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!

Orbiting And Gliding At Doncaster

Flying Hours Today 1:15, Total 45:25

P1 Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 7:30

Today I spent 1hr 20m going through some of my 'fears'. Those parts of the skills test that you don't practice everyday: flap-less and glide approaches (went well), steep level turns (went well) and PFL (went very well). I was with a new instructor today. My eigth.

Some people like the continuity of a single instructor and I must confess that I did up to a point but now I'm finding that I'm learning a lot more from each instructor.

They all have useful hints and tips to pass on and in some cases they allow me to change a procedure that I wasn't comfortable with but it is what I was taught.

During the power checks I noted that when idling the engine wouldn't go much lower than 1000rpm. Nothing to worry about but I'm always keen to understand why things happen and noticing this small deviation did come back to me at a later stage in the day...

We left Sheffield (EGSY) and headed to Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield (EGCN - formerly RAF Finningley) for circuits. It was a quiet day and Doncaster ATC are quite welcoming for instructed circuits but not solo students.

We headed 060 from Sheffield and made our first landing on R20 from right base. A good touch and go to get things started, then we followed this with flap-less and fully flapped approach and landings. Something I've vastly improved on since last time I did these, this must be down to my greatly improved experience of handling the aircraft.

At one point I was put into an orbit pattern waiting for a Boeing 737 to take off. And we waited, and waited. There were birds on the runway that needed to be cleared.

Typically by the time the ground team were on the scene the birds had moved on. This wasn't more wasted time, it was a good opportunity to practice precision flying using rate 1 turns and maintaining my position over the ground with the blowing wind.

After the departing jet I was given clearance to land while still on base, I then repeated that I was on finals etc. which may not have been necessary but I'd prefer to talk too much than not enough if the airwaves are quiet.

Landing at airports such at Doncaster are great for honing skills as you can focus on the technique without worrying about the length of the runway. Following a glide approach I had to stop on the runway and await the wash of the departing jet to dissipate, then I could still use the remainder of the runway to take off.

While still in the Doncaster zone I practiced a couple of glide approaches, losing power on the base leg. Trimming to 70kts, aiming for a landing point 2/3rd of the way down the runway, then 1/3rd etc as we got nearer.

This will help to ensure that the glide to the target is possible. If you aim too near then you could fall short - quite literally, so aim further away and then lose the height once you are nearing the target.

Leaving Doncaster we headed back towards Sheffield and found some space for practice exercises. The last time I did a PFL was many months ago and I couldn't get to grips with the glide attitude, and the calls and checks, and the aiming for a field, and the altitude and position etc.

This time it all came together really well. A rule of thumb from the gliding world, use the 45 degree rule. If the target is beyond the wing then it is out of reach, similarly if it is below you it is too near. Select a target that is about 45 degrees of your viewing angle downwards.

Then it is time for engine off, or at least power off, 70kts glide, keep the field in sight, glide and descend gently, simulated calls, 7700 on the transponder and checks made, down to 500ft then power away.

I was really pleased to get this out of the way and it gave me great confidence in knowing how to get the aircraft into a glide attitude and to control it. Coincidentally when we climbed away we noticed how close we were to Netherthorpe, in a real emergency we could have aimed for the landing field there.

Steep level turns were also something I hadn't done for a while and remember them being all over the place with attitude and altitude not quite in synch. This time they were much much better which I can only put down to being much more experienced and familiar with the controls and actions.

Inbound to Sheffield I made some lazy S turns to lose some height and speed, just for good practice. As we crossed the threshold I noticed that the speed wasn't decreasing as expected and the flare and round out took longer than normal. After touch down the engine sounded as though it was running too fast, a check showed that it was at 1000rpm, so that check at the start of the day had come to something - if the idle is a bit high then expect a slightly faster landing.

A couple more hours of solo time to build then I reckon I'll be ready to apply for the general flying test. Fingers crossed.

Low Flying, Whiz Wheels, Unfit To Fly

Flying Hours Today 1:25, Total 28:25

P1 Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 0:15

Following my long holiday in Latin America I had a double flying lesson booked. It was time to review the final aspects of the flight training curriculum then head out for some practice and consolidation work.

Why Fly At A Low Level

"A low level is generally considered to be 500ft above ground level or lower. Low level flying may be necessary: in poor weather conditions such as low cloud and/or poor visibility; to inspect a field in preparation for a forced landing with power available; in the VFR Entry/Exit Lanes that provide access to certain aerodromes beneath airspace reserved for Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 First up would be low level flying, gaining an appreciation of navigating and looking for landmarks at low level - at around 500ft. I would also gain a much better appreciation of speed at low level and learn to handle the aircraft appropriately.

For this leg, a quick navigation calculation for a 4 minute trip from Harrogate due north to Ripon. Factoring in a slight south westerly wind. Not for the first time I marked the wind vector on my chart wrong. This time it was 90° out. I noticed this when doing a mental calculation of the tail wind and how this would increase my ground speed. It was bizarre to think that I could have made such a fundamental error, but that is what double checking and sanity checking can quickly show up.

A suitable landmark was shown on the map - height 261ft - to give an indication of ground level, round this up to 300ft and add 500ft clearance then we would aim to be flying at 800ft.

The navigation check gave me another opportunity to master the whiz wheel using the 'simple' method that I was shown by my instructor. In this case we would head from Harrogate to Ripon, a 0 (or 360) degree heading with a wind vector (W/V) of 210/15. So use the following procedure:

• Align the centre dot to our expected air speed (100kts)
• Turn the wheel so the wind vector heading is at the top (210)
• Mark the wind vector BELOW the centre dot as the wind is FROM 210
• Turn the wheel to our heading (0)
• The wind mark is now 4 degrees right
• Turn the wheel to the right by 4 degrees (align the 0 with 4 on drift)
• The mark is still at 4 so we are OK (repeat with smaller adjustments if this isn't the case)
• Read off the speed (113kts) and use for G/S in calculations
• Add (west is best) the magnetic variation to get the heading
• Sanity check, if the wind is from behind the G/S will be greater and vice versa.

Then onto the ground school for precautionary landings - just in case the weather comes in or the aircraft starts to behave badly, yet you still have power to fly with.

Firstly, identify a suitable field then descend dead side as per a normal circuit to around 500ft. Commence the circuit but in a tighter than normal manner. Approach the target field and overfly at 200ft to get a better view of the surface and surroundings. If the field is OK then complete a final circuit and approach to land.

Before we set out to the aircraft we did a review of practiced forced landings using the high key and low key method. At 3000ft the power will be reduced to idle and carb heat switched on.

Begin to orientate with regards to the wind - which is marked on your chart and look for a suitable field. Trim to glide speed of 70kts for the PA28. At 2500ft - high key - be 1nm from the upwind end of the target field. Attempt restart, change fuel tanks.

At 2000ft make the turn to downwind leg. Make the mayday call - call sign, station, engine failure, location, intention. Do the mayday call while you still have decent height so as to have maximum radio range.

During the practice forced landing give a touch of power to keep the engine warm. Also be very aware that although this is a practice you must be prepared to land just in case the engine does really fail.

At 1500ft - low key - you will be halfway along the downwind leg. Prepare to land and complete your pre-landing checks. Turn to base at 1000ft, another touch of power.

Turning to final approach - into the wind - at 500ft then time to make the commitment to land. Apply flaps only when you know you can make the field. It's easy isn't it?

I booked out for a general handling flight then out to the aircraft to do the A-Check. When I got into the cockpit my instructor advised me to remove my hi-viz jacket - a useful tip as they are made out of a synthetic material that wouldn't behave so nicely in the event of a fire.

Onto Leeds tower and clearance to depart and then take off was promptly granted. I stated the squawk wrong and was corrected. It was set and put on standby. As we lined up on the runway I switch the squawk to Mode C and made a note of the time.

After take off we headed north towards Harrogate at 2000ft. As we approached Harrogate I began to descend to low level.

For some reason I only went as low as 1800ft and still thought it was low, then my instructor pointed out my error. The second time in almost as many lessons. I must learn to pay more attention to the altimeter.

I corrected our altitude and we dropped to 800ft. One of the most surprising aspects was the birds flying around us, and the speed of passing landmarks, it was difficult at times to keep up with the changing roads, rivers and railways for only this 4 minute stretch. But very useful experience should I ever be pushed to a low altitude due to adverse weather.

We climbed over Ripon then headed out to find a suitable field for precautionary landing practice. Looking for somewhere away from habitations and livestock in order to minimise disruption. A field was found and the instructor showed how it should be done, then my turn. I made two attempts, but in both cases flew a bit wide on circuit which meant it was more difficult to keep the field in sight at all times. More practice would be needed, but I was getting the hang of this.

We followed this with three practiced forced landings. The challenge at this time is to get the judgement correct, but this will come with practice. On one approach we noticed only on final that there was a low level power line across the field, the option would be to fly under! I'd also made a strong mental note to always be scanning for power lines in future flights.

En route back to the airfield I requested a couple of steep level turns to consolidate my earlier knowledge. They weren't perfect by any means, climbing and descending too much for my liking but again these should come back with practice.

Am I Fit To Fly?

"Flying with a common cold or other upper respiratory tract infection is asking for trouble. The blocked Eustachian tubes which usually accompany such a complaint will lead to problems with pressure equalisation, especially on descent (when ambient pressure changes can be high even in low-performance aircraft).

Pain in the ears could be severe, which is very distracting.

There is a danger of the eardrums collapsing inwards as the external pressure builds up, giving rise to a loss of hearing which may or may not be permanent.

The balance mechanisms could be affected in extreme cases, a situation known as pressure vertigo."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 As we passed through 1000ft on base leg about to turn for a long final on R27 my ears suddenly blocked. I'd had slight hay fever in the previous week but nothing of major concern - no tablets or medication taken. My blocked ears made me quite deaf and I lost orientation and became overwhelmingly nauseous.

I had to hand control to the instructor for landing - I simply couldn't function as a pilot. I couldn't hear the ATC over the radio, I couldn't focus on the instruments, I couldn't think of what to do next.

When we had shut down the aircraft and exited I could hear virtually nothing - I've never had deafness or ear blockage like it and it took some 15 to 20 minutes before my ears popped back at the flight school.

Following the exercise debrief and a stern word from my instructor about the dangers of flying with a cold - however slight - we closed the day with a short ground school lesson covering quick headwind and crosswind calculations for en-route changes in the air.

Firstly calculate the maximum drift angle as (60 / Airspeed) x W/V speed. A quick calculation in the air is to use 90kts as the airspeed so simply multiply the wind vector by 2/3rds.

Then use the clock method to calculate the crosswind component whereby 15, 30, 45 and 60 degrees around a clock face map to ¼, ½, ¾ and full crosswind component. Head wind components are the opposite viz: 15, 30, 45 and 60 degrees of each map to ¾, ½, ¼ and zero components.

An example: You are flying 090 (west to east) and need to divert due north. The wind is 220/20. The angle of difference is 360-220 = 140 degrees, we are looking for the smallest angle on the interception so in this case would be 40 degrees.

40 degrees would almost map to ¾ in the crosswind clock so we will multiply the maximum drift angle by ¾. MD = 60/90 x 20, i.e. approximately 13 degrees. Multiplied by ¾ gives approximately 10 degrees so we need to fly 10 degrees into the wind so a heading of 350 degrees. This is the true heading so we then need to add / remove the variance to get the magnetic heading.

We also covered the closing angle of 18 degrees in a P28. This means that for a distance off course of 'n' miles then turn towards course by 18 degrees and travel for distance x 2 in minutes.

Then you will re-intercept your track and can turn again by 18 degrees. We followed this with instruction on tracking around obstructions e.g. NOTAM'd areas, MATZs, thunderstorms: turn 'n' degrees (30, 45, 60 etc.) from your heading and time the duration to give you a clear view around the obstruction - e.g. 2 mins.

Then turn back to original track and once clear of the obstruction turn the 'n' degrees in the opposite sense and fly for the same duration - i.e. 2 mins in this case. This will bring you back to a point on your original route and then you can turn back on this heading.

What To Do When It All Goes Wrong

Flying Hours Today 0:00, Total 18:45

The TAFs today were indicating that the weather would be on the edge for flying. Over Holmfirth - near to where I live - and Ripon the sky was clear and blue with a bank of cloud in the distance.

As both myself and the instructor arrived at Leeds Bradford from different directions we both became aware of the gloom over the airfield. Low lying broken cloud blowing along at quite a pace which changed the weather from bright clear sunshine to dark gloom in seconds.

The TAF from Humberside Airport had also indicated the probability of fog in the Vale of York this morning and this was confirmed by Sandtoft.

The fog at Sandtoft wasn't too thick though so we decided to go out and do the A-Check on G-BODD and we planned to call Sandtoft back to confirm that the fog had burned off. I completed the checks and we called Sandtoft again, it was now touch and go with visibility of about 1.5km but a pilot that had landed was still not too happy with the visibility on approach.

We decided to sit it out for another 20 minutes. Time well spent as the instructor showed me more details of how the radios operate in the aircraft and what the various on/off toggle switches on the right side of the dash actually did.

Forced Landings Without Power

"All pilots must be able to cope with and emergency landing without the use of engine power, possibly on an unprepared surface. This can be done quite successfully. The low landing speed of a modern training aircraft and its robust construction allow it to be landed safely in quite small fields, provided the pilot positions the aeroplane accurately."

From Trevor Thom's The Air Pilot's Manual 1 Our final call to Sandtoft wasn't good. We had the option to take off and hope that things would clear en-route but in the end decided against it. If the fog hadn't cleared then it would be a wasted trip and wasted money. There was still a couple of hours of my booking remaining so the instructor suggested we cover the theory behind Exercise 16: Practiced Forced Landings back at the school.

At the school I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen as we sat down for a long chat about just what to do in the event of a emergency that would require a forced landing. The process is described in the steps below:

1 - The engine fails for whatever reason but most probably fuel starvation which is generally due to human error. Always be aware of the fuel situation!

2 - Adopt the best glide attitude. This will give you maximum range and time in the air to identify and reach a suitable landing spot.

3 - Orientate yourself with the wind. Either by looking at smoke or vapour from powerstations, or the direction of cloud movement. Recall the direction of the take off runway - which was most probably into wind, or take a look at the wind vector that you noted down during your ATIS check. On short flights within the UK the wind will not have changed dramatically over time, we are looking here to get a general feel for wind direction not a precise heading.

4 - Look for a suitable field. A suitable field will have the following characteristics:

• Size: Big enough to land in, and ideally big enough to take off from although this is definitely a secondary consideration at this time. Remember that the longest clear run in a field is diagonally from corner to opposite corner.


• Shape: Think about the wind direction and look for a suitably shaped field that would allow a landing into wind. A long thin field that will have the wind as a full crosswind isn't perhaps as useful as a short wide field that is directly into wind.


• Surface: Look for green, empty, fields. Fields with animals or other obstructions are obviously not good. Also public places such as park land may also look tempting but they may have people and animals wandering about. Dark brown fields may have recently been ploughed and so full of furrows which would not be good. Lighter brown fields may have been rolled ready for crop planting so may be a better option if all the surrounding fields are dark brown. Mature crops are to be avoided if possible but be aware that if you do land there then you will slow down dramatically on contact with the crop and will need to brace yourself firmly. Of course, if there is an airstrip nearby, make use of it! Roads may look tempting but there will be the possibility of traffic and perhaps street lights and telegraph poles to avoid. We didn't discuss the option of ditching on water - I should report back to the flying school for a refresher if I'm planning to cross any sizable expanse of water. Note that a field may look fine from altitude but unsuitable when getting nearer - always have a second option.


• Slope: Landing up slope is preferable. Avoid a down slope landing as much as possible. It may even be preferable to land up slope with a tail wind.


• Surrounds: Look for high hedges, trees, pylons, telegraph cables, fences etc. Note that the cables between pylons may not be visible so scan the surrounding area for the pylons. Remember that if the pylon cables cross the field further down than your landing position it will be possible to fly under the cables.

But what if you can't find a suitable field in the vicinity? Then turn downwind to extend your search range. Let the wind carry you as far as possible to find a suitable place. In the UK you will almost always be able to find a field within range.

There may be difficulties in some of the higher ground areas such as in Scotland, the Pennines, the Lake District or Wales and in these cases you will have to make the call to find the best possible spot in the surrounding area. Note that if flying downwind will decrease your options, e.g. by flying you out to sea or into a built up area or into a mountain range then obviously this is not the best thing to do and you will have to make the call to land in a less than ideal location.

5 - Now we have the field in sight, orientate your landing run with a view to ideally land upslope and into wind. You are now going to fly a circuit formation with key points identified to bringing you in for a safe landing.

Build the circuit plan in your head and identify a point on the ground (a building, a copse, a tower etc.) that will serve as your 1000ft point, this will be the point when you turn onto your 'base' leg.

Remember that as you will have no power you will want this point to be nearer to the landing point than in a normal circuit - you won't have the opportunity to stretch the approach but you can lose height if necessary to shorten an approach.

You also need to be able to land using circuit heights (i.e. heights above ground level) and probably won't have time or the option to make a QFE call. Instead you adjust the altimeter to map the QNH you are using to an agl approximation.

You should already be aware of the ground level beneath you from your charts. Adjust the altimeter accordingly e.g. if the ground is between 0 and 500 ft then reduce the altimeter by 250 ft to give you an approximate agl height.

Basically take a look at the terrain on the map and reduce the altimeter by the mid point between the altitude range: 2000ft to 3000ft feet terrain, mid point 2500ft, reduce altimeter by 2500ft.

6 - From the 1000ft point work backwards to visualise a circuit identifying a 'downwind' turn at 2000ft and a 'crosswind' turn at 2500ft. Of course, if your altitude doesn't allow the full circuit to be executed then by all means cut across the circuit with the view of getting to the 1000ft point at the right altitude and direction.

7 - Ideally the following procedure should be followed as we lose approximately 500ft per sector:

• At 2500ft, turn to the crosswind leg, and do the restart checks: mixture rich, fuel pump on, throttle OK, fuel tank selected, carb heat on. As the propeller will probably still be windmilling - i.e. turning due to the fact that the aircraft is moving through the air - then if fuel does enter the engine it may restart of its own accord. If this does happen then abort the force landing and plan an immediate diversion to the nearest airport.


• At 2000ft, turn to the downwind leg and make the mayday call. This call needs to be done at as high an altitude as possible to ensure that the radio waves have the maximum range. Report as per a standard mayday call on your existing open frequency or on the emergency frequency 121.5MHz.


• At 1500ft, while on the downwind leg and now abeam of your landing strip, do the shutdown checks. Turn the throttle and mixture off, in some cases it has been known for aircraft on forced landings to pitch nose down during final approach in order to land safely, this in turn can make the 'unusable' fuel in the system flow into the engine.
  
  If the throttle is still fully open and the engine kicks into life then the aircraft will increase speed rapidly and crash into the ground with great force.
  
  Turn the throttle off! Turn the magnetos off, close the fuel cock and switch off the fuel pump. If finished with the radio switch it off. If you don't need power for the flaps then at this point turn off the master switch.
  
  Remove your headphones and put them where they won't obstruct your exits. Unlock the door and open it slightly, if you have a passenger get them to wedge something - e.g. headphones - between the open door and the frame. This will mean the door will still open if, on landing, the airframe is bent and the door is jammed.


• At 1000ft, or more precisely, at your 1000ft position, turn for the base leg. If you are over 1000ft still make the turn and lose some height by S-turns as you approach the target field. Do not fly beyond the 1000ft position as you won't have power to make up any shortfall on the approach.


• At 500ft you will be on final approach. Aim for a point about 1/3rd the way down your target field. This is so that if you approach too low then you will have a field to land in rather than a hedge or wall.
  
  Only now do you being to think about applying flaps and only do so in stages. Only apply the flaps when you are supremely confident that you can make the landing point. 

• If the approach is not working as expected then the following techniques could help: use S-turns to lose height, increase speed to lose height. If you don't think you will make the field due to a headwind then gradually gain some speed. If there is an obstacle then use the flaps to gain some additional lift by ballooning you over the obstacle. This is, of course, a last resort and would only apply if the wind has been badly misjudged.

8 - If all has gone well you will be able to touch down and come to a safe stop. Get out of the aircraft and move away as soon as possible.


So following all that excitement in the coming weeks it will be time to put things into practice and also to make my circuit bashing more interesting I'll be doing approaches with different configurations: the steeper glide approach without power, the regular approach and the shallower flap-less approach.

A practiced forced landing is just that - a practice. For the majority of pilots a real forced landing is something they will not encounter through their flying career. For some pilots the PFL training can be a life saver. Probably the most famous example of a forced landing occurred on 15th January 2009 when US Airways Flight 1549 lost power in both engines and became a glider. Captain Sullenberger made an exceptional forced landing on the Hudson river. His quick thinking and cool headedness enabled him to make a perfect landing on the river.