Flying Hours Today 1:00, Total 22:50
P1 Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 0:15
Arriving at the airport I noticed the windsock was horizontal, but it was still worthwhile going to the flying school today as I was going to plan my first navigation exercise, and I could do the planning on the ground regardless of the conditions.
I'd done the planning at home for my flight from Leeds Bradford to East Moor - a disused airfield to the north of York - and then to fly westward to a small village near Ripon that I found to be Winksley on a road map.
My navigation plan showed that I would be tracking from Eccup to East Moor at 53 degrees, then take a heading of 282 to get to Winksley. I had made the assumption that we would track from Eccup rather than the airport - and this was correct.
Next I had to print the 214 wind charts from Met Office and estimated the wind vector to be 325/30 at around 3000ft.
It had been a while since I'd used my flight computer to calculate the heading vector and I needed some assistance. My instructor showed me a very quick way to calculate the headings and soon I'd made all the calculations.
Our route crossed the 3.5W isogonal in both legs so we opted to go with the 3 degree variation as our turning point was on that side of the isogonal. A check of distance and speed on both legs 20nm @ 97kts, and 15nm @ 75kts and we were ready to go with a planned indicated airspeed of 100kts.
I booked us out with ATC and then we set off to the apron. At the aircraft I did the internal checks as the instructor did the externals. I took the chance today to let the instructor do the taxying and radio work and I simply listened in to get a better understanding.
We were give a long, long taxi from Multiflight all the way around to R27 via foxtrot, across R32 then via alpha.
Due to the strong crosswind the instructor also did the take off. Once over the rapidly shrinking Eccup reservoir I took control and reset the timer on the DME. It was time to do a gross error check to confirm we were en-route correctly - using the sun's position in the sky and the fact that Wetherby was on the nose I knew we were heading in the right direction.
On the chart we would be clipping the MATZ at RAF Linton-on-Ouse so I made a call on their frequency to see if anyone was operating. A response came back from another pilot that the MATZ was not in operation so I switched back to Leeds Approach. As time was passing, it was opportune for a FREDA check to take place.
Our route crossed the 3.5W isogonal in both legs so we opted to go with the 3 degree variation as our turning point was on that side of the isogonal. A check of distance and speed on both legs 20nm @ 97kts, and 15nm @ 75kts and we were ready to go with a planned indicated airspeed of 100kts.
I booked us out with ATC and then we set off to the apron. At the aircraft I did the internal checks as the instructor did the externals. I took the chance today to let the instructor do the taxying and radio work and I simply listened in to get a better understanding.
We were give a long, long taxi from Multiflight all the way around to R27 via foxtrot, across R32 then via alpha.
Due to the strong crosswind the instructor also did the take off. Once over the rapidly shrinking Eccup reservoir I took control and reset the timer on the DME. It was time to do a gross error check to confirm we were en-route correctly - using the sun's position in the sky and the fact that Wetherby was on the nose I knew we were heading in the right direction.
On the chart we would be clipping the MATZ at RAF Linton-on-Ouse so I made a call on their frequency to see if anyone was operating. A response came back from another pilot that the MATZ was not in operation so I switched back to Leeds Approach. As time was passing, it was opportune for a FREDA check to take place.
I'd never been to East Moor before, on the ground or in the air, neither had the instructor. This made for a great challenge for the two of us to locate the disused airfield.
As the area is quite featureless we made use of more distant conurbations and the White Horse on Sutton Bank to fix our position.
After a few minutes of deliberation and scanning the fields for an old airfield we both concurred that a field we spotted did have characteristics of an old airfield. A long straight side of a field, different in colour and texture to the rest of the triangular field. A time check had shown that we had arrived on schedule.
Into a right hand orbit, set the heading bug, then on to Winksley. On this leg we were flying into the wind so there was significant buffeting. Throughout the day the climbing and descending winds had made it quite difficult to maintain altitude and this headwind didn't make things much easier.
We cross the A1, made use of RAF Linton-on-Ouse and RAF Dishforth as airfields to track our progress. Time for another FREDA check.
Ripon racecourse was another great feature to spot. Once we had found the racecourse and confirmed the town of Ripon was in our sights we began to look for a river the looped around the south of our target village.
Although the river couldn't be seen, the fact that there was wooded land following the same route of the expected river enabled us to concur that we had arrived on time and in the correct location.
Seeing a reservoir and a couple of villages ahead of us also confirmed our position based on the features on our navigation chart.
I made the turn south to head back towards Harrogate, using the aerials and radomes at RAF Menwith Hill as a reference point. In this leg the effect of the wind was very apparent. We were being blown sideways as we tracked back to the VRP. It was quite an odd sensation to see the ground not only moving behind us as we progressed, but also moving sideways at times.
As the area is quite featureless we made use of more distant conurbations and the White Horse on Sutton Bank to fix our position.
After a few minutes of deliberation and scanning the fields for an old airfield we both concurred that a field we spotted did have characteristics of an old airfield. A long straight side of a field, different in colour and texture to the rest of the triangular field. A time check had shown that we had arrived on schedule.
Into a right hand orbit, set the heading bug, then on to Winksley. On this leg we were flying into the wind so there was significant buffeting. Throughout the day the climbing and descending winds had made it quite difficult to maintain altitude and this headwind didn't make things much easier.
We cross the A1, made use of RAF Linton-on-Ouse and RAF Dishforth as airfields to track our progress. Time for another FREDA check.
Ripon racecourse was another great feature to spot. Once we had found the racecourse and confirmed the town of Ripon was in our sights we began to look for a river the looped around the south of our target village.
Although the river couldn't be seen, the fact that there was wooded land following the same route of the expected river enabled us to concur that we had arrived on time and in the correct location.
Seeing a reservoir and a couple of villages ahead of us also confirmed our position based on the features on our navigation chart.
I made the turn south to head back towards Harrogate, using the aerials and radomes at RAF Menwith Hill as a reference point. In this leg the effect of the wind was very apparent. We were being blown sideways as we tracked back to the VRP. It was quite an odd sensation to see the ground not only moving behind us as we progressed, but also moving sideways at times.
We arrived at Harrogate and I did the radio calls for entry back into the Leeds Bradford zone via Eccup. Switching to Leeds Tower we were advised to land on R27 and to be aware of the potential wind shear on R32. I was a bit confused there - we were being told about conditions on R32, but to land on R27. The point was that there was known shear on R32 and so to be aware of it on R27
Leeds Bradford airport is one of the highest commercial airports in the UK and so gets more than its fair share of weather conditions. This means that being based out of Leeds Bradford gives the PPL student a great opportunity to learn and experience myriad weather conditions - I'm still waiting for the VA code to appear on the METARs!
The approach was uneventful until we came towards the R27 threshold. Then the wind shear became apparent as we were descending due to the downdraft, more power was needed, and then some more until we cleared the threshold, then the strong crosswinds had to be handled but in the end we were down safely and routed back to Multiflight to park up.
I was given some homework for the next day: plan two routes that will take us to a couple of villages near to Castle Howard, then route to Easlingwold, and also a route out of the zone via Keighley, to Long Preston and then to Leyburn. We would decide on the route based on the clouds and weather on Sunday morning.
Leeds Bradford airport is one of the highest commercial airports in the UK and so gets more than its fair share of weather conditions. This means that being based out of Leeds Bradford gives the PPL student a great opportunity to learn and experience myriad weather conditions - I'm still waiting for the VA code to appear on the METARs!
The approach was uneventful until we came towards the R27 threshold. Then the wind shear became apparent as we were descending due to the downdraft, more power was needed, and then some more until we cleared the threshold, then the strong crosswinds had to be handled but in the end we were down safely and routed back to Multiflight to park up.
I was given some homework for the next day: plan two routes that will take us to a couple of villages near to Castle Howard, then route to Easlingwold, and also a route out of the zone via Keighley, to Long Preston and then to Leyburn. We would decide on the route based on the clouds and weather on Sunday morning.
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