Hi All,
This is just a holding post I’ll fill in the details soon. Today I flew and passed my PPL skills test which means as soon as the paper work gets back from the CAA I’ll be a holder of a valid private pilots licence. I’ve managed to get this first phase of my plan done under budget and well within the time I thought it would take.
On Thursday the 1st I had another navex consisting of several diversions. We again left the zone to the south via Dewsbury but today we continued south past Barnsley to turn overhead Stocksbridge. Stocksbridge lays just on the northern edge of the peak district. Read the rest of this entry »
After yesterday’s NAVEX my instructor Sam decided that my diversions needed some more work. With this in mind, we planned a nav flight made up entirely of diversions. The only waypoint I knew about was the Dewsbury VRP (Visual Reporting Point) where we would leave the Leeds zone.
After doing the walkround checks and getting started, we taxied out to runway 14. We set a course south, at 500ft after take off, and headed towards Dewsbury. Read the rest of this entry »
I got to the field with plenty of time to check the Met, to see if today would be suitable for cross country. Luckily it was looking promising, so I was given a route to plan leaving the zone via Eccup reservoir then across to Castle Howard and finally down to Market Weighton before returning to Leeds via Eccup once again. Planning the route starts by identifying all the turnpoints on the map and seeing if there is any reason (Danger areas, Airspace etc) that will stop you flying direct to each one. In the case of my route it’s possible to head from one turnpoint to the next in a straight line providing you’re prepared to talk to a few ATC units. The route was a total of 84nm and should take about 55 minutes. Read the rest of this entry »
Well after a weekend with no work and no flying booked I was keen to get a flight in. I headed across to LBIA on the 08:30 bus. The weather wasn’t looking great but I’d hoped it would be good enough for some circuits at least. After a cuppa (I’m powered by tea if you hadn’t already guessed) we booked out for the circuit and I headed out to the aircraft. Read the rest of this entry »
Flyable!! Well just. I managed to get an hour in the circuit. Some see circuit flying as tedious but for me it was great to see what areas of the critical take off and landing phases I need to work on.
Having done the walkaround checks we strapped in and started up. I taxied out to the hold for runway 32, did the power checks and called ready for departure. In general most circuits are left hand (all the turns are to the left) however at Leeds, to fit in with traffic conditions and to help with relations with the neighbours, they will alternate between left and right. This makes it really important that you ensure you’ve listened out to your ATC clearance, you don’t want to turn the wrong way. I received my clearance for a right hand circuit and taxied to line up on the runway. Read the rest of this entry »
Well to day was typical of VFR flying in the UK. I turned up nice and early for my 10:30 flight (I rely on the excellent 767 bus service from Harrogate and district which only runs every 90 minutes) only to be greeted by low cloud. I still had an hour to wait before my booked flight so took the opportunity to grab a cuppa at Multiflights Cafe to wait out the weather. Read the rest of this entry »
Hi All,
2nd posting of the blog and some good news. The weather today started off looking a bit dubious but the TAF was showing that the weather was due to improve. I headed across to Leeds Bradford early to ensure I’d be ready if the weather proved flyable. The sortie was planned to be an hour out in the local area to allow my instructor to get an idea if after 14 years away from a real yoke I had remembered anything at all. Read the rest of this entry »
Hi All,
I’m planning to document my PPL through to CPL training on here. I’ll be fiddling about with the layout etc to try to make it fit in better with the rest of chaders.co.uk but you’ll have to stick with me for a bit before that happens.