Gusty Cancellation ... Again

Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 11:25

Saturday was a good day for flying, but the weather forecast for Sunday wasn't looking too good. An early rise and a quick visit to the Met Office website to download the latest F215 - low level weather - and F214 - UK spot wind chart.

I also printed the TAF and METAR pages. They didn't make good reading. The TAF for Leeds Bradford - EGNM - had the ominous 36018G30KT entry...

I called my instructor as he was en-route to the airport and read out the bad news. He was going in to check to see if it would be feasible to go for circuits at Gamston.

Twenty minutes later he called back with the bad news that today would be another cancellation. The gusting northerly weather was all across the eastern side of England.

Learning to do controlled approaches in gusting wind would not be a good use of my time and money. As we have also now covered the other 'back-up' exercises such as basic instrument operations and steep, level turns, there was no point in taking to the air today. Roll on next week...

Snowy Cancellation

Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 11:25

On Friday the first snow of the season had settled on the ground in Yorkshire, and most of the rest of the British Isles too.

This meant that Saturday was a perfect, blue sky day. Very cold and crisp. The air was perfectly still. Driving over the Pennine Hills from Manchester into Yorkshire a very visible temperature inversion was in place. A band of dirty brown smoke and pollution was hanging over Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds and beyond.

In the distance the vapour trails from the three power stations of Eggborough, Drax and Ferrybridge could be seen rising vertically. Unfortunately the forecast for Sunday wasn't so good, and in the end the weather turned out to be not conducive to flying.

Low level cloud at 500ft and some drizzle. So another lesson cancelled. I took the time out to review the exam requirements for the next two papers that I will sit - I plan to take the Aircraft General, and the Flight Performance and Planning together as they are quite closely related.

The target is to have these two closed off by the end of the year. Leaving only the navigation and the R/T to do.

Feel The (G) Force!

Flying Hours Today 1:10, Total 11:25

Today's weather provided great conditions for flying, which really makes a difference to just how easy it is to learn new skills in the air. The Great British weather has a lot to answer for, but it doesn't half help to focus your flying skills when it is less than perfect - which is most of the time.

We had planned to practice approaches leading up to actually landing. Unfortunately, as I've found so far in my flying career, things don't always go to plan and so we have to be flexible and change things at the last minute. Today it wasn't the weather but the airstrips we were planning to land at that had a problem.

Steep Level Turns

"A steep turn is a turn in which the bank angle exceeds 45°. It is a high-performance manoeuvre which requires good coordination and positive control."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 For various reasons both Full Sutton and Sandtoft were not available for our training exerise today and so we decided to move right on to Exercise 15: Steep, Level Turns and Spiral Descents.

We ventured into the chilly briefing room with a warm cup of coffee - it was about 6C at the airfield overnight and the heating had not yet been switched on. We covered steep, level turns at a 45 degree angle of bank which is what I will be examined on. We also touched on 60 degree angle of bank which we would do during the lesson to get a feel for this.

In summary, as we pass through 30 degrees angle of bank, apply 100-200rpm of power and maintain the nose upright as the aircraft will tend to descend nose down due to the loss of lift directly opposing weight.

Pull back further on the stick as we approach 45 degrees. Do much the same in reverse to return to straight and level flight, starting the roll out perhaps 20 degrees from the target heading.

It must be noted that balance plays an important part of this exercise, and examiners will be looking to ensure that balance is maintained. Remember that as the bank to the left begins, push down to apply left rudder and vice-versa for the right. Keep the actions synchronised.

If the aircraft is losing altitude and the angle of bank is greater than 45 degrees then it is imperative that you don't pull back further to raise the nose. At these angles the elevator will not raise the nose in the normal sense as it is now operating at a more vertical than horizontal angle - instead it will direct the nose into an even tighter turning circle, thereby reducing vertical lift and so accelerating the nose down attitude.

In these circumstances, revert to a lower angle of bank, re-ajust the attitude, then revert to 45 degrees (or more) angle of bank.

In a steep descending turn, or a spiral descent, the airspeed will tend to increase due to reduction in lift countering weight and also because power is still being applied to provide thrust. There is a danger that the airspeed will pass Vno - limit of normal operating speed in smooth airflow - and tend towards Vne - the Never Exceed speed limit for the airframe. If a spiral descent increases the airspeed too much then it is time to reduce power to idle immediately, then to level the wings and then to adjust attitude to return to straight and level flight. Reapply power only when the airspeed has dropped to around the 100kt mark.

Steep, level turns are included in the syllabus as a maneouver to quickly change heading to avoid a collision with another aircraft or obstruction on the ground. It is not generally a maneouver to be used in every day flying - however it can be used during circuits when turning from downwind to base leg.

A tight turn takes less time so during a busy circuit this will give more time to allow the pilot to focus on other things in the base leg of the circuit.

So time to go and fly. I did the check out first of all, calling ATC at Leeds / Bradford to request a local book out. The information they require includes:

• Exiting the zone via Harrogate (our VRP today)
• G-BODD, PA28 (registration and type)
• 2 PoB (people on board, me and the instructor)Instructors name as captain
• Training / exercise flight (as details)

If we were to go elsewhere to actually touch  down we would have to request a landaway book out with the following information:

• Estimated time of departure
• Whether the flight is VFR or IFR
• Expected altitude / flight level
• Registration callsign and type
• Zone exit VRP
• Destination and route
• Time en-route
• Endurance
• PoB and experience of person in charge

Out to the apron to perform the pre-flight checks on G-BODD. I did all these myself today as the instructor went in search of oil for the engine. Upon his return the extremely cold and viscous oil was poured into the engine, he then went to dispose of the oil container and left me to continue the checks and start the engine!

I was left with the responsibility to do this for the first time. By the time he returned I had the prop turning and reduced to idle to allow him to board.

I'm now getting much more confident with my R/T and completed the preliminary conversations with ease. We taxied to Lima 1 via Golf in order to use R32. QNH was high today at 1033mb. Turning into the wind on the taxyway meant using the full width of the surface to turn at right angles to the yellow line.

All checks completed and a BMI jet bound for either Heathrow or Edinburgh passed us as it backtracked down R32. We were given immediate clearance to go and so made full use of this and I took off with an immediate turn right to clear the airspace then the BMI flight was given clearance as soon as we were out of the runway centre line.


The exercise was much less challenging than expected, and no where near as bad from a motion sickness point of view. I'd been told that steep turns were not the instructor's or others favourite exercise. But I managed to pick things up very quickly. Keeping the angle of bank good, maintaining altitude well. Doing a number of left and right 360 degree turns and at one point I felt a slight bump. It was us intercepting my wake from the earlier turn - which in still air proves that we had maintained our level flight.

There was a lot of other traffic today - the most I've seen in all my flights. Probably due to the relatively fine weather. It was good to be able to be practising my flying over Fountains Abbey with spectacular views and also being able to provide some of my brain power to listening into the ATC and being aware of look out and spotting the other aircraft.

Following 30 degree and 45 degree turns we moved into the spiral descent. This was also much easier to recover from than anticipated. So we moved onto 60 degree turns which create something like 2G. I've never really felt g-force for any prolonged period (i.e. more than a second or so on a fairground ride) and it wasn't the most comfortable feeling to hold the position for quite a few seconds.

We headed towards Wetherby, doing some simple navigation along the way. Using the cooling towers of Eggborough, Drax and Ferrybridge as reference points for triangulation.

En-route we passed through what could only be described as wisps of cloud, nothing like a fully fledged cloud. The turbulence was quite shocking for such a small amount of vapour. I made a mental note never ever to venture anywhere near a towering cumulonimbus! Turning right we were heading directly for the Eccup Reservoir VRP and I made the call to Leeds Approach requesting entry into the Zone.

Remembering to state what we require (entry to the zone), where we are (2 nautical miles south of Wetherby), and who we are (G-BODD). I had become lazy and was using Delta-Delta as the call sign, I must remember to continue with Golf-Delta-Delta.

Permission was granted to enter the zone not above 2000ft, with a QFE of 1009mb. We also switched to Leeds tower and requested and were granted permission to land on R27 - and I must remember to state two-seven rather than twenty seven!


As our approach was from such a distance, i.e. from Eccup we were proceeding too slowly so we pitched down to increase airspeed but then also applied power to maintain height. This combination of power and attitude adjustment made for not the most perfect long approaches but we were making good headway to the runway numbers.

Flaps were down, the pre-landing checks made, then as we crossed the threshold the instructor told me to fly down the runway, gradually losing height as we flew almost parallel to the ground. My hand on the throttle gradually dropping the power until, with a bit of a thud, we touched down. My first landing! I hadn't expected to do that today, and at a major airport like Leeds Bradford too. An excellent end to today's lesson.

Meteorology Exam

Flying Hours Today 1:00, Total 10:15

After the excitement of instrument flying it was now time for the meteorology exam. I had read and re-read the Trevor Thom's book a number of times in the past 3 weeks.


I was feeling confident, did a last minute review of the answers in the PPL Confuser and then went for it.


Twenty questions, 1 hour and I completed it much more quickly than I had expected. Early indications of my result showed another 100% pass! Which was a real achievement as I was expecting this to be a tough one.


So next on the list is the Aircraft General Knowledge and Principles of Flight which I expect to be sitting in a few weeks time.

Trust Your Instruments

Flying Hours Today 1:00, Total 10:15

The weather forecast over the weekend did not look good for flying lessons, but it was expected that the overcast cloud would clear early on Sunday morning. My instructor called me just after 0700hrs and suggested I make it to the flight school by 0900hrs and we would review the weather at that time.

This wasn't such a bad plan as I was intending on sitting my meteorology exam and so would need to be at the flight school today anyway.

On arrival I could just make out small patches of blue sky through the thick stratus. The cloud cover was still really 8 oktas, it couldn't be classed as broken, but things looked up.

As we were going to fly to Full Sutton (EGNU) again, where the cloud cover further east was forecast to break up, we decided to take to the skies for another flying lesson.

Today's lesson was to be all about approaches, and getting the appropriate visualisation of the runway confirmed. A short briefing on this, the PAPI lights - not for our use - and the importance of an accurate and fixed glide slope. You don't want to be approaching the runway at different angles time and again, learn the approach well and then the landing will be a piece of cake. Remember: it is power to control altitude and attitude to control air speed.

We booked out for a Special VFR departure from Leeds where the instructor would be doing most of the flying, then moved out to the apron to refuel G-BODD. All the usual checks completed, and instructions to taxi to runway 32 given.

A different route this time, keeping us from the usual Foxtrot taxiway we were instructed to take Golf then Lima at Leeds Bradford (EGNM). It is striking how easy it becomes to get set in a pattern, I'd always left the Multiflight apron via Foxtrot and duly headed that way, with a plan to then turn onto Golf and Lima, but was quickly prompted to make a sharp right turn to the correct entry on to Golf.

We had to wait at the Lima holding point for a Gulfstream - N16NK - to taxy by. By the sound of the pilot's voice and the time of day I assumed this had just flown in from the USA - but I could not be sure.

I completed the power checks then moved out to R32, initially heading 14M to backtrack at Delta then the usual take off. Slight wind from the left so to factor this in.

Instrument Flying

"The three fundamental skills in instrument flying are: instrument cross-check (also known as scanning the instruments); instrument interpretation (understanding their message); and aeroplane control (directing the aeroplane along the desired flightpath at the desired airspeed using attitude flying)."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 Very soon we were flying in cloud. The instructor took the opportunity to get me some instrument flying practice. Flying completely by the attitude indicate with no visual reference outside. We turned to the east, saw a break in the clouds over Harewood House and then we were back in the clouds. As we headed to Full Sutton it was becoming clear that the cloud was not improving and so we maintained radio contact with Leeds and requested a Radar Information Service. At very short notice the lesson changed to one of instrument training.

Instrument flying was not quite as challenging as I had expected - although I was only doing the extremely basic work of turns and maintaining altitude.

Although the attitude indicator is the main instrument to monitor during instrument flying, it has to be remembered that the instrument could still fail. Therefore it is imperative that we scan the other instruments to back up what the attitude indicator is telling us.

If flying with our wings level then our heading will not change as we are not banking.

Iif our attitude is correct we will not climb or descent - if expecting to be in straight and level flight.

So remember to scan the instruments : dot for altitude i.e. if the dot in the centre of the attitude indicator is aligned with the attitude dot - dot on dot - then altitude will remain constant, and wings for direction.

Every few seconds scan right to the altimeter and then down to the direction indicator. We practiced a few turns left and right, using rate one turns in IMC conditions. Get the rate one bank then hold that for the turn, level out with about 10 degrees remaining on the DI. Climb and descend as in VFR conditions. I managed to maintain 3000ft incredibly well, it almost seemed easier than in VFR conditions.

The instructor had also been navigating using radio nav aids. We flew over Drax Power Station, about 30 miles to the east of Leeds and felt the turbulence caused by the cooling towers, this made the instrument flying more challenging as I had to handle the turbulent motion and maintain heading and level.

As is always the case it was soon time to return to Leeds. The instructor made the calls to receive the vectors and we headed on 280 back to the airfield.

It was interesting to hear the radar service gave us indications of other aircraft in our vicinity. Quite unnerving to know that others are flying near by with no visual contact - the traffic controllers certainly do an excellent job and in one case we took their advice to change heading to maintain distance with another, unseen, aircraft.

Now the lesson got really interesting as the localiser was brought into play, along with the glide slope indicators. The instructor was making some rapid calculations on heading, direction, height, cloud base etc. etc. as I just flew the aeroplane.

Shortly we were flying over Leeds as I could see Kirkstall Abbey through a break in the cloud. We were making an instrument approach on R32 as is done by the big jets, this is the first time I had made this approach as a pilot, having lived it maybe a hundred times as a passenger.

We broke clear of the cloud at about 600ft aal. The runway was lit up in all its glory. The approach training was back on as I targeted us for a point just to the right of the PAPI lights. Closer and closer, dropping the power as we neared the ground, back pressure, then allow the aircraft to fall gently onto the concrete. The instructor was in control for the landing, but it was the closest I had yet come to making a landing.

The instructor made an excellent point about landings - you are not trying to fly the aircraft onto the ground, i.e. making a precision approach where you intercept the ground at almost zero vertical speed, instead you aim to fly level with the ground, then use attitude to lower airspeed and, consequently, lift and then the aircraft will slowly fall onto the runway and you have landed.

Taxy back to Multiflight West then back to the flying school.

The CAA Class 2 Medical

Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 9:15

Now that circuit flying is in progress, this will lead on to landings, which will lead onto my first solo. It is therefore time to undergo my medical examination to ensure I get all the paperwork in order to enable me to go solo.

I'd booked my medical examination appointment a number of weeks before and this morning found myself at Sheffield City Airport for the medical. I had prepared to spend around 1 hour on the full medical which, I was hoping, would provide me with a licence to enable me to legally fly solo in the UK.

I must say I was quite apprehensive, I'm generally in good health but this is the kind of examination which you can't revise for, and failure is generally black or white - if you don't meet the criteria then it will be difficult, but not impossible, to fix things to enable you to pass in future.

On to the medical, and first things first - you will need to provide photo ID to prove you are who you say you are. A photo driving licence is sufficient. As it was my first registration with the CAA I was granted my UK CAA reference number. This is required when sitting ground examinations but I haven't been able to provide one until now. At least my exams will now be completed in the correct manner.

The medical is thorough - as is to be expected. There is the usual medical questionnaire covering you and your immediate family medical history. Then height and weight checks, body flexibility - I can't remember the last time I had to touch my toes! Followed by peak flow breathing tests, eyesight, colour vision, hearing, balance, reflexes, the usual prodding, stethoscopic breathing and heart checks. Then wiring up to the ECG for heart monitoring, a haemoglobin blood test, and finishing with a urine test.

The eyesight check was interesting. The very first question in the health questionnaire is concerning eye surgery. In the summer of 2002 I had LASIK surgery on one eye to correct my vision and this has provided me with much better than average vision. However what is important to the CAA medical examiner is my prescription before I had the surgery.

As I no longer wear contact lenses or glasses I didn't think to bring my current or previous prescriptions. So a quick call was made to the optician where I had the LASIK surgery and within a few minutes my prescription arrived via fax. It was a close run thing.

I had the LASIK treatment on only one eye as it was the only one worth correcting at -2.50 dioptres. However my other eye is +0.25 dioptres. What is important is the difference between the two before the operation. The allowable limit is 3.0 dioptres. I was in the clear at 2.75 dioptres difference. If you are considering learning to fly, and have had corrective LASIK surgery, then I would check with your optician and with the CAA on the acceptable limits before spending too much money on flying lessons and equipment.

For the sum of £135 I had undergone an extensive medical examination that fortunately proved me to be in sound health and was issued with the necessary paper work: "United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority - Joint Aviation Authorities - Medical Certificate JAA Class 2 - Pertaining to a Flight Crew Licence", and it is valid for two years at which time I have to resubmit myself and get examined once again! Roll on the solo flight.