Aviate, Navigate, Communicate : Week 51: PPL Flight School Week 20

Tuesday
Having my second navigational flight today which was also to be a solo check for me to go out alone in my next nav flight. Flight planned at 0900hrs which meant I had to report for flight at 0700hrs. It was a cold day with morning temperatures just above 10'C and the rest of the day just as cold. To keep myself warm enough to survive the cold I wore double layer just in case.

The aircraft was dripping wet with condensation and I had a hard time cleaning up the windscreen properly, made worse with my less than mobile freezing fingers. Having completed my flight plan after checking up on the weather, I showed it to my instructor and he gave me a go ahead to key it into the system. This time round, I didn't commit the mistake I did with the SAR Time.

Soon, I was off the ground and heading my first checkpoint. It was another day of low clouds with patches of showers along the flight path. Cruising at 3000ft, it was smooth and enjoyable to fly. No turbulence, no crazy winds. As this route was in the northern region with mostly flat land, it was way tougher than my previous nav flight with many lakes to check my location. There are towns along the way but at 3000ft, some of them look so small that it doesn't look much like a town. I had to be prompted about my half way mark while flying towards my first checkpoint.

At least I stayed on track and didn't veer off course and was able to recognise the leading features that are near to by halfway mark. Doing my C:LEAR checks, I switched to a different set of radio frequencies for my checkpoint's aerodrome. Soon, I was nearing the aerodrome and my instructor told me to do a circuit. It was a surprise move but not one which is out of the norm. Having done my chart brief, I got myself accustomed to the runways and the direction of the circuit with a confirmation of which one to use after checking the wind direction with the AWIS.

Circuit height was 1700ft, and I had to set the bug to the correct altitude and my CDI arrow to the runway direction, doing all these while checking for traffic plus listening to radio calls plus descending and turning. Lots of multitasking there to be done dude!! Had some trouble getting to the correct altitude before joining midfield crosswind into the circuit and had to be prompted again by the instructor. Further more, it was my first time in this circuit, I had no idea how far to fly crosswind before turning downwind.

Once I turned downwind, I had to do my pre-landing checks which I had to be prompted and once that's done, I had to turn base for descend and make my radio call. Everything was happening so quickly I hardly had time to breathe! Turning final, I got a little disoriented with my aim point as the runway is way narrower than the one I'm used to at my base airfield. Then, I had to be prompted to set flaps to FULL for landing. The crucial moment came when I had to land the plane safely and I managed to do it safely. Huge sigh of relief from me and I took off again with a touch&go.

Everything started picking up in pace again as I needed to reset everything to prepare for my departure to the next checkpoint. My CDI arrow to track, altitude bug to 3000ft and prepare for radio call on departure at overhead. All these while climbing and turning and looking for traffic. The radio call wasn't easy and I had to be briefed by my instructor first before I made it. I was totally overwhelmed with the workload needed to join the circuit in an aerodrome I've never been before. It was a fantastic learning experience especially the part on landing on a runway that is very different from the one I'm used to.

Climbing to 3000ft overhead, I headed for my next checkpoint. After flying for 5minutes, I was handed the hood and had to fly without visual cue from outside the cockpit. With the smooth conditions, it wasn't hard to keep to my track and altitude. Flying for a few minutes under the hood, my instructor took over the controls and asked me to close my eyes. I wasn't sure what he was teaching me but I felt a few maneuvers executed by him. Once he's done with it, I was allowed to remove the hood and was asked by the instructor to find out where is my current position.

My track and heading was still the same, I had a look around where am I, checking for ground features that resemble what I see on the map in my hands. It wasn't easy at all. Everywhere was flat and totally unrecognisable on first glance. Then I took a look just below me and realised a small stream of water underneath with a very distinctive curvature. I immediately referred to my map and wala! I found out where I was. For a better confirmation, my instructor requested for more features to convinced him that we were really at the position I pointed out on the map. Indicated a few straight roads, towns far away and a small lake very far ahead. He seemed satisfied with my answer and just when I thought I could carry on flying to my next checkpoint, he requested for a diversion to a different aerodrome.

Instructor asked me to give him a rough gauge of the track angle to fly towards the diverted checkpoint without using the protractor. Surprisingly, the track that I gauged was exactly the same as I measured using the protector. That was not all though, I had to consider the variation to get the correct track. I had totally forgotten about that point. This is a very important point to note. Had I not put the variation into consideration, I will never reach my destination.

Re-planning my route while still flying the plane was very hard. I do not have much space in the cockpit to work in, then I had to keep looking up to keep my plane in straight&level flight. After drawing straight lines for my new flight path, I had to measure the distances, mark out the midway and 10nm points. Then I had to calculate my time needed to reach there as well as spotting the features along the way to be sure I'm on the correct track. Not easy at all, but I was glad it all went according to plan except that I had some trouble spotting the 10nm mark to make my inbound radio call.

About 30minutes later, I was back to base and started my solo check immediately, flying circuits to see if I'm good enough to fly my final 1.4hrs of solo circuit. Conditions were fairly good but the skies looked kinda scary with dark clouds. I was able to handle some crosswind on landing and my instructor deemed me safe enough to go for my last circuit solo. So it was indeed third time lucky eh?

Up I went on my own after not flying solo for more than 4weeks. The feeling was superb, I wasn't the least bit tired after 2.0hrs of flying. Round and round I went with conditions sort of getting tougher with each round. The crosswind got a bit stronger and there was some drizzling at the end of downwind leg and the whole of base leg. My windscreen was blur with raindrops and it got me worried about traffic. I made the call to land at 1.1hrs as I find it unsafe to my abilities to continue flying.

Spent a long time on the ground after I landed to taxi back to the parking bay, which eventually allowed me to clock the required remaining 1.4hrs of solo hours. I was so glad that I finally got it over and done with. This whole flight is by far the longest I've flown with a total of 3.4hrs. My previous longest was 2.7hrs. I was famished by the time I left for home and the weather turned for the worse. My instructor cleared me to fly my next nav flight in solo, and I couldn't be happier!!

I aim to eradicate all shortcomings in my flying after every lesson

Flying in the rain was a blur.

Friday
An exciting day for me as I was planned for my first solo-nav flight. Got my flight plan done the night before and had a check on the weather. It didn't look good as the weather was forecasted to get worse right on the time I was to take off. Determined to not have my flight cancelled, I went to the airfield 3.5hrs before flight to check if there was any spare unused aircraft which I could use to fly before the weather turns bad. Luck is on my side as I was already assigned an aircraft that was unused until my flight.

Consulted the CFI on the weather and he was also aware that I'm pushing for an early departure to avoid a cancellation. He gave me a go ahead and I went on to complete my flight plan and carry out my pre-flight checks. Lastly, I went back to the CFI to get his signature of approval to send me on a solo nav. We had a little chat, the first question he asked was "what are you gonna do if you can't land back here due to adverse weather conditions?" I replied that I will land at an alternate airfield nearby with better weather. He carried on to advise me on what will happen if that really happens.

If I'm really forced to put the plane down somewhere else, either I'll wait for the weather to improve or they will send the school's van to pick me up, or I will stay there overnight and fly the plane back the following day. Sounds pretty exciting huh? Well I was hoping I don't have to do that on my first solo nav. The CFI added that if it looks scary from where I see I was heading to, I can always turn back and land. "There are a lot of old pilots and bold pilots but there aren't many old and bold pilots", he said. He's tempted to let me go as he considers such a flight as character building for a pilot; to make decisions that are not according to plan and not to be a fair weather pilot. Eventually he signed the authorisation form and I raced off to the apron to get my flight started.

The feeling was surreal, with no instructor sitting beside me right from the start of the flight. I've never tasted something like this. I felt like a kid that has grown up and is ready to explore the world on my own. However, being independent also means that if any shit happens to me, I will have to handle it myself. Soon, I was off the ground and heading towards my first of three checkpoints. The skies ahead look pretty good but it was otherwise behind.

It was a race against time to complete my whole route before the weather starts coming in on my return to base. To make things worse, I encountered very strong headwind of 31kts while flying towards my first two checkpoints. After which, while heading for my third, the headwind was gone and I increased the throttle to fly at close to 120kts to make up for lost time.

When I've reached the last checkpoint, I was still on time to hit base before the weather comes in. But this time wind is on my side with a tailwind. Coupled with my increased throttle, the leg to return to base took 10minutes shorter than planned. I managed to return to my base aerodrome on time and with weather conditions looking good for landing.

Made a radio call for full stop and I was so relieved when my wheels finally touched the home tarmac. I made it back safely PHEW~!! What a great experience for a first solo nav flight! I learned a lot from this flight especially the part on the need for a diversion in case weather turns for the worse and I can't land at base aerodrome. It was indeed character building like what the CFI said. I can't wait for my next solo nav flight again.