Even better than the X-Factor!..

That would have to be Human Factors and Pilot Performance Exam. Ok so not exactly something I would normally shout and dance about having spent my academic life in an exam capability black hole. However this is slightly different as I passed it today. I dropped in on the hoof and had an impromptu exam to try and get it over and done with. 20 questions and 30 mins to sit it. I had answered all questions in the first 5 minutes but spent the next 15 minutes checking three times that I was happy with my answers. RTFQ and RTFA. I won't explain if you don't know it already.
When it came to marking I got 95%. Only one wrong answer. First time in all my life I've got such a high percentage. Hope this carries forward to the next exam too!

Don't blame God...

An old ethiopian proverb says "Don't blame God for the lion. Thank God for not giving it wings".

On another note, I had my second attempt at the Aviation Law exam today. to set the scene, I had fallen asleep last night with the laptop on, headphones in and aviation law study cd merrily churning through the subject. I woke and got little sleep with a constant flow of QNH's and flight levels and CofA's and Cof R's and other stuff going through my head.
When I got into Bournemouth Helicopters at lunch time I wasn't feeling too confident. I was to be honest close to canceling the next four booked flights and waiting till i had passed the exam. I did find out though that I could sit it three times so though it was worth the gamble to see if I did actually know what i thought I knew. Having failed yesterday I have been feeling very despondent about the thought of re-sitting.
After using the whole hour and checking my answers twice, I submitted the papers and awaited the results.....
87.5% and the pass mark was 75%. 5 wrong and they were mostly silly mistakes through not understanding the question. That would have meant my first solo flight but the weather, as clear and as 25 degrees as it still is, the wind is blowing 13 knots so a solo was out of the question. We had a spin round though looking at limited power take offs and some run on landings which served the time well. Next flight is 17 days away so in that time I'll have to try and get my Human Performance exam done and out of the way.  Onwards and Upwards!

So close yet so far...

Erm...Yeh... that says it all. Missed it by three marks. Mostly put down to user interface problems. Understanding of the questions was difficult with the 'choice' of language used and the ambiguous answers. So Multiple guess questionnaires are not my forte. I'll stop typing this and study for the rest of the night and sit it again tomorrow. I cancelled my second flight this afternoon to study as there is nothing I could get out of the flight. It was hoped to be my first solo, but alas, not to be. So a flight tomorrow afternoon if I pass the second attempt and if I don't I think I'll take up cross stitching or embroidery instead of flying.

Eeeek!

Having just had a good flight its time to take the plunge. Just about to sit Aviation Law exam!! Results to follow...

The Spanish Inqusition...

Just a short splaff justnow as I'll be blogging later as I have two flights today and possibly my first written exam. Yesterday evening saw a momentus occasion which had been delay and delayed and delayed. My flight medical. My original plan was to do a Class 1 medical to ensure my health for a future in commercial flying however work commitments conspired against me getting to Gatwick where it would be conducted. A trip to Oz then delayed my Class 2 medical which along with a delay in sitting my Aviation Law exam, has stopped my
Soloing which I would have apparently done several hours flying ago.
Well it's done now and I have an exceptional bill of health including a session hooked up to a 12 lead ECG mapping my heart function and health. All spot on. So now things really 'get off the ground' with the flying. More to follow...

You spin me right round...

... Like a record player right round round round. Not an Indication of a laps in flying ability but more a reference to the skills I did yesterday with my Instructor Richard. After a rubbish flight on the 10th when I last flew with Richard (No fault of his, I was not in a receptive mode) I was keen to let him know his hard work, since the end of January when I started flying, had not gone to hell in a hand cart. To quote Monty Python "..I'm not dead yet...". Once again it was a fantastic day for flying and once again every man, his Donkey and Grandmother were up flying, so I was in full anticipation for a busy afternoon. But by the power of Grey Skull we stayed on the airfield to re visit Advanced Auto Rotations another day and focus on exercise 20 and 21 which takes Transitions and slow stop to hover to the next level of emergency stop from transitional flight using flaring to decrease speed then more 'Sporty' maneuvers much like you see in stunt movies. Well that is what it felt like for myself in the hot seat. It probably looked quite timid from outside the aircraft. The video shows it fairly well. I've tried a new mount for the camera in the form of the suction mount that comes with the Go-Pro Hero HD camera I'm using. It worked a treat. I can hang from my door frame using it so there is no risk of it coming loose even on the curved surface of the canopy. RESULT! After a few runs into wind to get used to transitional flight at low altitude (15 feet) and a slow progressive stop to a hover, we looked at emergency stops using a flare. To achieve this you drop the collective pull the cyclic and push the peddle to keep level, straight and at the same altitude. Quite tricky at my first few attempts with the constant worry about the risk of Vortex Ring developing (See earlier posts for a description). we then progressed onto down wind stops using a 30 degree turn and as you are almost heading back to wind you put in a flare much like the above to stop forward flight. this happens at about 25 foot, therefore a decrease in altitude once stopped is required. Should an engine failure happen at this height it could be 'emotional'. After a few goes I was getting the hang of it to the point we moved on to the next level of Flare, Turn, Flare much like the last maneuver only faster across the ground/through the air, so an initial flare is required to bleed the speed to a more manageable one, then level out prior to the turn and finish with another flare to the stop. Then once again a steady drop to normal hover height at about 4 foot. I was getting a little too comfortable with a couple of them by letting creep in a 40 degree angle of turn. Not intentional but I wasn't to worried about it in the sense of dangers but it was certainly lacking in finesse. All in all a good flight which we finished with some 'fine motor skills'  = more delicate hand eye coordination in the hover. A good way to finnish off the week. Now all I need to do is get my theory knowledge up to the same place my flying ability is at, and fast. I'm in danger of leaving myself behind and taking too long to pass than should be required. I've always been very practical in life and less theoretically directed. mostly as a result of, which I found out in the last couple years, being dyslexic. Thank God for spell checker! Having said that I now have a reason for things in my past but also more knowledge and resources to help myself get through the theory side of the training. Not easy in any shape or form but I am looking forward to the added challenge. So on that note, its off to the books.
Enjoy the video and there will be a few more posts this week after I have my Medical, a few flights and by the look of it a couple of exams. Eeek!

Cò an caora sin còmhla riut a chunnaic mi an-raoir?...

Who was that sheep I saw you with last night?...(Scottish Gaelic) Your answer would probably be 'Cha b'e sin caora, 'se sin mo chèile a bha innte!' That was no sheep, that was my spouse!

Anyhew, back to the world of flying. I had another flight today and This time I was flying with Chief instructor Gray Ellson. Going by the flying I have done to date I would have been flying solo a good few hours ago but alas, I haven't done my Pilot's Medical or my Aviation Law exam yet (Next week). Because of this Gary took me for a Pre SOlo flight. Yes I did say Solo, on my own, no one with me, empty but for one. The time is getting closer. God help us all. A message for the people of Bournemouth and Poole, I'll put a post here before I do my solo flights to give you a chance to visit family up country or maybe a day trip to Skegness while I'm flying.

With a good covering of cloud and a slight breeze, we set off from Bournemouth Helicopters to the HTA (see previous post for meaning). My take off was probably the best one I have done in easily ten flights. Once at the HTA Gary had me do some spot turns take off and landings, an engine failure in the hover and then we repeated those at the threshold of Runway 17 (disused runway) minus the engine failure. These are all pretty standard maneuvers and all of which I was happy with, however Gary was checking my checking. By that I mean he was making sure I was doing all the checks pre and mid flight. Little things like ensuring the taxi ways are clear or checking it is clear to the right hand side before you turn to the left (this is because your tail boom will swing that way). He had me do some across wind and down wind hover landings then we went on and did a couple of circuits. mid circuit he threw in a couple of auto rotations with a clearly defined area he wanted me to make for. My first attempt wasn't great as i wouldn't have made the landing area defined. The reason was I had not taken into account the wind direction. School boy error! Having said that my entering into auto rotation was fine which in the grand scheme of things is the most important part. get that wrong you do the whole 'bowling ball' thing. Second attempt was much better. 

As per usual my approaches are a bit high and a wee bit too fast. Later goes proved to be much better. We came in for a landing (which was spot on) then we went for another take off and a fly round the nearby rugby club and had a nosey at the games going on there. We then returned to the airfield with a much better approach and came in nice and steady to a hover taxi. Landing was good if not a bit rough at the edges compared to what I have been doing lately. All in all a very enjoyable flight and a vast improvement on my last one. More tomorrow weather permitting

For now this Oileanach Cuir air teicheadh is signing off...

Might as well be in French...

Donc là j'étais à mille pieds sans parachute. Ok not really relevant but it's not easy starting a new post with something different. I'm sure you'd agree it would beboring if it always started with "..Hello. Today I flew a helicopter again, blah blah blah..."
Today (Sunday 10th not Monday12th)was a late flight in the day starting at 3pm ish and finishing at 5pm ish. That time was spent with A bit of 'Master Chef does out back cooking at airpost' (another story for another time), a spot of theory then an flight lasting 1.1 hrs. The weather was lovely. 20 degrees with hardly 4 knots of wind. A perfect day to fly. Sadly every other pilot and his dog/wife/friends/kids/cat(aircraft cat?(you get a ships cat...)) being out taking advantage of the weather. Never seen the apron so empty and on top of all that never heard the radio so busy!
Richard very kindly suggested we go south of the airfield and a change scenery as the last 10 flights have been either circuits or north bound. Sadly today I was not totally in the fame of mind for proficient flyo g. My take off was a bit better than last few flights but I'm still struggling with the coms and getting the right phrases at the right time. Today was not helped but the sheer volume of traffic and also a change to the norm since making coms calls to ATC. No fault of Richards I might add. Just luck of the draw. A busy week at the coal face and a 7hr trip to Scarborough after the flight didn't help matters. (NB - I'm writing this in my hotel room 1:25am Monday having just arrived. Don't worry I'm not writing it while on the loo, even though that would be more time efficient!I digress..).
After a confusing start to cams we made our way south and bound for fields out towards Swanage and Wareham. Straight and level flight commenced without any major hitches... Well comms butive mentioned that already. Rubbish comms being a theme today. When we got to our area there were a number of aircraft converging on Bournemouth and passing our location. So with the radio going ten to the dozen and looking out for aircraft, I honestly found it hard to focus fully on what Richard was saying and demonstrating (sorry Richard, nothing personal). He demonstrated an advanced auto rotation (exercise 17) which develops in the a and allows greater range on the glide slope. A good skill when the choice of emergency landing might be trees, trees, water or distant cricket pitch. My attempt was scrappy and a late confused recovery. Yeh, really not there in spirit. Richard could see I wasn't on The ball so we returned to the air filed and did a quick 5 mins looking at exercise 20 which is like hover taxiing only a lot quicker and past transitional lift. That went ok and my return and landing were pretty good considering my lack of 'in the zone'. I recorded the flight so once I've edited it I'll put some small grabs of the good bits and the bits I didn't do sp well in. Sadly I can't get recording of the comms so you can't hear me bugger that up. Watch this space. I'll do it as soon as I'm not teaching up here. So from sunny Scarborough, I bid you adeau, Vol sûr et bonne chance

The Rambling Man...

Afternoon one and all, and what a day it is today. Not quite the perfect flying day, with 7 Knots wind, cloud base at 900 feet, a good covering and 30% chance of thunder later. The thunder bit not a problem as I was only flying this morning. Shame for everyone else though. As they say, 'the early bird catches the worm'.
I've just had about three weeks off from flying to go.. well, flying to be honest. Strange but true. Sadly this was not helicopter flying and I was far from in control as it was long haul to Australia and back. Give me a day in a  helicopter any day! I was to be honest worried that I would have forgotten a lot of the fine points of flying and lost the 'Feel' for it too. I wasn't supposed to be flying till next weekend but took the opportunity on my way back to Sunny Dorset to swing by Bournemouth Helicopters and see if there was any spaces. Much to my luck there was but at "sparrow's fart" o'clock.
It was a gentle introduction to committing aviation again, after the time off, with full controls, full comms to Bournemouth Air Traffic Control and a few auto rotations for good measure.... just to keep it simple seeing as I have been away from it for a while. A big thanks goes to Richard my instructor for 'Keeping it simple' and letting me find my footing again. High five by proxy Rich!
That being said it did actually go better than expected and better than even Richard expected. I'm still a bit miffed with my take offs as they are a bit scrappy but I've been told to go easy on my self. We did a few circuits to warm up then a few auto rotations mid circuit to keep me on my toes. Finishing off with a 'Fans off Approach' (which means engine failure practice autorotation approach - sounds fundamentally wrong the way its abbreviated!) from the circuit. This went exceptionally well. Or at least that is what Richard told me. I personally have no idea whether it was good bad or indifferent as I was not feeling quite in the 'Zone'. Did I tell you I was in Australia for three weeks? Nice place, full of Australians (not a bad thing I might add for the cynical amongst you). Anyhew, I digress in this brief account that is taking up the page already. If I had performed the approach as a pilot under a test situation I would have passed with 'flying'(sorry bad pun) colours. I have to take this on advice and try to repeat it to make sure it wasn't a fluke (it was!).
Sadly no video with this blog as I took the camera, turned it on and started to record but hadn't put the memory card in - Muppet! So i'll try editing the last video that I took and didn't post as a consolation/booby  prize.
Back to the Coal Face tomorrow but flying again, weather permitting, next sunday.
Safe flying one and all!