Ski's Flying Blog - February 2006
last updated 05 Mar 06
This blog is an ongoing account of my flying career. The opinions expressed within do not necessarily represent those of Cabair, BCUC or OFT.
27 Feb 06 - Navigation & Rocket Racing
Today was generally a good day. Having sat the Navigation PPL exam for the first time, I scored 100%! Nobody was more surprised than me, and what's more the people taking the exam with me passed, as did another classmate with Air Law. As some of those people were on their third try (and a forth would involve a trip to CAA HQ in Gatwick!) they were as chuffed as I am.
In other news......suborbital rocket spacecraft could (and that is probably a big could!) be racing in a few years. The Rocket Racing League is intended to promote personal spaceflight. The first races should take place in October 2006, in the USA. The racers cost $1 million, and are intended to be capable of 1,500lb of thrust, reaching 280kts. The first races will be "Tier 1" (i.e. normal air racing - but with rockets) and in the future "Tier 2" races are planned, which will be suborbital.
Ultimately the plan is to hold "Tier 3" races - which will involve flights around the Earth, or a significant portion of it. Heady stuff!
Back to Top
Google Earth, the 3D satellite image viewer, has gotten better, thanks to Mr Lloyd Bailey, who has created GE files that allow the viewing of the UK's (and other national) airspace.
Here's what our local training area (Denham) looks like (Denham's zone is the one to the north-west of Northolt). Bearing in mind that the file is not official, and obviously should not be used to flight plan in place of charts, etc etc. it appears that this could be a very useful tool - especially in visualising the controlled airspace in South-West England. Bearing in mind the horror stories I hear as a PPL student, about private pilots who bust zones, incurring large fines and a loss of license, I appreciate being able to "see" the airspace safely (and legally) available.
The UK airspace file can be downloaded here (right-click and select "Save Target As" and then open with GE).
On the way back to uni (from Wiltshire) early this morning, the weather looked great! - no clouds, no winds. However...once we got to Denham, it was quite obvious that no first lesson on circuits was going to be flown today! The students already up, doing circuit consolidation, were quite definite on that point.
I did spot a DA-42 Twin Star taxiing in though - it almost made up for the lack of a flight! Almost.
We also found out that the Nav exam has been put back two weeks to allow the people who've taken it twice - and failed twice - to get more revision in over Reading Week (Not me! I hasten to add - I decided to do the revision before attempting the exam).
Having been very conscientous during Neil's
19th birthday celebrations last night in the Litten Tree (I limited myself to a
single pint of Guiness!), I was slighty irritated when I was told upon arriving
at Denham Airfield that the winds were out of limits for circuit training, as I
had finished my stall lessons last time. Seji decided to carry out Virun's stall
training, and I would spend the entire flight in the back.
I had a bit of a surprise when Seji asked me
to give the briefing for stalling! It turned out to be a good idea however, as
it was valuable revision for me, with a little prompting from Seji.
We took what seemed like an intermediable
time to complete checks and get airborne, but then I probably take just as long
to work through the checklists at this stage. Once airborne and heading towards
Milton Keynes, Seji and Virun proceeded to carry out HASELL checks - but by this
time, Virun's stomach had caught up with him, and he was feeling decidely
queasy! He was promptly supplied with a sick bag, and Seji took control and flew
the aircraft back to Denham. Once on the ground, I asked if I could go up - not
for circuits, as the winds were still not co-operating, but maybe to try using
radio navaids? Seji was intially surprised (as this lesson normally took place
much further on in the PPL syllabus) but as I was currently revising for my
Navigation exam, he agreed (I could also try out my new yoke clipboard!). We
duly took off again (the winds making the take-off roll and climbout
interesting) and proceeded to track onto the Bovingdon VOR. Having done so, we
IDed another NDB, and tracked towards it - convienietally the winds conspired to
produce an exact 10 degree difference in our heading and track! When we turned
north to track back onto yet another beacon, the wind again provided a practical
lesson by being almost dead headon. Seji was pleased as it was almost an idea
demonstration of how to judge wind using the ADF.
We then tracked back onto the Bovingdon VOR
and back into Denham - by this time the sun was almost directly down Runway 24 -
so much so that on finals I couldn't make out the tarmac. Asking Seji to take
control, he was strangely silent and appeared to adjusting his seatbelt! I was
mystified, until after we'd landed he told me I had inadvertetly unbuckled his
seatbelt when I was trimming! No harm was done, and Seji saw the funny side
(much to my relief!).
06 Feb 06 - 3-month LASIK check - My eyes are too
resilient I went for my 3-month
check up at Moorfields today (I've had LASIK surgery, see previous posts) to be
told that me eyes have almost healed back to their original state! Apparently it
might be a computer reading glitch - still, since re-treatment is about the same
risk at no extra cost, I might well have another go at it. I don't normally reproduce
jokes/quotes/etc, but this one made me chuckle - though I've found that my
coursemates to a student will find it hilarous, whilst non-fliers are
mystified.
Reproduced from PPRuNe - http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=208544&page=2: radar: Spitfire G-xx squawk 1234
20 Feb 06 - UK Airspace in Google Earth
15 Feb 06 - Crosswinds out of Limits
spit: Sorry sir, negative
transponder.
radar (puzzled, watching 7000 leaping across screen exactly
where Spit says he is, at Spit speeds & same level): Are you sure you don't
have a transponder? If not, there's traffic very close by, same height &
speed.
Spit: hang on, I'll look...(lengthy pause).
Spit (very
surprised): Bloody hell, I've found one! What was that squawk again?
