What To Do When It All Goes Wrong

Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 18:45

The TAFs today were indicating that the weather would be on the edge for flying. Over Holmfirth - near to where I live - and Ripon the sky was clear and blue with a bank of cloud in the distance.

As both myself and the instructor arrived at Leeds Bradford from different directions we both became aware of the gloom over the airfield. Low lying broken cloud blowing along at quite a pace which changed the weather from bright clear sunshine to dark gloom in seconds.

The TAF from Humberside Airport had also indicated the probability of fog in the Vale of York this morning and this was confirmed by Sandtoft.

The fog at Sandtoft wasn't too thick though so we decided to go out and do the A-Check on G-BODD and we planned to call Sandtoft back to confirm that the fog had burned off. I completed the checks and we called Sandtoft again, it was now touch and go with visibility of about 1.5km but a pilot that had landed was still not too happy with the visibility on approach.

We decided to sit it out for another 20 minutes. Time well spent as the instructor showed me more details of how the radios operate in the aircraft and what the various on/off toggle switches on the right side of the dash actually did.

Forced Landings Without Power

"All pilots must be able to cope with and emergency landing without the use of engine power, possibly on an unprepared surface. This can be done quite successfully. The low landing speed of a modern training aircraft and its robust construction allow it to be landed safely in quite small fields, provided the pilot positions the aeroplane accurately."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 Our final call to Sandtoft wasn't good. We had the option to take off and hope that things would clear en-route but in the end decided against it. If the fog hadn't cleared then it would be a wasted trip and wasted money. There was still a couple of hours of my booking remaining so the instructor suggested we cover the theory behind Exercise 16: Practiced Forced Landings back at the school.

At the school I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen as we sat down for a long chat about just what to do in the event of a emergency that would require a forced landing. The process is described in the steps below:

1 - The engine fails for whatever reason but most probably fuel starvation which is generally due to human error. Always be aware of the fuel situation!

2 - Adopt the best glide attitude. This will give you maximum range and time in the air to identify and reach a suitable landing spot.

3 - Orientate yourself with the wind. Either by looking at smoke or vapour from powerstations, or the direction of cloud movement. Recall the direction of the take off runway - which was most probably into wind, or take a look at the wind vector that you noted down during your ATIS check. On short flights within the UK the wind will not have changed dramatically over time, we are looking here to get a general feel for wind direction not a precise heading.

4 - Look for a suitable field. A suitable field will have the following characteristics:

• Size: Big enough to land in, and ideally big enough to take off from although this is definitely a secondary consideration at this time. Remember that the longest clear run in a field is diagonally from corner to opposite corner.


• Shape: Think about the wind direction and look for a suitably shaped field that would allow a landing into wind. A long thin field that will have the wind as a full crosswind isn't perhaps as useful as a short wide field that is directly into wind.


• Surface: Look for green, empty, fields. Fields with animals or other obstructions are obviously not good. Also public places such as park land may also look tempting but they may have people and animals wandering about. Dark brown fields may have recently been ploughed and so full of furrows which would not be good. Lighter brown fields may have been rolled ready for crop planting so may be a better option if all the surrounding fields are dark brown. Mature crops are to be avoided if possible but be aware that if you do land there then you will slow down dramatically on contact with the crop and will need to brace yourself firmly. Of course, if there is an airstrip nearby, make use of it! Roads may look tempting but there will be the possibility of traffic and perhaps street lights and telegraph poles to avoid. We didn't discuss the option of ditching on water - I should report back to the flying school for a refresher if I'm planning to cross any sizable expanse of water. Note that a field may look fine from altitude but unsuitable when getting nearer - always have a second option.


• Slope: Landing up slope is preferable. Avoid a down slope landing as much as possible. It may even be preferable to land up slope with a tail wind.


• Surrounds: Look for high hedges, trees, pylons, telegraph cables, fences etc. Note that the cables between pylons may not be visible so scan the surrounding area for the pylons. Remember that if the pylon cables cross the field further down than your landing position it will be possible to fly under the cables.

But what if you can't find a suitable field in the vicinity? Then turn downwind to extend your search range. Let the wind carry you as far as possible to find a suitable place. In the UK you will almost always be able to find a field within range.

There may be difficulties in some of the higher ground areas such as in Scotland, the Pennines, the Lake District or Wales and in these cases you will have to make the call to find the best possible spot in the surrounding area. Note that if flying downwind will decrease your options, e.g. by flying you out to sea or into a built up area or into a mountain range then obviously this is not the best thing to do and you will have to make the call to land in a less than ideal location.

5 - Now we have the field in sight, orientate your landing run with a view to ideally land upslope and into wind. You are now going to fly a circuit formation with key points identified to bringing you in for a safe landing.

Build the circuit plan in your head and identify a point on the ground (a building, a copse, a tower etc.) that will serve as your 1000ft point, this will be the point when you turn onto your 'base' leg.

Remember that as you will have no power you will want this point to be nearer to the landing point than in a normal circuit - you won't have the opportunity to stretch the approach but you can lose height if necessary to shorten an approach.

You also need to be able to land using circuit heights (i.e. heights above ground level) and probably won't have time or the option to make a QFE call. Instead you adjust the altimeter to map the QNH you are using to an agl approximation.

You should already be aware of the ground level beneath you from your charts. Adjust the altimeter accordingly e.g. if the ground is between 0 and 500 ft then reduce the altimeter by 250 ft to give you an approximate agl height.

Basically take a look at the terrain on the map and reduce the altimeter by the mid point between the altitude range: 2000ft to 3000ft feet terrain, mid point 2500ft, reduce altimeter by 2500ft.

6 - From the 1000ft point work backwards to visualise a circuit identifying a 'downwind' turn at 2000ft and a 'crosswind' turn at 2500ft. Of course, if your altitude doesn't allow the full circuit to be executed then by all means cut across the circuit with the view of getting to the 1000ft point at the right altitude and direction.

7 - Ideally the following procedure should be followed as we lose approximately 500ft per sector:

• At 2500ft, turn to the crosswind leg, and do the restart checks: mixture rich, fuel pump on, throttle OK, fuel tank selected, carb heat on. As the propeller will probably still be windmilling - i.e. turning due to the fact that the aircraft is moving through the air - then if fuel does enter the engine it may restart of its own accord. If this does happen then abort the force landing and plan an immediate diversion to the nearest airport.


• At 2000ft, turn to the downwind leg and make the mayday call. This call needs to be done at as high an altitude as possible to ensure that the radio waves have the maximum range. Report as per a standard mayday call on your existing open frequency or on the emergency frequency 121.5MHz.


• At 1500ft, while on the downwind leg and now abeam of your landing strip, do the shutdown checks. Turn the throttle and mixture off, in some cases it has been known for aircraft on forced landings to pitch nose down during final approach in order to land safely, this in turn can make the 'unusable' fuel in the system flow into the engine.
  
  If the throttle is still fully open and the engine kicks into life then the aircraft will increase speed rapidly and crash into the ground with great force.
  
  Turn the throttle off! Turn the magnetos off, close the fuel cock and switch off the fuel pump. If finished with the radio switch it off. If you don't need power for the flaps then at this point turn off the master switch.
  
  Remove your headphones and put them where they won't obstruct your exits. Unlock the door and open it slightly, if you have a passenger get them to wedge something - e.g. headphones - between the open door and the frame. This will mean the door will still open if, on landing, the airframe is bent and the door is jammed.


• At 1000ft, or more precisely, at your 1000ft position, turn for the base leg. If you are over 1000ft still make the turn and lose some height by S-turns as you approach the target field. Do not fly beyond the 1000ft position as you won't have power to make up any shortfall on the approach.


• At 500ft you will be on final approach. Aim for a point about 1/3rd the way down your target field. This is so that if you approach too low then you will have a field to land in rather than a hedge or wall.
  
  Only now do you being to think about applying flaps and only do so in stages. Only apply the flaps when you are supremely confident that you can make the landing point. 

• If the approach is not working as expected then the following techniques could help: use S-turns to lose height, increase speed to lose height. If you don't think you will make the field due to a headwind then gradually gain some speed. If there is an obstacle then use the flaps to gain some additional lift by ballooning you over the obstacle. This is, of course, a last resort and would only apply if the wind has been badly misjudged.

8 - If all has gone well you will be able to touch down and come to a safe stop. Get out of the aircraft and move away as soon as possible.


So following all that excitement in the coming weeks it will be time to put things into practice and also to make my circuit bashing more interesting I'll be doing approaches with different configurations: the steeper glide approach without power, the regular approach and the shallower flap-less approach.

A practiced forced landing is just that - a practice. For the majority of pilots a real forced landing is something they will not encounter through their flying career. For some pilots the PFL training can be a life saver. Probably the most famous example of a forced landing occurred on 15th January 2009 when US Airways Flight 1549 lost power in both engines and became a glider. Captain Sullenberger made an exceptional forced landing on the Hudson river. His quick thinking and cool headedness enabled him to make a perfect landing on the river.

Radiotelephony (R/T) Theory Exam

Flying Hours Today 2:15, Total 18:45

I went back to the school to sit the Radio Telephony (R/T) ground school paper. I managed 26 out of 30 which is a comfortable pass at 86.6%.

Now there is only the navigation paper to pass and then all ground school exams are done! I'm already studying the navigation book to get this one out of the way as soon as possible.

Crosswind Landings At Sandtoft

Flying Hours Today 2:15, Total 18:45

At daybreak today the sky was totally clear, there was ice to scrape off my car before setting off to the airport. My car's thermometer kindly reminded me that the outside air temperature was 3 degrees C below zero. It would be an excellent day for flying.

I arrived at the flying school, the instructor made the call to Sandtoft to confirm they were open for business. Indeed they were, and the cafe was also open - we could have a lovely warm breakfast there. After checking out with Leeds ATC, and calling the ground services to fill up the tanks, we headed over to the aircraft.

On arrival the refuellers were just completing their work as we started to scrape the ice from the airframe. It was quite thick today and having the aircraft in the shade and with a 12kt wind blowing across the airfield it was quite chilly work. Once the refuellers had completed the fuelling of a Cessna they kindly moved G-BODD into the sun to give at least a couple of degrees of respite from the wind chill.

Sitting in the aircraft we received the ATIS, as expected the weather was CAVOK. We were cleared to taxi to F3 via F, and told to watch for ice at end of R27 / F intersection. Our usual route via L wasn't available as the ice hadn't yet been cleared.

Following the power checks we were cleared to backtrack then line up on R32. I taxied along the runway to the landing markings - for the big jets - then turned around and was given immediate clearance for take off.

Throttle to full power then we took off turned to the right and right again to exit the zone via Eccup. As I switched to Leeds Approach I gave our position as overhead "Echo" for some reason rather than overhead "Eccup". Oops.

The sky was absolutely clear. Visibility for 40 miles or more as we climbed to 4000ft. Even the instructor was impressed with the clarity and took some photos with his camera - I was going to bring mine along today but forgot to, a missed opportunity.

The RAF station at Church Fenton looked quite stunning with all the runways frosted over and so showing the airfield as a bright white island in the surrounding greenery.

A short cruise to Sandtoft, using Eggborough power station as the heading. As mentioned earlier in this diary, there are three power stations in line to the south east of Leeds: Ferrybridge, Eggborough and Drax. They are a brilliant set of reference points to get a position fix in that area.

We left Leeds Approach and switched to Sandtoft Radio to request airfield information. Runway 23 was in use with right hand circuits, the wind from 320 at 10kts. A chance to practice crosswind landings. The windsock appeared to be perpendicular to the runway - matching the runway heading and wind perfectly.

Crosswind Operations

"Not all aerodromes have a runway which is facing into wind on a given day. For this reason, take-offs and landings on runways where there is a crosswind component are frequent events.

If the actual crosswind component on the runway exceeds the limit for the aeroplane and/or what you feel is your own personal limit, then use a different runway (which may even mean proceeding to a different aerodrome)."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 The wind at 10kts would also test my mettle and give a real taste of crosswind landings - for a student anyway!

As we descended to Sandtoft from 4000ft, at around 500ft/min we aimed to cross over the downwind threshold at 2000ft which we did. Then a lazy descending right turn to 1000ft which brought us across the numbers at the upwind end of the runway and then we joined the circuit.

At this time we were they only aircraft in the circuit but we still made the checks to ensure there weren't any unknown aircraft in the vicinity.

In the circuit the crosswind was blowing us back towards the runway so I had to head on a corrected course. Time to turn for the base leg then the approach. Everything was looking good - until I got very close to touchdown, the aircraft was at the wrong angle to the runway and the wings were being buffeted by the crosswind.

The instructor was talking about left rudder and right wing down into the wind. It was all too much, I said I wasn't confident so we instigated a go-around. Applied full power, dropped the third stage of flap and then got back into the circuit. I was quite alarmed by this failed approach and it showed.

My co-ordination was all over the place. I was finding it difficult to concentrate as we came around again. This time I touched down with my right wing into the wind, swerved a bit along the runway, then applied power to complete the touch and go.

The instructor pointed out that I'd forgotten to take off carb heat - I knew that I was focussing too much on the landing and this was to catch me out next time around. We came to land and I put the aircraft down, then for some strange reason I started to reach for the carb heat lever to turn it off.

This movement of my body put me out of position to control the straight line along the runway and we swerved to the left almost off the edge of the runway. The instructor took control and performed another whole circuit followed by a touch and go.

Remember: aviate, navigate, communicate. I don't know why I'd gone for the carb heat control when landing - a bizarre action, as I'd already turned carb heat off during the final approach when third stage of flap was applied.

I guess that I had too much information to process and having forgotten the carb heat the previous time around I must have been in learning mode and trying to remember something to do with carb heat on touch down.

So the instructor performed a flawless touch and go. This time explaining how to apply left rudder as we fly level along the runway, this will line us up with the centre line, but then to stop the drift from the crosswind we turn the ailerons into wind - effectively flying with crossed controls but in a straight line. Once I understood this it did seem to make more sense.

On take off the right rudder has to be applied to counter the propellor wash that is due to high power being applied. We went around again and this time I landed the aircraft much better, I still had a fear of dipping the wing too much and hitting the runway, or landing too much at an angle and the aircraft flipping over.

This was also a full stop landing - and when we touched down I put the brakes on hard and I could hear the squeals of the brakes and tyres - again, I was probably too nervous and applied the brakes way too hard and early instead of letting the speed bleed off.

We turned at Delta then taxyed to parking spot 3. It was good to see G-LFSK and G-LFSJ, the other two Piper's I'd flown in. As we powered down I could hear the gyros spinning down - I'd not heard this before at noisy, windy airports but it was a quiet day at Sandtoft. We also got to see a Piper PA28-141 with its shorter, thicker wings.

We reported to the control room and it was good to see the 'inside' view of the radio operator's world. I also heard someone being welcomed for one of the jet flights in the resident Jet Provost. Now that would be interesting to see.

We had time for a coffee and chocolate slice in the cafe - I'd warmed up and didn't need the full English breakfast. I finished my drink and was promptly sent out to perform the transit checks on the aircraft. Remembering to take care when crossing the runway - look both ways and be aware of fast approaching aircraft - I'm glad I had my hi-viz jacket on, but was surprised that there were some people who ignored this safety advice.

The transit check is simply a reduced form of the full A check covering wheels / tyres, fuel and oil. The fuel in the right tank had gone from full to just below tabs so it was time to switch to the left tank for the return trip. Just as I was getting into the aircraft to start internal checks I saw the Jet Provost taxying down the runway.

A gloriously crisp winter's morning. Not a cloud in the sky. And less than 100ft away from me was a black Jet Provost turning and lining up for take off. Then off it went - the noise was deafening compared to the single engined propellors. And the climb rate was astonishing, at 30 or perhaps 40 degrees attitude the aircraft climbed incredibly quickly. I understand these aircraft can climb at 4000ft per minute - which is probably modest for military aircraft today, but was awesome to see so close.

The Jet Provost levelled out and then climbed again. Then the aerobatics started. I wouldn't fancy any of that but it was incredible to watch. At this time the instructor returned, he said that the Jet Provost would be back before we had completed our power checks - they don't fly with much fuel on board on these pleasure trips.

True to form, by the time we had got to the exit point of the parking area and were completing power checks the Jet Provost came into land. I decided that the £375 fee for a few minutes of fast flying might be worth it some day - it would be extremely exhilerating.

We took off again on R23 and completed 3 more touch and goes. I was getting the hang of the crosswind landing but it was still quite difficult - the instructor was pleased with my performance and maybe I'm too hard on myself basing my quality of landings against his.

We left the Sandtoft zone and contacted Leeds Approach. Other pilots will have had the same idea of getting airborne today in the fine weather and the R/T was very busy - we had to confirm our altitude to the controller three times.

We set a heading of 330 to Eggborough then towards Harewood House as it was visible from such a distance in the clear air. During the cruise at 4000ft we leaned the mixture, bringing it down until the engine RPM started to reduce, the adding another 1/2 inch on the throttle for good measure. We began our descent from 4000ft over Burton Salmon and visualised the Leeds controlled zone edge, from the high rise flats at Swarcliffe to Menwith Hill.

We identified Eccup and flew into the controlled airspace over Garforth, Swarcliffe and then over Whinmoor where, for the first time ever, I got to see from the air where I grew up and went to school.

We also had a great view of Roundhay Park to the left then lined up for R27 for a straight in landing. The wind was 300/18 so I could expect a slight crosswind. I touched down perfectly, then taxied to MFW (Multiflight West), via Foxtrot then Lima and parked up.

Aircraft General Exam

Flying Hours Today 1:00, Total 16:30

Back to the flying school and the chance to sit the Aircraft General exam. I'd thought this would be one of the easier exams and so decided to take it as a filler before Navigation and the Radio exams.

I was wrong and found that the subject matter is very broad. For that reason I'd been putting off the exam for weeks.

Today I decided to take the plunge and sit the 50 question paper. I was relieved to find that I'd passed with 80%.

Now I can focus fully on the navigation exam and practical work. I'll leave the R/T practical until I build up more 'on the job' experience.

Slow Flying, Not Stalling

Flying Hours Today 1:00, Total 16:30

After a long enforced break over the Christmas and New Year holidays - both fell on weekends this year so the flying school was close - and a wintery cancellation last week, it was back to some proper flying again today.

The weather wasn't too bad, following a week of storms and rain it looked like the high pressure following behind would provide some respite and indeed the weather was good for general flying.

Unfortunately the weather at Sandtoft, where we were scheduled for more circuit practice wasn't good. There was fog all across the Vale of York and surrounding areas this morning, not an uncommon situation at this time of year.

Slow Flight

"This exercise is designed to provide exposure to flight at abnormaly low airspeeds so that the pilot can: recognise an inadvertent approach to the stall; experience how the aeroplane handles at abnormally low airspeed; and take recovery action by returning the aeroplane to a safe flying speed."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 But I still wanted to fly. I told the instructor that I wanted to cover some more low speed flying, getting more feel for flying near the stall speed and maintaining altitude with reduced power etc. We decided to go and get G-BODD prepared for take off.


During the preflight check we found that fuel was a little low so requested a refill. We had to wait for the maintenance staff to show up so it was an opportunity to view some of the aircraft in the hangar at Leeds Bradford. My first time up close with a Cessna 152 and an R22 helicopter. Interesting to see these flying machines so up close. I was really surprised to see how small the Cessna is inside. Very cozy!

We took off on R32, to exit the zone on track to Harrogate. Take off was fun, there was a slight crosswind from the left so I was turning in towards it as we took off and I might have had just a little too much aileron as the aircraft lurched to the left as we left the ground.

Everything was soon under control as we made for Harrogate. We then spent the best part of the hour just practicing low speed flying, getting control of the aircraft just above the stall speed, finding two airspeeds at the same power setting by making use of the drag curve.

We overflew Ripon, Fountains Abbey and then Pateley Bridge. I was making good use of radio and consolidating on a number of the skills I've been working on over the past few months - speed control, practiced engine failure, turning, performance via the ASI etc. A very worthwhile exercise to start the New Year with.


Before long it was time to head back to Leeds via Harrogate. We were flying into the sun and it was difficult to read the map on the way in - although we knew where to go, I wanted to practice my map reading skills. On approach to Eccup we had to complete a left hand orbit then we were 2nd in for R27. At least I was going to be able to practice one landing today.

The approach wasn't eventful. The instructor deliberately kept quite. I was following what I'd learned from the previous approaches and making small adjustments to the throttle to change the rate of descent and adjusting pitch to maintain airspeed. It is all about control and focus.

As we neared the runway I was too eager to bring the nose up so just let it rest for a short while and glide onto the runway, I dropped the power and made and almost perfect landing, except that I hadn't dropped enough power and we touched down and I bounced. I had to cut the rest of the power and then second time around we touched down. A very good approach and landing, especially because I was thinking that there was a modicum of cross wind...