D-Day is here, I was scheduled to be the first to fly with the very fierce principal for my PPL flight test. I wasn't scared or nervous, I just wanted to get it over and done with. My preparation for the flight started the day before. Things I did include checking the aircraft for any problem, doing my loading sheet, studying on the licence requirements/privileges/currency, mental flying and making sure all necessary documents were prepared.
My flight was scheduled at 0900hrs and I reported two hours beforehand to get myself ready. I wasn't very optimistic of being able to go up there for my flight test with some heavy downpour which was forecasted to last for the whole day.
After some briefing with the principal, I was told to stay around and wait for any weather improvement. Luckily, there was a slight period of zero precipitation and he instructed me to get ready for circuit flying at least. So I wasted no time and headed for the plane. Trying my best to do everything correctly and efficiently wasn't enough as I still get scolded for some other reasons. To make things worse, the moment I entered the runway for take-off, the heavy rain came and I could barely see what was ahead of me. That caused me to be distracted and my short-field take-off speeds were all incorrect, resulting in a lecture from the principal.
First landing was poor with some bouncing but I managed to get it under control. The wet runway didn't make things any better. Short-field landing, flapless landing, go-around, low level circuit, normal landing, EFATO and glide landing were all carried out.
By the end of it, the northern training area showed some glimpse of sunlight and we continued ahead to test me on area work. Steep turns were fine, stalling was a total disaster as the plane simply refused to stall and I lost about 300ft of height with my nose pitched to maximum. There was something very weird with the plane. Noticing that on the clean stall, I simulated a stall for incipient stall and forgot to apply full power on recovery. Yea, that stunt got me screamed at and I heard no end of it till I returned to the apron.
Slow cruise was next and I had to maintain 75kts in clean configuration, plus turning while maintain height. Next was PFL which was also done to standard, but I hesitated a while while choosing my landing field and got scolded again haha. And finally, instrument flying with unusual attitude recovery. It was done with no trouble and I was instructed to head back to base right after. After the few unusual attitude recoveries, I got kinda disoriented after removing my hood. Thankfully I didn't screw up and was able to get us back to base safely.
Final part of my test ended with another glide approach landing, and that was done sweetly with no issue on my landing. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as the principal took over control and flew one circuit himself. Back at the flight centre, I was tasked to recall all mistakes I've committed in the test and why did those happen.
It wasn't the best flying performance from me, but it was also the worst conditions I've flown in. Nevertheless, it was a very good experience and he eventually passed me. I was so glad that it ended and I couldn't wait to grab a good meal as a reward for myself!!
 |
| Celebratory drink at night! |
 |
| The strip of paper clipped to my yoke as reminder of the elements of my test |
 |
| For the first time in almost 7months, I got to eat my favourite sashimi!! It was heavenly.... |
Thursday
After my whirlwind flight on Tuesday, I'm left with my final 0.8hrs of solo time left. Had a good break on Wednesday to digest the fact that I've passed my flight test, and I was raring to go again. Sadly, with just so little hours left, I could only do a few rounds of circuit flying, something I would consider as a "lap of honour" to celebrate my little goal achieved.
Flight was scheduled at 0930hrs, with the weather not looking good at all once day broke. It was raining when I was travelling to airport. All of the solo flights planned for the morning were cancelled. Good thing that my aircraft won't be used by another student till noon time and my flight will only be a short one.
And so I waited for the cold front to travel past, the clouds to clear and finally see the sunlight. Eventually, the conditions became good enough for my short solo flight and I took the plane up on a wet runway at 1030hrs. It was a very peaceful flight with me the only one flying in the circuit. There was a fair bit of crosswind and I made use of the chance to hone my crosswind landing technique.
To my surprise, I was actually getting the hang of it but my lack of experience showed when I couldn't replicate the same beauty of it in every landing. Time flies when I'm enjoying myself as I had to make a full-stop after four rounds, signalling the end of my solo flying, probably my last ever solo in my career.
The very moment I touched down, memories came flashing back on how far I've come. My first solo on 23rd Jan happened with aplomb till this day 24th Apr when it finished with so much peace. Within these three months, 16hrs of solo time were painstakingly clocked, but it felt like only yesterday I was the greenhorn flying my first solo.
I'm happy yet sad that this is the end of solo flying. Happy because I survived this phase of flying as there is no denying that flying alone with such low experience has its huge risks. I'm also sad that perhaps I will never fly alone again and the enjoyment along with it will end here.
Nevertheless, I'm glad it's done and I can look forward to a more crucial stage of training in the weeks ahead.
 |
| Finally I get some good weather condition after waiting for 3hrs |
 |
| Dinner 240414. You don't get any wings for passing the PPL test, so I made do with a different kinda wings |
Friday
My last flight of the week was sort of boring as it was a further revision on previous lessons. Took off at 1530hrs with lots of bush fires around the training area. Visibility was poor but my lesson was on Instruments flying, which means I was flying blind under the hood. Boring nautical miles were covered with me doing the T-Scan on my G1000 screen.
Along the way, my instructor did some violent unusual attitudes for me to recover followed by a demonstration of negative-G dive. I could barely take the dive and panicked for a stop after the plane lost about 400ft within a few seconds. Yeah, I feel like a pussy for being so lousy. However, I was close to throwing up by then and if I pressed on, I'll probably need the sick bag.
The lesson ended with some circuit flying, finishing off with a short-field landing which I executed to such beauty that it received compliments from my instructor. And when I went into the flight centre after tying down the aircraft, another instructor gave me the thumbs up for that landing too. Haha, I won't deny that it felt great.
A crazy week I've had with me achieving my PPL and completing my solo flying. There's still 23hrs of flight time remaining for me. Another six weeks to be spent here I reckon. It can't get any sooner.
 |
| This blue sky was soon covered with smoke from bush burning |
No comments:
Post a Comment