Flying Hours Today 1:05, Total 4:05
Today is an excellent day for flying with almost no wind. We were soon out on the apron where I did the internal checks while the instructor did the externals.
Part of the external checks is to test the fuel lines and tanks to ensure there is no water contamination - this is something I will be doing in future.
I managed a good taxi all the way out to the R14, including R/T with the tower but I didn't respond quickly enough at times - what with all the taxiing and looking around and following checklists! So the instructor had to calmly do the R/T but he reckons I'll be doing this without a problem in a few more hours so there is no need to get too anxious about it today.
Climbing
"An aeroplane may be descended in two ways: 1) In a glide, where engine power is not used and the pilot accepts the resulting rate of descent; or 2) In a powered descent, where power is used by the pilot to control the rate of descent."
From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 Soon we were up in the sky for a series of climbs and descents. Lots of PAT and CAT repeated over and over again. Before commencing a powered climb we double checked that we had a clear look out and then weaved with 15 degrees of bank every few hundred feet so we could see what may be hidden under the nose of the aircraft.
At one point a microlight came into view directly ahead - we hadn't noticed it until we started to weave and immediately we got visual contact once we saw it moving across the field of view.
Around 40ft before we reach the target altitude it is time to level off, adjust power and trim. Don't do things too early as there simply isn't the momentum to reach the target altitude, and don't leave it too late or you will bust your altitude - which wouldn't be good on your skills test.
Part of the external checks is to test the fuel lines and tanks to ensure there is no water contamination - this is something I will be doing in future.
I managed a good taxi all the way out to the R14, including R/T with the tower but I didn't respond quickly enough at times - what with all the taxiing and looking around and following checklists! So the instructor had to calmly do the R/T but he reckons I'll be doing this without a problem in a few more hours so there is no need to get too anxious about it today.
Climbing
"An aeroplane may be descended in two ways: 1) In a glide, where engine power is not used and the pilot accepts the resulting rate of descent; or 2) In a powered descent, where power is used by the pilot to control the rate of descent."
From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 Soon we were up in the sky for a series of climbs and descents. Lots of PAT and CAT repeated over and over again. Before commencing a powered climb we double checked that we had a clear look out and then weaved with 15 degrees of bank every few hundred feet so we could see what may be hidden under the nose of the aircraft.
At one point a microlight came into view directly ahead - we hadn't noticed it until we started to weave and immediately we got visual contact once we saw it moving across the field of view.
Around 40ft before we reach the target altitude it is time to level off, adjust power and trim. Don't do things too early as there simply isn't the momentum to reach the target altitude, and don't leave it too late or you will bust your altitude - which wouldn't be good on your skills test.
Descending
"For an aeroplane to climb steadily the thrust must exceed the drag, otherwise it would slow down and the nose would have to be lowered to maintain airspeed. The thrust in excess of that needed to balance the drag is called the excess thrust."
From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 To descend we started by gliding down at idle revs - always remembering to apply carb heat when reducing the power. This was a smooth easy piece of flying, at 200ft from target altitude we turn the carb heat off and a second or two later we are at 100ft when we apply power, then level off and adjust trim.
We also did a few powered descents by maintaing the airspeed at around 75kts and adjusting the attitude.
Today the Elvington Air Show was taking place over near York. There were no formal restrictions in place in our area but we did tend to overfly the Pennine hills more than on previous occasions to ensure we had a very wide berth.
Our return took us towards Skipton then to the Keighley VRP (Visual Reporting Point) before returning to land on R14 and completing an excellent lesson.
"For an aeroplane to climb steadily the thrust must exceed the drag, otherwise it would slow down and the nose would have to be lowered to maintain airspeed. The thrust in excess of that needed to balance the drag is called the excess thrust."
From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 To descend we started by gliding down at idle revs - always remembering to apply carb heat when reducing the power. This was a smooth easy piece of flying, at 200ft from target altitude we turn the carb heat off and a second or two later we are at 100ft when we apply power, then level off and adjust trim.
We also did a few powered descents by maintaing the airspeed at around 75kts and adjusting the attitude.
Today the Elvington Air Show was taking place over near York. There were no formal restrictions in place in our area but we did tend to overfly the Pennine hills more than on previous occasions to ensure we had a very wide berth.
Our return took us towards Skipton then to the Keighley VRP (Visual Reporting Point) before returning to land on R14 and completing an excellent lesson.
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ReplyDeleteThis is great "turns, climbs and descends" standard first lesson for up and coming pilots. Follow me on twitter @learntoflyva and check out my website Visit Learn to Fly VA
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