Ok this one is the last for this year I promis...

This was posted on the Rotorcraft Pro magazine e-mag and I had to share it...

'Twas the night before Christmas, on the ramp by the lobby,
Not a copter was stirring, not even a Robbie.
The aircraft were fastened to tie downs with care,
In hopes that come morning, they all would be there.

The fuel trucks were nestled, all snug in their spots,
With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots.
I slumped at the fuel desk, now finally caught up,
And settled down comfortably, resting my butt.

When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,
I turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice clearly heard over static and snow,
Called for clearance to land at the airport below.

He barked his transmission so lively and quick,
I'd have sworn that the call sign he used was "St. Nick".
I ran to the panel to turn up the lights,
The better to welcome this magical flight.

He called his position, no room for denial,
"St. Nicholas One, turnin' left onto final."
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Rutan-built sleigh, with eight Rotax Reindeer!

With vectors to final, down the glideslope he came,
As he passed all fixes, he called them by name:
"Now Ringo! Now Tolga! Now Trini and Bacun!
On Comet! On Cupid!" What pills was he takin'?

While controllers were sittin', and scratchin' their head,
They phoned to my office, and I heard it with dread,
The message they left was both urgent and dour:
"When Santa pulls in, have him please call the tower."

He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Then I heard "Left at Charlie," and "Taxi to parking."
He slowed to a taxi, turned off of three-oh
And stopped on the ramp with a "Ho, ho-ho-ho..."

He stepped out of the sleigh, but before he could talk,
I ran out to meet him with my best set of chocks.
His red helmet and goggles were covered with frost
And his beard was all blackened from Reindeer exhaust.

His breath smelled like peppermint, gone slightly stale,
And he puffed on a pipe, but he didn't inhale.
His cheeks were all rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster's belly.

He was chubby and plump, in his suit of bright red,
And he asked me to "fill it, with hundred low-lead."
He came dashing in from the snow-covered pump,
I knew he was anxious for drainin' the sump.

I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
And I filled up the sleigh, but I spilled like a jerk.
He came out of the restroom, and sighed in relief,
Then he picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.

And I thought as he silently scribed in his log,
These reindeer could land in an eighth-mile fog.
He completed his pre-flight, from the front to the rear,
Then he put on his headset, and I heard him yell, "Clear!"

And laying a finger on his push-to-talk,
He called up the tower for clearance and squawk.
"Take taxiway Charlie, the southbound direction,
Turn right three-two-zero at pilot's discretion"

He sped down the runway, the best of the best,
"Your traffic's an Agusta, inbound from the west."
Then I heard him proclaim, as he climbed thru the night,
"Merry Christmas to all! I have traffic in sight."

Have a good holiday one and all

Chris

Its Christmas!!!!

21.12.11

Well here it is. The end of another year. Where has it gone? Well I can acount for 44.5 hrs of it straight away and then there is all the studying and work and family life. A very busy year to say the least!
Today started with gusty winds and a general yeuch (spelling?) feeling, so I cancelled my flight this morning as there was little benefit flying in the gusting winds and feeling like poo is a no no for flying and I need some 'get back into it time' for after Christmas. I'll be teaching Casualty Care to RNLI crews on the east coast of Scotland till February. Yes February, not great for the flying being 560 miles from Bournemouth Airport. Needs must and work duties are always calling.
On a lighter note I did go into Bournemouth helicopters and decided to try my hand at Performance and Planning exam, my last written exam. I hadn't stdied for it in about a month due to being on the west coast of Scotland doing flood rescue training amoong other things, however, there are three attempts at the exams so I had nothing to loose if I failed and everything to gain if I passed.
THANK GOD I PASSED! I got through with 85% with as per the usual for my exams a few silly mistakes that I knew the answers to when not under the pressure of the clock. So thats it for exams but I'll have to do some studying over the festive period to make sure I dont forget stuff.
In my line of work skill fade is a major problem and it cant be more true for aviation world so this time away will be tough. The longest time ive had in just under a year without flying. EEEK! Istarted flying on 28th January 2011 and almost managed to get it done in a year. If I hadn't had work I think I could have done it. C'est La Vie, C'est La Guerre.
To finnish with for this years Blogging I thought I'd put up screen shots of the Apps I have used on the Iphone to help with my studies and general flying.


In the middle is the main page dedicated to flying.
Convertor - Self Explanatory
Calculator - Self Explanatory (my sums are crap so a must have)
Google Earth -  to get the Birds eye view when making plans, to see what I will see
Memory Map - Relatively cheep to buy the app and then the cost of the CAA charts on top but well worth it for CAA charts at your finger tips, and it can log your flight as you do it including altitude.
PPL - A folder full of 'Great Circle training apps) very useful for the style of questions you'll come up against in the written exams (see left picture)
Flight computer - This folder has a few apps that do the work of a flight computer. I use these the check my flight computer wokings out. (see right picture)
My Blog - Self Explanatory (Keep it to hand)
ABB - All aviation abreviations in one handy app
Aviation - A direct link to the Met office Aviation page for 214 and 215 forms and METARs TAFs etc (found here - http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation - you need to log on but its free so well worth it) (highly recomended)
Aero Weather - A fantastic weather report app for any reporting airfield (highly recomended)
AeroPlus - Another fantastic weather app showing visulay the flight rules metars wind speed etc in map view. (highly recomended)
Rain Radar - A web link to http://www.raintoday.co.uk/ 
Jet Fueling - App for all your fueling needs
Check  list lite - Self Explanatory (not used it much)
Checklist - Not relevant to the shcweitzer but a good look at Robinsons 22/44 EC120/B AS350 B/BA
MetBrief - A web liink to http://www.metbrief.com/ Specificaly the Synoptic charts (Why Bracknell - EGRR I don't know) (highly recomended)

I hope that helps those with I-Phones as a guide where you can get some help. Even if you don't the web pages are well worth looking at.

Right thats it from me for the year. God Bless, Safe flying, have a fantastic Christmas and a Fruitful happy New Year full of fortune and more flying!

Chris (ResuceShrek)

Another Day at the Office

Information 'Hotel'

"ATIS" stands for "Automated Terminal Information Service," which is a recorded message broadcast at most busy airports around the country. ATIS gives pilots the current wind, air traffic, and runway information and each time the information changes, the broadcast is revised, with each revision being assigned the next letter in the phonetic alphabet. This designation is included in the broadcast, which is identified as, "Information Alpha..." Bravo, Charlie, etc.

At ATIS-equipped airports, pilots are required to listen to the recording prior to contacting Approach Control or the tower and must repeat the "Information (Phonetic identifier)" when they make their initial radio call eg - G-TSLC QNH 1021 Information 'Zulu'. Sometimes, the results can be hilarious...

The scenario: it was night over Las Vegas and "Information Hotel" was current on the ATIS. Mooney 33W wasn't too sharp, but he didn't let that stop him from talking to Approach Control.

Approach: "33W, confirm you have 'Hotel.' 

33W: "Uhhhmm, we're flying into McCarren International. Uhhhmm, we don't have a hotel room yet."

After that, Approach was laughing too hard to respond. The next several calls went something like this call to United 583 (which didn't make it any easier to stop laughing)...

Approach: "United 583, descend to Flight Level 220."

United 583: "United 583, down to Flight Level 220. We don't have a hotel room, either."

20.12.11


Today's the Day I did my QXC (Qualifying Cross Country Flight). It all began at 7:30am as the weather was looking favourable and the flight was going to take some time so start early and ensure finnishing within day light limitations. After drawing up my plans and route and weight and balance calculations it was time to book out of Bournemouth and book in at Compton Abbas and Exeter. Alas neither were answering their phones till 9am. A bit of a later start than planned. Never Mind, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an'men Gang aft agley," (for the non-Scottish - The best laid schemes of mice and men

Go often askew, And leave us nothing but grief and pain). 

Flying over the morning rush

The skies were a calling so I threw myself at them, failed misserably and then tried again in the helicopter to much success.

The flight up went without issue however the landing at compton, albeit aproach was fine and hover was fine, was fruity when it came to taxiing due to 24 knots of wind over the ridge. 

Arrival at Compton Abbas Airfield

Turning was a problem till I was moving with the wind enough to negate the wind speed and get round. I walked to the club building and was greeted by the girl on the right of the picture below. Its the second time I've been inton Compton Abbas airfield and both times they have been very welcoming and very friendly. I was even given a quality street sweetie on my arrival. Its the little things that say a lot. I signed in and ask for my 'proof oflanding' to be signed and was given the remarks of Aproach and landing - Well Done  and Over all airmanship - Excellent. Very kind of her. I paid my £10 landing fee and was asked if i wanted tea and was told they did really good sticky buns and cakes. (For the dirty minds out there - shame on you!(I was one step ahead)) i had to decline and only had time for a quick pee and then off again.

Compton Calendar Girls

Compton Abbas are selling calendars to raise money for Dorset and Somerset air ambulance service. Why not help and order yourself a copy. Only £10 and for a very wrth while charity.

I digress... Time for take off!

 Interestingly enough the take off at Bournemouth was in 4 knots of wind but 24 knots at Compton. A brisk take off and a quick thank you to Compton Abbas Radio for their help and I was on my way to Exeter. This was  a long trip. I was happy with my plan but had that shadow of doubt flying with me as I was doing this solo. But as I went along my track every mark and check point fell within a few hundred yards left or right of where I was expecting. Divine intervention!

Radio coms went really well as I pre empted the radio issues we had the last time I did this flight with my Instructor Carl. Transfered from Bournemout Radar to London Information and then to Exeter without any problems. This time i got a straight in on runway 26 which was daunting and funny as well. A huge runway with a tiny helicopter approaching. I felt like I was doing the airoplane challenge fomr the origional Krypton Factor. 

Once landed and shut down I went for a stroll to pay for landing (£21) and get my Proof of landing sheet signed by ATC. Once again the feed back was Aproach and landing - Well Done  and Over all airmanship - Excellent. Thank God for that. I was all ready to call for a taxi home if I had screwed up. A very different aproach by the ATC at Exeter as they had me orbit a few times before landing where as at Bournemouth they tend to let you go straight in to landing site. The differenc I guess between an airport with multiple helicopter operators and one with only visiting helicopters. 

Onwards and upwards again. Back to Bournemouth via Lyme Regis and a fly over a friends house which he is building at the moment. The round House. Its looking fnatastic. 

From there it was onwards to Tarrant Rushton VRP and into Bournemouth. on the way I flew over Cerne Abbas and managed to get a look at the Cerne Abbas Giant on the hillside looking menacing and aroused

Cerne Abbas Giant 

Once again the leg had all the landmarks falling into place where they should have been and I landed with out any issues at Bournemouth. 3.1 hours total flying. Tired at the end of it. When I got back to the office I was greeted by two good friends and Lifeboat crew at Calshot Lifeboat station where I was based for 6 years, Tony Carrier and Mark (Lofty) Laughlin. Tony had only just recieved his Helicopter licence through the post from the CAA and this was his first flight since getting it.  A massive congratulations Tony!

Filmed from my phone hence the poor quality

Right thats it for this post. QXC done only one written exan and just over 2 hours soloing to do then I can sit my skills exam or do my practical coms exam...Eeeek!

Say again ...

...Questions via the radio should not always be answered exactly.

Tower: Aircraft in holding pattern, say fuel state?

Aircraft: Fuel state

Tower: Say again?

Aircraft: Again....

After this the tower controller switches off his radio and climbs down the stairs to drink coffee the rest of the afternoon.

Take off over Bournemouth Helicopters

19.12.11


The time had come for a trip to Exeter, but the weather localy wasn't looking promising. After a lengthy consultation with TAFs METAR's NOTAMS and loads of other acronyms we decided the visability was 7000m and the cloud base was 1700 feet so we could go flying. A bit of rain all the way and a few random clouds to dodge but nothing to worry about. 
My GoPro was set up on my head set (see previous post 'Still waiting...') to try and get a different view point for the shots. It proved to be successful however it was a bit high and every now and then when turning my head sharply to the left it would thud against the canopy. This being said, it does help to show where I'm looking and how much you have to move your head when flying. All I need to do now is get a good film editing program and get the videos on here! 

Following the coast to Exeter

The flight was pretty uneventful apart from having to dodge clouds. We did however make some very valuable decisions dudring the flight. The most notable was the decision to not follow my flight plan in the areas of high ground but instead to fly due south and pick up the coast. This would lead us to Exeter without any question but also meant we were away from any clouds and could not get lost. Find the coast go left = Exeter. Find the coast and go right = Bournemouth. Fool proof. Apart from having to dodge the occasional restricted zone it was plane sailing...I mean flying.

Another valuable experience was the loosing of Radio capabilities. It sounds all very dramatic and had the potential to be very dangerous however there are protocols in place in the world of flying to deal with this. We had left Bournemouth airport and got handed over to Bournemouth Radar. Aproximately 8 miles from 'the zone' is the Yeovilton AIAA (Area of Intense Aircraft activity) so I called Radar and requested a frequency change. She advised us that Yeovilton were closed so we could stay with her or swap to Exeter Radar. We stayed with her for a further 20 mins till we could hear her but she could not hear us. I swapped to Exeter Radar and tried to get them. No joy. The hills in the way and our low altitude because of cloud was playing merry hell with our coms abilities. The next option was to swap frequency to London Information (Distress and Diversion Area Control) on 124.75 who cover basicaly all of England, Ireland and Wales south of 55 degrees North latitude and North of 55 degrees North latitude and Scotland is coverd by Scotland Information. This would be normal practice however we couldn't even get them. So the next plan of action was to go through the list of frequencies again till we got somone. The biggest worry was that Bournemouth would get concerned that she couldnt raise us and contact Exeter who wouldn't be able to raise us who would contact London who also wouldn't be able to get through. So we tried again with as much safe altitude as we could due to the cloud and nothing. the next action was to turn off the radio, trip the circuit breaker and reset it. Turn on the radio and try again, however we could hear broken coms from other aircraft so the radio was less liekly to be our issue and more terrain. We could have squawked 7600 for radio failure however the rdio hadn't failed. Our best option was to follow the priorities of flight - AVIATE NAVIGATE COMMUNICATE (in that order of priority). To the coast we went and continued for a further 5 mins till we got through to London Information. They informed us Exeter could hear us but we couldnt hear them so Exeter were happy we were safe and could see us on RADAR. We continued till London Information asked us to change to Exeter Radar frequency and change our squawk code to 0410. And that was that.

Arriving at Exeter

 Into Exeter, pay for the landing (£21!) have a pee (most expensive pee I've ever had!) then back in and head home via the coast all the way. 
All in all it was a very enjoyable flight mostly because of the challenging weather conditions and the radio issues. All very valuable experience.
Onwards and upwards!

Takeoffs are optional. Landings are mandatory.

Close but no doughnuts, doughnoughts, doh nuts, do not's......ok so close but not quite there.

16.12.11

Was today going to be the day? Erm, no. Sadly due to an excess of weight in fuel and PAX for the distance planned, I was unable to do my pre Cross Country Qualifier (QXC) today. Before sitting your skills test you have to demonstrate you can fly from one airfield to a couple others in a sfae and organised fashion and return with you and the aircraft in one piece without committing any air law infringment (or any law infringement for that matter!). However before i could demonstrate i could do this on my own I had to fly to and land at my destinations with my instructor to make sure i was happy with the procedures and requirements.
Today I was flying with Instructor Mike O’Donoghue however the weather was better sooner than anticipated so while Mike headed in i set to doing my flight plan and weight and balance calculations. Planned route was Bournemouth to Tarrant Rushton VRP then down to Exeter via Lyme Regis then back up to Compton Abbas and returning to Bournemouth. Flight Plan went ok however the weight and balance came up short. Well actualy you could say long, as we were going to be almost 100 lbs over weight for the distance we were going and with the 28 US Gallons fuel onboard plus required for trip. 
So enter stage left, our options.
Option 1 - Syphen off fuel from tnaks on G-EMOL and refuel at Exeter (Not a prefered option as fuel would likely be discarded)
Option 2 - Take G-TSLC. A slightly lighter machine with only one tank. (Not a preffered option as EMOL has hours to catch up on TSLC)
Option 3 - Re do the plan. (More classroom work and less flying...Nope)
Option 4 - 'Shit Can' the whole day and go for a cuppa (See above reason)
 Option 5 - Continue with the plan but  throw in a random divert to Compton Abbas at a distance that would allow for the fuel/weight limitaions. (Yes)

Bright sun on top of the ridge

So thats what we did. We set off as we had intended to however at a random point decided by Mike, we diverted to Copton Abbas for a landing which meant we did some Divert training and still got the Compton Abbas pre QXC landing ticked off. We also had time for a quick cuppa and a natter then it was off again returning to Bournemouth. Compton Abbas is and interesting place to fly as its perched up on a ridge lie which gets a stiff breeze most of the year. From Compton we headed home however i was under the hood wearing the Foggles again.

300 feet and still wearing the Foggles

For this flight Mike assued the pretend position of RADAR controller guiding my into the airfiel in zero/poor visability. He had me do direction and altitude changes, speed alterations and orbits and to tp it all off we did a full circuit aproach right down to 300 feet 40 knots before i got to take the foggles off. Way over and above what will be expected in the skills test but a valuable experience and bloody good fun!
Almost completed the required instrument time and still to do my QXC. Waiting to fly to Exeter now and do a landing with an instructor before I can do it solo.
On to the next Flight!

Still waiting...

.. Since the last post Ive flown twice. Yes I know Ive been pretty bad at keeping this up to date. A lot of other things going on in life that steals my time away.

Cloud Level below us to the left

The first of the flights was on the 10th November. A flight that was planned to go round the Isle of Wight and back to Bournemouth however the weather stopped us getting all the way round. A big fat cloud sat right over the island. An odd sensation to be in VFR but be above the layer of clouds to the south. To add insult to injury there was a small build up of water in the tubes which meant half way throught the flight I lost altitude, airspeed and climb decend indications. So basicaly flying in true VFR. Only gauge as to what was happening was what I saw and felt. All in all a valuable experience.

My next flight was on the 26th November where myself and Instructor Dave took to the skies to nail Instrument flying hours that are required by law to be flown. Sadly I forgot to press play for the flight so you have been spared and hours worth of me wearing a set of goggles that make me look like I'm wearing 1970's prototype Night Vission Goggles. Big, Bulky, Uncomfortable and do what they are supposed to do...Stop me seeing anything apart from the instruments. Fortunatley all the hours spent on Microsoft Flight Sim X practicing instrument flying paid off. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. But one thing for sure is the sensations through your body are very different to what is actualy happening to the aircraft. Flying by 'the seat of your pants' will likely make you crash!

The onyl picture from that flight I have is from the start up process.
 You can see the GoPro Hreo Camera rig attatched to my Headset where I'm going to try and film from. Fingers crossed it works. I just need to convince Zero Alpha (my Wife) to let me get an GoPro Hero2. So much better!



Another reason apart from the weather that has stopped me from flying is work commitments. Not all bad as I've been up in God's Country (Scotland) playing in, sorry I mean training in Swift Water Rescue and Flood Water Boat Rescue.
Just another day at the office

"Another one down and another one down..."

"... another one bites the dust" - Hmmm, not a good song to sing in aviation circles.

                                             I'm a yellow helicopter

                                             Sitting on the ground. 

                                             These are my rotor-blades Slowly turning round.

                                             Faster now, and faster...

                                             They're spinning like a top. 

                                             Take off...           

                                             Turn around 

                                             Touch down...           

                                             Stop.

                                                                                      Brian Thompson 

                                        (Don't know who he is but he wrote this...well done Brian)

I think this best describes the extent of my last flight although all of the above was stretched out over 0.9 of an hour.

Today was like yesterday only worse. By that i mean the weather was just despicable. That fine smirry rain that is almost not there but big enough to not be mist and prevalent enough to get EVERYTHING soaked in seconds. In short the rain was omni-present. Needless to say no flying so it was in for another spout of ground school. After spending half an hour going through some points on met and discovering I could remember some of my university studies when I had Meteorology as a unit for a year* almost 14 years ago (* it was on my weekly rota for Uni but I spent most of that year rock climbing at different venues and competitions around the country...ooops!). My Instructor folded up my books and cleared the desk and disappeared only to return with a Meteorology paper and answer sheet. " The time is 11:47, you've got 1 hour. Name and CAA number at the top, today's date is the 8th. Good luck". 

I was a bit surprised but he knew what Iwas capable of so I let in to his trust and sat the paper. after taking almost the complete hour I was half and half whether I had done enough to get the 75% needed. Mostly as there were a couple I was unsure of how the questions were worded (almost in Latin in true CAA exam style) and as per every test I sit, at least one complete guess where I couldn't see through all the information to get the answer. Sadly the guess I could have got right if I had just read the question

RTFQ - Read The 'Flippen' Question. 

To get the results back showing 85% was a total relief and a pleasant surprise. Another Exam done and now only the dreaded 'Performance and Planning' to go. Not looking forward to this one as, as much as my spelling is challenged, my numeracy is uber challenged and I'm guessing it will be sums heavy. Study study study!

Hopefully a flight on Thursday this week (10.11.11) weather depending and get my Cross Country Qualifier, 3 hour multi stop, flight done.

Right now for some R&R and light study on Bohemian interactive 'Take On helicopters' simulator. The eye candy version of FSX . Only way I'll get to fly an MD-500! 

What goes up must come down...

...Principals of flight in other words!

yes it was that time again. Exams exams exams. now its only exams exams to go. 

After arriving at the airfield today in what can only be described as 'Non Weather', i weighed up the possibilities of flying and doing an exam. The weather was not conducive to any sort of worth while flight however my solo time was low and the HTA was sat there all alone doing nothing on its own. So a plan was formulated to go and spend 30 mins on the HTA come back have a coffee go and do another 30 mins come back for a top up of coffee and then sit my exam. 

Airport Fire Crew Training ahead 

Well, as all good military personnel know, ' No plan survives contact with the enemy' and this was no different. There was a lot of ground traffic on the airfield ranging from aircraft doing power and equipment checks to fire crews throwing foam all over the fire training area near the HTA and a few random vehivles scudding around for what looked like idle amusement. I took off and headed over to the HTA and started to go through the usual low level hover skills. Flying forwards, backwards, side to side, turn on the spot, turn nose round a spot, turn tail round a spot, confined box turns, quick stops, landing, take off, sloped landings and take offs, land in the middle of the HTA and check my watch..... 10 minutes done.

Hard to tell but a sloped landing

This could be a long one!. In the end I had a few interuptions from the ground traffic which took up some time where I was hovering to show I had seen them. It wasn't all bad as there is no such thing as a bad day flying. Only bad days landing! 

When I had shut down I had a coffee to refresh and a wee natter to the lads that work at Bournemouth helicopters then it was into the 'Aircraft Technical and Principals of Flight' exam. I had been cramming my study recently to the point of falling asleep at my desk and waking up a few hours later, dribbling with my face stuck to page 86 of Wagtendonk's 'Principals of Helicopter Flight' training book. A great book which goes through all you'll need to know for the exam. 

Landing at BH for a shut down

Fortunately I could remember a lot of physics from my Scottish Standard and Higher Grade studies (equivalent to English GCSE's and A Level respectively). That along with owning a Landrover which gave me the mechanical knowledge helped me understand a bit more than what was being asked. 

I managed a very pleasing 95% with the two questions being 1 silly mistake and my only guess that didn't work out. 

So its back to the books now to study 'Performance and Planning' or 'Meteorology'...which will be the easiest????

While i waited for my results I was taken along as moveable ballast in Bournemouth helicopter's EC 120 G-SKPP. Second time ive been inher and it is a pleasure to be in. everything seems so much smoother and responsive. No harm in dreaming about flying that one day.

Safe flying and catch you soon.

p.s sadly not many pictures or videos to show of HTA work or sitting an exam. Both a bit dull more to follow soon. Still no joy with editing program! really ticked off now! 

I have successfully succeeded in success ...

I think I might be going insane...

"Only the insane have the strength enough to prosper. Only those who prosper may truly judge what is sane"

That is my favour I think. On a similar vein...

"The only justifiable risk is one that can do more harm to the enemy than it can to you. All risks must be calculated in your favour. Otherwise you are fighting for the enemy!"

                                                                                                                           Imperium Tactica

I took a calculated tisk today and sat my Nav exam. To all intents and purposes it shouldn't be such an ordeal as, mentioned in a previous post, I teach navigation to crews of the RNLI's lifeboats surrounding the UK Ireland and Isle of Mann who go out regularly in all weather conditions to save lives of those in distress at sea. An environment where navigation has to be good, accurate and robust to get you to the casualty and home safely. Yet still I have found issues with the air Nav.  the chief instructor at Bournemouth helicopters, Gary Ellson, is currently doing maritime navigation study and he too is finding the cross over frustrating and not as easy as it should be with previous Nav experience. It is the subtle differences and the major  similarities that make up for half the battle. 

Anyhew, I sat the exam and managed a comfortable 80%. some silly is takes and to be honest two marks were dropped because I ran out of time and had to throw a couple guesses in there while a bit stressed. I got stressed more because I had a moment of doubt with some of my earlier answers as I reached the last two questions with 1 minute to go. 

now that I have passed this exam I can now at last get on with my cross country qualifier flight which I believe will be down to Exeter via Compton Abbas and back to Bournemouth. A round trip of approximately 3 hours, the suggestion was made of flying round Compton Abbas for over two hours but then I discovered I had to land and get people at each place to sign a chitty to say I had been there. To be honest I'm looking forward to going to other airfields as I’ve always returned to Bournemouth with only landings done in remote locations run by the administrative workings of sheep or squirrels.

To the next exams - Meteorology, Principals of flight and Performance and Planning 

Whizz Wheeling across the sky...

Having been nose into the books lately on Nav and progressing through the Aviation based witticisms compared to the Maritime Nav I have for taught for years, I have come to appreciate that Nav is such a huge subject it is impossible to learn all there is to know. Physically impossible.

When I started the Air Nav studying I was shown a very useful method by one of my part time instructors, Mike Odonihughe (mentioned in other posts to date), with regards to using the ‘Whizz Wheel’ or CRP-1 or Flight computer or E6B or whatever you want to call it. I feel obliged to put this picture of Mr Spock from Star Trek up as everyone who has ever put a post of this subject has used the same picture.

Sorry had to be done.  

The analogue flight computer has been around since the late 1930’s and was developed in the United States by Naval Lt. Philip Dalton.

In this picture is Capt Claude W. Cambell’s crew in the 303rd Bomb Group at Molesworth, England. Circa 1943.

The design hasn’t changed much over the years and still carries the same functionality today as it was intended back then. The ability to perform very complex algebraic equations without even using a pencil is pretty impressive. Because of the lack of batteries and the reduced chance of it ceasing to function correctly without driving over it with a large vehicle, the flight computers are still a major part of navigation training for all types of aircraft. If you can do it on one of these then it can only get easier with the use of technology, however if technology fails you have to be able to take over and do it the ‘Old Fashioned’ way.

For my examples the sharp witted will notice I’m using the Pooley’s CRP-5 which is the larger commercial variant on the CRP-1. This is because I intend on going commercial with my flying and learning on this now would make sense instead of adapting to it later. Start out as you mean to go on.

 So here goes for an example of using the Computer to work out GS and Headings.

First information we need is the Direction and strength of the wind. This is best got from a met form 214 and  215. I’ve’ linked skylinkweather.com where it can be sourced with ease. Another very good resource is Skydemonlight.com for route planning. I could write a blog on just this so I’ll leave it for now.

I digress. Now you have your wind direction and speed for the area and height you are going to be flying you set the central blue dot at the Zero position for wind speed as shown in the picture.

Now you can make a mark at the value of your wind speed below this blue dot. This method is the Dot Down method. The other option is to put the blue dot over your intended aircraft speed and subtracting the wind speed from it. This is the Dot Up method. In both methods you must set your wind direction where it says True Heading at the top of the protractor before using a permanent or non permanent pen. Permanent can be removed by scribbling over it using a non permanent pen and wiping off. Using non permanent means there is a risk of wiping it off prematurely. The same goes for marking on your chart. In this case my wind is blowing 20 knots from 120 degrees.

Which ever method you are using, once you have marked your dot for the wind you can now dial up your first heading. As you can see my air speed is set at 70 knots and the effects of the wind from the direction it is travelling, I will end up being pushed 16 degrees to the right of my intended track and also it is showing my ground speed as 68 knots. It doesn’t end here I’m afraid. There is a process where you have to now take this into account to get back on track with the wind effects and you ‘wiggle’ the dial till you get something that looks right. It is called balancing the drift. YOu take the amount off track you are then alter your course back that amoutn to cancel it off then take the next error and do the same till you reduce the error and get a final bearing. A bit like 'boat builder's eye' (Arm out stretched, looking past thumb and stating "that's straight enough"). Ok so that’s not the party line however I couldn’t understand this process until Mike O'Donoghue, one of my part time Instructors and the Chief Executive of GASCo (General Aviation Safety Council), showed me an easier to understand method. His comments were “It’s not an exact science but its good enough for government work and is within 1 or 2 degrees of the other method”. That was enough to sell it to me! It does work out with the same possible errors as doing it 'by eye' so ‘jobs a good un’.

    

   

So what you do at this stage is you take a straight edge and draw a line down from the ‘red’ dot keeping in line with the lower grid as shown in the picture

Now to correct the errors as briefly eluded to above, instead of ‘wiggling’ it aimlessly till it looks right (my personal take on the other method) you rotate the disk till the red line runs parallel to the drift lines. In this example it would mean your course to steer to remain on track is about 179 or 180 degrees. The picture isn’t very good and the line is not very square and should read 180, but you get the idea. 
   

From this point you can move on to your next leg. Unless further legs are close to your initial leg you can leave the mark on so you can check your working out later, however for longer routes with similar legs it is prudent to clean these marks off. Another tactic is to use different colours.
On a CRP-1 you will have no problems with this however using the CRP-5 you may find in helicopter world where your True Air Speed (TAS) can be quite low compared to a fixed wing, there is a chance the resultant dot ends up below the zero line. if this does happen the speed cannot be acurately read. After a robust Q&A session involving two other instructors (as neither had come acoss this method) it was agreed that the way round it was to apply some simple and logical trigonometry and double all values inputted and half the resultant. for example 60 knots TAS would become 120 and my wind speed if 120 degrees at 30 knots would be 60 knots. This would result in 66 knots at 151 degrees. As already mentioned, half this to give 33 knots.

As you can see using the CRP-1 there is less need to double your values as the scale goes as low as 20 knots.

I hope this has been of use as the other method can be confusing if you are afflicted by dyslexia as I am

Newtons Laws - holding hands with mother nature

01.10.2011
Newton's Law states that what goes up, must come down. Our Company Commander's Law states that what goes up and comes down had damn well better be able to go back up again.

— sign in the Operations Office of the 187th Assault Helicopter Company, Tay Ninh, Viet Nam, 1971

This was probably the best day I’ve seen yet for flying, with no clouds (although some for/smog/haze first thing) 22 degrees of stunning sunshine and all morning booked for flights. Yes that’s right 22 degrees on the first of October in the UK...un believable!

 After spending the first hour and a bit doing some ground school on Nav it was time to go flying and head off to the north west to have another play at Advanced autos – PFL’s (Practiced Forced Landings).

Sadly I had tried to get my Nav exam done yesterday but missed it by two marks because I made some very very (kicking myself while I type this) very silly school boy errors. Simple things like forgetting to change the wind strength and direction on the second leg of the exam route. I teach navigation to maritime students and there is a large list of similarities however there are also a lot of differences. The first being pretty high and not able to stop and say ‘hey I’m not sure where I am I’ll stop here and do a three point fix and check my nav legs’. You do that in a helicopter the results are self explanatory. The next is VOR’s and NDB’s and other acronyms that are similar and confusing. Needless to say I had a few wrong with those questions. The worst part being that I had missed a pass by two marks. If I had got my ‘Ducks in a row’ and got my wind correct I would have passed. Bugger!

Start of 306

Anyhew, today saw some good study with my Instructor Dave, then off we went. I have done a few Advanced autos to date now and they are getting to be almost second nature, that was until Dave introduced some more things to do like making MAYDAY calls, trying to re engage the engine and if that fails shutting off the mags, fuel  and master power after making your mayday call then calling “Brace! Brace! Brace!” for my passengers to let them know that we were making an emergency landing (because shouting “shit shit shit shit shit shit “ wouldn’t be enough). See the article a few below titled ‘Helicopter pilots are different’. It sums up the expectations to crash at any moment so in reality you would be very calm in such an event as you would be expecting it from the moment you take to the skies.

Almost at bottom of 360

We had an additional thing to think about during all of this as Bournemouth RADAR were having issues with their RADAR system and could only give us a very limited service, so our eyes were even more peeled than normal. It was fairly busy up there due to the weather but we had no issues and everyone stayed out of everyone’s way.

After about five autos involving left and right turns, 180 turns and 360 turns we made our way back to Bournemouth airport.

A very enjoyable and informative day. A pleasure to fly with Dave as always and what a fantastic day for it. Here’s hoping tomorrows flights get the same weather and steady(not mad) traffic.

Back at EGHH

Looking forward to see what Carl has in store for me.

You’ll notice I have put a few posts in today. I have been a bit behind with them with work taking up a lot of time but I’m back up to date now. All I have to try and do now is try and get a good video editor to get the videos up as Pinnacle 15 is pants!

Videos to follow

Helicopters don't fly. They beat the air into submission.

15.09.11

A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight. While attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asks, "What was your last known position?"  The reply:
"When I was number one for takeoff".

So the day started well with sadly no flights booked but a need to book some more so I got shore leave to go and see the gang at Bournemouth Helicopters and get some more slots booked. As I pulled up my instructor Carl was walking towards me with a look on his face that was quite hard to decipher. It was either confusion or trapped wind. So I went with confusion and ask how he was. “I was literally just texting you there”, “that will save you 10 pence” I said, forgetting to find out if the situation was serious or not.

Fortunately it was to find out if I was free to go for a solo as one of the Schweitzer’s was free and the weather was perfect for soloing. Result!

And that was that. I got my flight plan done and the aircraft checks completed then it was time to commit aviation.

Once again an odd feeling doing it all by myself and not having flown first, landing then being deserted by my instructor before flying some more.

My plan was to go north to Ringwood Lakes then west to my turning point at Sturminster Marshal 12 miles away, then south for 5 miles to Rockley point and turn north for Wimbourne and then back to the lakes for a normal Northerly VFR to the airfield.

Turning at Sturminster

Compared to the day before the coms were so quiet, almost eerily quiet. Not a bad thing I might add. The route I had planned kept me ‘In the Zone’, so still in controlled airspace, Class D, compared to the Class G uncontrolled airspace I flew in the day before. This gave me a bit of comfort in that the Controllers were fully aware of everything in that area and to a very high level of accuracy. That meant if they knew where I was and they knew where every other aircraft was, then the chance of me having an airborne altercation was at the very low end of the scale. Phew!

Over Rockley and turning port to
 pass over RNLI College 

Each leg went really well with my turns being made right over where I wanted to make them and the times were a lot closer to my plan than I had expected. My instructor Carl was flying with a trial lesson student over Sandbanks and Old Harry rocks just outside Poole Harbour. It was comforting to know he was up there with me and not too far away. Although I must admit there is nothing he could have done if I had a problem. So it was more a psychological assistance than anything else.

My return leg to Wimbourne from Rockley took me over the RNLI Lifeboat College where I work as an Instructor, which doesn’t sound like too big a deal but I had taken two days TOIL (Time Off In Lieu) so I could see my colleagues feverishly working below me as I calmly and very casually flew over them. It’s the little things in life!   

On HTA as Oil Spill Responce
C-130 taxis to a stop

My final leg to the airport went really smoothly and I stop in the hover at the HTA where I asked permission to operate on the HTA for a further 10 minutes. An opportunity to do hover skills, solo, that could not be turned down. After a few manoeuvres I returned to Bournemouth Helicopters and let down and shut down with ATC.  

A perfect day, perfect weather, a very enjoyable flight and the icing on the cake was the fact that I had only turned up to book some flights. I just hope the weather gets better for a bit longer before the UK Autumn/ Winter season gets hold preventing my flying.

Onwards and Upwards


Video to follow soon