Stocking Up

Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 2:00

This afternoon I managed to get out of work early and so decided to take a trip to Air Supply in Yeadon, Leeds. The store is just a couple of miles from the airport and a nice touch is that the shop has the live ATC being played out of a small receiver. I was here to buy the equipment that I will require to progress:

• A5 kneeboard and Chinagraph pencils
• Trevor Thom book 2 - Air Law and Meteorology
• Trevor Thom book 3 - Navigation
• A 1:250000 topographical air chart of England East
• A pilot's log book
• A PA28 Checklist

The shopping list came from my instructor at the flying school. I might be getting a little ahead of myself by buying books on navigation and charts but I'm really keen to learn at the moment and want to find out more about this flying lark all the time.


It is worth bearing in mind that the air charts do change on an annual basis in the UK - which stands to reason as they are there not only for navigation but for safety, you wouldn't want to have an unexpected collision with a tall tower, or to find yourself trying to locate a new road on an old map when trying to pin point your position.


Always make sure you buy the latest edition of the chart and that it is up to date - your instructor will be able to tell you which is the latest edition and the charts themselves have their expiry dates printed on them.


I'm pleased that my flying is now back on track. This has been a great week for me, taking off from a major airport was something quite incredible that I didn't think I would be doing so soon. I'm now committed to getting my PPL and have decided to spend more on buying the equipment I will need to help me progress.

Cleared for Take Off!

Flying Hours Today 1:00, Total 2:00

The Take-Off

"During the take-off, the aeroplane must be accelerated to an airspeed at which it is capable of flying. Having a headwind component on a runway 'gives' you airspeed even before you have started rolling. Take-off into wind if possible."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 After a fantastic 3 week holiday to the States, including two fantastic helicopter flights in Hawaii, it was back to the flying.


At the start of the day there was a covering of cloud and rain was forecast. So I called up expecting cancellation but was pleased to find that the lesson was still to go ahead as the cloud cover was high and intermittent.


I arrived for the 1100hrs lesson and with a new instructor - the regular weekend instructor. He was out with another student so we didn't get started until 1140. We had a quick review of the first lesson and then moved onto more details of the ancilliary controls.


During the flight we would be covering airmanship - always keeping a lookout is a useful thing, listening to ATC and then making use of the controls. We would also be going into details on the actions of the throttle, the carb heater and the mixture control.


A quick transfer to the airfield and then we were taxiing out in G-BODD to take off on runway 32 at LBA.


I was given control of the aircraft to taxi it to the runway. Following the yellow lines was difficult at first as there is very poor response to the controls but I managed to weave a way to the holding point where we checked brakes, power and magnetos again.

Then onto the runway where I was surprised to be told to give full throttle and get the aeroplane off the ground - my first take off. Quite unnerving as I still wasn't too comfortable with the steering controls so I weaved my way along the main runway at Leeds Bradford airport and followed instructions to pull back on the control stick, to raise the nose, climb and then turn right towards Harrogate.


It all happened so fast I didn't have time to check the airspeed and power etc. But it was great fun.


An hour of flying ensued, covering the various impacts on the aircraft of altering the power, the pitch, the carb heater, the mixture etc. etc. Mixture leaned until the revs fall, then back on a touch. Power reduced and the aircraft pitches down and to the right, power increased and it pitches up and to the left.


Use of flaps and the effects of pitch changes and how to re-adjust the with trim wheel. Climbing turns using less than 20 degrees of bank. Watching the airspace around us. Many turns to keep us away from clouds, some of which were dropping substantial amounts of rain. Just as in the first lesson we did our flying over Fountain's Abbey and Ripon - giving me some great views from above.


We checked the magnetos during flight, changed fuel tanks and set the electric fuel pump on before doing so. I was introduced to the chilly air vent on my left leg, and the demister and cabin heater controls, which for some reason, are not laid out intuitively to me - they should be reversed!


I had much more control of the aircraft in this lesson. I found I was acheiving trim with no problems, and using the flaps to reduce airspeed came naturally to me.


Before I knew it the hour was up and we headed back to Leeds. This time I could make out the airport easily. We were to land on runway 32 so we flew towards the North end of the runway, the instructor set the direction indicator to simplify orientation. Turned to the downwind leg and flew parallel to the runway, waited for another light aircraft to land and then turned towards the runway.

At this point the instructor took over and brought the plane to land with me shadowing the controls. No braking necessary on the runway and we turned off as soon as possible then I was give control to taxi us back to the hanger area.


Finally we cut the engine by reducing the mixture to effectively starve the engine and to ensure there would be no fuel left in the lines.


What is needed now is for me to get a kneeboard, checklist and log book then I'll be all set for my next flight which will hopefully be next Sunday - weather permitting!