Lesson 34, Nav
A short report tonight..
Today I had a flight after work, a solo navigation exercise to Fordingbridge via Whitchurch. The navigation went very smoothly and I found time to practice just some general aircraft handling, the conditions today were quite bumpy and hazy due to the high pressure area sitting directly on top of the south east of the country so this gave me an opportunity to practice mainting my heading and altitude in less than perfect conditions. This practice went well so on the return leg from Fordingbridge I practiced just different power settings and attitudes. I find by setting actual targets during the flight gave me a chance to be critical of my own flying and to achieve improvement.
I had hoped to get more radio experience today however both radar services I wanted to speak to were temporarily out of action, therefore I amused myself by telling traffic in the area that Farnborough Radar or Boscombe Radar was not operational when they attempted to contact them. Because I had no Flight Information Service I set squawk of 7000 (VFR) and just reported my position, altitude and intentions at various intervals to Farnborough Traffic.
I arrived back at Blackbushe after around an hours flying and after gaining rejoining instructions carried out an overhead join, unfortunately I didn't see another aircraft on downwind and I cut inside of him. I reported downwind the moment I finished turning, then I hear "GOLF WHISKY CHARLIE is downwind with Katana in sight" said in a distinct spanish accent. At that point I figured out.. oops I probably have just cut in front of my instructor.
I landed and afterwards apologised to Antonio and his student for jumping in front of them, for some reason I just didn't see em. No harm done fortunately but I must be more vigilant in future.
Just before I departed today I went back to my car to leave some gear behind, however in doing so I managed to lock my car keys in the boot of the car (DOH!). Once back at Blackbushe I had to call my wife and ask her to come over with the spare set of keys, which she did.
After debriefing a jet arrived (Cessna Citation) the pilot of which was a former instuctor at Blackbushe, I had the opportunity to talk with him briefly about the aircraft and also take a look inside the cockpit. Very very nice aircraft.
Not long after, Antonio invited me out for a beer with some of the other instructors. We headed down to a local pub and sat outside in the garden, drinking beer and talking aviation/swopping funny stories. Good way to end a good day.
Today I had a flight after work, a solo navigation exercise to Fordingbridge via Whitchurch. The navigation went very smoothly and I found time to practice just some general aircraft handling, the conditions today were quite bumpy and hazy due to the high pressure area sitting directly on top of the south east of the country so this gave me an opportunity to practice mainting my heading and altitude in less than perfect conditions. This practice went well so on the return leg from Fordingbridge I practiced just different power settings and attitudes. I find by setting actual targets during the flight gave me a chance to be critical of my own flying and to achieve improvement.
I had hoped to get more radio experience today however both radar services I wanted to speak to were temporarily out of action, therefore I amused myself by telling traffic in the area that Farnborough Radar or Boscombe Radar was not operational when they attempted to contact them. Because I had no Flight Information Service I set squawk of 7000 (VFR) and just reported my position, altitude and intentions at various intervals to Farnborough Traffic.
I arrived back at Blackbushe after around an hours flying and after gaining rejoining instructions carried out an overhead join, unfortunately I didn't see another aircraft on downwind and I cut inside of him. I reported downwind the moment I finished turning, then I hear "GOLF WHISKY CHARLIE is downwind with Katana in sight" said in a distinct spanish accent. At that point I figured out.. oops I probably have just cut in front of my instructor.
I landed and afterwards apologised to Antonio and his student for jumping in front of them, for some reason I just didn't see em. No harm done fortunately but I must be more vigilant in future.
Just before I departed today I went back to my car to leave some gear behind, however in doing so I managed to lock my car keys in the boot of the car (DOH!). Once back at Blackbushe I had to call my wife and ask her to come over with the spare set of keys, which she did.
After debriefing a jet arrived (Cessna Citation) the pilot of which was a former instuctor at Blackbushe, I had the opportunity to talk with him briefly about the aircraft and also take a look inside the cockpit. Very very nice aircraft.
Not long after, Antonio invited me out for a beer with some of the other instructors. We headed down to a local pub and sat outside in the garden, drinking beer and talking aviation/swopping funny stories. Good way to end a good day.
posted by Chris @ Friday, September 02, 2005
2 Comments:
At Tuesday, September 06, 2005 4:52:00 am,
Flyinkiwi said…
It's real embarrassing when you don't see someone for whatever reason. I guess I am spoilt operating out of Class D airspace because you continually get traffic advisories telling you where other aircraft are (even if sometimes the locations given are wildly inaccurate). :)
At Tuesday, September 06, 2005 3:21:00 pm,
Chris said…
Yeah it is embarrasing, also I think whilst Blackbushe where I train is a good airfield it would have been a real benefit to train out of a controlled airport. Blackbushe has a tower but is advisory rather than controlled. I am now having to learn dealing with clearances quite late on in my training rather than right towards the start.
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