Circuits and Missed Approaches

 

April 30th's lesson was on Missed Approaches, along with some more circuit practice. With a northerly wind that day, we had a short taxi to runway 36. After completing the pre-takeoff checklist, I advanced the throttle to full smoothly and firmly – unlike other times where I hesitated (due to my unfamiliarity to the enormous engine power) and left it somewhere in the middle. At around 40 knots I slowly added back pressure to the control stick. A few seconds off the ground and I adjusted to maintain 70 knots climb speed. Flaps up in stages, and by 700ft AGL we were clean.

I commenced the turn onto crosswind leg. This time it was a left turn, unlike the right turns that were needed when Runways 18 and 15 were being used. I levelled off at 2000ft above sea level, and flew toward downwind leg.

We did a few circuits just to get back into the ‘swing of things’. The first landing I did was not bad. I kept the flare going longer than I previously did, which was better considering that on my last flight I had a habit of not flaring enough and performing a nose-wheel equivalent manoeuvre of a tail dragger three-point landing.

I gave a firm application of power for a go-around. The aircraft lifted off easily because of the trim, and I had to be careful not to let the speed drop too low, but once I reached climb speed I had trouble with the speed being too high. I retracted the flaps, making handling easier, and turned left onto crosswind once again.

After around three more circuits, with one particularly smooth landing, my instructor took over and demonstrated a missed approach – that is, an approach that’s gone missed. Once we were nearing the threshold he applied full power, and turned right. We then continued climbing like a normal takeoff.

Next was my turn. I flew a normal circuit and prepared for landing normally. But somewhere during final approach, my instructor said ‘Go around.’ I did just as he told me by applying full power and pitching up, before turning right off the runway centreline. 

The last landing was a glide approach, with a simulated engine failure in the circuit. I needed to shorten the downwind leg and turn onto final, but the landing itself was nicer than the others. 

At the end of the day, I was happy. My landings were improving and I was having better control of my plane. The main thing I probably need to work on though is controlling my angle of bank while in a turn. Normally a turn is made at 30 degrees. I probably did around 45 degrees.

After reviewing my track from the GPS, I found a great inconsistency in turning from upwind to crosswind. On downwind, I also had the habit of narrowing up to the base leg. A possible reason for this is that a nearby road that runs next to the runway is not lined up with the runway but looks like it is, creaing an effect that draws you towards it. Other than that, I was fine. 

Circuits

It has been almost two weeks since I last flew, because of windy conditions and the fact that my flight instructor had to leave for Germany in search of a new aircraft for the flight school (it's a small school).

But yesterday, skies were clear and winds were calm; perfect for flying (minus thermal activity).

Circuits are mostly rectangular paths that aircraft fly around an airfield, in a direction that depends on the direction of wind. However, at my airfield, the circuits are always flown to the west, meaning right turns when runway 18 and runway 15 are in use. Which they were that day.

This lesson was also exciting in the fact that it began my takeoff and landing practice. 28 litres of fuel in each tank – good to go. Pre-flight checks went off without a hitch. The only difficulty was setting my seat position – full forward – where it didn't want to slide into place. It took a few tries to get it to work.

Clear prop! Engine start. I added a fair bit of power and then brought it back again as we started rolling. The airfield buildings are situated close to next of runway 36's threshold - meaning we had to taxi the full length of the runway to get to the end.

Once we arrived and were holding short, the pre-takeoff check went smoothly. A few instruments were known to be dodgy, namely, the right fuel tank quantity indicator and the engine temperature indicator. The fuel indicator showed slightly less than what was actually in the tank, and the temperature indicator showed slightly higher than in reality.

After we lined up, my instructor began with a demonstration of a full circuit. I watched as he took off, retracted flaps, made a right turn, levelled out at 2000 feet above sea level, began pre-landing checks after turning on downwind, slowed down, added 15 degrees flaps and turned carby heat on while starting the descent on base leg, and add 30 degrees flaps with carby heat off on final.

He then talked me through his landing. Power controls height, pitch controls speed. A smooth touch of the mains followed. Then we added full power and gunned it down the runway for another go.

My turn. I made a climbing right turn after retracting the flaps. The circuit height came up quickly, making me stop climbing while continuing the turn – a manoeuvre which I had never tried. All was well after a level out on crosswind leg.

The real challenge started on downwind. Pre-landing checklists were completed using an acronym known as FIBS – Fuel, Instruments, Brakes, and Switches. I started drifting in a bit close to the runway because of a slight crosswind. I corrected, but I think I did too much. On base leg, after carby heat was put on, I brought the power back to idle and waited for my speed to drop before I began descending. Then I added 15 degrees flaps.

I saw I was coming in a bit high after turning onto final. I reduced power and pitched down slightly. Now I was coming in too low. It was especially concerning because of the tall trees planted near the threshold. Add power! Now I was too high. I reduced the power a little this time. It seemed to work. After we passed the threshold I arrested the descent, looked up along the runway and let the aircraft sink gently onto the grass...

THUD.

Okay, not so gentle. Add power and do it again!

On my second try, I finished climbing after I finished the turn, with made things easier. I think I turned too early though. Back on downwind and the same things happened again. On base I accidentally let the aircraft sink a little as I slowed down. I was supposed to wait for target airspeed, and then begin descending. No problem now. Add flaps and continue on.

This time it was an almost perfect approach, with a nice approach profile and the airspeed needle dead on the 60. Over the threshold, and I flared the aircraft. This time it was gentle. Time to go again.

After several circuits, I came in to land for a full stop. However, unlike the others, this landing was quite sloppy as I flared too much and 'ballooned'.

Back on the ground and under 10 knots, I turned off the runway and onto the taxiway. I checked clear left and right, and then taxied across the cross runway. As we taxied toward the fuel shed, my instructor praised me saying how each and every landing was perfect. No, not really. He explained how sometimes I came in either too high or low, and overcorrected, becoming too high or low on the other side. Which was the truth.

In the airfield building, my instructor explained to my dad that while I am making some progress, there is still a long way to go. No just with me, I mean, because everybody at this stage would still have a long way to go. After all, I've only just gotten 7.7 hours total. He said that if I was to take a break from flying, he would want me to be at least flying solo. If I could choose, I would never take a break from flying. But in reality, school usually comes in the way.

Outside there was a man waiting for his lesson which came after mine. But that man looked like he was almost seventy - and he was only up to his third lesson. I've been flying and I still haven't started driving yet. It's a shame some people think they are too old to do anything, let alone fly. But of course, anyone can fly at any age.

During the flight my phone was recording a GPS track, which I was able to export to a KML file. Hmmm, quite messy. Definitely needs work.

Wing-drop Stalls And Incipient Spins

Today's lesson was on Incipient Spins, or as I call them, A Great Way To Un-Eat Your Lunch, All Over The Aircraft Panel.

Pre-flight checks were all okay. As the wind was coming from the south-west, takeoff was to the south on Runway 18. This time I made the radio call again, and luckily didn't fail. The radio-transmit button on the control stick was oddly quite harder to press though. Ergonomics aside, we turned right and continued to the northern training area. I was given a bit of experience in navigating using charts as we were passing by some townships and another airfield. We were close to the cloud base, and I managed to catch a glimpse of a Boeing 747 descending behind us through the cloud. We kept well away, though.

The first thing we did once we arrived was a normal stall, just to get back into things after a week of not flying. Then I was shown two incipient spin stalls. However, the plane decided it wanted to be forgiving to us and the first attempt at stalling wasn't so successful. Subsequent wing-drop stalls needed a bit of rudder to keep going. The second time was more successful, and my stomach lurched as the plane nosed-down toward the ground, one wing lower than the other. A swift recovery followed. This time I was given a go, and I sort of managed to get it right, mostly. Ailerons neutral, pitch down, opposite rudder, wait for airspeed, nose up, and full throttle once the nose passes the horizon. That seems to be it. Oh, and don't forget the carby heat (like I did).

A few more stalls, and then I was shown a spiral dive and how the ailerons can actually worsen the situation, keeping the plane in the dive. I really hope that these two things never happen to me in the future, unless they're intentional. Accidental stalls mostly happen close to the ground, which was proven as a dangerous situation as our stalls sometimes make us lose almost 1000 feet of altitude.
Do the wrong thing in a spin, and you hit the ground. Do the wrong thing in a spiral dive, and you rip the wings off, then hit the ground.

I was given the task of navigating again as we made it back to the airfield. I am getting better at it. Probably the easiest things to spot are townships, which stick out against their surroundings because they are usually large squares of dense trees and houses on the ground, surrounded by farms with a lot of grass.

At the 5 mile mark, I made another radio call. I still needed to practise before I transmitted, because I would always leave out something like our altitude or the word 'inbound'. We joined the circuit on the downwind leg, then flew over the top on a crosswind leg, before turning right onto base leg. Then things got serious again as we lined up for the final. Flaps were down at 30 degrees, and the landing gear was down. I suppose the landing gear would always be down though, as we were in a fixed-gear.
There was a slight crosswind, and my flight instructor had to help me a bit on this landing. I haven't officially started learning to land yet, although I could do it without resulting in a crash. The flare went smoothly although I do think we hit the ground just a little bit rough. This was an improvement from last week though, as I had apparently landed on all three wheels at touchdown, instead of just the mains. A third of the way down the runway we turned off onto the taxiway, and slowly taxied toward the fuel shed. This aircraft burns 14 litres of fuel an hour, and at the start of the flight we had 50 litres in our tanks.

During this flight, my Android phone was running an app that uses GPS to track my movements and trace them on a map. Using this I can see my altitude and groundspeed along various parts of the flightpath. A pretty awesome thing to have considering it is free. After I arrived home I exported the file to my computer and opened it up in Google Earth, which displayed the flightpath I made on satellite imagery. It should be useful in helping me get orientated with the area.

I have had 7 flights prior to this one, covering straight and level flights, effects of controls, climbs and descents, turns, stalls, and climbing and descending stalls. These flights add up to 5.8 hours.
Add today's flight, and the total is 6.8 hours for my logbook.
The next lesson we'd be flying circuits, and hopefully takeoff and landing practise will come soon after.