Welcome One and All to my Blog. This space on the World Wide Web will be used to pass on my progress through my Helicopter Flight Training. It will begin with my Private Pilots License and hopefully anything that follows on from there. Please feel free to leave comments or ask questions. I'll keep it up to date as much as possible
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!
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.
I think this just about sums up the whole flying thing better than this whole blog and any books ive read to date on the subject -
There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying.
The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
Pick a nice day, it suggests, and try it.
The first part is easy.
All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.
That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground.
Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.
Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.
One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.
It is notoriously difficult to prise your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.
If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinity, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.
This is a moment for superb and delicate concentration.
Bob and float, float and bob.
Ignore all considerations of your own weight and simply let yourself waft higher.
Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful.
They are most likely to say something along the lines of, 'Good God, you can't possibly be flying!'
It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.
Waft higher and higher.
Try a few swoops, gentle ones at first, then drift above the treetops breathing regularly.
DO NOT WAVE AT ANYBODY.
When you have done this a few times you will find the moment of distraction rapidly becomes easier and easier to achieve.
You will then learn all sorts of things about how to control your flight, your speed, your manoeuvrability, and the trick usually lies in not thinking too hard about whatever you want to do, but just allowing it to happen as if it was going to anyway.
You will also learn about how to land properly, which is something you will almost certainly cock up, and cock up badly, on your first attempt.
There are private flying clubs you can join which help you achieve the all-important moment of distraction. They hire people with surprising bodies or opinions to leap out from behind bushes and exhibit and/or explain them at the critical moments. Few genuine hitch-hikers will be able to afford to join these clubs, but some may be able to get temporary employment at them.
— Douglas Adams, 'The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy,' which I first heard as a teenager on BBC radio 4 in 1996
"...Right from the very start, my life has been strange... I must have missed all the rehearsals..." anon
Today was a glorious day...well at least the wind speed was glorious at only 4 knots when I arrived at Bournemouth Helicopters. My instructor for the day was Carl and he had a plan up his sleeve. That would literally be under his armpit as he wears a short sleeve shirt so I'll stick with the analogy/metaphor/simile and move on with the story. Getting off subject a little there. I have been accused of changing conversation half way through the Mediterranean on a Cruise ship and it was very nice if not a little on the hot side.
Helicopters Helicopters Helicopters... Ah yes, where was I?....
The big plan was to take a flight together up to Fordingbridge north of Bournemouth Airport leaving the zone (aka controlled airspace) turning round and coming back into the zone (still aka controlled airspace). Then on landing I would go up as a solo pilot and do exactly the same again to gain some more solo flights and to get further from the airfield. Best laid plans of mice and men...
Sadly as we went up together there were a few clouds bumbling around dropping tones of water on quiet little Dorset villages. Initially not a problem with only 4 knots of wind, however on our return leg one particularly large deep and wet cloud was powering past the others right over the airfield. As we arrived at BournemouthAirport the heavens opened and that was that. A few quick stops on the HTA and a return to Bournemouth Helicopters saw a tea break and a weather check. Such a down pour was not expected or forecast so now it was a case of sit it out and wait.
After a three hour wait the weather cleared and the cloud base lifted enough for me to go soloing. This was it. All on my lonesome! No Instructor getting out while spooled up on the HTA and leaving me to. It was a case of on you go. So on I went. I did the aircraft checks out side then climbed in and strapped my self in and began the interior checks. Started the engine with all the necessary safety power checks and then made my call to the tower requesting clearance to lift to the north bound for Fordingbridge.
The all clear was given and I raised the collective and taxied to the HTA and then North .
After a couple minutes I got a call from Bournemouth ATC handing me over to Bournemouth RADAR. “…Bournemouth Radar 119.475 G-LC…” and from there a sign in with Bournemouth RADAR using “…Bournemouth RADAR, Student G-TSLC…”. Confirmation of basic service was achieved and reporting leaving the zone accomplished and from there it was up to Fordingbridge, do a lap of honour then return for tea and medals. The coms over the radio were the busiest I’ve heard them making reporting to RADAR a bit laboured. Throughout the flight I had a oneness with the aircraft and my surroundings. It sounds all very melodramatic and wishy washy fluffy clouds nonsense, however I can honestly say I’ve not felt so relaxed and comfortable in a situation where it could all go wrong very quickly and very dramatically. All the troubles in the world ebbed away. On a whole I do feel the most relaxed while flying, which is obviously a good thing. To add to the surreal moment i spotted a worker feeding the fish in a fish farm from the walkways that run out over the water. The photographer in me was taken by this sight as I could just make out his arm moving but the most prominent things I could see were the rings the food pellets made as they hit the water and the fish coming up to the surface to eat them. It all seemed to happen very slowly. Very picturesque.
On I bumbled (with determination and a professional mind I might add. I make it out like I was merrily doing as I pleased with flagrant disregard to aviation law and airmanship) back towards Ringwood lakes for a re-join to controlled airspace. I could not enter the controlled zone come hell or high water until I had clearance from Bournemouth RADAR. This was proving to be impossible due to the increadibly high volume of aircraft taking off and landing, entering and exiting the zone. There were so many that for two Minutes Bournemouth RADAR were taking call signs and saying standby to them all, then at a gap going through the list and completing the coms. To stop myself being in breach of aviation law I was forced to orbit just north of Ringwood lakes for about 10 minutes till I got a gap in the coms. However to add insult to injury I got asked to standby as they were doing a shift change. So I waited a little longer and heard in this time a new voice going through the aircraft in the skies making sure she had the correct information as to their intentions and eventually she got through to me and gave me clearance to re-join. I take my hat off to ATC and RADAR controllers as they have a tough job. My final leg to the airport went really smoothly and I returned to Bournemouth Helicopters and let down and shut down with ATC. “..G-LC, shut down at Bournemouth helicopters, many thanks for your help today...” “...LC all copied, have a good day...”. A really nice end to a very enjoyable flight. Even though the coms were uber busy they went well and I feel a lot more confident now on the radio.
ETFtOO = Enigma Tales From the Obsidian Order
Just had a comment from a guy called Mark (see comment below) who has found my Blog and is doing the same as myself. Learning to fly helicopters that is, not random ranting about poetry and science...although they are strangely linked... I digress... He has kindly sent across his blog and I challenge you all to have a gander. It makes compelling reading and has a familiarity that that i recognise oh so well. The flying malarkey is one funky mother of a subject!
Here is his blog - http://user5850040.wordpress.com/
Right back to studying for my Nav exam and trying to write back dated blogs for the three flights I'm behind on. Before that I must self-flagellate and wear my barbed wire garter in penance for not keeping up to date with the blog.
Safe flying in the mean time!
Friday, 16 September 2011
03.09.11 Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Hmmm don't I know it! It has been the bane of my flying life to date. it has held back my solo flights for almost 15 hrs worth of flying meaning I have to squeeze them in now at the end. I have found a useful site though that shows weather RADAR over the UK (Sorry for my non UK followers). Its called 'Raintoday?'. So the day went like this, rain rain rain, low clouds rain, no rain, but still low clouds. But what the heck, I'm neither sugar nor salt, I won't dissolve! at least that is what my Mum told me for many years to get me out of the house and out of her hair. With only 900 feet to Cloud Base and only 7 knots of wind the only thing we could do was 'play on the airfield'. We had a good go at Double angle approaches which does exactly what it says on the tin. you approach from two angles the initial being high and shallow then transferring into a steeper angle to the area of landing. This is a key skill for confined space landing. The next was the HOGE approach (High Out of Ground Effect). Essentially what it says, you start High above the Landing zone (LZ) and slowly reduce your height till you eventually, and gently, land. The assosiated risks with this are you may not have enough power to abort the approach depending on weight, atmospherics, altitude or even the way your downdraft is affected by the surrounding obstacles. Always a good idea to mind out how much power you need to hover and also how high you can hover before not being able to climb anymore, bearing in mind not to go above the maximum power limitations for your aircraft. In this case my Instructor Dave got me to limit my power to 27 inches manifold pressure and we climbed till we stopped at about 100 foot above the ground. this we conducted on the airfield before going slightly off the airfield to the neighboring woods to nestle ourselves in a small space. because we had done this check we were confident that should we have to abort the approach from HOGE without any issues. The hardest part of this maneuver is not being able to see exactly what is below and only using reference points ahead and to either side. Having said that before making any confined area approach it is prudent (stupid not to do) to do a couple orbits of the area at around 500 feet and then again at 300 before making your approach. This enables you time to spot anyone or anything (cows, cars, crows, cables, cabbages etc (not just things that begin with 'C')) moving into the area which would require a go around or to abort the approach. As we did our orbit I could just make out a trailer through the trees so we did an extra couple 'laps of honor' to make sure it was not being used and no one near before going in. Once in and having done practice on the airfield first, we did a towering take off out of the area and round for another go. All in all a very useful and enjoyable exersize. It pulled together consolodated my real world flying and also my Sim flying skills. Also on the airfield we did some more Zero-Zero and Run-on landings which all went really well. The finnal thing we did prior to doing confined space was limited power take offs. Apart from the weather it was a very enjoyable flight. Cheers Dave!
33.5hrs flying at this point, 1hr of which is solo
...no, not down in Alcapulco. That was loco not solo!
"I was already beginning to realize that the only way to conduct oneself in a situation where bombs rained down and bullets whizzed past, was to accept the dangers and all the consequences as calmly as possible. Fretting and sweating about it all was not going to help." ‘Roald Dahl - Going Solo’.
By the grace of God alone there were no bullets or bombs raining down over Bournemouth this weekend however there was just cause to sweat a fret. Today saw another set of flights after a break of about four weeks. Only one word to describe the break in flying - Brutal! So once again after miserable weather and also cancelled flights due to the Bournemouth airshow, I’m back in the saddle.
While mentioning the airshow, a tragic event happened when Flt Lt Egging’s Hawk T1 Red Arrows display team aircraft crashed moments after doing a fly-by of Bournemouth airport, prior to landing for the day. Results as to the cause of the crash are a long way off with Military Air Crash Investigators inspecting the wreckage. I'm sure I can speak for all aviators by saying our heart felt sympathy and thoughts are with Flt Lt Egging’s Wife and family and also his colleagues in the RAF.
Todays flights were to say the least monumental...and a bit mental on its own. The conditions were in now shorter terms, perfect. After a thorough A check of the aircraft, myself and my Instructor Carl set off to do a few circuits north of tha airfield. After three circuits back to back with Carl 'observing' (he siad he would say nothing and let me get on with it), we landed on the hard at the end of taxi way Tango and he got out. his parting words before heading off for a coffee were, "you've got till half ten so go and have a play and do what you like". Carl is Northern (don't hold it against him) so after translating the previous statement it was obviously read as - go and do perfect circuits and perfect landings as best you can staying away from everything and everyone and not breaking anything and be back and landed by half ten. "Wilco" I chirped with a hint of glee and if I'm perfeectly truthful a larger dolop of 'Holy crap!'. Carl casualy walked off into the distance to a waiting brew, not looking back and conffident that I would do as crypticly requested. 'Like a Swan' I thought. Calm and gracefull and not perturbed on the surface but going like the clappers underneath! I hope he didn't worry too much. After getting into the hover, checking T's &P's (Temperatures and Pressures) were in the green (Showing green on the guages - Green = good Red = Uber Bad) no warning lights and performed a spot turn to ensure there was no other traffic on the ground or air that would interfere with my moment, I eased the cyclic forward and comitted to translational lift. The first thing that struck me was how heavy Carl weighed. Now he's not the tallest of blokes and isn't carrying excess weight but he must have lead feet as when i lifted the collective a fraction I shot up like a rocket. (only teasing Carl! I'll be paying for that comment for hours to come).
The circuit went really well with only one disturbing thing being the fact that the theme tune to '64 Zoo lane', a kids cartoon, was going through my head through the whole flight till i shut down the aircraft at 10:30. My first aproach to the HTA was a little high so I ran on into the open space beyond instead of wrestling her down and risking Ring Vortex. Second Circuit was as good as the first with my aproach, if I do say so myself, absolutley spot on. I could have landed her on a 50p piece. the third circuit also was good and the second landing went well although my aproach was a little shallow but not unacceptable. Once in the hover I checked my watch and I had 3 mins to spare so a quick call to bournemouth tower to request taxi to bourmouth helicopters and a short hover taxi later, I was shutting down ready for a break till the second flight. All in all a very very enjoyable flight that went better than expected. Four more solo hours to go!
Flight 2 Well fortunatlely we did the solo in the morning as the wind had picked up from 7 knots to 12 by the time we got out for the second flight of the day. We headed out to the north and climbed to 2400 feet to do some Advanced Autorotations. We limited ourselfves at 2400 feet as Solent controled airspace is at 2500. The weather was starting close in with rain clouds building. The clouds were very localised and the showers well defined underneath them. Towering columbs of water bimbling across the land. We could skirt round them with no issue. It looked very impressive. HASEL checks - Height - suffisicent Area - sloping, obstructions, people, cattle Secure - no loose objects in cockpit Engine - T's and P's in the green, no warning lights Look out - other aircraft ahead, behind, left and right and above and below When we got to a suitble large flat and clear area we started having a ply with autorotations. Starting at 60 knotsIAS and performing a standard auto, then onto 70 knotsIAS and seeing the distance change we could achieve. Shortly followed by 40 knots IAS. I've stated IAS (Indicated Air Speed) deliberately on each as the last auto we did was showing 25 knots IAS, however we were deffinatey at zero knots across the ground, if not a little backwards, indicating the wind at 2000 to 2400 feet was stronger than the 12 knots we left in. We headed back to the airfield to do a couple of engine off's in the hover, which went well and then back to Bournemouth Helicopters for 'Tea and Medals'. A very enjoyable and informative day. Roll on the next session!
