Flying again

Hi all,

Since I got back from Aus, it really has just been non stop. I thought I would have a busy time ahead of me but often it seems like I don’t have a spare hour in the day!

At the weekend, seeing as my whole family was actually in the same place for a change, we decided to take off to the Gower in Wales for a couple of nights as a family. We were due to camp for the two nights but typical dad, he packed the wrong tent so we ended up grabbing a cheap hotel for the first night and buying another small tent the day after. I love it down at the Gower as it is just so pretty and on the last day of our short but sweet stay we walked up over Rhossili Downs overlooking the beach, to Rhossili village which took an hour or so and then walked back along the beach which was lovely. We used to go there every year but as we’ve all been so busy over the last few we haven’t been there for 3 years. It was so good to go back.

I’ve also been getting back into my flying lessons with Cabair since returning which has been just superb. I was a little rusty at first as I hadn’t flown for 6weeks but I got right back into it no problem. My last lesson with Liam was really great fun as we were practicing forced landings. Obviously not doing them for real I should add! We would fly up to 3000ft and then put the engine into idle so it’s just ticking over. I would then bring the aircraft onto it’s optimum glide angle and speed which is 75knots and then turn the nose into the wind to give us a little more time.

Looking around I would pick a suitable field, then do a little lap around it keeping the field just at the edge of my wing and then line up to glide in on final. We wouldn’t drop too low in altitude as we were just training but I wonder if any farmers questioned if we were genuinely going to land in their fields! I’d apply full power and climb away trimming the aircraft at the same time to make it easier on the controls.

Over the last few lessons, I’ve also been doing more and more circuits to seriously ingrain them into my mind. I’ve learnt how to do a glide approach and also how to do a flapless approach. They’re all pretty different! Gliding onto the runway is very interesting as it helps me learn really how to reduce speed and height effectively to come down onto the runway. At around 600ft of altitude whilst still on base leg I’d cut the engine and then begin a steady turn towards the runway trimming the aircraft to glide down at 75knots. If I feel like we’re too high, I‘ll slow the plane down to help lose some height but still maintain a good 70knots minimum. I’ll bring the flaps in as necessary pointing the nose at the numbers on the runway. And just as the nose comes over them I’ll level out the aircraft, and then let the plane find the runway herself whilst just gliding over it.

A flapless approach is pretty different, as instead of flying down at quite an angle toward the runway, one has to approach the runway much more level as the speed of the plane has to be at around 80knots or so. Surprisingly I’ve found these landings very smooth and they have been some of my best.

I can’t wait until my next lesson when we’ll be trying a few new things.

Mike