Flying Hours Today 1:15, Total 25:30
P1 Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 0:15
This would be a useful exercise as we would be exiting the Leeds Bradford zone via the unfamiliar Keighley VRP. We would then be flying over the Pennines, making use of decent altitude to clear the hills. I would find myself flying in an area where I had no previous experience or knowledge so I would be navigating for the first time by purely mapping the view to the chart.
Another first today was a take off on R09 at Leeds Bradford. My R/T work was coming on strong and I took us all the way out on a right turn to leave the zone. At Keighley I requested and received clearance to climb to 3000ft and we were out in open country cross referencing the map all the time.
I had forgotten to note the time at Keighley but had reset the DME timer. We had Skipton the right after 4 minutes. It must have been Skipton as it was the only conurbation for miles around, yet it looked quite unfamiliar from the air. Long Preston came into view on time as expected, yet it took some more river / rail / road combinations to confirm our exact location. Time for a 4T check and call to ATC to report position and intentions then we turned right to go over the barren tops of the Pennines to Leyburn.
I thought this would be really challenging, there are few roads and rivers and no railways. Soon I started to see the various reservoirs dotted around and these actually became a great help as they are so few and far between it makes things easy to triangulate a position.
More radio chat with ATC regarding aircraft in our vicinity - most of which were behind us so rather difficult to see! I also did another first in leaning the mixture as we were cruising at 4000ft. I'd seen this done on a couple of occasions before but it was good to do it for myself - it isn't the most challenging thing to do but it is just another of those little things that has been ticked off the list.
Before long we arrived at Leyburn and confirmed our location by identifying the town based on timing, roads, rivers, railways and this time also the shape of the land based on the chart colourings and contours. It is interesting how, as the target town comes into view, there are checks to see what is around us, identification of various features then it all comes together.
It is a relief to be able to state, without any doubt, that we have the target in view. Sometimes our target might be a reservoir or forest some miles away, but the overall picture is correct.
I thought this would be really challenging, there are few roads and rivers and no railways. Soon I started to see the various reservoirs dotted around and these actually became a great help as they are so few and far between it makes things easy to triangulate a position.
More radio chat with ATC regarding aircraft in our vicinity - most of which were behind us so rather difficult to see! I also did another first in leaning the mixture as we were cruising at 4000ft. I'd seen this done on a couple of occasions before but it was good to do it for myself - it isn't the most challenging thing to do but it is just another of those little things that has been ticked off the list.
Before long we arrived at Leyburn and confirmed our location by identifying the town based on timing, roads, rivers, railways and this time also the shape of the land based on the chart colourings and contours. It is interesting how, as the target town comes into view, there are checks to see what is around us, identification of various features then it all comes together.
It is a relief to be able to state, without any doubt, that we have the target in view. Sometimes our target might be a reservoir or forest some miles away, but the overall picture is correct.
Without warning my instructor stated that I needed to divert to a point to the west of Ripon, which turned out to be the village of Grantley. I had to quickly assess the direction, wind speed, estimated time of arrival etc.
I guessed the distance and time quite accurately - around 9 minutes which was shown on the clock to be quite true as we passed over the village, and this had taken into account the headwind. However my original heading was way off. I had reckoned on 175 degrees whereas in reality it should have been around 150.
Then I made my second blunder - I twisted the heading bug to just 5 degrees off west rather than south! Why? - I don't know. Only when I had made the setting did the instructor ask me to recheck. I had already stated 175 out loud so it was odd to make such a fundamental error. I set the bug correctly and flew off to the target.
After a few minutes it was apparent that my heading choice was wrong. We were heading to the right of two reservoirs, we should have been to the left. I changed the heading to 140 and before we knew it we were bang over the target and all in good time too. A good diversion exercise and my instructor was very pleased with my navigating ability.
Coming next was another practice forced landing. The instructor demonstrated one first, then it was my turn. My turn also to make my second blunder of the day. I checked the altimeter and reported 3600ft. I was asked to check again, it was actually 2600ft!! Again, how could I make such a fundamental error?
I went through the motions of the PFL and learned a lot again. What stood out in my mind was getting the glide attitude correct and trimming - this would mean that I wouldn't have to worry about flying the aircraft so much. I took that point and remembered as something to practice on circuits and approaches. Without actually pressing the transmit button on my radio I completed the mayday and committal checks. All good stuff.
Then it was back to the Leeds Bradford zone and permission granted to join base on R14. I should have used QFE sooner, the hills near the airport mean that it is easy to deceive yourself on approach especially to R14. I was a bit low but still made a fairly good landing.
I guessed the distance and time quite accurately - around 9 minutes which was shown on the clock to be quite true as we passed over the village, and this had taken into account the headwind. However my original heading was way off. I had reckoned on 175 degrees whereas in reality it should have been around 150.
Then I made my second blunder - I twisted the heading bug to just 5 degrees off west rather than south! Why? - I don't know. Only when I had made the setting did the instructor ask me to recheck. I had already stated 175 out loud so it was odd to make such a fundamental error. I set the bug correctly and flew off to the target.
After a few minutes it was apparent that my heading choice was wrong. We were heading to the right of two reservoirs, we should have been to the left. I changed the heading to 140 and before we knew it we were bang over the target and all in good time too. A good diversion exercise and my instructor was very pleased with my navigating ability.
Coming next was another practice forced landing. The instructor demonstrated one first, then it was my turn. My turn also to make my second blunder of the day. I checked the altimeter and reported 3600ft. I was asked to check again, it was actually 2600ft!! Again, how could I make such a fundamental error?
I went through the motions of the PFL and learned a lot again. What stood out in my mind was getting the glide attitude correct and trimming - this would mean that I wouldn't have to worry about flying the aircraft so much. I took that point and remembered as something to practice on circuits and approaches. Without actually pressing the transmit button on my radio I completed the mayday and committal checks. All good stuff.
Then it was back to the Leeds Bradford zone and permission granted to join base on R14. I should have used QFE sooner, the hills near the airport mean that it is easy to deceive yourself on approach especially to R14. I was a bit low but still made a fairly good landing.
My next time exercise will be another, longer, cross country route. I'm thinking that I'd like to fly over to where my parents live in Beverley. Following that exercise I should be able to move on to some solo consolidation.
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