some discussion among instructors resulted in a swith to the other Tecnam,"WHZ".  After a preflight, I had some trouble getting the plane started; not enough priming and choke.  I then had the park brake on without realising it while trying to get under way and it took a prompt from Andrew to get us going!!  Not a great start to the day.

Never mind, it got better quite quickly.  After taking on some fuel to get us to the 600Kg MAUW we started with a maximum performance T/off from runway 18R.  This all went well; full throttle with brakes on, release and we were airborne well before the nominated point of taxiway "Echo".  Steep climb out at just over 60Kt (best angle of climb is 63Kt indicated) and then once clear of the (imaginary) obstacles, flaps up and a normal climb at around 70Kt turning right as cleared to leave the zone at 2500' or below via the Pirongia sector (South-West).

Having climbed to 2500' and left the zone we "kicked-off" with a steep turn to the right which was one of my best ever.  Andrew was very complimentary and said to do our "HASELL" checks, doing a medium turn to the left as a lookout for some stalls.  The turn was fine and so was the basic stall recovering at the drop of the nose.  Then the "HELL" check and a wing drop stall in the landing configuration - partial power and full flap.  I did my usual anticipate job first try and didn't really let the wing go.  So, I had another try which was better but Andrew commented there was some aileron in the at recovery (which I was not aware of - bit trickier to judge with a stick rather than a column).  Andrew then did a demonstration but said he was happy I had all the elements there so I didn't need a repeat and it was forced landing time.

I chose a nice long paddock - direction not critical as there was hardly any wind and Andrew told me to simulate.  I had sorted my approach out just before pulling the throttle but found myself too high at both the 1500' area and the 1000' point so it was a bit of an extension downwind and early 15º flap to lose some height on the 45º base leg.  I had remembered all the downwind checks including giving Andrew a passenger briefing except that after that he asked if I needed to tell anyone else; of course, make a mayday call!  Turning final I was still a bit high so full flap and after about half the final leg I was looking good to make the field without needing an overrun so Andrew told me to go around.

Then it was back to the airport for some circuits.  We were cleared for a Rukuhia arrival and then right hand downwind for 18.  We did a normal approach first, switching to 18R on early final to avoid the possibility of a go-around as there was a Twinstar holding on the runway an another aircraft waiting at "Echo 2".  This was a good approach and touch and go and on climb out we were instructed to make a right hand circuit.  We managed to get a glide approach clearance on this lap turning behind another twinstar on final and, thanks to the Tecnam's excellent glide characteristics were able to make it to the threshold of 18L fairly comfortably although I commented to Andrew that I probably should have gone to full flap a little later as I touched down not far beyond the turning area (in other words, prior to the recent runway extension we would have been short!!).  On the next climb out Andrew asked for a simulation and pulled the throttle quite early.  I put the nose down, fuel pump back on, turned to the right (tower instruction) and there was a paddock right in front with a wide enough gap between some trees which we could make and was told to go-around and into another right-hander.
Precision approach next and we were asked to make a full stop due wake turbulence (there was a Dash-8 on 18L).  I really thought I had this set up right but got a touch low on short final so a blip of power, over the threshold and I then pulled the power back a touch too enthusiastically with a somewhat heavy touchdown on the mains as a result.  Braking to stop before "Echo" and we held on the runway hoping to get one more circuit in but the tower told us to vacate and Andrew decided we were complete.
So, back to the club to go through my type rating paperwork and do a weight and balance and take-off/landing distance calculation for today's conditions.  Andrew then signed the type rating off in my logbook. Sweet!!

12 February 2013

A LABOUR OF LOVE

Tuesday 5th February

As we were having "a week at the beach" I went along to Classic Flyers for a coffee with instructor, Pete and he invited me down to the hangar to see the new paint job on Stearman 03 - absolutely magnificent and just shows how faded the old paint job was.  The Stearman has been "in maintenance" since late last year but, hopefully, will be in the air again quite soon
The photos say it all.......

Overhead view

The bright red tail - a great improvement

So crisp and clear!

22 January 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Tuesday 22nd January

Well yes, a Happy New Year to all who read this.  It has been a while since the last post but, thanks to weather, aircraft in maintenance, etc., I only managed one more flight between the last post and Christmas (a few circuits in C172, JGP) and today was my first flight of the New Year.

Today was another type rating flight in Tecnam P2008, WIP with instructor, Andrew who I have done all but one of my flights in the Tecnams with.  The weather was fine, 26ºC but a bit of a crosswind, 040º at 12 knots gusting 18 according to the ATIS so could be a little challenging.

We got off to a good start.  I didn't forget anything important on pre-start, run-ups, etc. and my rudder/brake tap-dance is getting better (castoring nose-wheel) for taxiing.  The first circuit was going pretty well until very late downwind when the tower switched from a normal approach to 36R to a short approach for 36L.  Andrew instructed me to raise the flaps and get the nose down as we needed to lose height quicker than having the flaps down would allow.  that was OK but on short final I went to full flap which, in retrospect. probably wasn't the best idea with the cross wind and I got into a bit of a rather-slow, round out and kick-straight too early mess of a touch and go!  Oh, dear.  Never mind, Andrew said he would talk me through the next one.

So, he did and with a bit of gentle instruction and only 15º flap the next touch and go on 36R was pretty good with more or less correct crosswind technique and reasonably good management of attitude/speed and throttle/height on approach.  It got better over the next couple of circuits with less instruction from Andrew and a more relaxed self and at the start of the fifth (I think) circuit he said he would hop out after the next landing and let me "off the leash" to go round on my own.

The wind was proving a bit variable as on the second to last dual circuit the windsock was pointing pretty much straight down the runway and there was virtually no drift on final and there was only minor drift on the landing to let Andrew out.

So, out Andrew hopped and I was on my own.  I had time for about three circuits.  On the first one I was a bit high on base (less weight on board) but closed the throttle and, having seen the windsock at the downwind was straight down the runway once again, selected full flap and a nice, straight, smooth landing resulted.  The next circuit was much the same except I closed the throttle a bit more on late downwind with the result that my approach was a bit easier to control.  On the final approach the crosswind was back again (aren't variable winds annoying?!) so it was 15º flap only, left rudder and right aileron as I rounded out but, the round out was a tad too soon so I ended up floating down the runway with the left wing in the air for what seemed an age (but was probably between 5 and 10 seconds) before the speed decayed enough for the right mainwheel to touch down - surprisingly smoothly with only a wee couple of bumps as the left main and then the nosewheel touched down.  A small amount of brake and I was able to taxi off at Delta, crossing 36L and then onto the grass to avoid a C152 which was waiting on the sealed taxiway.  After-landing checks and then back to the club.

A quick chat to Andrew who was pleased with my Tecnam progress and reckons I am only a flight or two (plus the theory stuff) away from the type rating.  Cool!