A student pilot diary from Sydney, Australia.
Wednesday 24th August 2005 - 3.3H TT90.2H – Bankstown/Camden/Canberra/Yass/Mittagong/Bankstown – Another gloriously clear day. I sometimes read student diaries from other countries and I pity the poor buggers in Europe and North-East USA whose entries always seem to be half filled with "bad weather, did not fly."
Planned for a long flight involving plenty or work in controlled airspace (CTA.) I flew with Simon for the first time, but we've spoken plenty of times before, he was also an instructor on my theory course way back when. My regular instructor Rod will be devoting all of his time to the Commercial Diploma students at Basair, so I probably won't be flying with him unless I get an advanced rating down the track, like Night VFR. He got me where I am, which is ready to go for my PPL test, no small accomplishment with a know-all, smart-arse, lazy student like me
Checked the aircraft out, loaded up, started and taxied out, when I felt a jolt. The right oleo strut had become depressed, possibly in anticipation of one of my landings and the Tobago leaned drunkenly to the right. Simon assured me it would be fine once we got in the air (where have I heard that before?) Left Bankstown into controlled airspace. Still not 100% with the language of CTA, but I reckon I've got the basics, just a matter of polishing up on the finer details.
Once again, I was slow and flat out trying to keep up with the aircraft. Again, not something I'm too worried about as the speed and efficiency can only be built up with time and experience. I hadn't planned on using the navaids along the way, but Simon encouraged me to use them whenever they are available. Arrived at Lake Bathurst and made my approach to Canberra. Cruised in at 5000 feet, 3000 feet above ground level, and prepared to make a visual approach. Once cleared for a visual approach the pilot can make any manoeuvres necessary to effect a landing on the assigned runway. The picture is all wrong from 3000 feet up and with a longish runway it's difficult at first to make an efficient approach, but with some prodding from Simon and the controller I got all lined up, forgot to put the flaps out and made a quick touch and go bound for Yass.
An amusing exchange heard over the radio as we departed Canberra.
"Call sign XXX, Canberra Approach, say your altitude"
"Aaah, call sign XXX, thank you."
"Call sign XXX, Canberra Approach. Say. Your. Altitude."
"Oh, err, ummm, call sign XXX, is err, at um, 2400 feet and is approaching err 2500 feet. Rapidly"
Very professional.
Of course, we didn't get to Yass as Simon requested a diversion to Mittagong. After some fumbling, mental arithmetic, uming and ahing we found Mittagong and entered the circuit, made a low pass and headed for home.
But first, some engine trouble. Three times Simon pulled the power off so I could demonstrate a practice forced landing and three times I fluffed it. I don't doubt I could have got the aircraft on the ground, but the number of pieces that would have been leftover is a topic for discussion. Frustrated, we headed for home on the deck, 1000 feet above the ground, following roads and powerlines to get back to 2RN and Bankstown for an uneventful landing and shutdown.
I was disappointed in my own performance and felt I could have done better, but Simon acknowledged it was still a good enough standard to be cleared for my next solo, which will be to Bathurst and Cowra, or Dubbo, or somewhere like that. By the way, the oleo strut was just fine and waited till we taxied in again at Bankstown where it collapsed once more, possibly with nervous exhaustion.
Thursday 8th September 2005 - 3.6H TT93.8H – Bankstown/Cowra/Bathurst/Bankstown – Severe clear, no cloud in the sky, winds calm, a little haze in the Sydney basin but otherwise beautiful conditions. Planned and headed out to Bankstown and signed for the aircraft. HCE had just had an overhaul, so the instructions were to keep the revs up, ideally 2400+ in the cruise, and not to lean out the mixture. The new oil was thick and the new surfaces had yet to bed in and be coated. Plenty of moisture in the fuel drain but kept draining until clear. DI (directional indicator, gyro powered compass) not working. Took off and headed for my first position fix, Hoxton Park. As the DI wasn't working it was hard to maintain a steady heading and consequently I missed Hoxton Park by a decent margin. Pointed at it and turned overhead to hear Sydney Radar describe me to an IFR aircraft as "VFR aircraft, unidentified, random manoeuvres." I assure you, madam, my manoeuvres are not random! A little wayward, perhaps, but there is a method to my madness!.
Turned over the beacon at Katoomba and then west for tiger country. Lose an engine over the ranges there and your options are fairly limited. The sky was so clear I could see Oberon from Katoomba so I simply kept it in the windscreen. Using a compass is more difficult thano using the DI as any changes in height, heading or speed will induce errors in a compass, but a DI will continue to read fine.
Lots of not much at all between Oberon and Cowra, although I did hear a Virgin Blue pilot transmit on the wrong frequency. If even the pros can make an occasional mistake, it makes me feel a whole lot better.
Good circuit entry and landing at Cowra, taxi in, get some fuel, quickly attend to some biological necessities (visit bathroom) and away we go for Bathurst. Track out past Werribee, note that the northern side of Mt Macquarie is covered in massive, white electricity generating wind mills not marked on the map. Another good circuit entry and landing at Bathurst. Rather than backtrack and block the runway for another incoming aircraft I took an exit and waited for them to pass. Thinking to myself, that's unusual, you're on the wrong side if you're on downwind. Watch other aircraft land in the opposite direction to what I did and pass me. Strange. Wind from the north. Windsock pointed north. I land on the northern runway. Other aircraft lands on the southern runway. Maybe some local knowledge I'm not privy to. Glad I waited though, the original plan was to backtrack and takeoff with the other aircraft still in the circuit. If I had done that I probably would have needed a change of underpants waiting back at Bankstown. Circuit clear, enter runway, backtrack, takeoff and head back east.
Descend out by Warragamba Dam, Prospect, enter Bankstown GAAP and another good crosswind landing. Taxi in and shutdown.
I now have the requisite cross country hours to test for my PPL. I'm not sure if the Bathurst incident qualifies me as a proud member of the 'Live Cowards' club.
Friday 7th October 2005 - 2.7H TT96.5H – Bankstown/Singleton/Cessnock/Bankstown – After several cancelled flights due to bad weather a short window had opened, so I had no choice but to clamber through it. The Trim God had graciously granted me a few hours of clear skies to put another tick in the box. Early start at 0800, No tobagos were available, so I took a Cessna 172 instead. I don't have much experience with C172s but they are fairly simple aircraft and very similar to a 152, so not much of a stretch. Walked out to the aeroplane, realised I had forgotten to lodge a flight plan, hustled back, entered the flight plan then back to the aircraft to pre-flight.
This was to be a departure into controlled airspace requiring me to talk to the controllers, read back instructions, handle the radios, set the transponder, watch for other aircraft, navigate, maintain a flight log, oh, and fly the aeroplane.
Headed out, climbed to 6,500 feet, found Richmond Airbase, spotted a Hercules doing practice approaches a few thousand feet below, continued north to Howes Valley, then on to Singleton. Care taken at this point not to intrude into the Army airspace above Singleton Army base. There is a firing range there, so I wasn't keen to get too close. Simon agreed with my prudence, then pulled the throttles off over Singleton. Carried out a practice forced landing, ears playing up something shocking, go around, then a precautionary search and landing.
Then to Cessnock at low level, no higher than 700 feet, keeping the road and railway in sight. Stop and go at Cessnock to close my door properly then back out to Brooklyn Bridge and Bankstown.
It all went very well, and I felt good about it. I was a bit sloppy and slow at stages, but no more than can be expected. Certainly the standard is good enough to attempt my PPL.
Taxi back to the parking point where Simon rushed off to attend to some urgent biological functions.
Monday 10th October 2005 - 3.5H TT100.0H – Bankstown/Wollongong/Goulburn/Crookwell/Bankstown – Pre-Licence Test - This was a teset to see if I was ready to go for my test. Greg was the instructor to grill me and check me out, and started by going over my file to see if the requisite paperwork was in order, correct forms filled out, necessary boxes ticked, then asked me questions for a good couple of hours. So long in fact that we left about 45 minutes later than planned. This will become important later on.
Checked out IJD, a Piper Warrior, a type I had never flown before and was unfamiliar with. I liked it, though, a bit more sporty and sleek than the barge-like Tobago. I'll probably get properly checked out on one of these down the track. Our clearance was rejected by Sydney Approach as they were using the north-south runways and didn't want a lightie weaving between Boeings and Airbuses, the wimps. We left Bankstown outside controlled airspace and headed for Wollongong. Found Wollongong ok, everything looking good, headed west for Goulburn. Found Goulburn ok, overflew and checked the windsock, entered the circuit then made an approach. Everything looked wrong. We were coming in too fast and too high. This is odd, I think, but I'll press on and see how it develops. Over the threshold it was clear I would have to abandon the approach and so executed a go-around. As I passed the windsock I could see the wind was behind me - I had misread the windsock on my first overflight. Round we go again and re-entered for the opposite runway, made a half decent approach and landing, then round we go again. On downwind Greg decides I'm getting too comfortable and pulls the throttle. After a brief communication between us to establish that we had, in theory, had an engine failure, I executed a practise forced landing and landed on the grass strip at Gouldburn. Not bad, except - I hadn't made any radio communications, I hadn't issued a mayday called or briefed my passenger on what we were doing. A little work to do there.
Off we go again and now head for Crookwell, further west of our position. I had some misgivings about this and expressed them. We were going to be getting back quite late as it is and I hadn't planned for Crookwell or obtained permission to land there. I was overruled and off we went.
If you've never had to navigate an aeroplane by yourself I could give you an analogy you might like to try at home. Stand on one leg. Hold one hand out in front of you and balance a tea cup on it. On your right hand side is a microwave oven, a portable air conditioner, a toaster and an iPod. Monitor them and operate them so they all run continuously throughout the exercise. Periodically report their condition. In front of you is a television showing a tennis match. Try to keep your eye on the ball at all times. Every time you spot a ball boy running across the screen call out "traffic, one o'clock low, right to left." Behind the television is a large window where you can see the street outside. Note the make and model of any cars you see. Every time you see someone walking past write the time down on a piece of paper. In your hand is a photo of an apartment building next door. By looking out the window try to identify as many occupants of the building as they arrive or depart by looking at the photograph. The photo is upside down. Behind you a radio is playing a talk back program. Listen to it at all times and be ready to recall the identity of anyone who calls up. You have a mobile phone plugged into your ear. Be prepared to answer the phone at any time, call directories for information and sometimes just talk to yourself, saying who you are, where you are and what you are doing. Don't expect an answer. Now do some random arithmetic in your head. It's pretty much like that. Except the house should be speeding through the air two miles up at about 250 km/H.
I found Crookwell ok and did a pretty decent precautionary search and landing. Then off we went to Bathurst. Now it was clear - we couldn't get to Bathurst and then Bankstown before dark, and I said so. Actually we couldn't even get back to Bankstown direct before end of daylight. Not good - I have no night rating, permitting me to fly after dark. Back we go to Bankstown, me being very cautious as we got closer because I could hardly see a thing outside. Greg took over and got us lined up ok, then down for a longish flapless landing.
Me not very happy as we walked back to the school at allowing myself to be led up the garden path. If it was a real test, I would have failed. On the positive side - previously end of daylight calculations had been a more or less academic exercise for me. Yeah, I worked it out and wrote it down, then promptly forgot about it. Now it has a very real meaning to me. Last light, minus 10 minutes (30 minutes company policy,) minus planned duration of flight, equals the last possible time I can takeoff and reasonably assume I can reach my destination before it gets dark. There's no lesson like one with practical reinforcement.
I'm more or less ready after I do some remedial work on CTAF ops and PFLs, which I pretty much expected anyways. Now if only the weather holds.
Tuesday 18th October 2005 - 1.3H TT101.3H – Practice Forced Landing/CTAF revision – Greg wanted me to practice my forced landings again as well as CTAF work. I was to fly with Zoe, whom I had never flown with before, so there was a little trepidation there, but I always view flying with a new instructor as an opportunity to pick up new tips on airmanship and benefit from their experience. The day was cold and grey, with a low overcast ceiling of around 3000 feet, but as we wouldn't be going above 2500 feet, it was fine for our purposes. Taxied out in BXJ and headed out for the training area. It had been months since I flew to the training area and weeks since I flew a Tobago, so a little fumbling refamiliarisation was in order, involving me forgetting to switch the fuel pump off, mixing up which order to adjust the throttle and pitch controls, and forgetting exactly where the training area was located. Over a likely looking area of farmland and green pastures Zoe pulled the throttle off and it was time to mime the emergency memory checklist. The approach to the field wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either - too close, too short, too high. Off we go to try again with much the same result. If it was a real emergency we would have survived, but the aircraft may have been badly damaged. Not an ideal situation, but that is what training is for, after all. Next time I shall watch my spacing and judge it further out. Then to Hoxton Park for some circuits, two in the circuit already, not too busy. Hoxton Park sits amid small hills that make landings rodeo events, with tall trees aligned beside the runway. When the wind blows a crosswind, as it was doing, the air spoils and rolls across the glidepath and ruins your landing. I was fighting a bit too much with the controls, which isn't the done thing with a Tobago. Being a bit heavier than most light aircraft, it has more momentum, so the best idea is to ignore the minor gyrations and adjust the major ones. A bit of encouragement from Zoe and back round we went for another circuit. This time she decided to pull the throttle on me and make it a glide approach. We would have made the grass, so a quick cheat with a burst of power, onto the runway, touch and go then back to Bankstown via 2RN radio mast. We arrived in the circuit area just ahead of a Cessna, who made his radio call just before us. A bit of momentary confusion on my part, request for clarification from the tower, he was cleared to runway left, and us to centre. If I do say so myself, this landing was quite good. A little left of the centre line, bit very gentle, so I was surprised to hear the tower tell me the luggage door was open. "Did you check the door before we left?" Zoe enquired. "I sure did," I replied. And I did, too, as I always do. This time I was pretty glad I had done. Zoe entertain visions of tool boxes falling out over Liverpool and destroying a little old ladies Corolla, but with relief after we shutdown we found the tool box snug inside, so no Sidchrome smart bombs pockmarked the west. A good flight. Some good tips from Zoe and handy familiarisation. Useful.
Tuesday 20th October 2005 - 0.8H TT102.1H – Simulator 2 – No, not the name of a Hollywood sequel but a quick refresher in the simulator with Steve Cowell on how to use navigation aids. I checked my logbook - the last time I had been in the simulator was over six months ago and I wasn't looking forward to another session with it. For some reason I had this one locked it. My scans we working perfectly and I had the needles pointing right where I wanted them. A climbing turn, levelling off halfway through, a 360 degree level turn, a few VOR intercepts, a few ADF intercepts and Steve announced that there was no point going any further - it was clear I needed no further instruction at this stage and let me go after less than an hour. Sweet. A good refresher, though, and he gave me some good tips. Also - the weather was awful - dismal overcast with light rain and a 1500 foot ceiling. Not that it mattered as we never set foot outside. The Trim God smiles again.
Tuesday 25th October 2005 - 1.0H TT103.1H – PFL check – One last time, Greg and I went out to see my progress or lack of, in the practice forced landing area. Out to the training area, round and round and up and down we go. Then back to Bankstown. Ready and raring to go for test on Friday.
Friday 28th October 2005 - 2.3H TT105.4H – PPL test – Sleepless nights, endless study and soul searching abruptly ceased - today's the day. I was given two routes to plan, one north and the other west. Out to Bankstown bright and early, get the weather and NOTAMS. Introduced to Ken, the testing officer. Plug the weather details in to finish off plan. Ken quizzes me on all the things I have studied. I expected to be interrogated and given electric shocks for every question I got wrong, but it was more like an informal chat between acquaintances. Ken asks me about my flying experience, some questions specific to my Knowledge Deficiency Report and some general questions I should know the answer to regardless. I didn't experience any sudden jolts so I expect I did alright.
Out to the aeroplane to pre-flight, order up some fuel. We wait for the fuel truck which duly arrives and I am horrified to watch as 5.4 litres is added. I express my misgivings and I am politely told it is 54 litres, not 5.4 and my judgement was sound. We taxi out, run up, brief the flight ahead and line up on runway 29R. Take off is nice and smooth with a slight crosswind, The climb out to 1000 feet is pretty good and I am feeling good as well. Maps out and Hoxton Park is spotted up ahead. Turn over Hoxton then track for Katoomba, being careful not to clip the class C steps at 2500 and 4500. We now have a few moments to chat and the conversation is light and breezy. I am now starting to breath and think that maybe I can actually pass this thing.
Out to Bathurst, listen to the AWIB, select a runway, overfly to confirm, very nice circuit and not a bad landing with a 80 degree crosswind, albeit very light. Backtrack and depart to the south not at about 500 feet. Examining area around Bathurst on the map I spot a likely body of water with a river running off to the south. This will be my line feature I will follow to the sleepy hamlet of Black Springs, passing Mt Stromlo along the way. The small gyrations as we followed the river meant my ETA was out by a two minutes, meaning a quick lost procedure search turned up Black Springs nestled among the pines off to my right.
On with the hood this time and following the Nav radio to Bindook, a radio beacon out in 'Tiger Country.' This is bread and butter to a veteran Flight Simmer like me and now I'm starting to enjoy myself. Ken is satisfied with my instrument skills and asks me to take the hood off and enjoy the sights. We chat merrily about abandoned silver mines, geological formations and trout fishing. This is my kind of guy! After a false start I do a passable stall recovery and we are approaching the Oaks, a grass strip near Camden. Ken deliberately takes me the wrong way on downwind so I can reverse course with a steep turn. On downwind we suffer an engine failure, and by some miracle the training falls into place! Somewhere along that hard and rocky road, an instructors advice has seeped into my backbone or been drilled into my skull. Set best glide, prepare to land CMF, FMOST, Mayday, Pax brief, all the while planning my entry into the Oaks. This is falling into place here. I'm a little quick with the flaps but a passable practice forced landing has been accomplished, without a word from the right seat, in front of an appropriate audience. Round we go for a very dodgy precautionary search and landing. I offer to try again, but Ken takes pity on me, tells me it's not the best he has seen but nor is it the worst, and it passes muster.
Over Camden and heading for 2RN radio mast. I decide to climb to 4500, think better of it and descend to 2500. I'm looking for 2RN and having no luck. 10 miles away the mast is thinner than a hair. I spot Hoxton Park, Prospect Reservoir and Bankstown, but the inbound point eludes me. I spot an aircraft ahead headed for 2RN and follow it with my eyes. Ken, the crafty old bugger, has dialled 2RNs frequency, with the combination of every visual aid short an enormous arrow falling out of the sky with 'here is is, dopey' written on it, I finally locate 2RN. Our travails are not quite complete as the circuit is filled with radio calls. One student ignores repeated calls from the tower and is asked for a radio check. I read you fives comes the reply, and the tower enquires, that if this is the case, then why did the student ignore previous requests to confirm their assigned runway, and would they care to have a chat with the tower once they were done, thank you very much?
A flapless approach and landing, with Ken simulating wake turbulence on final by yanking the control column back and tempting a stall. I recover nicely and line back up, but the thump the Tobago down a bit harder than I like 'em. I think I'm almost out of juice, but we don't seem to have left any pieces behind and we taxi back to the parking area.
"Congratulations," Ken says, "you're now the holder of a PPL."
Pleased as punch doesn't go near describing how I felt.