12 - More circuits (and brain fade)

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="045085a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Golf Mike Bravo going around...</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Golf Mike Bravo going around..."><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Golf Mike Bravo going around..."><U><B><IMG SRC="03b0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>     </B><A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="11 Circuits and spice (and Things Not N"><U><B><IMG SRC="02f0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  </B><A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="13 Developing a flair for the flare"><U><B><IMG SRC="0300e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="046d2e83.jpg"> <div>     <IMG SRC="53da0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1 Trial Lesson"><U>1 - Trial Lesson</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2 Effects of Controls"><U>2 - Effects of Controls</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="3 A trip to Henstridge"><U>3 - A trip to Henstridge</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="4 Straight and Level"><U>4 - Straight and Level</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="5 Or not!"><U>5 - Or not!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="6 Up, down and around"><U>6 - Up, down and around</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="7 Stalls and Slow Flight"><U>7 - Stalls and Slow Flight</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="8 More stalls and PFLs"><U>8 - More stalls and PFLs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="9 Into the circuit..."><U>9 - Into the circuit...</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="10 Golf Mike Bravo Going Around. Again!"><U>10 - Golf Mike Bravo Going Around. Again!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="11 Circuits and spice (and Things Not N"><U>11 - Circuits and spice (and Things Not Nice)</U></A></div> <div> 12  - More circuits (and brain fade)</div> <div> <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="13 Developing a flair for the flare"><U>13 - Developing a flair for the flare</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="14 Close But No Cigar!"><U>14 - Close But No Cigar!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="15 Still no cigar"><U>15 - Still no cigar</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="16 Solo"><U>16 - Solo</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="17 Getting the hang of it again"><U>17 - Getting the hang of it again</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="18 I Follow Railways"><U>18 - I Follow Railways</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="19 Head in the Clouds"><U>19 - Head in the Clouds</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="20 Second Solo"><U>20 - Second Solo</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="21 Reach for the Pie!"><U>21 - Reach for the Pie!</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="22 Into the Zone"><U>22 - Into the Zone</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="23 Back to the Circuit"><U>23 - Back to the Circuit</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="24 Another Navex"><U>24 - Another Navex</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="25 First Solo Nav: The going gets tough"><U>25 - First Solo Nav: The going gets tough...</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="26 Divers Diversions"><U>26 - Divers Diversions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id108.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="27 Diversions, in a roundabout way"><U>27 - Diversions, in a roundabout way</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id109.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="28 Landaways"><U>28 - Landaways</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id110.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="29 Solo Landaway"><U>29 - Solo Landaway</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id111.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="30 QXC"><U>30 - QXC</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id112.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="31 Where do you want to go today?"><U>31 - Where do you want to go today?</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id113.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="32 Revision"><U>32 - Revision</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="33 Finals"><U>33 - Finals</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#CCCCE4" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>12  - More circuits (and brain fade)</I></div> <bR> <div> 14th June</div> <div> A brilliantly sunny day, clear skies, breezy. with what little cloud there was at high altitude, and hot. 28 degrees according to the car thermometer. This was a Monday afternoon lesson, and I'd got a half-day off work.</div> <bR> <div> Thanks to the breeze we were going to be doing crosswind landings (although going between Enstone with its East-West runway, and Wellesbourne with its North-South runway, there's always a good chance of getting a crosswind of some description). So, the briefing was all about the two approaches to crosswinds -- crabbing and wing-down. Today we'd concentrate on crabbing, and go wing-down next time.</div> <bR> <div> Pre-flight done (extra effort checking the tyres under the spats!), and initial radio call. This was the first mistake of the day, since I missed out what we were and where we were going, and had to be reminded. Then take off. As it was a cross-wind take off we applied a little aileron to correct any wing lift. Didn't seem to stop me wandering all over the runway like a skittish thing! (wrong way aileron to start with, then got the rudder muddled!)</div> <bR> <div> Still, up in the air, straight & level at 2200 feet and headed for Wellesbourne. A quick FREDA check and call to Enstone radio to say we were switching frequencies. Sorry, <I>changing </I>frequencies. D'oh! Listening in to other traffic on the radio, we deduce that the circuit is 36 Left Hand, and make our call. And completely cock it up! "G-BYMB abeam Shipston to land" What am I? Where am I from? what's my altitude? Is that really what I want to do? Aarrgh!</div> <bR> <div> The change to QFE from QNH actually puts us below the joining height, so we need to gain about 200 feet. and then we turn in to cross the numbers on 36 at 90 degrees. The air is quite bumpy today, even at 2000 feet, and it's an effort to hold straight and level. Turning seems even worse as we lurch around and one wing or the other spontaneously dropps 10 degrees (or seems to, anyway). Still we get round and descend dead side, and come back nicely over the 18 numbers at 1000 feet. The rest of the circuit went quite well. Called downwind, and did the checks. Turned base and powered back to 75 kts with one stage of flaps. Turn final a little early to allow for the wind, descending as we go, a bit high though, but better than before. Full flaps. Speed now 65 knots. 500 feet... 400 feet... 300 feet... 200 feet... the ground starts rushing up... there's the fence at the end of the airfield... we're over the threshold... power right back... Not so quickly next time! hold it... hold it... pull the stick back... further... no, right back... bump! A bit fast and the last bit was a good impression of a stone, but probably one of my better landings. Okay, keep going... flaps back up to take off... full power... lots of right rudder... even more right rudder!.. more than that!... 55 knots.. stick back... we're up! 65 knots... turn to 030 for noise abatement...  trim... 300 feet... flaps up... 75 knots... trim... 1000 feet... level off and turn crosswind, and we're back in the circuit.</div> <bR> <div> The wind seemed to have eased off somewhat, since although we were being blown towards the runway, only a little correction was needed. Indeed the FISO announced the wind speed at only 7 knots. Thus only a very little crabbing and wing-down was needed. The second approach was better than the first, dropping more height on base and so being in a much better descent profile. Speed was fine; descent rate was fine; then just below 200 feet it all went pear-shaped. We balooned, and Alistair took over to bring it down. Oh well.</div> <bR> <div> Third circuit... too high and fast again. Fourth circuit... I called final instead of downwind, and had to correct myself -- brain fading, and concentration slipping a bit. Too high again on base, and then as I started turning final, a strong gust of wind really shook the plane, leaving me on final, very high and a bit rattled. Power right back, and flaps down, but still way too high. I could possibly have sideslipped, but my one previous attempt had not gone too well, so at 800 feet I called go around and moved dead side. The FISO obviously wasnt expecting this, and called "land at your discretion", so we repeated the call. Then, as there was another plane waiting at the hold to take off, Alistair turned early crosswind to be out of his way and let him go.</div> <bR> <div> On the next circuit my concentration was well off. The approach was too low, then too high, then too fast, and what was that thing you were supposed to do near the ground? Begins with "f"... So I said to Alistair on the climb out "shall we make this the last one?" and he said "let's make <I>that</I> the last one and go straight home! So, by mutual consent, we turned right out of the circuit and headed South back to Enstone.</div> <bR> <div> Once again, climbing higher put us into even bumpier air. The discomfort and wondering if I was cut out for flying after all I shall put down to not having a good night's sleep the night before, and the effects of the heat. Still, the visibility was really good, and we could see Didcot power station all the way back from Wellesbourne!</div> <bR> <div> Debriefing the lesson afterwards, Alistair said he'd been really happy with the overhead join and the first two approaches. We'd spend the next lesson concentrating on getting the flare right. He asked me why I'd decided to go around, and when I'd explained that I didn't think I could recover the approach, he was really happy that I'd made the early decision. The other approaches just got a "yes, well..." Starting from next lesson, Alistair is no longer telling me what to do (actually he's been telling me less and less anyway), but only commenting on things wrong. My mission now is to keep him quiet...</div> </td> </tr></table></body>