Feeling Like A Real Aviator

Flying Hours Today 4:05, Total 44:10

P1 Flying Hours Today 3:10, Total 7:30

Back on the 28th August I did my dual QXC. The following weekend the weather was poor both days, following that I had other weekend commitments plus a change of flying school so it was with some trepidation that I reported at Sheffield Flying School at 0900 to undertake my Qualifying Cross Country test.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Dual QXC

Flying Hours Today 2:35, Total 38:30

P1 Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 4:20

A late start today due to a major incident on the M62 en-route to Sandtoft (EGCF) meaning a diversion through the smaller roads of north Lincolnshire.

Arriving at the airfield 20 minutes late I was put straight onto the task of planning today's route for my dual qualifying cross country trip. The first leg of the route would be from Sandtoft to Sywell (EGBK) via the disused RAF Bottesford aerodrome.

From Sywell to Tatenhill (EGBM) and then returning to Sandtoft. A great opportunity to make use of RAF air traffic control and to liaise with East Midlands (EGNX) as the route skirts their zone.

Today I would be flying in G-LFSK, a PA-28 that I'd been in once before the previous year at the start of my flying training. This particular aircraft isn't fitted with a HSI so I would have to pay special attention during the FREDA checks to ensure that I was aligning the DI with the compass at regular intervals.

Due to my late arrival, another student had already completed the A-Check and fuelled up the aircraft so without further ado we were ready to go. The winds today were relatively light - estimated at 245/20 at our planned cruise altitude of 3000ft as we took off from Sandtoft on R23 for a left hand circuit climb. Climbing over the airfield in the circuit pattern but to 2000ft we then left the overhead heading 189 to Bottesfield and made a note of the time.

The route to Bottesfield isn't too onerous to navigate, making use of major features such as power stations, the River Trent and major towns. After leaving Sandtoft we switched over to the RAF Waddington combined zone controller covering RAF Scampton (EGXP), RAF Waddington (EGXW) and RAF Cranwell (EGYD).

The controller, like most military air traffic controllers in my experience was a fast talker and it took some effort to listen out for our call sign and also to respond quickly and correctly - we requested and received Radar Information Service, squawking the provided code. We climbed to just over 3000ft to avoid any MATZ infringements. There was broken cloud below us but we still had a clear view of the ground.

En-route we flew past many of the now disused former airbases, some used for gliding and microlight activity, others for mass storage space for cars. The disused RAF airfield at Winthorpe is now home to the Newark Air Museum and we could clearly see a Vulcan, some Canberras and various other ex-military hardware.

RAF Bottesford appeared on the nose exactly when and where it should have been - first nav leg completed successfully! We made the subtle change of heading to 194 for the next leg to Sywell some 26 minutes away. Some more spectacular views of Belvoir Castle and the very tall transmission tower to the north east of Melton Mowbray occasionally came into view through the breaks in the clouds.

Soon it was time to leave the RAF Waddington controller - she directed us to Cambridge (EGSC) but we opted for Sywell instead.

Still maintaining at least 3000ft as we crossed overhead the RAF Cottesmore MATZ and then flew past Corby and Kettering on the left. Pitsford Water came into view and provided an excellent visual reference, enabling us to identify Sywell Aerodrome a few miles to the east.

We had switched the second COM radio to Sywell frequency to enable us to listen in while still with RAF Waddington. By now we already know the QNH and the runway in use - R23. R23 interestingly doesn't feature in the Pooleys guide so we had to visualise it on the plan which wasn't too hard as R25 is published.

There was one other aircraft approaching from the east, and two helicopters doing general manoeuvres near the ground. A good lookout and strong situational awareness was called for. As we arrived from almost due North we over flew the airfield at at least 2000ft to ensure we weren't in the ATZ then began to make left hand turns in accordance with the circuit - making the positional report that we were overhead.

The other aircraft in the circuit was now visible and below us. The standard approach plan is to over fly the numbers at the downwind end of the runway - where we aim to be landing, making a call to announce descending dead side, then make a gradual left descending turn so that we are over the upwind numbers at 1000ft, from this point we join the downwind leg of the circuit and make for a normal approach and landing.

Sywell is a grass field. I haven't landed on one previously - my experience at Full Sutton was based more on flying the circuit rather than landing. This called for a slow approach, and a slow as possible touch down and as near to the numbers as possible.

Just to ensure I had one more thing to remember my instructor recommended that I didn't apply the brakes unless absolutely necessary otherwise we would be gouging the grass and possibly spinning everywhere.

One noticeable absence was the lack of yellow taxy lines - of course this being an open grass field there are no such things so we just made towards the parking area by the most direct route. Keeping a good eye out at all times for other traffic.

I visited control to pay the landing fee of £12, then headed to the famous Pilot's Mess cafe for a refreshing lemonade before we were back in G-LFSK and taxiing on the grass field to the threshold of R23.

I need to still brush up on my R/T when working out of ATC as I don't always use the correct terminology. We lined up for R23 and the instructor gave me another new task to learn: short field take off with flap. I'd never done this previously so now was as good a time as any to learn.

Two stages of flap set, we set off down the runway, with the yoke back in order to get lift as early as possible in order to protect the nose wheel. Soon we were breaking away from the ground but with the stall warner buzzing intermittently. Keep going said the instructor, and as we broke clear from the ground we pitched the nose forwards to increase airspeed and gain more lift. Before we knew it we were climbing away and at 200ft it was time to dispense with the flaps in stages.

We climbed overhead in the circuit pattern then set our direction for the M1/M6 intersection which had been on my original plan in order to avoid gliders at Husbands Bosworth and there was plenty of activity there. Gliders being towed and others flying freely.

We decided not to route to the M1/M6 but made better use of the industrial complex that is now on the site of the former RAF base at Bitteswell as a checkpoint. It is a registered VRP and much easier to see from the air. It was only a few nm from our planned checkpoint and only a few degrees off track so we flew visually directly to it.

At this time we said goodbye to Sywell and switched to East Midlands control. One of the first calls we heard was from an obvious student pilot in a helicopter - making those hesitant calls. I had some sympathy with him as sometimes it is overwhelming in the busy skies to constantly hear quick, clipped and professional chatter all day.

We had requested Radar Information Service but we were intermittently visible to the controllers so it was declined. As we got closer our signature must have strengthen and we were granted the full service.

Beyond Bitteswell we would be abeam the entry zone for Coventry airport (EGBE). East Midlands requested that we switch to Coventry to report our position, which we did with no issue from Coventry, then it was back to East Midlands who kept us informed of various other activity on our flight path from helicopters to microlights and other GA traffic.

We passed over the disused RAF Nuneaton airfield and noted that it must be a test track for new car production these days - and later invistigation showed that it is used as a testing ground for the Motor Industries Research Association. The airfield laid out as motorway and urban traffic systems and surrounded by trees to keep photographers away, but there was no activity for us to see today. As we approached Tatenhill we saw the railway marshalling yards for Virgin trains, a few miles south west of Burton on Trent. Two power stations act as guides to take us in to Tatenhill and, as we had done on arrival to Sywell, we tuned in to listen to activity at Tatenhill on the other COM radio before leaving East Midlands.

The active runway was 26L, and as before at Sywell just as we made our call we heard of another aircraft approaching from the south. We spotted this aircraft quite quickly below us as we made our overhead fly past. Making the overhead call, turning so we were over the touchdown numbers at 2000ft then a slow descending turn to get us over the upwind numbers at 1000ft.

We had noted that the other aircraft had over flown the end of the now disused part of the runway and was making a very wide circuit. We had to follow but I was feeling a little unsure as to the other pilot's intentions. He made an extended downwind leg, a long base and then onto final approach. I wasn't so sure in turning base once abeam of him on final but that is what we did.

The pilot in the other aircraft touched down as we turned for final approach, then seemed to slow down much too early. I needed him to clear the runway and soon. So I was slowing down and getting concerned about my airspeed. If I'd been on my own I would have elected to have gone around but the instructor kept faith and we continued the approach as the other pilot finally turned to the holding areas formed by a disused section of a cross runway.

Once the runway was clear the landing was uneventful and we were soon parking up on grass. Lots of aircraft here today, perhaps 15 GA aircraft plus 3 helicopters parked up. I checked in with control and paid the £8 fee. They were kind enough to direct me to the cafe were we sat down for a well earned cup of tea as we watched the Cessnas queuing up to take pleasure flights up.

The wind was also picking up and the cloud was thickening. We made to set off once again, but before engine start up we watched a Chipmonk in RAF training colours make a very smooth landing.

As we lined up I requested another try at the short field take off: two stages of flap, stall warning, take off and nose down. An excellent learning experience then we climbed in the circuit, made for 2000ft then left Tatenhill and made another call to East Midlands.

East Midlands gave us a squawk and Radar Information Service. If we climbed we would be flying through controlled airspace at 2500ft to the west of Derby so requested a climb to 3000ft which was granted. East Midlands ATC instructed us to report when crossing the M1 en-route to Sandtoft. This leg was fairly uneventful and we were soon at the M1. Just before I made the call, the East Midlands controller was calling us and switching us to Doncaster (EGCN). A call to Doncaster and we were on the home straight.

There was much radio traffic from an aircraft with call sign starting 'Ascot'. It appeared to be having an issue with some nav equipment and so was diverting to Manchester Airport (EGCC). We kept a close lookout but didn't see anything. As we approached the south of the Doncaster active we saw a Boeing 737 holding short of the runway - we were both given notification of our positions and both acknowledged visual contact.

It was weird being so close to a major airport and in uncontrolled airspace. The reason for the 737 holding was due to a Hercules transport on finals. We made visual contact and followed instructions to keep east of our current position. It was interesting to note the shallow approach made by the transporter. It was then time to squawk 7000 and switch back to Sandtoft to announce our return.

R23 was still active, this time we didn't bother flying over head, instead we descended to the 1000ft circuit height to the south east of the airfield then cut across the upwind numbers at the right altitude. I had to remember to finish the descent at 1000ft or above, anything lower than 1000ft could be a fail in the general flying test.

We joined the right hand circuit on the downwind leg and made for base then final turn. The wind had picked up somewhat since we had left and I had to apply quite a bit of power to get us to the airfield our groundspeed was very slow indeed. We touched down just over the threshold and had stopped within 100 metres. A quick turn around and we parked up by the flying school. An excellent QXC trail and I'm ready for the real thing as soon as I get some good clear weekend weather.

As an added bonus, the Sandtoft Jet Provost was in action again and it was great to see it taking off, climbing, looping the loop and doing barrel rolls. Something to try one of these days.