Today I flew GBLZH, a nice red and white C152. I flew for 25 minutes with the instructor, then flew 3 circuits solo in 30 minutes.

We were on runway 10, the wind was fairly light and pretty much straight down the runway, sometimes a slight crosswind from the left. The touchdown point for the runway is rather bumpy which can be quite offputting; what could be a smooth touchdown seems to be quite heavy, or maybe I am still a bit rough. I think I have just about got the hang of getting the speed right over the numbers, then flaring at about the right point. Practice makes perfect! I have heard from a few people that a good landing comes from a good approach, which comes from a good downwind and a good takeoff. It definitely makes sense, if you have everything set up right, and take care of the speed and height it works out right in the end.

Anyway, I need to get on and pass my meteorology exam soon.

Total Flying Time
Dual: 14:35
Solo: 2:20
Total: 16:55

It was very smooth up there today, the cold air providing favourable conditions for the engine made it noticeably more powerful than I remember from last time. So much so that I had to use a lower power setting on downwind to stop it trying to climb.

After 3 circuits with the instructor, we landed and he got out. The airfield was busier today than it was last time; by now people had probably realised how nice it was up there, especially since there hasn’t been a nice flying day for a while now. I taxiied out to the runway and did the power checks as normal. Despite this being my second time solo, it still felt very strange being in here on my own. The worst part is once lined up on the runway pushing the throttle in for take off. Once I was airborne I didn’t have much time to think about what I was doing until I was downwind, when it sinks in that I have to land this thing on my own! I made  a nice approach and fairly good landing, just after the numbers. Flaps to first stage, full power and up I go again for a second circuit.

The second circuit was again uneventful. The low winter sun straight ahead on downwind didn’t help much, so I was glad to turn onto base and then onto final to land. This landing wasn’t so good, I was a little low during the final stages of the approach, I tried to correct it and ended up landing a little bit longer than I would have liked. This meant I had to taxi the long way round, going up to vacate onto runway 22. I turned left again to runway 10 and took the grass turnoff onto the tarmac parking. There were a few people watching from the viewing area as I stepped out and tidied the aircraft, good feeling!

Hopefully will be able to get another flight in before Christmas.

Total Flying Time
Dual: 12:30
P1: 0:40
Total: 13:10

As I hadn’t been up for a while I was expecting to be pretty rusty. For the pre-flight checks I stuck rigidly to the checklist to make sure nothing was missed, but everything seemed fine so we got in and went up to the fuel bay. The airfield was pretty quiet, a couple of helicopters moving around but not much fixed wing traffic. Taxied out to the runway (28), power checks and took off into the circuit.

The first circuit was getting used to it again, amazingly I hadn’t forgotten much and was quickly back into the busy rhythm of taking the aircraft round the circuit. We did three more circuits, including a fanstop after takeoff and another downwind with a landing on runway 34, then another circuit with a go around before landing.

After landing, I taxiied back to the parking area and was told to stop just as we entered the tarmac area. The instructor announced that as it was such a nice day, that he was going to send me for my first solo. My landings couldn’t have been that bad after all! I didn’t know what to think, was a mix between excitement and nervousness. He gave me some brief tips, then climbed out to watch from in the tower.

I took the aircraft round to the runway holding point, did my power checks as I had done an hour before, then was told to report lining up behind an aircraft that was on short final. After he had passed, I pulled onto the runway and got myself ready. Shortly after, I was told I could takeoff and slowly advanced the throttle to full power. As warned, it was a bit more keen to get airborne without the extra person on board, in fact I was at 1000 feet as I turned crosswind. Downwind was pretty uneventful with a quick call to announce my intentions and pre-landing checks. I turned nicely onto base leg and made a shallow turn onto final to notice the windsock was showing light wind pretty much straight down the runway. I called final and continued to land. Full flaps, carb heat hot at 300 feet, followed by a nice flare and the smoothest touchdown of the day (possibly ever?). I got on the brakes and pulled off the runway at the grass exit, only to notice the fire truck sitting waiting for me. I thought nothing of it and continued to my parking spot.

Amazing experience, only to be had once and never forgotten.

Total Flying Time
Dual: 11 hours 55 mins
In Command: 15 mins

Here’s some videos taken from the tower (thanks to George).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I turned up at 12, and had a pretty thorough examination. Eventually, he told me the good news that I had passed, so all is good and I can carry on learning to fly.

I did some more advanced stalling, building on last time. After seeing some demonstrations, I went through stalling wtih power off, power on, some flaps and full flaps in the configurationt for approach to landing. The last one with full flaps and power on was the worst, with a pretty violent pull to the left; it was quickly recoved and carried on without losing much altitude. This just highlights how dangerous a full stall can be when close to the ground.

After landing I taxiied to the fuel bay to refuel then went back to parking. There were lots of people watching today, it was a nice day so they must have turned up to watch me.

This time I was sent out to the aircraft to do a full walk around on my own. I started at the pilots side door turning the master switch on, checking the lights all work and lowering flaps before turning the electrics off again. Then I went round and checked various bits, including testing the fuel for water, oil levels and that there were no bits missing. As I was finishing the inspection the instructor came over and we got strapped in.

Today the weather was very windy, gusting up to 30 knots. On the taxi out I could feel the wind trying to blow the aircraft around like a giant weather vane. We were dodging between clouds at one point, trying to stay in sight of the ground. I could see large clouds and rain approaching from the West. As we joined back into the circuit it was starting to get quite cloudy and was very bumpy.

Done 7 hours now!

After the briefing I was sent out to the aircraft to do a full walk around on my own. I started at the pilots side door turning the master switch on, checking the lights all work and lowering flaps before turning the electrics off again. Then I went round and checked various bits, including testing the fuel for water, oil levels and that there were no bits missing. As I was finishing the inspection the instructor came over and we got strapped in.

I practiced flying at different speeds, including slow flight which means having a  high attitude, and fast flight which burns lots of fuel so is less efficient than the normal cruising speed of 85-90 knots.

Towards the end of the lesson I was shown some power off stalls, which basically involves closing the throttle and slowing down. As the plane slows down, the angle of attack is increased to keep a constant altitude. Once the airspeed gets down to about 50 knots, the stall warner comes on. Shortly after that there is a sudden bump, which feels almost like you have just driven off the kerb which is the stall itself. The aircraft naturally pitches itself down to unstall the wing and can recover quite quickly, easily within 200 ft.

6 hours down!

Again, runway 28 is in use. This time we followed the checklist with me calling out the items and doing most of them myself, some needing a bit of prompting. Even though they are written with one instruction per line, it is quite easy to miss a line so I need to discipline myself to make sure everything is covered.

This time, as there was a fairly strong crosswind I was assisted on the takeoff to ensure we stayed straight just after liftoff. We climbed straight ahead West for some time, stopping every 500 ft to check for traffic. Once up to 3000 feet, just below the clouds I was demonstrated gliding descents. This involves removing all the power, stopping the tendency to pitch down and holding 65 knots to ensure best rate of glide. It actually descends surprisingly slowly like this, at around 500 feet per minute. After doing this a couple of times to get down to 1500 ft, we turned to fly along Wenlock edge, and climbed back up to 3000 ft with it on the left. From here there were some great views across to the East, with Birmingham City Centre visible on the horizon. It’s strange to see out in one direction that the landscape is very flat, but in the other it is starting to get very hilly going out towards Wales.

After some more climbs and descends, and an some more practice turning we headed back to the airfield and lined up for the approach. As it was still a fair crosswind from the left, I was quickly shown how to use the rudder to keep flying down towards the runway, which I did until just before touchdown. I also made my first radio call  – “final, G-IB” which is slightly strange, then hearing the controller reply. I did most of the landing myself, helped for the last little bit to land with a heavy bump and a short rollout to leave the runway onto the grass.

I walked away this time with my first aircraft-related purchase, a C152 checklist which I shall be familiarising myself with. Haven’t booked another flight yet as I wasn’t sure of my availability.