First flight and continuing my learning.

I took Matt one of the guys I work with up for a flight a couple of weeks ago, we took the Diamond, just on a quick trip over to Sandtoft for a spot of lunch. It was quite an uneventful flight, the weather was closing in, but thankfully the Diamond has twin Garmins so things went well.

While at the school I booked the next phase of my flight education, that being my first night flight. I don't intend to fly at night as a rule, but I think it will be handy incase of emergencies, ie I return flight takes longer than expected as I don't have to worry too much about landing before Sunset and providing I close to my home airfield it won't mean that I will get trapped somewhere.

I must admit I was quite nervous when I arrived at the school, can you guess the first thing that I forgot? Yep a torch, how do you check a plane in the dark without one? Luckily the plane (a PA28) was parked near the terminal building so there was plenty of light to do the check out. After a quick brief with Christian, which was quite interesting we went out to the plane and off we went.

Flying at night is very different, the actual flying is the same, although you rely on your instruments more as you can't see the horizon. The height thing is also very deceptive, we flew around the Doncaster/Sheffield area at about 3,500 ft, but it didn't feel anywhere near as high. The views are amazing, seeing the towns/cities all laid out in front of you lit up, the glow of them. You can see other planes so much easier, their lights twinkling away.

Its not until you start looking around that you realise how dangerous it technically is. As Christian said in the brief, if you have an engine failure, where do you land? The glowing yellow/orange (the towns) or the black bits, which could be hills, forests etc.

I'm really glad I did it asI have been having a bad time at work as I recently took a permanant job and I'm not sure it was the right descision. The night flying really helped take my mind off it, I've booked all the rest of my lessons as you only need 5hrs flying time. Once I've completed the night rating I'm going to do the IMC rating and then think long and hard about maybe doing my ATPLs (commercial license).

Its been a while.

Sorry for the in the updates, but I have been on my hols for the last couple of weeks. Since the last update you'll be please to know that I have passed by PPL and have sent off all the documents to the CAA so they can issue the actual license.

The final stage was my radio comms practical exam, which I was dredding, this was booked for the 13th. I arrived at the flying school ready for the test, not sure what to expect and with more than a little amount of dread.

I met the examiner and he explained how it works and what the test is testing you for, it seemed straight forward, but I still didn't fancy doing it. Basically you are given a flight plan with an alternate target airfield, the plan is drawn on a simple map crossing various air spaces with the various frequencies of radio/radar stations.

You then have to decide who you are going to talk to during your trip. You then done a headset as does the examiner, you can't see him or what he is doing and you basically pretend to fly the plane. You do the radio calls as if you we actually in the place. Sounds simple and it is, but its the fear of the unknown, you know that there will be something happening along the way, but not sure what.

The instuctor explains that its not a trick test, the CAA are not trying to catch you out, but you still have that element of doubt, but they don't it is pretty straight forward. The test lastest about 30 mins, by the end of it I was sitting in a pool of sweat. The examiner then totted up the scores, we went through some of the points that I had missed, which made me think I had failed, but at the end of it he said I had passed and passed well!

Can't wait for the license to come through as I want to embark on the night flying and also doing the IMC rating so I can fly at night.

Skills Test

I was supposed to take my skills test this Tuesday (4th), but it got moved to Wednesday due to some problems with another plane. The plane in question was in a field... after an emergency landing. So I arrived at the school and plotted the route, which was Sheffield VRP to Drifield then to Louth.

We set off and headed towards Driffield, it went badly wrong, I was about 10 degrees left of track, I ignored what my di was telling me and headed towards the power stations where Goole should have been, wrong power stations ... DOH!

I realised and corrected by flying east until overhead Goole and then resumed the correct track, I was a little off track when overhead Market Weighton, at which point I was asked to divert to North Moor, which is just south of Scunthorpe, I plotted the line and headed south checked the 3 things and couldn't see it, after a few orbits I realised that we were directly over head it, which made me feel both better and stupid !

We then headed into Sandtoft for a couple of circuits which went well, apart from the first landing as I was a little slow and there was one heck of a crosswind, the second landing was spot on. We then climbed out of the circuit and did a engine failure after take off, basically just pick a good field, which I did then carried on climbing. I performed two stalls, the approach stall and a clean stall, both worked quite well. Then it was the forced landing, again I used an unorthodox method to descend, but it would have worked and as the CFI said, if your engine fails you need to land, how you land doesn't matter providing you do it as safely as possible.

Then it was steep turn time, first one went okish, lost a little too much height, but then did another couple, 1 to the left another to the right and they worked well, then it was a flapless approach into Sheffield which went well, very gentle landing.

Taxied to the appron and was told that I had passed!!!

You can only imagine how relieved that I was and how elated, so much more than when I passed my driving test.

Only thing left now is the comms practical, which is booked for Tuesday lunchtime.

Mock Skills Test

I arrived Monday night for my mock skills test with Christian, the planned nav route was going to be the Sheffield VRP to Shire Brook, then from Shirebrook to Market Rasen. I planned the route before heading into the school and noticed that the route took me through Scampton MATZ (Milatary Airspace). Scampton is where the red arrows practice and if they are "active" you are not going to get through there so I game them a ring and asked if R313 was active. R313 is the designated code for that area and nope, it was clear all day.

So I arrived at the school complete with my plan and off we went in a PA-28 Warrior (G-BODD), once overhead the VRP I turned onto my heading for Shirbrook, once overhead Shirebrook I turned towards Market Rasen after a couple of minutes Christian told me he would take over the radio and asked me to divert to Sandtoft.

I wasn't quite sure where I was, but knew I would be overhead Gamston at some stage so drew the new course from Gamstons overhead straight to Sandtoft and once overhead Gamston turned onto that course. After about 5 mins I could see Sandtoft so I knew I was on course.

Once we had reached Sandtoft he directed me to Trent Falls where we would do the other exercises that are part of the Skills test, it was a bit of a blur so not sure what order they came in, but we did the three types of stall, clean, approach and final. We forced landing, which was quite interesting as I did it using a right hand circuit, which Christian said was harder, but it fealt easier for me.

We then went through steep turns... the first couple ended in spiral dives, but after a couple of goes I got the hang of them again. We did some slow flight and general handling and then headed back to Sheffield where I did a flapless landing.

The de-brief was a nightmare as he is such a perfectionist, but he did say if it had been the real thing then I would have passed so fingers crossed for the real thing.

Bonjour Honfleur (Well Nearly !)

This last weekend saw the second fly away of the year, this time it was to France! Due to some double booking issues the plane I was supposed to fly (G-CCFS a DA40) was unavailable and also the person who I was flying with cancelled so it either meant some reshuffling or... take the slingsby !!!


So I took the slingsby, in total there were four planes going away, all four seaters, except the slingsby, a PA28 Warrier (G-BODD), a PA28 - 140 (G-BPFY) and a DA40 (G-CCLW). We set off at about 11:30 on the Saturday after filling out the forms for our return and also planning the route, the plan was head to land at White Waltham for some lunch before crossing the channel to France, landing at Deauville. The return journey would be via Kemble for a spot of Sunday dinner.

We were first to taxi to the runway, while doing the power checks the DA40 came up behind and started him power checks we finished ours and just as we were about to request clearence to takeoff we heard the pilot of DA40 tell the tower that it appeared they had a leak and would return back to the stand. Looking behind us you could see a large "puddle" on the tarmac.


On the way down we flew over the Airfield that Top Gear is filmed at, there old 747 that is parked on the tarmac has been repainted in Asda colours ! Its quite a big site and I was disappointed that the "Top Gear" logo was only a camera trip overlaid onto the old hangers.

We landed at White Waltham (EGLM) which is a grass strip which means that I've been signed off for grass landings !! The food was rather nice their, if a little pricey. They have a lot of club planes parked and seem to have a very active circuit, due to noise abatement problems and its proximity to London the circuit height is only 800 feet.





Due to the size of the prop on the DA40 it actually cut quite a bit of the grass while taxi'ing to the stand and as we were all mature pilots we (Christian) thought it would be funny to help clean the nose wheel!

After a bite to eat and a quite cola we filled out our flight plans and then filed them with the local control office and we jumped back into our planes and headed off. It was quite good that we all landed within 5-10 minutes of each other and we all took off in convoy, GBOFY first, me in GBVLI second followed by GCCLW.

You are wondering where that fourth plane was? That plane G-BODD had gone to Cardiff to do some instrument approaches and was planning to join us later in France.

After an uneventful trip over the channel (70 miles of it) we crossed the coast into France. It was interesting as people were talking French to Air Traffic Control, whichis not good. I can hear you now, saying, "well why shouldn'y they, you're in France!!" Well there is a good reason for speaking English, you have to speak one common language so that people in other planes will know where you are when you report your location and height.


We crossed the coast at Fecamp and then followed the coast to Le Havre, before crossing the bay and turning inland to land at Deauville. While tracking the coast we saw a lot and I mean a lot of paragliders, they were jumping off the cliff to get the up draughts, taking one look at the bright yellow plane and then heading back inland :D

We joined Deauvilles circuit and landed, it is a huge runway (8000' long), roughly 2.5KM in length. Air Traffic left us on the runway for a while before guiding us to a grass parking area where a marshaller was waiting.

A couple of minutes later the DA40 arrived and then shortly after that the PA-28 140 (G-BOFY). We wandered over to the check in area and signed in. GBOFY got refuelled as did we, the DA40 was told to head over to the tower to get its fuel as it runs on JET-A1 (Diesel)

Imagine the sight, we are stood at the edge of the appron watching the DA40 taxi left to right and disappearing behind the buildings, the next thing a yellow van with flashing lights appears on the right with the DA40 following it. It parks up on the appron while the bowser trundles across and refuels it and then it is escorted back to the grass area. Bit like a Benny Hill sketch, but with planes!

While trying to book a hotel for the night it turns out that there was some sort of film festivel in the area and most of the hotels were full, but luckily Steve (the CFI) found one, it meant we would have to share, but it was better than sleeping under the plane.

We then found out that the fourth plane would not be joinging us as there were some delays at Cardiff and Deauville would be closed by the time it would have been able to get across the channel.

We headed off to the Hotel, which was miles away and checked in. Its wasn't a bad hotel, bit motelish, but clean and comfortable. We had a few beers at the bar (7.50 Eu each !!!) before wandering down the road to a local restaurant which was rather nice, the food was excellent. Towards the end of the meal the Chef came out with a huge bottle of Calvados and poured it straight into out mouths!! Its makes you feel old when people don't know what Calvados is!

At about midnight we staggered back to the hotel and raided the mini bars before going to bed, a couple of people didn't quite make it to breakfast and one had actually been sick during the night (thankfully he was not flying).

We arrived back at the airport and planned our route back to Kemble, one of the guys got chatting to one of the airport guys and apparently George Clooney and Matt Damon had flown in that morning for the film festival.

After a quick coffee we checked out and headed to our planes, we were first to Taxi and take off, followed by the DA40 and then the PA28. We retraced our steps and followed the coast before heading out across the channel, this time the wind was against us and it seemed to take ages to cross the water, it was nice though,the sun on our backs due to the cockpit design of the slingsby. When we crossed the coast of England the wind really seemed to pick up and the turbulance was quite severe we tracked various radio location beacons and headed towards Kemble, we joined Kemble straight in and the wind was unreal, thankfully it was straight down the runway. Its probably the shortest landings I have ever done due to the wind.


We all had sunday lunch, its quite funny as it was the first time I have had a meal with all blokes and there has only been cola and water on the table! It was a nice meal, the AV8 restaurant is nice and modern and I can recommend it if you are passing.

As the weather started to get a little windier we decided to head off back to Sheffield as we tracked NE across East Midlands we could see heavy rain over Nottingham, which wouldn't be good as the Slingsby leaks. I managed to skirt the edge of the rain and headed up the M1. The cloud base kept dipping so I kept having to descend, lower and lower, finally we were at about 900'

When we were about 15 miles south of Sheffield we called them up, a couple of minutes later so did the DA40 so we knew he was close, the race was on, who was going to get the sheffield first... we did ! They slowed up and let us land first.

I was knackered at the end of it 6h 40mins of flying in 48hrs, the longest leg was 2h 20m, then all that remained was me to drive home.

It was a good weekend, expensive, because of the plane I took and I did all the flying, but it was good experience.

Now you are probably wondering why the "Well Nearly" in the title? Well its because we should have gone to Honfleur, but we has no idea where the hotel is that we stayed in!

The next update will be the results of my skills test...

Cessna Time Again

I had another lesson today with Christian, its revision time on the run up to my PPL skills test so today we went through some forced landings. A forced landingis where you recover the plan and land it after you have suffered an engine failure.

Its actually a lot easier than it sounds, I remember the first couple of times I practised it, it was a nightmare, you have your instructor telling you we're gonna die if you don't fly the plane so you panic.

If you are embarking on your flying and haven't gone the far with your instructor then don't worry, relax. The trick is to fly the aircraft, basically trim for 65-70 knots, whatever is the safe slow speed of your plane is. Once you have the plane flying level, pick a suitable landing spot, into wind. Don't panic and don't fly too far away from your intended landing spot.

As daft as it sounds, but its amazing how many people forget that you can loose height, but can't gain it. Take your time, pick you landing spot and go for it, if you are too high then drop some flap to reduce the height, again don't panic.

I've a couple of more lessons booked and I still have two exams to take before my skills test, but I'm on target for taking that before the end of the month.

Solo Cross Country Navigation....

Wednesday saw the arrival of my Solo Cross country Navigation qualifier, those of you that know about the PPL will know that it is a solo flight of 150 nautical miles stopping at two other airfields.

The orginal plan was to fly from Sandtoft to Teeside, then to Humberside and then back into Sandtoft. Due to the glider competition (400 of them apparently in the air) we had to come up with a plan "B", plan B turned out to be Sandtoft to Connington (Peterborough) then to Leicester and returning back to Sandtoft.

Easy I thought, I got my plog ready the night before, except the headings/gs and also times as this would depend on the wind of the day. Drew my lines on the chart and thought "I can do this"...

I arrived at Sheffield and flew over to Sandtoft with my instructor (Christian) in the Firefly, not sure I have said this enough, but it is a lovely plane.... We got out, got her fueled and off I went. I was somewhat nervous, my real concerns were the radio and joining the circuits at the various airfields. On my plog I had 7 ATCs that I would need to talk to, 3 of them being military.

After a while I settled into it, the Firefly has 2 radios so I was able to get all the stations I would need all programmed up, which made things easier. When I called up Barston Heath and gave my details I remembered a comment a few people had made about being solo so I tagged on "Solo Student on Nav Ex", at that point ATC was brilliant with me, it made things so much less stressful for me. It really fealt like they we diverting traffic around me (sounded like it) which left me to get on with the navigating.

If anyone from Barkston Heath or Cottesmore ATC is reading this then all I can say is thank you. I found Connington without any real issue as its located between a railway and the A1. Joined overhead, I was a little high so I lost quite a bit of height while descending on the deadside. The only problem with that was the Firefly then goes like a rocket, I had to shed quite a bit of speed as I entered the circuit at nearly 140 knots !!

I managed to slow her up and landed nice and soft, I know I said it before, but she is a lovely plane to fly. Backtracked and attempted to park up... *sigh*, mental note, but learn to park a plane !! I signed in and got my paperwork sorted had a quick drink and an ice cream and then got back in and headed to Leicester.

It was really nice at Connington and if you are passing I can't recommend it enough, there landing fees are only a tenner and it has a nice little bar/cafe with plenty of seating inside and out, plus a conservatory. They made me feel very welcome and I will certainly be going back (their site is http://www.flying-club-conington.co.uk/).

So off I flew, 20 minutes later I had Leicester insite, so called them up. "Good afternoon Leicester Radio, Gold Bravo Lima Victor India request information for joining." I know you don't need the "Good afternoon" and it is sometimes frowned on, but it feels impolite not using it. Their response... "Negative Golf Victor India the airfeld is closed we have had an incident please divert". At this point I thought f@*k, everything was going so well. I put myself in an orbit while looking at the chart to find somewhere else to land so I could ring Sheffield to find out what to do and there is nothing round there so I thought,well I can write today off and go back to Sandtoft and it would be one very expensive day. But no, I decided to head back to Connington and ring the School and find out what to do next.

After a quick chat they suggested ringing Leicester to find out how long they would be closed for and they were going to be closed for the rest of the day... again f@*k. The lady on the desk at Connington said she could get their CFI to come up with another route if I needed, which sounded like a plan. I rang Sheffield and they said just head to Humberside an then return to Sandtoft as it would probably be easier.

I hated the last time I went into Humberside as it seemed so alien, I'd only been there once and it had been my first landing at a controlled airfield and it sounded like they were talking a strange language. So with a lump in my throat I drew the track on the chart... great... I was also going to pass through a MATZ just as the day couldn't get any better. Again Connington were very helpful and offered to check my chart, but as it basically straight north and I needed to get off I decided against it. But it was a nice offer and made me feel a lot better, they really looked after me.

I got to the plane and took the photo above (top left) and then couldn't get the plane started... eventually managed it and headed north again once I was approaching the MATZ I called the correct ATC and passed my details adding the Student Pilot bit and they told me to fly at 2500 and basically stay there. Again they diverted everything around me, at one point they called me up to advise that there was "heavy traffic" moving from my right to left... They were not kidding it was some sort of passenger jet.

Those of you who have flown round the area will recognise the crossed runways of Wickenby.

A bit later they advised that they had multiple contacts, probably gliders, height unknown. It was at this point that I thought WTF, how can we have things in the sky that people can see on radar, but don't know the height of. I really think everyone should carry a mode C transponder if they are above 500'. Having seen a glider on the way down to Connington, who seemed completely oblivious to me and I was in a yellow plane I can see why its quite dangerous.

I can see the appeal of a Glider, doesn't do anything for me, but with the skies getting busier and busier we need to know where everyone is.

I swiched to Doncaster, who then passed me to Humberside, I called the tower by mistake, but the in the tower was great, got me to join right base and directed me in as their runways are massive! I again got my paperwork signed to the ATC who directed me in, he came down to do it and he was a friendly bloke and its nice to be able to meet them, he made this visit to Humberside so much less daunting than the last one.

After a quick bottle of diet coke (in a real glass bottle!!) I headed off, got the plane started and headed outbound to Sandtoft which I found without issue and landed without ploblems.

Its was a very stressful and long day, but what a buzz. I'm glad that I decided to learn to fly and I can only thank the various people who have helped me get this far.

I only need two more exams some revision flying and then off on my skills test, end of August I will be a PPL.

Another step closer.

I spent this morning flying on the Slingsby in the circuit so I could go solo in it as I plan on taking it on my solo cross country qualifier, which is booked for 8th August. The trip was reasonably uneventful and I'm kind of looking forward to the trip which is Sandtoft to Teeside to Humberside and back to Sandtoft.

I also spent another three days at the Gamston ground school (True Air Speed) and managed to complete another two exams:

• Meteorology
• Flight Performance & Planning (including Mass & Balance)

Which leaves the following, which I'm going to self study for and hopefully book a single day to get them cracked off:

• Aircraft (General) & Principles of Flight
• Radio-telephony Communications

I have also purchased a pocketpc off ebay with a gps unit and intend to use it to assist in my flying once I have passed my PPL. I don't want to rely on it as I kinda enjoy doing the nav the manual way, but if I get lost then it will certainly help. Once it arrives I'll let you know how it goes and what software I end up using.

Another Milestone

I took today off as I had quite a bit of flying booked and it seemed a bit cheeky going into the office for three hours.

Today was hopefully going to be my first solo nav, and it was, twice.

I arrived at 10:00am this morning after driving over from Chester, a quick briefing from Christian and off to Sandtoft we went. Sandtoft was a little cross windy, but nothing major so over a can of coke I planned the route that he wanted me to fly.

The route was only a short one, Sandtoft to Scunthorpe, Scunthope to Gainsborough returning to Sandtoft. So after a quick plan off I went solo... It was only a short nav, first leg was only about 3 mins long, by the time I had managed to speak to Doncaster I was halfway towards the second leg. Doncaster was very busy this morning and the air traffic controller was very helpful and understanding, which really helped as I was understandably nervous. I turned at Gainsborough and headed back to Sandtoft. Joining the Circuit and landing without problem.

After a bite of lunch Christian sent me on a longer nav, Sandtoft to Market Weighton, Market Weighton to Snaith and then returning back to Sandtoft. The first lef didn't go too well, I was about 10' left of track, but I corrected and ended up on track arriving over Market Weighton. The Leg to Snaith went well, the leg to Sandtoft was also a little left of track. Once I had Sandtotf insight I did the radio call to change from Doncaster to Sandtoft, again it was the same Doncaster controller who was very helpful and patient.

Sandtoft tower informed me that runway 05 Lefthand was in use, so I set myself up and headed in, a couple of minutes later over the radio came "Attention all aircraft in the Sandtoft circuit, runway in use is 23 Righthand, so I though bugger, theres gonna be a cross wind... I descended deadside, joined the circuit and lined up for final... Cross wind would be an understatement, I didn't think I was going to make it, but a little extra power and a steeper approach got me back down safely.

Christian then jumped in and we headed back to Sheffield as I had a lesson booked in the Slinger (Slingsby T67M/Firefly) to try and get some circuits done at Sandtoft so I can be signed off to go solo in it. Due to the cross wind that was not going to happen so we decided to do a Nav Ex to Humderside as I would need to go there at some stage as its part of the Solo Cross Country Qualifier flight.

Phew, controlled Airfields seem to speak a completely different language, its alot more formal and it took sometime to get the hang off it, with lots of prompting from Christian and also him having to jump in once or twice.

Just for the record, the Slinger is an amazing aircraft to fly and if I buy an aircraft, its the one I'm going to get.

After a false start we left Humberside after a quick drink and headed home to Sheffield, about halfway back there were a pair of aircrafts in loose formation that were on an intercept course with ourselves so I descended to 1,000 ft to avoide them.... wow that slinger can't half move. We passed under them at the 1,000 mark doing 135 knots, that was without any extra power, just a gentle dive. We climbed back to 2,000 and headed into Sheffield.

I have decided to do the the Nav Qualifier in the Slinger, to me its the best aircraft for the job. Everything in it works, its strong, light, quick and the visibility out of the cockpit is stunning so I have another lesson booked in it to get cleared to go solo in it, plus a solo nav into Humberside to get me used to arriving there, then its dual cross country qualifier to go over the route and then its solo cross country.

I'm looking forward to it, but also nervous about it. Thankfully I've got ground school for the next couple of days to take my mind off it.

Till next time, stay lucky.

Another two down.

I've spent the last couple of days are the Ground School at Gamston and managed to complete another two exams, Human Performance & Limitations and Navigation & Radio Aids, that means I have four remaining:

• Meteorology
• Aircraft (General) & Principles of Flight
• Flight Performance & Planning (including Mass & Balance)
• Radio-telephony Communications

I made some school boy errors on the Nav paper, but still managed to pass. If you take the exam, its pretty straight forward, but make sure you read the questions, some might appear as trick, but they are not. The paper is based around a flight plan, spend time doing it and make sure it is correct, otherwise you may as well give up there and then.

The Human Performance and Limitations exam is very straight forward and I managed to get 100%, if you know any basic biology then you should have no real problems passing it.

I've got another lesson booked tomorrow night in the Slinger, which should be fun. Doing a Nav exercise, with some fun tagged on the end, I'm hopefully going to learn to do a wing over.

I'm aiming to have my license by early August, so have booked three lessons next week, two of which are Nav based and one for a little fun, Spinning in a Cessna. The following week I have three days off to complete the ground school and finish the remaining exams. Early the following week I should be taking the Radio Practical and then onto the skills test. Fingers crossed.

One thing that the tutor and the ground school was saying yesterday when we were havinga natter, he bought a plane a number of years ago and told his wife at the time that he doesn't take passengers and she would have to go and take a Radio License so she could legally operate the radio in his plane. I like the idea of that, so Sue, if you are reading this then....

Amazing...

I'd been having quite a bad week so far and things didn't seem to be getting any better until I received a phone call this morning. A Sheffield number came up on the mobile and I didn't recognise it so I sent it to the answer phone.

A little bit later in the morning I picked the message up and it was Steve, the owner of the flying school ringing to say that both the DA40s we out of service, but if I fancied I could fly the Slingsby that they had.

I'd never heard of the Slingsby or even thought I had a lesson that day so I rang back to query it and no, I did have a lesson booked for 16:00 and even though the weather was bad it should still be ok.

I rang the flying school at 15:30 as it was coming down in buckets over Sheffield to see if the lesson was still going ahead and yep it looked like it was going to happen so off I went. I arrived on time and met Christian who I was flying with today and its the first time that I have genuinely seen him excited to fly a plane. The DA40s don't really do it for him, hes ok with the PA28, but seems to have a thing about Cessnas. He had actually managed to get me to go flying in one earlier in the month and I can honestly say, he was right it was kind of fun and actually quite enjoyable.

We were grounded for a couple of hours due to the weather but things seemed to be getting better we got the plane fuelled and headed across the apron to it. It was lashing down, its an interesting plane to climb aboard and its the first time I have flown with a 5 point harness, but I managed to get strapped in.

While we were waiting for a break in the clouds Christian was telling me how quick they can climb, anything up to 1,000ft/min. The best climbing aircraft I had flown to date was the PA28-180 so I didn't think much about it. I taxied to the R28 and did the power checks with Christian, got clearance from the tower and lined up.

Usual start, feet on the brakes, full power, feet off the brakes and off we went. Christian said the take off speed was around the 75-80 knot mark so when we reached that speed I pulled back on the stick and....wow, she can climb, up we went like a rocket. We performed a normal climb out cruise and headed to the rother valley for some fun. By the time we had reached the VRP we had climbed to 1,500', without trying.

There was a break in the weather so I had a bit of a play to get the feel for the plane and she is really is a dream to fly. She is very easy to handle, picks up speed like there is no tomorrow and climbs like nothing else I have flown. Due to the huge glass canopy visibility is unreal.

We headed towards Toll Bar to see how bad the flooding was and I can honestly say I was shocked at how bad it still was, we were between 2,500 and 3,000' and from the height you could see how deep the water was and see the infividual hoses from the engines pumping out the village. I really do hope that the village gets sorted and that things get better for the people in that village.

We stayed local for a bit with Christian doing a few wing overs, the plane has a G meter in it and at one point we were pulling over 3 G's. During one of the wing overs the plane went into a spin, that pulled nearly 4 Gs, Christian recovered from the spin increadibly quickly, there was no drama no nothing. In fact it was over before I even really realised we were in trouble.

We returned to Sheffield and the weather had started to close in, which is a shame as the cockpit leaks slightly and I ended up sopping wet, but it was still one of the best flights I've had in a very long time. Can't wait to fly it again.

Hoorah !!!

Today I sat my Aviation Law, the first of the 7 Exams that I need for my PPL and I passed !!

My instructor, Justin, recommended ringing the ground school at Gamston and to do my ground school there. Having read the law book several times, but not actually getting round to taking the exam it seemed like a good idea as it would give me a date to work to.

So I rang them last week and booked a day to go through Law today and to take the exam.

I arrived at about 09:15, but didn't start until around 10:00 as the other guy doing the course was running late (traffic was awful today), we ran through Law and stopped for a bite to eat. It was my first visit to Gamston and it is a nice airfield, the cafe is nice and clean and the food is all freshly cooked. The main Diamond service centre is located there so if you have the plane bug like me then you get to do the sado thing and look through the window at them being serviced.

After returning to the school at around 13:30 for some more revision I then sat the exam at 14:00 ish, 30 mins later I had passed.

Its a nice little ground school, friendly atmosphere and, well nice. You are made to feel welcome, which puts you at ease, the training today for me was more like revision as I'd already gone through the material several times, but it was good to consolodate it and Lynda is good at passing on knowledge without you feeling like you are being taught.

If you are struggling with your exams or are thinking about going to a ground school then give Linda a ring on 07798 801080 or 07747 047686.

I've booked the rest of my study and exams days with her and will have them done by the end of July.

PPL here we come.

Its been a while...

Its been a while since my last post so apologies to anyone who does actually read this.

May was a quietish month flying wise because of one thing or another, but saw me start on the navigation side of things and in one of my next updates I'll go through how my instructor teaches it, because it is actually pretty neat and make real sense.

The Flying School that I am a member of (Sheffield City) have a couple of trips a year where planes are rented and we fly off to somewhere. This was my first trip and it was to Margate (Manston Airfied), and it was very, very good.



The picture above was taken when we landed at Old Buckingham, there weather was gorgous and I managed to get a little sunburnt. We stopped over for about an hour while we had something to eat and watched our other plans come in, there were four planes in total, the DA40 that I was in, 2 x PA28, one a 161 Warrier, the other an Arrow plus a Cessna. The Cessna was last to land and someone pointed out the it looked like one of the pilots had had an accident...

Not being one to miss a "Kodak" moment I lept up and took the photo, how does the mastercard advert go... Priceless.

We then routed towards Clacton,then routing to Manston. While on route I took the oppurtunity to do a couple of photos.

Once we were close to Manston, we we asked to hold for a while as a 747 was doing was a practise run for a demonstration so we decided to go and see the cliffs of dover.

Wow, the only way to see them is by plane, we flew over them and circled around for a bit flying down the coast for a while.

While circling we heard a Stearman on the radio requesting info, we decided to go looking for him and caught up with him just the other side of Dover. We asked on the radio if he wanted to fly in formation for a bit, which he did.

We slowed the plane to let him catch us up, once he caught us up, he pulled up and broke away at which point we had a mini dog fight. It must have been a sight for anyone on the cliffs watching the two planes turning and chasing each other.

After a while he broke away and resumed his course for Manston, at which point we followed from a safe distance.

Once we arrived at Manston and taxied off the runway, which is huge, we waited for the rest of our planes to arrive.

While we were waiting the 747 resumed, what turned out to be its circuits. Yep, its amazing to watch a 747 doing cicuits, exactly as I have done them. Round and round, apparently when we arrived it had already done over 30!!

We had quite a late night in Margate, with a couple of the guys not actually getting to bed until 05:00 am. Thankfully they were not flying the next day. We awoke to a hazy morning and there were concerns that we might have to "scud it" home, but as at least four people had IMC/Instrument ratings we could get above the clouds. So at about 12:30 off we went, we watched a private jet show everyone how it is done as he lifted off the runway and punched straight through the clouds, whoosh and he was gone.

One the way back we routed straight to Sheffield via Gamston and Doncaster, we travelled back at 8,500 ft out of harms way, say above the clouds the view was amazing.

One thing that the trip has made me want to to do is to get my PPL more, I am planning to get it by the end of July, including the Margate trip I have around 47hours flying time so its time to pull my finger out and get on with it. I have the first of my exams booked for tomorrow, so hopefully the next update will have some good news.

Until then.

Circuits, circuits and more circuits....

Another good week of weather has allowed given me another two lessons and nearly 4 1/2 hours flying time. Most of the time has been spent going solo in the circuit and Sandtoft... and I must admit its getting boring., but my skill level is increasing and I'm feeling more confident about the flying as a whole.

Due to the DA40 still being away for its service, its allowed me to fly different varients of the PA28, the school has use of a PA28-180, which can move... Its rate of climb is amazing, buts its getting on a bit and is due a new engine so its not in the best of condition.

I think my favorite has to be G-BODD, which is a PA28-161 Warrier, although its only a 160 engine, due to the wind design it is a really nice plane to fly, very smooth. My regular instructor was away on holiday so I have had a new one for the last three lessons, a guy called Christian. Just for the record he really loves his job, he wants to be a commercial pilot and the instructor route is his way of building the hours and paying for his flying career to date.

I'm looking forward to moving onto the next stage of flying, which will be the navigation, but I still need to master the radio, not too bad in the circuit or setting off, its while in the air. Made a right mess of the zone transit through Doncaster, just couldn't get the words out.

On our last return into Sheffield, Christian thought it would be a good idea to do a glide approach, which isn't something I've done many of and the bulk were in the DA40, which is basically a glider with engine so I was a little apprehensive. It didn't go too bad, but the flare was somewhat early and we hit the ground with a bit of a thud, I think I need to practise them a let more.

The picture is of Sandtoft from the downwind leg of Runway "05" during my visit on Thursday, as you can see the weather was very nice.

More solo hours.

Its been a while since my last post and I have managed to fit in another 7hrs flying, including another 1hrs 50 mins solo in the circuit at Sandtoft. I am also back in the PA28s, which was a worry the first time as I kinda like the DA40 and only have bad memorys from trying to land at Sandtoft in one. I'm glad I did because it has given me renewed confidence.

How it came about is down to the fast that the DA40 is away at Diamond having its 50hr inspection/service etc so the only choice was to go up in Golf-Yankee-Mike a PA28-160. When I was told about the DA40 I was tempted to cancel the lesson until the DA40 was back, but I decided not to and go up in it anyway.

So off we went, out of Sheffield over Doncaster, routing to Sandtoft... as we approached Sandtoft and joined the circuit I got quite nervous, but landed her without any issues or drama, I did a couple of circuits with the instructor and he then let me go solo again, adivising just to do two and then we would return to Sheffield. It was a good feeling landing the plane without issues, knowing that I can do it.

I had a single lesson booked in on the 12th, but got a phone call part way through the morning from Justin my instructor who said that the student after me had dropped out and wondered if I fancied a double lesson....

Well, work is a bit of a nightmare at the moment and we are at a critical phase in the testing of the system so... I said I would check and let him know when I get there, I sort of knew that once I was there then I was going to take a double lesson and I think he did.

I arrived and the weather was glorious, next to no wind so it became a no brainer... I was going to fly for two lessons. We did a recap on engine failures and glide approaches.... bit of a nightmare, but got the hang of it in the end and the same for engine failure after take off, the thing to do is remember trim your plane for 70 knots then find somewhere suitable to land. Justin keeps saying, and he is right, get the plane to 70 knots and it will fly all by itself, no drama to hastey decisions are needed.

I then landed and Justin got out and off I went, circuits, each time I spoke to the airfield when on final I dreaded Justin telling me to vacate at Echo, which would mean that was it over for this lession, it was nice, just flying in a cicuit taking off and landing. My concerns about being back in the PA28 were put to rest and I emjoyed it until the lesson was over.

Since then I have had a couple of sessions in the PA28s as the DA40 is still away being serviced, during one of the lessons I had to travel to Sandtoft to pick up the place that I was going to fly during the lesson, but due to logistics and various rules about solos flights for that lesson as I had a new instructor. I ended up with three other people in the plane and thankfully had a perfect landing.

I now have 2hrs solo under my belt, another 8 to go for the PPL, hopefully the weather for the rest of April and May will allow me to get a lot more hours in.

Till next time.

First Solo Flight....

I had decided due to one thing and another to take the afternoon off and go flying, it has been a stressful couple of weeks so it was just what I needed.

I arrived and we decided to run through some role play radio work... oh my god it was hard, its so different from anything I have done before, its logical and just needs some practise, but remembering what to say, what to write down and what to repeat back is quite simple, but try doing it...

Anyway, we got airbourne at 13:50 and headed off to Sandtoft for circuits, the radio work was good/bad and ugly, flying and landing seems so simple by comparision. I entered the circuit without any real prompting from Justin, I understand it a lot better than I did all those hours ago.

If anyone is reading this and is thinking of learning to fly or is just embarking on it then my advise would be to sit down, draw a simple layout of an airfield and get your instructor to explain the joining instructions and then learn them.

So I joined the circuit on the deadside and then turned crosswind and then onto the downwind leg. Pulled the throttle back so the engine was just ticking over and banked right, pulling the nose up to slow the aircraft. Once we were down to about 90 knots (in the white arc) and then put down a stage of flap as I turned onto final, putting down the final stage of flap. Maitaining about 75 knots as it was a little windy. I pointed the nose at the airfield numbers and descended, once I was about 20' above the runway I flew level and then flared the aircraft. I was down, no drama, no prompting from Justin I was down, put the drag flap away, full power and then off, I did this about four more times.

Justing then decided to introduce a landing without power. He climbed us to 2,000' throttled the engine back and basically glided down, perfect landing. I was scared stiff, I don't know why, in the DA40 there is no drama, it doesn't drop out the sky or anything.

My turn, first two attempts and there was no way I was going to get to the ground so it was a "go around", the third attempt I got to the ground without problems, but bounced and it nearly went bad as I pushed the stick forward, which Justin reminded me we should never do.

So, on went the PMA and off we went, this time perfect. We then went through a engine failure after take off, I was terrified until I realised that we were not actually going to do one. Got did I feel a burke, we then did another circuit with me landing. Justing then parked the aircraft and announced he was getting out... I thought he was kidding, but no he got out and told me to do a single circuit and wished me luck.

I can tell you now that it really focuses the mind, not having your instructor next to you. So off I went, 1 stage of flap, at 300' remove the flap, at 500' bank right by 90o then at 1,000' level off and bank right again. On the radio "Golf Foxtrot Sierra Downwind", throttle back and back right again, pulling the nose up to slow down. Bank right into dead mans corder, stage of flap, maintaining 70knots, little bit of power (40%) and drop the next stage of flap. "Golf Foxtrot Sierra Final", point the nose at the numbers on the runway and down I go, the wind had picked up but I just did it, a couple of minutes later I was down....

What a buzz, my first solo flight and it was great. I have never sweated so much in all my life, but its an amazing feeling and at times I never thought it would happen, but it has.

The picture is of the actual plane I fly, although the rate of climb is not as good as the previous PA28-180 I have been flying, she is a great piece of machinery and very easy to fly.

Getting Better...

After the last flying lesson I have decided that I can do it and will do it, land that is. The other thing that I have decided that I will improve on and crack is staying at a constant height, since moving to the DA40 I have noticed that it is too easy to gain 100 ' without noticing.

So off to Sandtoft we went, I was determined to get it right, almost perfect take off, a little low on the climb out, but after banking to the left it was easy to gain the height as we had the speed. We climbed to 1500 feet and heading NE towards Doncaster and onto Sandtoft.

After an uneventful flight across to Sandtoft I enter the circuit without problems crossing the numbers on the runway without issue. I'll try and put an image together showing the joining details for a circuit as it will help me get it clear in my mind. Nice height and box shape and a gentle descent in, everything felt like it was going well.... until... I bounced off the runway... bollocks I thought here we go again, I climb out and start again. I got a bit of a telling off from Justin, the instructor, he has a curious was of doing it, he doesn't raise his voice or anything, but you know that he isn't happy with you and in this case he was right to be, I know what need to do and I can do it, but for some reason it didn't happen this time..

This time it was a lot better after another couple of goes I was landing without any real problems. During our eventful visit to Sandtoft we had a dual engine plane that joined on the live side of the circuit... in fact if had joined 5-10mins later he would have caused us a few problems and to quote Justin, it would have been bad...

Also we were cut up by a microlight, who then decided to land while we were on our final approach, it looked like he was going to vacate the runway part way down. Justin asked on the radio what his plan was, but there was no reply. The microlight then started to takeoff again. At that point Justin gave the instruction "I Have Control", which means he takes over, we banked sharp left and up. The microlight was in a world of his own, we then did another circuit and he did the same again, but on the downwind leg I flew slightly off centre to lengthen the third/fourth leg to give him enough time to get out of our way.

During the first couple of lessons there is one thing that is drummed into you, the first is if the instruction "go around" is given, you go to full power and pull up, simple without question you do it. The second is "I have control", basically you pass control, its good to rest you hand on the stick because you can feel what the instructor is doing, but you just relax and let them get on with it.

During the circuits Justin stated he did not want to here the Stall Warner come on during takeoff again, the stall warner on a DA40 is a pain in the neck, it comes on very early, the plane stalls at about 60 knots, but the stall warner can come on as early as 75knts, it sounds like someone is blowing one of those annoying party blower things that you get a christmas. Don't get me wrong, on your xmas do, when you are half cut you can get a lot of fun from one, but when you are trying to fly a plane its a pain...

Needless to say, we did not hear it again on take off. PMA - Positive Mental Attitude.

We then exited the circuit and headed towards Sherburn to pick up another pilot that had dropped a plane off, it was my first visit there and it was a nice pleasent flight. Landing was interesting... due to the size of the airfield and also the turns we basically glided in, thought we were going to miss the runway, but we didn't I landed a little hard, gauging the runway height seems to be a bit of a problem, but it is getting easier.


Justin Taxied, what felt like the miles to the terminal (sheds) and we picked the other pilot up, he then taxied back to the runway where I performed the takeoff. It was good, I think I need to start using more of the ground to generate more speed before taking off, gauging runway length would be a start... anyway its amazing what a difference having someone in the plane makes. You wouldn't think that it would, but it does. We climbed to 1,500 and headed back to Sheffield.

We dropped to 1,000 feet for the last 10-15 miles so Justin could show me what it was like for me to fly and also demonstrate how close somethings really are, at the end of the day 1,000 ft is above sealevel some of the ground we were flying over was 500' up, with masts of 250' plus. The lesson basically was, if you fly low keep your eyes open... I can see how people can get themselves into a lot of trouble at these heights as working out where you are on a map is hard as there isn't really a big enough "picture" of the surrounding land to work it out and I can see people concerntrating on reading their map before the smack in a TV mast or power pylon.

We then descended into Sheffield, glid slope was good. Sheffield has glid slope lights which helps, once we were about 10' feet above the runway I pulled on the stick and we landed, nice and gentle, it was perfect. I have not fealt a sense of joy like that for sometime. I finally did it, perfect touchdown and I also had a passenger.

All in all it was a very enjoyable lesson and has increased my determination to pass my PPL.

A Better Day...

I decided after my last disasterous flying lesson to improve and to actually land at Sandtoft Airfield.

On reflection my last lesson did not go so well because of a couple of factors, the first was my mind really wasn't on it, I hadn't slept well the night before and I was feeling a little rough.

Part of the problem was also that I guess I was scared of Sandtoft airfield as strange as it seems.

I decided to have an early night last night and also had a bit of a lie in this morning to make sure I was refreshed and even though I had made up my mind to make today a great lesson part of me still wanted it to rain and for the lesson to be cancelled.

I arrived at Sheffield at my normal time and checked out the DA40, it really is a great plane. It flies well, it looks good and the visibility is amazing. It needed fuelling as it does most days, there is a problem with the fuel guages so we always fill her to the top before going out, she has the long rang tanks so in theory I could fly for 7 hours... that would be nice, but once I have my PPL under my belt.

I walked back to the Airport and we got the fuel ordered, I really was getting quite nervous, Justin suggested we go back to Doncaster airport, but I said "No, I need to get it cracked." so off we went, taxied onto the runway without issues, I have been crap at taxi'ing, it seems simple but I have been rubbish at it, but today it all worked.

I lined up, "Golf-Foxtrot-Sierra ready to roll..." and off we went, full power, feet off the brakes and off we went. 60 knots, pull back gently on the stick and up she climbs, "pull forward" which basically means flying level for a bit to build up wind speed and then pull back and start the climb, loads of right rudder to keep the plane straight for the climb.

At 300 feet I put the stage of flap away, for some reason that single stage of flap makes a real difference, she can get airbourne without issue from Sheffield without it, but there is less drama. At 500 feet I start a 30' turn to the left, until parallel with the runway, still climbing as we start to draw level with the runway I gently bank right to avoid an aircraft on approach.

It was great no problems, we head over to Doncaster and pass overhead the airport, there were two Thompson Fly planes on the appron, looked like 767s as we passed overhead, heading towards my nemesis and Sandtoth.

I toined Sandtoft and crossed over the airfield at 1,000 feet as is the custom and turned downwind into the circuit. I asked Justin to do the first touch and go so I could guage the height etc. He did a very good job, landed it without a bumb, off we went... my turn, the first couple were not bad, I didn't pull back enough when we were over the runway to flare the aircraft, but we carried on.

Its hard to explain the whole landing thing, you basically slow the aircraft down and it will descend, law of gravity and all that. As you approach the runway you reduce the power and push the nose down, aiming for the numbers on the runway, the first couple of times you feel like you are nose diving, but you are not, you maintain 70knots on the glid path, when you are about 20 feet above the runway you hold the plane parallel flying down the runway as the nose is now straight you carry on gliding down. You gently pull back on the stick to lift the nose, the rear wheels touch and you are down...

I landed it a couple of times with little or no help from Justin and feel so much better about it, onwards and upwards, next lesson is Thursday weather permitting and I will land it without assistance from Justin. I can do it and I know I can do it.

Flying in a small aircraft is like nothing else, anyone reading this who hasn't flown before should try it.

If anyone is interested, Sandtoft have a homepage http://www.newsandtoftaviation.co.uk/nsa_homepage.htm

The runway is 886 metres long, which sounds a lot, but at 60 knots you will cover that in under a minute. But if you are relaxed and know what you are doing then its all the time in the world.

What a nightmare...

I had another flying lesson today, but as Doncaster were busy we went to Sandtoft (not sure I spelt that right) and it was a nightmare, origionally I started flying in a PA-28 and started the circuits in Sandtoft, before switching to the DA40, but due to the size of the DA40 my instructor thought it safer to use Doncaster...

Well I managed to get the plane on the ground during the lesson, bounced it twice and after landing reasonably ok put all the flap away so nearly didn't get airborne the otherside...

On reflection I don't think my head was straight, the circuit itself seemed ok, the approach was a little off centre and the descent seemed fine, I just didn't pull back enough when close to the ground, I thought it was a perspective issue, but on reflection my mind just wasn't focused enough. I didn't like landing at Sandtoft in the PA-28 so didn't look forward to doing it in the DA40 which I think reflected in my flying.

I have another lesson booked for thursday, but the weather isn't looking good so it might get cancelled if it doesn't then I am going to get my head back into shape and master landing at Sandtoft, I know I can do it and the irrattional fear/dread is silly of me.

I didn't enjoy today and I think it reflected in my flying. Next time it will be perfect, if I can master Sandtoft then I should be able to land anywhere.

On a positive note, I did have one good landing and the radio checks seem to be coming a lot more natural on the downwind leg and also the final approach.

At Last...

This week I finally cracked it, it all came together when I went flying on Thursday, an unassisted landing. Yep, thats right I managed to land the plane 3 times on thursday with no help from my instructor and 5 on friday.

Anyone who has done circuits will know that feeling when you first start, you never think that you can get it as you can read from my previous post what is involved in doing a circuit and as promised I have put together an image outlining a circuit, which you are more than welcome to use when learning your circuits.

If you are having problems with them and it feels like nothing is coming together then my advice is keep at it, stick with and it will all come together, never give up.

On Friday I had booked an extended lesson, but late afternoon so I could see what night flying is like and it is amazing, I took my digital camera and took a couple of pictures, they are a little blurred, but watching the sunset from 3,000 ft above the ground is amazing, the colours that you see are incredible. On one side of the plane the sun is setting, on the other the moon is rising and it was a full moon.

I have had a really bad week at work and had very little sleep last night and being up there today and performing the unassisted landings has made my week, flying at night is a magical experience and has made me want to get my night rating once I get my PPL.

I have passed my medical so I now need to take my first exam, which is the Aviation Law. I have started revision and will be taking it someday next week, hopeful soon after that it will mean my first solo flight.



To use the image, click on it, when it opens up at full size, right mouse click on it and do a "save as", you should then be able to use your preferred program to print it.

Circuits At Doncaster.

Its hard to believe that only 10:00 hours ago I was flying down that runway. Today was my first time doing circuits in the DA40, although it feels easier than in the previous PA-28 (I suspect that some of that is to do with the massive runway...) its still hard going. The DA40 can move so when travelling down the downwind leg the final turn comes on quick...

I guess that performing a circuit sounds easy an on paper it does, until you do it. I'm flying again Thursday so will upload a diagram of the circuit with notes.

I think part of the problem is that I am perfectionist and although Justin, my instructor, is very good with praise I still feel that I'm making a mess of it. I'm getting better and feel more confident in this plane, but I know I can do better and can't understand why its not working for me. A pilot that I was talking to last year said, there will be times when you think that you just can't get it right and you want to give in, then all of a sudden it just clicks.

I'm not going to give in and I won't be beaten by it.

To give you an idea of what happens in the circuit I'll run through it, assuming that you have touched down from the previous circuit. So you are rolling down the runway, trying to maintain the centre line of the runway using the rudder, its harder than it sounds. You put your flap away, push the engine to full power, mainting the centre line. As soon as the craft reaches 60-65 knots you gently pull the stick back and she takes off, at about 100ft you push the nose gently down to reduce the climb and gain speed. Once you have reached about 80 knots you can pull the stick back and carry on the climb.

Once the plane reaches 500-600ft you look around and then bank either right or left (depending on the circuit type, today was left). Still climbing maintaing 80knots, once you are at a right angle to the runway you straighten up, still climbing once at 1000 ft you bank left to run parallel to the runway, reducing the power to maintain the 1000 ft, dropping to about 75% power. About halfway down you report in to the tower, naming your callsign and your location. "G-xx Downwind"

Once the other end of the runway is about 45' behind you, you bank left, again at a right angle to the runway. While banking left, you need to reduce power all the way back while keeping pulling the nose up to reduce speed down to 70knots, once at 70knots you trim the plane for that speed, slowly descending as the speed drops. Once the airspeed is in the "white arc" you can drop a stage of flap.

You then bank left and line up for the final approach, announcing it to the tower "G-xx Final", you need to maintain the 70 knots. Keeping the nose of the plane into wind, today that meant that plane was pointing about 30' off centre which was a very strange feeling.

If you slow you can either put the nose forward to increase the speed or add in a little power. Once you are over the airfield you "aim" for the numbers on the runway, reducing the power to nothing. Once you are about 20' above the runway you pull back gently on the stick to flare the aircraft and it should gently touch down. Once on the ground you use the rudders to maintain the centre line, pop the flaps away, push the engine to full power .... and repeat.

Its hard work, doing all the things at once, but I'm going to get it right on my next lesson.

Till thursday.

New Plane... what a buzz...

One of the things that I decided to do a long time ago was to learn to fly when I could afford it and I now can. Many years ago my partner (Sue) bought me a trial flight as a birthday present and I loved it so here we are. I started the lessons in October last year and have clocked up over 12 hours of flying so far.

I fly with Sheffield City Flying School, when I first popped in to enquire about costs etc I was met by one of their instructors (Justin), who is so enthusiastic about flying that I couldn't wait to get started. He has been very patient with me and makes flying fun, he genuinly seems to enjoy what he does. All the instructors that I have met there, including the owner are very friendly and I can't recommend them enough.

We decided early on the it would be best for me to learn to fly in a PA-28 which is a four seater plane as I'm not really built for the two seater plane. The plan I have clocked up the most hours in is a PA-28-180, whos' call sign is G-DLTR, she is a nice plane to fly and I was making reasonable progree with her.

The current stage of my flying has reached a point where I am in the "circuit", the circuit is basically where you fly in a giant rectangle, landing at an airfield, rolling down the runway and taking straight off again, repeating it over and over again to get the hang of most aspects of flight.

This has been the hardest thing so far for me, doing everything at the right time, mainting the descent, keeping the speed right etc... its the most stress I have been under for a long time, my last lesson but one things starting coming together and I felt a lot better about it. My biggest problem is that I am my own worst crittic and keep beating myself up, then just as I thought I was making progress Justin suggested trying a new plane that they have just got in...

I'll try most things once and I am so glad I did, the new plane is a DA-40/D and it is amazing, do responsive, climbs very quickly and as it has a plexiglass cockpit cover the views are amazing and the speed....

I have booked some extra lessons, plus a nighttime flight for next week and I can't wait to get back in the air.

If you live in the South Yorks area and fancy a trial flight or learning to fly then I cannot recommend my school highly enough, their website can be found here
http://www.sheffieldcityflyingschool.net/

I have started keeping my logbook online, it details can be found
http://www.e-logbooks.com/pilots/log_book.asp?pilot=PJolliffe

Welcome

Well I have thought about it sometime and decided that it was time that I started a blog, so here we are...

Its been a long week, it started off badly. I work as an IT contractor, currently based in Sheffield. Its only about 80 miles from home, but as their is no direct route it can take 2-3 hours to get there so I rent a small house near the M1. Due to the bad weather forecast for the Monday I decided to head over on the Sunday night as I normally head over on the Monday morning, but I didn't fancy getting up at 05:30 and fighting through the snow to get over Snake Pass.

So I set off at 22:30, aiming to get to the rented house for sometime after midnight. That time of the night it shouldn't have taken more than a maximum of 2 hours.... famous last words...

I drive a BMW E39, its a 5 Series with the built in GPS, I've upgraded the computer to the newer Mark IV as it was origionally had a Mark III. The reason for the upgrade was to enable the TMC function, for those of you that don't know the TMC is the automated traffic channel and provides electronic traffic "issues".

As I was nearing the end of the M56, just before pulling onto the M60 the female computer voice chirps in "Road Ahead Closed" on investigation it the computer screen is showing that the M67 is closed between J3 and 4, with the computer you have the option to get it to automatically give you a diversion route.

My first mistake... I used to work on the outskirts of Stockport so thought to myself, no probs, nip through Bredbury on the A560 and pick up the A57 and join the end of the M67 then head over Woodhead (A628). Just for kicks I ask it to divery me and it then starts talking about the M62... so I ignore it and follow my planned route.

As I near Stockport on the M60 there is evidence of snow, the further round the M60 I go the whiter things appear. I pull off onto the A560 and head off... yep... looks like they have had some real snow... as I approach the A57 the otherside of Bredbury it looks like the have had a good 2-3"s... I make my way cautiously to the the junction where the A57 crosses the end of the M67, wow... its almost like a Christmas card, loads of snow. The road is nice and clear so off I head following the A628 towards Woodhead, the main display sign showing that both passes are open so off I head.

The other side of Tintwistle is completley covered in snow, but again the road is clear so off I go... five miles before the end of the pass there is a gritter parked across the road blocking it.. Bugger... should have listened to the car, I got out and asked the guy when the pass was likely to open he reckoned at least 40 minutes, but it might not reopen.. Bugger so I turn round and this time follow the cars instructions .... I finally get to the house at 01:40... one long journey and no snow in Sheffield.

I took the picture just outside Tintwistle.