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.

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.