Flying Hours Today 4:05, Total 44:10
P1 Flying Hours Today 3:10, Total 7:30
The NOTAMS, METARS, TAFS and F214/215 had all been checked, it was to be a great day for flying. I phoned my two destinations at Sywell and Tatenhill to confirm they were operational and to explain I was on a QXC and gave some indication of my estimated arrival time.
First up was the short trip from Sheffield (EGSY) to Sandtoft (EGCF). Student PPLs are not allowed to solo from Sheffield so I flew with my new instructor the 20nm to Sandtoft. I also had done my Dual QXC from Sandtoft so it had to be my starting point once more to ensure continuity.
Approaching Sandtoft I made a good join but fluffed the base leg and so I was a little high on final. The instructor lined us up and I brought the aircraft into land in a slight crosswind. It was good to get the gremlin out of the system early.
In to the control room to pay the fees then I left the instructor and headed back out for my QXC. First leg to Sywell (EGBK), using Bottesford as the VRP. Total distance 75nm, estimated 35 mins. I took off and immediately saw something unusual in my 1 o'clock. A big bird? microlight? parascender - here? on flat land?
Ah, no, it was a balloon, but tall and thin rather than short and round. I made it out just as Sandtoft radio gave me a call to look out for it. There followed a few minutes of other traffic calling in to report the balloon.
Leaving the Sandtoft zone I turned to the correct heading then switched to Waddington radar for FIS. It is then plain sailing - or flying - to head due south.
Perfect visibility at 3500ft, keeping the river Trent and the power stations to my left, passing Swinderby and seeing the collection of old Cold War machinery including a Vulcan.
Waddington were providing a great service to everyone and I only had to make position reporting calls. The radio mast at Melton Mowbray came in to view and I used as a visual marker to track south. By now I had Sywell on the second radio and was listening in for airfield information and to get a feel for the traffic.
Cottesmore, Rutland Water, and Corby all came into view just as planned by the stopwatch and finally Waddington gave me a call to leave the frequency and I made the switch to Sywell Information, squawking 7000.
I'm never very good at spotting airfields from the air. My instructors always seem to be able to do this from miles away. But I must be getting a better feel for things - looking for large buildings - hangars, open spaces, and slithers of road - runways. I spotted Sywell from perhaps 10nm out.
R03L was the active. Standard overhead join, listening for the other traffic - lots of helicopters and others using R33. Descend dead side, turning and lined up perfectly for R03. Touch down on grass, keep the nose up to relieve the pressure then a call to taxi to parking - simply cut across the field, no yellow lines here.
I went to pay my landing fees and got the first stamp and 'GOOD' ratings on my certificate.
Waddington were providing a great service to everyone and I only had to make position reporting calls. The radio mast at Melton Mowbray came in to view and I used as a visual marker to track south. By now I had Sywell on the second radio and was listening in for airfield information and to get a feel for the traffic.
Cottesmore, Rutland Water, and Corby all came into view just as planned by the stopwatch and finally Waddington gave me a call to leave the frequency and I made the switch to Sywell Information, squawking 7000.
I'm never very good at spotting airfields from the air. My instructors always seem to be able to do this from miles away. But I must be getting a better feel for things - looking for large buildings - hangars, open spaces, and slithers of road - runways. I spotted Sywell from perhaps 10nm out.
R03L was the active. Standard overhead join, listening for the other traffic - lots of helicopters and others using R33. Descend dead side, turning and lined up perfectly for R03. Touch down on grass, keep the nose up to relieve the pressure then a call to taxi to parking - simply cut across the field, no yellow lines here.
I went to pay my landing fees and got the first stamp and 'GOOD' ratings on my certificate.
A short break for a cup of tea as my parents and brother had come to watch my arrival. Then it was time to power up once more after a quick check around the aircraft and fuel / oil levels.
Taxi to hold of R03 and power checks. Flaps set to two stages for shortish grass take off. Although the runway is 909m long I had previously taken off with flaps so elected to do so today. Rotation occurs much earlier, but keep the aircraft just slightly off the ground until enough good speed is made to climb.
Once positively climbing retract flaps. I climbed in the circuit in the zone to 2000ft and then headed towards Bitteswell VRP as my next en-route point to Tatenhill (EGBM). Changing between QFE / QNH and making message calls was fun in this aircraft.
The altimeter pressure scale is in inches of mercury. There is a small card to the left of the panel with conversions between millibars and inches of mercury. Just in case you don't already have enough to do there is the additional challenge of reading and converting units.
I left Sywell and made my only VFR navigation error. I tracked well over Pitsford Water, then between two lakes near Naseby. I was looking for Bitteswell 10nm away. A disused airfield but actually now a major commercial / industrical area full of anonymous white warehouses and factories.
I could see this ahead, and also to my right was another very visible clutch of white factory buildings. But I knew I was on track, following the heading and the timing because I could see the M6 split from the M1. At this time I switched to East Midlands and passed my message: 5nm south east of Bitteswell.
I then noticed up ahead a large expanse of water. This hadn't been on my dual QXC. I then noticed aerials to my right. These must be the aerials near Rugby.
Another look on the chart and the water feature must be Draycott VRP, which means that the M6 is actually the M45. Ooops. Time to turn north, follow the M1 on my left and then turn to intercept the 'other' white buildings which did turn out to be Bitteswell.
Taxi to hold of R03 and power checks. Flaps set to two stages for shortish grass take off. Although the runway is 909m long I had previously taken off with flaps so elected to do so today. Rotation occurs much earlier, but keep the aircraft just slightly off the ground until enough good speed is made to climb.
Once positively climbing retract flaps. I climbed in the circuit in the zone to 2000ft and then headed towards Bitteswell VRP as my next en-route point to Tatenhill (EGBM). Changing between QFE / QNH and making message calls was fun in this aircraft.
The altimeter pressure scale is in inches of mercury. There is a small card to the left of the panel with conversions between millibars and inches of mercury. Just in case you don't already have enough to do there is the additional challenge of reading and converting units.
I left Sywell and made my only VFR navigation error. I tracked well over Pitsford Water, then between two lakes near Naseby. I was looking for Bitteswell 10nm away. A disused airfield but actually now a major commercial / industrical area full of anonymous white warehouses and factories.
I could see this ahead, and also to my right was another very visible clutch of white factory buildings. But I knew I was on track, following the heading and the timing because I could see the M6 split from the M1. At this time I switched to East Midlands and passed my message: 5nm south east of Bitteswell.
I then noticed up ahead a large expanse of water. This hadn't been on my dual QXC. I then noticed aerials to my right. These must be the aerials near Rugby.
Another look on the chart and the water feature must be Draycott VRP, which means that the M6 is actually the M45. Ooops. Time to turn north, follow the M1 on my left and then turn to intercept the 'other' white buildings which did turn out to be Bitteswell.
As I was overhead Bitteswell and back on track the East Midlands controller asked me to confirm position. I replied with 'overhead Bitteswell VRP'. He must have thought I was flying a very, very, slow aircraft.
A minute or two later I was dropped from East Midlands with instructions to call Tatenhill. I could hear that the traffic was busy so I guess the controller wanted me out of the way knowing that I wasn't going into his airspace.
I tuned to Tatenhill and switched both listen and talk to that frequency, keeping a listening brief on the East Midlands frequency. The remainder of the track to Tatenhill was without incident. From Bitteswell it was possible to see the powerstation 5nm SE of the airfield. So long as I aimed for the left of that I would be OK.
I made visual contact about 5nm from the airfield. Then I heard of another aircraft inbound from the North East at about the same distance, and another in the circuit below, and another taking off. It would be time to keep focussed and aware.
A good overhead join for R26L, a fairly stern crosswind - 330/10 if I recall - and touchdown with a slight bounce which was a relief but a bit disappointing. But no time to think about things as I had to expedite vacation of the runway to allow the other aircraft behind me to land.
I parked up, went to pay my dues and get the second stamp of the day. This time it was 'SATISFACTORY'. The chap doing the authorisation pointed out that there are really only satisfactory or unsatisfactory landings and we all have room for improvement. Fair enough, I was just glad to get the second stamp and to head back to Sandtoft. However. It was mandated that I visit the cafe for a cup of tea. I wasn't thirsty but it was pointed out that QXC is a long hard test and I should take time out to relax - which is a very good point and I would recommend it to all.
A minute or two later I was dropped from East Midlands with instructions to call Tatenhill. I could hear that the traffic was busy so I guess the controller wanted me out of the way knowing that I wasn't going into his airspace.
I tuned to Tatenhill and switched both listen and talk to that frequency, keeping a listening brief on the East Midlands frequency. The remainder of the track to Tatenhill was without incident. From Bitteswell it was possible to see the powerstation 5nm SE of the airfield. So long as I aimed for the left of that I would be OK.
I made visual contact about 5nm from the airfield. Then I heard of another aircraft inbound from the North East at about the same distance, and another in the circuit below, and another taking off. It would be time to keep focussed and aware.
A good overhead join for R26L, a fairly stern crosswind - 330/10 if I recall - and touchdown with a slight bounce which was a relief but a bit disappointing. But no time to think about things as I had to expedite vacation of the runway to allow the other aircraft behind me to land.
I parked up, went to pay my dues and get the second stamp of the day. This time it was 'SATISFACTORY'. The chap doing the authorisation pointed out that there are really only satisfactory or unsatisfactory landings and we all have room for improvement. Fair enough, I was just glad to get the second stamp and to head back to Sandtoft. However. It was mandated that I visit the cafe for a cup of tea. I wasn't thirsty but it was pointed out that QXC is a long hard test and I should take time out to relax - which is a very good point and I would recommend it to all.
During my QXC I hadn't planned anything specific to say in the response to the ATC 'Pass Your Message' request but found myself saying: "G-XXXX, PA28, 1 P.O.B., Student PPL on Qualifying Cross Country, etc..".
When I arrived at Tatenhill I met the controller in the cafe having a break. She said that she had made a note of the fact that I was on QXC and so paid more attention than normal to ensure that I would be monitored and also to listen in to my R/T skills.
On reflection I did find that all the controllers I spoke to had been more 'gentle' than usual. Note that the Waddington controller had left me alone and that East Midlands had dispatched me early to Tatenhill, and had also left me to my own devices en-route to Sandtoft.
This might be wishful thinking on my part - and someone will no doubt come along in a minute to confirm this, but perhaps stating the fact that I was QXCing did make a difference to the controllers. It it something certainly worth bearing in mind for those preparing for their QXC.
It turned out that my recovery break at Tatenhill was much longer than expected. I phoned back to the flying school to confirm my ETA at Sandtoft only to be told that my instructor was out with another student and so I would have to wait about an hour on arrival at Sandtoft. So I had an hour to kill. I decided to do a full check of the aircraft and write up some of the paperwork for the flight - logs and times etc.
When I arrived at Tatenhill I met the controller in the cafe having a break. She said that she had made a note of the fact that I was on QXC and so paid more attention than normal to ensure that I would be monitored and also to listen in to my R/T skills.
On reflection I did find that all the controllers I spoke to had been more 'gentle' than usual. Note that the Waddington controller had left me alone and that East Midlands had dispatched me early to Tatenhill, and had also left me to my own devices en-route to Sandtoft.
This might be wishful thinking on my part - and someone will no doubt come along in a minute to confirm this, but perhaps stating the fact that I was QXCing did make a difference to the controllers. It it something certainly worth bearing in mind for those preparing for their QXC.
It turned out that my recovery break at Tatenhill was much longer than expected. I phoned back to the flying school to confirm my ETA at Sandtoft only to be told that my instructor was out with another student and so I would have to wait about an hour on arrival at Sandtoft. So I had an hour to kill. I decided to do a full check of the aircraft and write up some of the paperwork for the flight - logs and times etc.
I also thought it would be a good excuse to fill up with fuel so I taxied towards the pumps and met my first aviation fuel queue. A Cessna had been filled but left at the pumps. We had to push it clear. But there still wasn't room. A Yak-52 had been brought out to be filled too so I couldn't get behind the other PA-28 that was now free to get to the pumps.
This queue maneovering gave me the chance to have a good look around the Yak. And the owner let me have a sit inside. But it was all Russian to me and I couldn't understand much. The ticking of the clock was strikingly loud. Good solid engineering there.
The PA28 at the head of the queue filled up. Then the Yak. The Yak then started up and went through power checks and away followed by the PA28 and finally I got in to fill up.
It was soon time to depart and I took off, cleared the zone and departed north eastwards to Sandtoft. Back with East Midlands control and had FIS on an uneventful track back towards Sandtoft.
The only call I received was to watch for traffic as I neared the M1. Then I was handed to Doncaster.
The PA28 at the head of the queue filled up. Then the Yak. The Yak then started up and went through power checks and away followed by the PA28 and finally I got in to fill up.
It was soon time to depart and I took off, cleared the zone and departed north eastwards to Sandtoft. Back with East Midlands control and had FIS on an uneventful track back towards Sandtoft.
The only call I received was to watch for traffic as I neared the M1. Then I was handed to Doncaster.
A simple switch over and a warning of intense traffic near Netherthorpe. I managed to fly just south of Netherthorpe and got a great view of the absolutely tiny grass runways - a couple of the shortest in the UK. I'd love to try my short field landing and take-off skills there some day.
Onwards and overhead the Doncaster ATZ to the south of the runway. I arrived at Sandtoft bang on time, but knew I had 30 minutes or so before my instructor would arrive so I called Doncaster and told them I was to head over the Humber to Beverley for further navigation practice.
A short trip out to Beverley then turned back to Sandtoft. With the sun directly in my eyes. It was hard to make out anything so I followed the estuary and the Trent. I left the Doncaster frequency at Brough and switched to Sandtoft.
Still blinded by the light I headed to the west of Sandtoft to reduce the glare then switched back to arrive overhead for dead side descend for R23. When I had departed earlier the wind had been almost 90 degrees to the runway, and inbound traffic were given the option of R23 or R05. But now the wind was variable and less than 5 kts.
It should have been a simple landing but I was still slightly too fast on touch down, around 70-75kts. The extra 15kts made a difference along the runway and I made it all the way to the end at Delta to turn around. It was then a trackback and park up. Mission accomplished. The QXC in the bag.
Onwards and overhead the Doncaster ATZ to the south of the runway. I arrived at Sandtoft bang on time, but knew I had 30 minutes or so before my instructor would arrive so I called Doncaster and told them I was to head over the Humber to Beverley for further navigation practice.
A short trip out to Beverley then turned back to Sandtoft. With the sun directly in my eyes. It was hard to make out anything so I followed the estuary and the Trent. I left the Doncaster frequency at Brough and switched to Sandtoft.
Still blinded by the light I headed to the west of Sandtoft to reduce the glare then switched back to arrive overhead for dead side descend for R23. When I had departed earlier the wind had been almost 90 degrees to the runway, and inbound traffic were given the option of R23 or R05. But now the wind was variable and less than 5 kts.
It should have been a simple landing but I was still slightly too fast on touch down, around 70-75kts. The extra 15kts made a difference along the runway and I made it all the way to the end at Delta to turn around. It was then a trackback and park up. Mission accomplished. The QXC in the bag.
I had some time to wait for the instructor so I completed the paperwork and had a couple of coffees by way of celebration. I then went back outside to watch the three Jet Provosts at Sandtoft today each prepping ready for pleasure flights.
At 1700 my instructor arrived. I was starting to feel the effects of the day by now but made the effort for the final trip back to Sheffield. Once back in the air my vitality returned and it was simply a case of calling Doncaster and heading 240. We were past Doncaster airfield and the town in minutes.
The M18 on the right was a good guidance route to follow, then the VRP of the M1/M18 intersection came into view. By now the sun was directly in front of us but hazy through the oncoming cloud. The instructor made a call for the runway lights and it was amazing when they lit up - it made an amazing difference to visibility.
Another aircraft was on short final so we made some lazy S turns to waste some time. Then it was 3rd stage of flap, aim for the numbers and in. We also managed to stop before the exit point so no need to backtrack. Park up and close down. Total flying time today: 4 hrs 5 mins, and I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home at 1900hrs.
At 1700 my instructor arrived. I was starting to feel the effects of the day by now but made the effort for the final trip back to Sheffield. Once back in the air my vitality returned and it was simply a case of calling Doncaster and heading 240. We were past Doncaster airfield and the town in minutes.
The M18 on the right was a good guidance route to follow, then the VRP of the M1/M18 intersection came into view. By now the sun was directly in front of us but hazy through the oncoming cloud. The instructor made a call for the runway lights and it was amazing when they lit up - it made an amazing difference to visibility.
Another aircraft was on short final so we made some lazy S turns to waste some time. Then it was 3rd stage of flap, aim for the numbers and in. We also managed to stop before the exit point so no need to backtrack. Park up and close down. Total flying time today: 4 hrs 5 mins, and I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home at 1900hrs.
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