General Flying Test - Part 3

Flying Hours Today 2:00, Total 53:00

P1 Flying Hours Today 2:00, Total 12:15

At this point the examiner took over the radio and it was time for the handling exercises. First of all to join the circuit at Sandtoft, descend dead side for left hand circuits on R05.

I descended fine, crossed over the threshold of R23, to join downwind. Although I solo'd at Sandtoft I've never been at ease there. I don't know why as I've landed at similar small strips and even grass strips. But I never feel that I can get the circuit nailed and was dreading that I was going to make a mistake and fail my skills test.

And my Sandtoft nemesis rose again. This time in the form of a black Jet Provost who also decided to join the circuit. Now those things can move, as I was lining up for downwind I saw her turning wide and fast to the right of me. As I was on downwind doing the pre-landing checks I could see her burning past me wide on my right to turn a military style curved approach. All good learning stuff to be in the circuit with such fast moving traffic but not on my skills test please!!

On base I lost sight of the Jet Provost, where had she gone? Then I saw her doing a low approach and going around. I was rattled and not 100% focussed. I made for a standard landing, touched down and was straight back up again, I've never liked touch and goes on short strips and the examiner did state in the debrief that I had landed a little hard but in my defence I said it was probably because I was focussed on getting us back in the air before we had even touched down.

So we went around again, my heart pumping, feeling that I had really messed up.

Hearing the Jet Provost R/T and talk of approaching on R23 - the opposite runway? Did I hear correctly? There was no wind so why not? But I was active in the circuit for R05. I don't know if I heard this or not but I certainly didn't feel comfortable to be in this circuit pattern.

As we approached the turn for base I was told this would be a glide approach and I was to reduce power at my discretion.

Base leg 1000ft up, power off, glide approach and in, but I was too high, too fast.

I realised this early and said I was going around. The examiner asked me to complete as far as I could. I flew lower and lower and then we pulled away. The point here was that I could have landed, but it would have been a full stop landing and not a touch and go hence my reluctance to complete.

The examiner gave me another thumbs up for good airmanship for making the decision not to land if I didn't feel confident. I also had inadvertently ticked another check point on the list: the go-around procedure.

With the Jet Provost still buzzing around, and no offence mean't to the Jet Provost team - I'd love to go up in one some day, we switched to plan B and moved on to Doncaster for further handling.

I climbed out of Sandtoft at the best rate of climb (Vy 79kts) - you need to know your Vy and Vx speeds and routed for the short hop to Doncaster.

We flew abeam R20 with the airfield already lit up even though there was quite a bit of daylight left. A really impressive sight.

I was then asked to fly straight and level at 60kts and hold that speed. Another of my 'tricky' manoeuvres as I'm very wary of getting onto the back of the drag curve.

But it went fine, I was then asked to climb another 500ft at this speed and then level out. Again, fine, no problems and it was fun to fly so slowly overhead a big airfield.

Then a bolt from the blue. The examiner called Doncaster ATC and made request to do the PFL using Doncaster as the target field. ATC went away to ask someone important if this could be done. In the meantime I did my first steep level turn to the right.

Doncaster ATC came back on the radio: PFL approved.

The examiner cut the power. I put carb heat on. Then he asked me to land us in an appropriate field. I identified a particularly wide long black 'field' to my left where the number '20' is.

Wow, this was going to be fun. I was overhead the runway and had to get myself aligned for a PFL to aim at a very specific point and in a left hand circuit which had been active as we had waited for clearance.

OK, into the full PFL activity. Glide speed and trimmed, check fuel etc., at 2500ft I'm at the end of R20 looking at my landing strip. The W.O.S.S.S.S.S. check: no wind, no obstacles, the shape of the runway was good, perhaps a little narrow as a field, but good, surface good, size good, under and over shoot good, slope good, sivilisation good. Hey, this international airport makes a good selection for a forced landing.

Downwind at 2000ft and descending, practice mayday call, 1500ft and first stage of flaps, turning for base, don't think I'm going to hit the numbers but will definitely make the field. Second stage of flaps at 1000ft. Prepare the passenger for crash landing - unlatch the door (and he does!).

Final approach. We are committed to land. Third stage of flaps. Looking for a slow speed touch down, flare and round out and do it slowly, slowly and finally touch down.

Excellent. Flaps down, full power, carb heat off, and back in the sky. So that was the PFL and the glide approach covered in one. As Doncaster is such a long runway we practiced the fanstop on the climb out. Nose down, look either side for a field, but straight ahead is still more runway - I'd choose that. Looking back, the one thing I didn't do in the PFL was the power checks at each 500ft descent, but not to worry in this case.

Back up to 3000ft using best angle of climb to get us there quickly and time for the left hand steep level turn. This wasn't as good as the first, I lost about 100ft, but managed to recover and get us back on our heading and level.

And now time for stalls. Following a H.A.S.E.L.L. check we started with a clean stall. Power back, keep the height, wait for the warner, then the buffet then the examiner to state 'Recover'.

Nose down, power, climb away. Onto approach configuration: two stages of flap, turning and stall by raising the nose. Recover at the warner - nose down, wings level, power. Finally three stages of flap as if on final approach, stall warner, nose down, power, climb.

On to VOR tracking. Tune into Gamston and listen for the dah-dah-dit dit-dah dah-dah Morse identifier for the GAM VOR. Using the morse code table on my kneeboard to decode the signal.

Then I was asked to track us towards Gamston (EGNE).

OK, turn the dial until the VOR arrow aligns with deviation indicators. This would put us on the 120 radial. Turn to 120 heading and follow the track. No problem. At this point the instructor took my chart and covered the windscreen. I've just entered cloud and need to turn 180 degrees to get out.

I made a forgivable error here. I looked to use a 1 minute rate one turn. Firstly I turned too sharply so was over rate one, then couldn't decide whether to use my watch or the aircraft's clock. Settling on the clock I held the rate one turn for one minute then levelled off. Good procedure if done correctly but I had been sloppy on the entry.

I also notice that our 120 heading was to the right, I had turned too far, we should have been heading on 300 after a 180 turn. Brain fade I guess, so I then made use of the HSI to get us heading to 300.

I'd now used two instruments and was disappointed, but again I had shown good airmanship in identifying that my rate one turn hadn't been good and that correcting by the HSI was quite correct.

The examiner also asked why I had done it the hard way - I don't know, something I must have read somewhere about doing a 180 degree turn using rate one turns...

All that was left to do was the unusual attitudes. The examiner took control and put us in a climbing turn near the stall. Nose down, wings level, power. Then onto a spiral dive, power off, wings level, level attitude, climb away. And another couple of similar attitudes before it was time to head back home to Sheffield.

An uneventful landing, taxi, park up and shut down then a big congratulations. I had passed. Fantastic!

We had been going for 2 hours, if felt more like ten minutes. Back at the office I was exhausted mentally and physically and also quite calm. I would say that in terms of elation I would have to put the solo QXC first, then the first solo and then the skills test.

In the office there was lots of paperwork to complete: skills test certificate, licence application, R/T licence application, medical, log book review and stamp, etc.

I didn't have my passport with me but will need to copy it and get it signed and stamped by the flying school before I send off my application. That should take a couple of weeks and I can't go flying as a PPL until the licence is received.

Then it will be time to take friends and family into the air and to move onto other types. The flying school's Diamond Stars do look tempting!

General Flying Test - Part 2

Flying Hours Today 2:00, Total 53:00

P1 Flying Hours Today 2:00, Total 12:15

As part of my revision I'd written up the various acronyms used during a flight and committed them to memory. The first one when ready to take off was Lights / Camera / Action, followed with the F.E.R.A.L. after take off checks.

I'd been told that you can fail the test before you've even left the ground if you fail to follow the basic checks. And remember to read check list actions and activities out loud so the examiner knows what you are doing.

As there was no wind I did my power checks at the hold point but explained that I would usually point into wind, every one of my actions was by deliberate thought and explanation.

Up and away out of Sheffield (EGSY) - over the M1/M18 VRP and setting course for Beverley on 050. Switching smoothly from Sheffield Radio to Doncaster Approach (EGCN), clear and precise radio calls with no rush.

Explaining to the examiner my thought processes as we climbed, levelled off and tuned radios. There was some haze at 2500ft making slant visibility that much worse so I explained I was climbing to 3500ft, much better.

I made a note of the ETA over Beverley, the racecourse to be precise, and throughout the short 40nm leg continued to recalculate the ETA.

As we approached Beverley it became obvious that we had drifted just a few degrees off track so I flew visually to the racecourse and explained the drift due to some wind that must be present at this level.

Down below it was obvious from smoke stacks that a very slight westerly was blowing and this had taken us a few degrees off course. We were overhead bang on time, to the minute. That felt good.

It was time to change heading to Louth, remembering to Twist/Turn/Time/Talk and also adding a 5 degree into wind correction angle to get us along the next leg. Minutes later we were over Hull and the diversion happened.

Divert to Sandtoft, from the North bank of the Humber. I spanned the route on the chart using my thumb and forefinger then, keeping this fixed position, moved to the VOR indicator over Gamston to read off a heading - basically using the VOR as my compass rose.

Adding in 5 degrees into wind to cover the wind correction and then estimated distance of 25nm using my thumb. At 100kts this would take 15mins, with a slight headwind lets call it 18mins and I planned this into the next ETA.

Using 18 mins was probably a bit too long, 16 was the actual, but it didn't count as a fail as I had taken a good guess and made correction for wind. The heading was spot on.

During the navigation exercise we had stayed with Doncaster the whole time. The airspace was quite literally buzzing with microlights, other PA28s, Cessnas and the Jet Provost out of Sandtoft stating intentions such as passing 3000ft, climbing to FL100. Quite a sight to see this small black dot moving at such pace.

The route to Sandtoft had the sun directly in our eyes and made forward visibility difficult. Listening hard on the radio all the time and building a mental picture of activity around us. I was also flying by tracking the surface below us on the chart as distant forward visibility was zero.

At one point we heard of unknown traffic nearby and at our 11 o'clock. We couldn't see it so I stated I was making a right turn to give a better view. Looking out before turning and then as we changed heading the Cherokee became very visible below us a couple of miles ahead. A silhouette against the haze.

I made a call that I was visual with the traffic then turned back on the heading to Sandtoft with slight correction for the turn we had just made. I was given a thumbs up from the examiner for showing good airmanship there.

General Flying Test - Part 1

Flying Hours Today 2:00, Total 53:00

P1 Flying Hours Today 2:00, Total 12:15

It's been over 18 months since I wrote my first blog entry, so I think this is a good time to review some facts and figures that I've notched up during those 18 months...

• One Medical
• One R/T Theory Exam
• Two Flying Schools
• Two Aircraft Types
• Seven Exam Papers
• Seven Different Aircraft
• Eight Instructors
• Eleven Text Books
• Ten Different Airfields (Grass strip to Class D ATC)
• Dozens Of Take Offs And Landings
• 51 Flying Hours, 10 Of Them Solo
• About £7,500 In Cash
• A Number Of Scares
• Even More Highs

I've been ready for my skills test probably since my 45th hour. There comes a time when it all starts to fit into place and the individual skills and actions become one.

I'm thinking here of the precise and skilled flying in the circuit, the overhead join at a distant airfield, the R/T dialogue with various station types, flying the aircraft by 'feel' rather than following the numbers on the instruments.

As the test date drew closer I found myself reading and re-reading the CAA documentation on the test: "CAA JAR FCL Notes for the Guidance of Applicants taking the PPL Skill Test (Aeroplanes). Standards Document 19."

This is a must for any of you preparing for the test as it documents exactly what you will be tested on. One of the test objectives is for the candidate to demonstrate recovery from a spiral dive - I don't recall this in my training so read up on it in the flight training manuals. And yes - it did come up in the test! I also found myself revisiting "CAP 413 Radio Telephony Manual" for a brush up on MATZ and controlled airspace terminology.

The weather this week has been fantastic for flying. There was no way that my Saturday morning appointment could be cancelled, even on Tuesday the long range forecast showed Saturday to be fine, bright, sunny and cold. Perfect weather for a skills test. However on Friday I received a call from the flying school. Could we move the test to the afternoon? Phew! no problem. Afternoon might actually be better as any early fog or mist will have burned off, I would also have extra revision hours.

I was up early to start my revision and after checking NOTAMS and weather charts took a look at the TAFs and METARs for the area of my test. Just looking at these gave me the biggest grin. Could I ask for better weather for a skills test?

TAFs
DONCASTER FINNINGLEY : EGCN 190907Z 191019 24003KT 6000 NSC BECMG 1013 CAVOK
EAST MIDLANDS : EGNX 190902Z 191019 VRB03KT 7000 NSC TEMPO 1011 3000 BR TEMPO 1016 CAVOK
HUMBERSIDE : EGNJ 190907Z 191019 24003KT 3000 FEW020 BECMG 1013 9000
LEEDS BRADFORD : EGNM 190907Z 191019 27007KT CAVOK

METARs
DONCASTER FINNINGLEY : EGCN 190920Z 30003KT 7000 SKC 00/00 Q1033
EAST MIDLANDS : EGNX 190950Z 27002KT 5000 BR SKC M00/M01 Q1032
HUMBERSIDE : EGNJ 190950Z 24004KT 3500 BR FEW010 00/M01 Q1032
LEEDS BRADFORD : EGNM 190950Z 28005KT CAVOK 02/M00 Q1031

Just before I set off for my 1400hrs appointment I checked again, it was getting better - look at the wind on the METARs for Doncaster and East Midlands!

TAFs
DONCASTER FINNINGLEY : EGCN 191205Z 191322 27003KT CAVOK
EAST MIDLANDS : EGNX 191201Z 191322 VRB03KT 9000 NSC TEMPO 1316 CAVOK BECMG 1922 4000 BR TEMPO 2022 0200 FZFG VV///
HUMBERSIDE : EGNJ 191205Z 191321 VRB03KT 4000 HZ FEW060 TEMPO 1318 6000
LEEDS BRADFORD : EGNM 191205Z 191322 26006KT CAVOK

METARs
DONCASTER FINNINGLEY : EGCN 191150Z 00000KT 9000 SKC 05/03 Q1033
EAST MIDLANDS : EGNX 191220Z 00000KT 9000 SKC 04/01 Q1032
HUMBERSIDE : EGNJ 191220Z 23003KT 3500 BR FEW010 04/02 Q1032
LEEDS BRADFORD : EGNM 191220Z 27006KT CAVOK 05/02 Q1031

I arrived at the flying school at 1330. The examiner was out flying so I took the note he had left me: plan a route from the M1/M18 VRP to Beverley then Louth and back to Sheffield. Not a problem.

A beautifully drawn up route with the closing angle error lines, the safe altitudes, times, expected fuel burn, etc. etc. was produced. For the first time in all my planning the wind vector was 0/0. No wind correction factor to consider at all. I was slightly disappointed in this as I wanted to be able to demonstrate that I knew how to apply the correction factor with the whiz wheel.

It was at this time that the other pilots coming in and out of the flying school were repeatedly talking about how brilliant the weather aloft was. They also commented on how busy it was - my R/T would have to be sharp and on-the-ball today.

I completed the other paperwork, weight and balance check etc. and presented this and my route plan to the examiner on his return.

All was in order and he briefed me on what we would do and how we would do it, for example during the navigation exercise he would act as a passenger, during the handling exercises he would handle the radio.

We talked about a diversion that would happen and other areas I would be examined on. He explained that he was testing me against the CAA criteria but was also looking for those intangibles such as good airmanship and handling of the aircraft - his rule of thumb: would he let a non-flying member of his family go flying with me as one of my passengers.

After the briefing the examiner sent me out to check over the aircraft and joined me after five minutes. This is when the test began properly. The examiner was friendly and talkative and simply followed me into the aircraft and sat down.

It was a bit like play acting to talk to an experienced pilot as passenger but I explained to him how to close and open the door, how to insert his head phones, how to buckle up. I explained the emergency drill and his responsibilities. Pointed out the fire extinguisher and first aid box etc.

This actually worked better than expected and I began to feel in control. Reminiscent of being on a solo cross country flight but with a passenger.

It was down to me to do all the checks, start up and then call the tower for airfield information. I did get the examiner to take control to test the brakes - something drilled into me. Although this is a skills test I would still want to ensure that we are flying as safely as possible.

Final Training Flight

Flying Hours Today 2:35, Total 51:00

P1 Flying Hours Today 1:40, Total 10:15

Today I had planned a simple route that would help to burn up some of the required time to get my solo 10hrs in the bag. A familiar route over Beverley, up the east coast of Yorkshire to Scarborough. West to Malton passing over the village where my grandmother lived and then back south to Gamston.

I planned my route based on weather, distance and timing and identified key navigation waypoints and ensuring I would have enough fuel on board - 3 hours at tabs, 5 hours at full.

I wasn't expecting any issues today as it was blue sky CAVOK weather and a decent breeze from the west. On my chart I plotted nav routes that would follow the 030 radial out of Gamston (EGNE), then the 350 radial from OTR, Ottringham near Hull.

This would take me to Scarborough where I would turn west and track the A64 road to Malton then route back south to Gamston.

I updated the paper behind the clear wipe surface of my kneeboard, adding the frequencies for Sheffield (EGSY), Gamston (EGNE), Doncaster (EGCN), Humberside (EGNJ) and Leeds (EGNM). Also a reminder to Time, Twist, Turn and Talk, and a small quadrant for flight altitudes and headings.

Out to the aircraft to put an additional quart of oil in the sump to keep the levels up. I'd forgotten what flying in autumn and winter was like. Nice clear skies but very cold on the fingers when turning clips and caps.

Power up and radio checks were uneventful. We were given instructions to taxi via Bravo for R10 right at Sheffield. This was my first reality check. In all my time at Sheffield so far I have waited for the information regarding R28 and this time we would be going 'the wrong way around' so I had to think about things for a while.

At Bravo we started the power checks and for the first time ever the magneto checks showed very rough running when only the left magneto was selected. And I mean very rough running. If I'd been on my own I would have turned back to get an engineer to check things over.

In this case the instructor took control and played with the throttle and mixture for a few seconds to burn away the carbon that had accumulated on the magneto. Following this the mag check was fine, as expected.

We backtracked R10 with a DA40 following behind to hold in the loop. Once the runway was clear I followed the 'Lights / Camera / Action' activity by turning on the landing light, setting the transponder to 7000 in mode C, checking the Ts & Ps and noting the time.

As we began rolling I heard on the radio a helicopter being warned of our intentions by the tower. As we picked up power and speed the instructor took control and we aborted the take off as the helicopter came visible overhead. Better safe than sorry and deferred to the landing aircraft.

We short backtracked, turned, and soon were on our way to Gamston. After take off it was time for the appropriate checks using the FEAL acronym: Flaps (up), Engine (Ts & Ps correct), Altimeter (sub scale set), and Landing Light off.

I still have difficulties seeing airfields from the air and Gamston was almost upon us as we joined left base for R21. There were two aircraft on the runway ready for take off so I had to fly slowly to wait until they had departed.

I made a good landing then dropped the instructor and set off to Bravo to hold for R21. I completed the power checks once more, the magnetos worked fine this time.

There were three aircraft in the circuit, one came in then two others very close together on a straight in approach with one landing and the other going around. I took this as my opportunity to make a break for it and soon I was airborne, climbing and making a left turn to lock onto the 030 radial to track it north eastwards.

I left the Gamston zone and switched to Doncaster and told to standby. There wasn't too much traffic around but the controller was busy with a Boeing 737 on the ground.

I continued my track and eventually passed my message to Doncaster and was given my squawk. However by now I was crossing the Humber with the bridge to my right and was quickly transferred over to Humberside where I was given another squawk.

It was at this point that I realised I hadn't put the transponder back into Alt mode and hadn't been transponding to Doncaster at all. The ATC must have been so busy that he didn't have time to get me to ident.

The now familiar route of Humber, Brough, Beverley was passing below. I overflew Linley Hill and made out the distinctive landmarks around it for future reference.

Onwards now to Carnaby, checking that parachuting wasn't active in the area. I estimated my time of arrival to be at 1110 and tracked both visually and using the VORs of Gamston (030) and Ottringham (350). On schedule I was overhead Carnaby then turned to track the Ottringham 350 radial to Scarborough.

There was a lot of other traffic around today, with many student solo exercises being undertaken. The Humberside controller was very professional in keeping us all up to date and regularly making position check requests.

As I approached Scarborough I received the usual check on my intentions - basically be aware of entering the restricted area around Fylingdales moor. I was already planning ahead for this and made my turn to track the A64 and Scarborough to York railway.

Until this point I had been flying at around 4500ft to 5000ft. At Scarborough a front of clouds was very slowly drifting southwards so I descended to 2000ft to fly beneath this bank and as far as Sherburn to view the small village where my grandmother used to live.

A check on the watch showed that I had now flown far enough to fly back with enough solo time in the bank. From Sherburn I headed due south to Driffield. With the sun in my eyes it wasn't easy to see too far ahead so ground tracking skills and listening closely to the radio were the order of the day.

I've been to Driffield many times on the ground in the past but would never have been aware of the airfield there. Obviously disused now, but with 4 large hangars in quite good condition there is obviously still some purpose for the estate to be there.

Soon we were at Leconsfield heading due south to intercept the 210 radial that will take me back to Gamston.

The familiar route back to Gamston was relaxing. Using the 210 track is also a great help as it lines me up directly with the active runway on arrival.

The crosswind was making the VOR tracking exercise more demanding but much more fun. When the runway came into sight I then had to take over visually and leave the VOR behind.

The circuit wasn't busy and I managed to make a straight in approach and landing. Without stopping the engine I picked up my instructor and we were soon heading back to Sheffield.

The route to Sheffield is to follow the 330 track to 13nm on the DME. As we approached this distance I requested a switch from Doncaster to Sheffield and made a call that we were at the VRP in bound.

As the weather had not changed dramatically we assumed R10 right would be active. I made the calls but no response. Made calls again. Weak response. Mmm... radio problem. What to do? Obvious was to switch to the second radio. We soon got Sheffield back on the COM radio and found that the active was R28 so made for a straight in approach - keeping a close eye on the hovering helicopter overhead.

Post landing checks were carried out as we left the active runway: flaps, carb heat, trimmer, landing light. Doing these checks is key to passing the skills test so I'm really clear about completing them on every flight at the moment, which isn't a bad thing.

During the week I popped into Leeds Flying School to pick up certification of my exam passes. These are written on an official application form that will be submitted to the CAA. Having this form really made the skills test real. If all goes to plan I could be a licenced PPL pilot within days!

Unlicensed Night Flying - Almost

Flying Hours Today 3:00, Total 48:25

P1 Flying Hours Today 1:05, Total 8:35

Following this morning's practice I was eagerly anticipating getting back in the air before the autumn evening was upon us. Three o'clock finally came around and I took off with my instructor and another chap from the flying school to depart to Gamston (EGNE). This time we were in a different aircraft, a PA28-141 with fatter, stubbier wings.

All the controls were the same as my regular aircraft except for the stall warner. There wasn't a buzzer, instead a light on the dashboard. As we were doing our preflight checks I saw an inbound PA28 having real fun with the crosswind - I don't think I've ever seen a light aircraft flitting around so much on approach. It made me quite apprehensive for the flight ahead.

Soon I was lined up on R28 and rotating. But things weren't right, the stall warner light came on - good thing I'd checked what that was before departure. So I instinctively dipped the nose and gained some more speed before climbing.

The fact that I was in a lower powered aircraft, on a windy day, with passengers and using an airspeed indicator that had mph as well as knots had all contributed to the less than perfect take off.

I was a bit shaken but my instructor praised me, I had done exactly the right thing in lowering the nose slightly so our climb wasn't so steep. This gave me a great deal of confidence because it demonstrated that I was becoming a pilot and understanding and being able to feel how the aircraft operates in the air.

We approached Gamston from the west on the dead side. There was no gliding activity so we descended and joined the left hand circuit downwind for landing on R21. I dropped off my passengers so that they could finalise the planning for a long trip they were taking the next day, and quickly moved into position on R21 for take off.

In the air the early bonfires on this night of November 5th were being lit. The smoke drifting northwards on a southerly breeze. I was using the DME to remain nearby with the idea of circling the airfield from a distance for perhaps 45 minutes then landing.

I decided to make use of my earlier experiences of VOR tracking and headed out on the 030 radial. Planning to fly for 20 minutes then to return on the 210 radial. I approached the Humber estuary in no time and turned to intercept the 210 radial.


But found that my progress was impeded - of course, I was now flying with a head wind. The smoke from the bonfires had given the hint earlier that the southerly wind was quite strong. Add the fact that I reached the Humber so quickly I should have taken more notice of the wind. It seemed an age to return to Gamston, especially as it was getting late in the day and darkness would be closing in any time now.

I was learning a lot from this sortie - not only about VOR tracking but also that I had been caught out by the headwind by simply not taking this into consideration and then not realising how quickly it can turn from day to dusk as I had done all my previous flying in the morning.

The DME indicated that I was inching towards Gamston. I still had my chart with me and was making visual fixes to confirm position as well as tracking the radial.

Fortunately I was on the 210 radial which aligns perfectly with R21 at Gamston so I was straight in for a great landing after just over one hour in the air.

My instructor and colleague climbed on board and we took off back to Sheffield. By now it was dark enough to consider flying by instruments which was great fun.

We tracked the VOR on 030 until 13nm on the DME and this fixed us at the VRP into Sheffield. The crosswind was quite strong, and by now it was a night landing so the instructor took over on finals.

I simply read out the airspeed on the dimmed instrument. Which was a challenge as this aircraft had a scale calibrated in both knots and mph! At least this aircraft had the altimeter setting in millibars so it was one less complication to think about.

Stalls, Slow Flying, VOR Tracking

Flying Hours Today 3:00, Total 48:25

P1 Flying Hours Today 1:05, Total 8:35

A review of my flight log had shown that, as well as requiring more solo time, I still needed a few more minutes on slow flying and stall awareness and avoidance. The plan was for me to arrive at the airfield early, get some stall practice in en-route to Gamston (EGNE) and then go and do some solo circuits or a short tour.


As is typical in general aviation time gets eaten away so quickly. We waited for what seemed like an age to get refuelled and so were about 50 minutes late departing Sheffield (EGSY). I still needed to get the stall practice in so we took some time out en-route to Gamston to cover cleans stalls, climbing stalls, turning stalls etc. in all kinds of configurations.


I also took the opportunity to practice slow flying and low flying for a precautionary landing. Before we knew it time had passed by and it wouldn't be feasible to touch down at Gamston to drop off the instructor and then for me to get any decent solo time so we decided to continue with further handling exercises and to learn more about radio navigation.


The VOR

"The VOR (pronounced "vee-oh-are" is a very high frequency radio navigation aid that is extensively used in instrument flying. Its full name is the very high frequency omni-directional radio range, commonly abbreviated to the VHF omni range, VOR, or omni."

From Trevor Thom's Radio Navigation and Instrument Flying (Air Pilots Manual 5) To begin with we focussed on the VOR. Remembering that for radio navigation aids it is necessary to Tune, Identify, Test and Select. Tuning isn't so much of a problem, simply dial the appropriate frequency into the NAV radio - however there can be many combinations of devices within the cockpit that are interconnected and it is necessary to know just which instruments are connected so as to minimise confusion. For instance, in the aircraft I was flying the NAV1 radio was partnered with the VOR instrument that is embedded within the HSI heading indicator. The second radio, NAV2, has its own instrument. On top of this there is an independent DME installation which can be tuned independently or configured to be tuned into NAV1 or NAV2.

In the end we used NAV2, as it was clearer to view and operate than the one embedded within the HSI. We tuned in to the Gamston (GAM) VOR and began to track away from and then back to the airfield from some distance.


Remembering what I had learned during the week in reading my books I began to intercept at a 30 degree angle and then to gradually align with the radial as we began to intercept it.


It is easy to begin to zig-zag when intercepting as the radials are quite narrow and precise so you overshoot then turn and overshoot in the other direction. After some practice it does become simpler and once you can visualise the radial in the sky it becomes easier to intercept: as if joining a motorway at an intersection.


As we had more time than expected for this exercise we covered the VOR in depth, really getting to know how to follow and understand the TO/FROM flags and making use of the VOR as a command instrument.


The wind was slight but sufficient for me to have to take this into consideration. In all a very good introduction to VOR radio navigation aids.


Moving on to the ADF/NDB combination the work here was quite similar and easy to understand. I was surprised though at the relatively short range of an NDB beacon and that they have much more value when used locally. The difference in homing and direct tracking was demonstrated and again the wind factor was useful to work with.


It was now getting late into the lesson and we headed back to Sheffield for a good landing and some coffee. The idea would be that I would wait until later in the day and this time take off for some solo work. 


I was scheduled for the 1500 slot and so had some hours to kill to review what had been done and to go and do some Saturday shopping.