Whoops - been a while since I’ve updated ye olde flying blog - will endeavour to do it more often.

So, since the last post, I’ve been happily ensconsed as a member of the Insch Flying Group, bimbling around in ZV the trusty C172. I’ve managed to log about 15/16 hours in her over the last year and a bit but cleverly forgot to get and hour with an instructor to get revalidated by experience, so had to do a mini skills test up at Inverness earlier this week to get my ticket signed off until 2010. A word on that later…

Highlights with ZV so far have included popping down to Dundee for the day - I had intended to go on to Fife (Glenrothes) and have a look around, but I had a fouled plug which I just could’nt clear. Actually - it was very fouled - so much so that I thought I’d dropped a mag. Thankfully, being at Dundee, Tayside Aviation (who maintain her) had a quick look, swapped out the plug and I headed north after an hour in the sun.

Inverness is a great airport to fly into/out of - and no circuit landing fees for club aircraft - happy days! Did 1.30 in Highland Flying School’s 172, G-BCYR on Monday then planned a route from Inverness to Grantown to Huntly for a skills test on the Tuesday morning - the weather was fantastic - a light wind (although 230/25 at 5k) and snow covered mountains in the distance. Did the usual stalls etc - the stall warner was U/S which made for a rather more developed recovery than planned, but good practice none the less. I find the 172 particularly difficult to stall - it’s so stable that to get it to stall I need to get the power off completely and get the yoke all the way back into my chest. I certainly can’t do it one handed - needs both and sometimes a bit of a help from the RHS to get enough back pressure! Recovery from the warner is easier as that occurs much earlier than the full stall. It’s also a good plan not to use too much trim to help - when you fire the power on after lowering the nose, the pitch up with the trim still fully set can be quite unsettling. I’ve got that on my list as something I should spend a few hours with an instructor just getting nailed - I’m too much of a wuss near the stall, I need to be a little less aprehensive and more positive with the recovery - but after 2/3 it all comes together.

Took full advantage of the circuit up in Inverness with zero fees - got 8 landings in with a variety of configurations including a low-level bad weather circuit. I’ve done one of those at ABZ informally when I took off into a low cloudbase (when ATIS was reporting SCT 1500 - but it was more lik 700 max) - but good fun - keep 10 degrees of flap down the whole way, fly it really really tight with the airfield in sight at 80kts all the way round, and turn base abeam the numbers with a rate one turn all the way to the runway - worked out pretty well seeing as I’ve never really done one, and a great way to demonstrate that if it does all go pear shaped, I should be able to get her back in.

The atmosphere is great up at Inverness also - something totally missing at Aberdeen (along with any signs of life, instructors etc) - I will definatley do my ICMR at Inverness if I can a) afford it and b) get the time off work etc - I’m sure I can sort something out however. Better start reading up for the exam in case I do want to do it sometime.

Just trying to get some time in ZV now off the back of YR - was aiming for this weekend but she’s already booked. Will try and get some time in her next week - might take her back up to Inverness, or just go for a bimble. Wait and see what the wx is up to!

Had a very pleasant flight in ZV last night being shown round the aircraft by one of the groups long term members as a sort of meet & greet/informal check-out.

It’s certainly a nice aircraft, and first impressions are that it’s smooth and has that little more weight behind it than a 152. When I did previous XCs in the 152’s it always felt like you were in a little plane and if you got 80kts out of it you were lucky. The 172 is far more substantial but with very similar handling apart from it’s ability to float. The “picture” out the window is also a little different - mostly because the seats work as opposed to club aircraft where they’ve been trashed and only sit in the lowest position necessitating a cushion.

Got to Insch airstrip late due to the horrendous traffic in Aberdeen (it’ll never get better probably even with the WPR), and met the airstrip owner briefly and the group member and went to check out the aircraft. Virtually the same as a 152, just a little larger.

We headed off out of rwy 31, up into ground effect then a nice climb out at around 73kts, avoiding various farms owned by the NIMBY brigade. Up over Rhynie then spoke to Aberdeen App for a FIS. Did some general handling, had a play, did a few set ups for landings using fields (however I don’t think I did as well on those as I might have done as they were mostly on hills - but if it had been a forced I could have got it in). Checked out the GPS unit and did a steep turn on the way back - all good.

Coming back in to Insch the secret seems to be to nail 60kts well in advance and get the flaps set up. We did a 40 degree flap short field into it, and once the power off the 172 drops like a stone with that much flap on. Seemingly 30 deg is the norm but it was good to see.

And that was that. Lovely night for flying and hopefully my flying skills (or lack there of) passed muster and I’ll be allowed to join. After all it was the first time I’d flown from the RHS, but to be honest I quite enjoyed it, and would’nt mind getting some more RHS time in at some point.

If all goes well, we’ll head up to Dornoch one day and thrash the circuit out there free from any complaining neighbours! So fingers crossed!

Unfortunately, the 152 which I did most of my training in back here was destroyed in a crash on the 1st August. Luckily the pilot, an instructor, walked away unscathed. He did a pretty fantastic job considering where it came down. Engine failure on the climb to get higher over the hills. Anyway, here’s the precis from el Beeb:

Light aircraft crash pilot unhurt

The aircraft was en route to Perth when it came down in the Ochil Hills
A man has escaped unhurt after his light aircraft crash-landed in the Ochil Hills, north of Tillicoultry.
The two-seater, single-engine aircraft came down at about 0845 BST on Tuesday.

The pilot, who was the only person on board, had been flying the DV 20 Cessna 152 from Cumbernauld to Perth when the incident happened. Police said they had been alerted after the man, who was an “experienced pilot”, telephoned air traffic control to say he was all right. The aircraft was expected to be removed later in the day.

A pic of the stricken aircraft is: here

Two weeks after I get signed off to fly their 152, Flight Academy Scotland shut down in Aberdeen. Great.

So now, my only option is a Warrior with a newly revitalised Grampian Flying Club - so more conversion/checkout - but worse , is it ever going to be availiable to rent seeing as they only have one of them?

Time to look through the classifieds, or move to the US, get a house on a fly-in community, and find a cheap Cirrus R20.

Nuts. I must have picked the worst place in Britain for GA. Lots of uncontrolled airspace and lovely scenery, but no bloody aircraft and an airport which charges £18 per bump. It’s time to either buy a microlight or a field….

pfffft!

Back in the skies today with the intention of gettin signed off for hire on the club C152. Headed off around midday out via the Peterhead lane up to Longside airfield outside Peterhead. It’s marked as disused on the charts but the runway is serviceable and they do quite a bit of microlighting out of there I believe. Departed runway 16 then a left hand turn out to Balmedie to leave the atz by the Peterhead lane. The previous evening a Dornier 328 operated by City Star had run off the end of runway 34 and was being towed back just as we headed out. Up to Longside without incident and made the first one a full stop - jumped out and popped our £5 through the door as there was nobody there, then started doing circuits.

The runway 10/28, is short. Very short. And narrow. Altogether quite a demanding set of circuits. Messed up a glide approach and had to go round, and in general found it a little disconcerting - the size of the runway puts quite a bit of pressure on to get it right, and I was consistently high on the approach. Does’nt help that the runway is so narrow, and with it being disused there’s no PAPI to give a better indication. However, all good practice, and I’d certainly head back up there to get some more practice in on my own at some point.

After Longside headed back to Aberdeen, did a PFL on the way (must remember the wind direction!) and a couple of stalls, and back onto runway 34 with a direct entry to the base leg from Balmedie. Had to orbit for a while as some jet traffic came in but otherwise fine. Not too bad a landing either, but need to keep a close eye on speed and hold off more in the flare.

Back down and my instructor was happy to sign me off for solo hire, so that’s the milestone achieved. I’ll do a few hours with him in a couple of months or so to get checked out on the C172 - but for now quite happy to hire the 152 and get some P1 hours on the book

So I guess that’s the main aim achieved - getting the PPL and getting to the stage of being able to hire from Aberdeen. Just now need to enjoy my flying and get my experience up. First passenger will hopefully be the wife in a week or two, and then I’m on the prowl for victims… with lots of money to subsidise the experience!

Finally, after a cosmic alignment of both my availiability, the weather, and there being an instructor availiable (Aberdeen Flying Club is pretty thin on the ground instruction wise again I believe), I’m back in the skies.

Unfortunately, the previous instructor no longer instructs there so I’m on my plums and back to square one on the eternal quest to get checked out. However, new instructor seems nice, so off we go.

We decided to have a trip down to the south of Aberdeen, out via the Stonehaven lane then over to Banchory, Insch and a return via the Inverurie lane. Got started up and all good to go without too much incident except for me missing a few items off the checklist in a bout of new instructor nerves. Called ground and recieved our clearance, and then tower for taxi clearance.

Now it’s been a few weeks since I’d flown and I was just getting my taxying feet back in really while backtracking down the active runway. Unfortunately I was just a little hasty while making the turn and screeched the tyres causing my new instructor to grab the yoke and stomp on the brakes leaving us in the middle of the runway. It must have looked interesting as the tower asked us if we were ok. Doh! So great, here’s me wanting to get checked out and I just about rip the wheels off the 152 before we even get airborne. Oh well.

It’s G-BHDR again but thankfully this time the radio is working much much better and I can actually hear it. We’re cleared for take-off on runway 16 and we head off over the city with a right hand turn out towards the Bridge of Don then follow the coast down past the harbour - actually a very scenic view of the city. It did help it was a nice hot sunny day, but the wind was quite strong at about 20kts from 180 - the windest I’ve flown in to date.

Down to Portlethen without incedent and handed over to Radar. Got my position report wrong and mistook Newtonhill for Stonehaven (another Doh!) but the Radar guy did’nt notice or did’nt care and cleared us up to 3,000ft for the trip over the hills to Banchory past a very high transmitter mast - won’t be going that way in cloud, that’s for sure.

From there on in the flight went much better. Back over Insch, flew over the airstrip there (grass private strip - must check it out some time), and into the Inverurie lane for a rejoin. Had to orbit 5 miles or so out for traffic but then headed in. Made a complete mess of the landing. The wind had ease a little to 10 kts but was gusty. I was too high on the approach, and too fast also. Put down far too much flap (should have stuck with 20 degrees and brought it in at 70 kts) and ended up a little light on the airspeed side with the stall warner making the odd peep as I floated down the runway at about 20 feet. Dropped on the asphalt without loosing too much dignity however, and managed not to kill the instructor on the taxi back to the club despite my best efforts.

Surprisingly he was quite happy. Wants to see some circuits (although thankfully as I’ve got the PPL we can go to Longside where it’s £5 for all you can eat as opposed to £18 per bump at Aberdeen) and some PFLs and he’ll probably make me go through all the general handling all over again that I did with the first guy, but hey ho. I’m quite looking forward to Longside and circuits, but I doubt there’s going to be a PAPI which is a pretty useful thing all in all so I’ll have to do it visually. Seemingly the runway is pretty narrow, so I’ll get a few in on Flight Sim to get a feel for it before we go. Also need to read up on Short field landings, not done of those since Ormond. So, with any luck - signed off next week! Although considerably poorer!

Finally managed to get back in the air again today - out of Aberdeen in a C152 - G-BHDR for a little bimble about the Broch. Went surprisingly well with a nicely executed take-off, some clean stalls and a return back to Aberdeen through a decidedly heavy rain shower which was crossing our path. My instructor thinks I’ll be checked out in another hour and a half and then I’ll be able to hire out myself. Next step after that is getting rated on the 172 so I can take up a few more bodies with me.

All in all - pretty pleased Just a shame about the landing fees - £18 per touchdown is a nightmare - I can’t imagine how people train at Aberdeen as the circuits alone would be £110 for the hire, and another £100 for the landing fees near enough. I’ll need to investigate Inverness, Dundee and Perth and maybe do some flying out of one of them. Inverness is the most likely if I’m up there on business.

So, another couple of hours and I’m good to go! Need to go back over the radio calls in my head so I get up to speed but it’s pretty much the same as the US - not really a problem at all.

Happy days!

At last! After getting the medical out of the way (nothing too drastic and just a finger prick blood test thankfully!) posted off another large wedge of hard earned cash, and a week later - my licence arrived! Very fast turnaround - wasn’t expecting that at all.

So, that’s it - I’ve got the licence. So… what now? Well despite getting the poo coloured folder and achiving my boyhood ambition, it’s really just the tip of the avaiation iceberg. There’s the IMC to do at some point, and I’d love to do the IR later, and I never really did get the hang of spinning - I’d quite like to be able to go out and spin myself just for the hell of it in full confidence I know what I’m doing.

First up - I need to get back in the saddle. 6 months without flying thanks to apalling weather and a very cute new baby (see foxmurray.com). Now that the weather is improving along with Fox’s sleeping patterns it’s time to get airborne again although at the horrendous prices involved from Aberdeen airport it’ll be sporadic and infrequent to begin with. However, if I can get an hour in this week I’d be happy. Need to get up to speed with the UK way of doing things and I’d like to spend the first few hours in the circuit (or at least get in a good few landings - don’t want to be stuck doing general handling and stalls for days) - I guess we’ll see with how much distain my Florida gained licence will be met with when I head up to the club next week. Have to go see a client out that way on Monday afternoon, so I’ll probably head back via the flying club to see if I can tie up an hour later in the week.

Things I need to brush up on, or even find out about before flying around Blight are:

Booking Out - how exactly do you do that back here?

RT - operating from EGPD ain’t gonna be like good olde KOMN I’m pretty sure - just need to get the calls sorted a little - hence the circuit practice.

Overhead joins - easy enough -over head 1000+ circuit height, descend deadside and join circuit

Pitot heat - there’s about 5 different theories on when to use it

And the million dollar one - how many hours do they want me to do before I’m checked out to fly the 152? And then how long to get checked out on the 172? If anyone has a spare couple of thousand lying around, please forward it this way! At least getting back into the club environment, I’ll be able to scout out shares/fields etc.

Medical today, and I’m steeled by the knowledge that my haemoglobin is within normal limits, my ECG is fine, I’m not about to keel over and carck it, and that the Medical Examiner now has all my money. Unfortunately, the CAA computer system goes off at 5.30pm on the dot, so I’ve got to head back over on Monday morning to pick up the cert, and deposit the cheque. Then I’ll be able to post off my little envelope after photocopying my log book and sending it super totally every inch of the way tracked and registered etc.

But then at last, that should be it! Brown folder on the way back, and I’m licenced! Then I just need to think about selling all my worldy posessions to afford an hour of flight time at the club!

Well, made it back to Blighty without incident. Christmas went ok, quite subdued with us being in the family way, and work has been manic. Was planning to get the medical done, and get some hours in, but the weather has been terrible. Then, last month, our new baby son decided to make an appearance a month early. He’s called Fox, and is incredibly cute, and quite smelly in the nappy department.

Anyway - with the new arrival, and more craziness at work, I’ve still not got the damn medical out of the way. Aiming for next week to get it done. Then hopefully I’ll be able to take some time off to spend at home and if there’s a nice day around, I’ll squeeze in an hour in the skies up at the club - doubtless I’ll be well out of practice by then!

Will need to start leafing back through the books in advance of getting back in the air just to keep myself current. Also need to spend some time getting up to speed on the UK R/T although I don’t see that as being a problem.

So, hopefully medical shortly, brown folder to follow, and back in the skies soonish!