19 - Head in the Clouds

<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="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="18 I Follow Railways"><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="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="20 Second Solo"><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> <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="12 More circuits (and brain fade)"><U>12  - More circuits (and brain fade)</U></A></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> 19 - Head in the Clouds</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>19 - Head in the Clouds</I></div> <bR> <div> 29th August</div> <div> I turned up about 15 minutes early for my 2pm lesson, only to discover I was actually 45 minutes late for my 1pm lesson! Oops! Since nobody else was booked in for that afternoon, all was not lost. We got straight on with the briefing. The weather, which has been poor for some time, was not good enough to do circuits (solo anyway), since the wind was too strong and almost entirely crosswind at Wellesbourne. So instead we were going to do some instrument flying.</div> <bR> <div> The PPL requirements for instrument flying are that you be able to demonstrate a 180 degree level turn at rate one (15 - 20 degrees angle of bank). This is simply so that if you accidentally wander into IMC, you can turn around and get out again. In the briefing we revised the functions of the basic instruments, and introduced the idea of radial scanning. We also covered radio navigation, and looked at tuning in the VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range) and how to track a radial to and from the beacon. We also discussed tuning into a second VOR to get a fix on our position by triangulation.</div> <bR> <div> The plane had already been pre-flighted thanks to my late arrival. so it was straight in and on with the startup checks. Contacting Enstone Radio, we find the wind is 258/20. Fortunately that's pretty well straight down runway 26. We climbed out and set our heading towards Wellesbourne as normal. The air was very bumpy, and I couldn't help thinking to myself that not too long ago I'd have been uncomfortable in the turbulence, but today it didn't really bother me. We climbed to 2200 feet, which put us close to the base of the lowest clouds, and we did a FREDA check. There were lots of gaps in the clouds, so we decided to climb above where the air was much smoother. The clouds certainly looked very different from this angle!</div> <bR> <div> Alistair then asked me to put on the hood -- a sort of large cap that prevents you from seeing out of the windows but still allows you to see the instruments. Once settled, he asked me to fly straight and level for a bit, just to get accustomed to doing the scan. Once happy, he asked me to do a 180 degree rate one turn to the right, without changing altitude. This is no different to doing a shallow turn in VMC, but with only the instruments, it takes a lot more concentration. My first attempt was okay for about 120 degrees, although I had a slight tendancy to over bank, then my scan deteriorated and I was getting fixated on one instrument over the others, and in no time flat I'd dropped 200 feet. Oh dear.</div> <bR> <div> We climbed back to our starting altitude and repeated the exercise. Better. I kept within about 60 feet, although I did let the bank angle go over 20 degrees once, but corrected it. We then did a 180 degree turn to the left. That's the entire extent of what I'll be asked to do on the skills test, but since the syllabus requires a minimum of two hous instrument flying, we pressed on. Still under the hood, Alistair asked me to turn onto a heading of 045, then climb to 4500 feet, then  a descending turn onto 330 at 4000 feet, and so on.</div> <bR> <div> After a while at this, Alistair said I could take the hood off.He then asked me where we were, and I didn't have a clue. We were above the lowest clouds, so although we could see lots of ground around us, any recognisable landmarks were obscured. Time to get a fix using the VOR. We tuned into the Daventry (DTY) VOR, on116.4 and pulled out the ident knob on the radio so that we could check the morse code identifier. Once positively identified and checked that there were no warning flags on the dial, we turned the OBS (Omni Bearing Selector) until the needle swung vertical with the TO flag showing. This gave us the bearing to the beacon (ie QDM). By pressing the MODE button on the radio, we could also get the QDM displayed directly on the reciever. This verified the reading we'd made with the OBS. Moving to the GPS, and dialling in the VOR ID (DTY), gave us the range to the beacon. We then dialled up the Honiley (HON) VOR on 113.65 and repeated the process. Referring to the chart, by approximation, and using the "10 mile thumb", that placed us around Moreton-in-Marsh, although we couldn't see the disused airfield -- probably under one of the clouds.</div> <bR> <div> The next exercise was to find the 055 radial to DTY and track it  to the beacon. I dialled up the DTY VOR again and verified it, then dialled 055 on the OBS. Once the needle had settled, it showed us to be some way to the left of track. I turned onto a heading of 090, and the needle started to close towards vertical. As it closed in, I turned to 055 and started tracking the radial. Of course this heading didn't take into account wind drift, and fairly soon the needle started drifting to the right. The course would need adjusting to compenstate. However, a very large cloud directly ahead made this pretty academic, since we'd have to divert around it. Having got past this cloud, we could see we were becoming ringed in with clouds all around, and so our enjoyable time above the turbulence was about to come to an end. A descent to 2300 feet and bumpy air was called for in order to remain in VMC.</div> <bR> <div> We were now above Banbury, and it was about time to  go and do our touch-and-go at Wellesbourne. Alistair asked me to find and track the 275 radial from DTY, which would take us directly there. Turning North, the needle gradually centred again and we turned onto 275. We could clearly see the railway beneath us, which confirmed our position, and very soon we were approaching the M40. We called up Wellesbourne Information and announced our intentions. The runway in use was 18 right-hand, with the surface winds being  258/12. As we were approaching from the East, we elected to join crosswind, and once the runway was in sight, descended to 1000 ft QFE. There was only on other craft in the circuit and that had just turned final (I couldn't see it, but Alistair could from the right seat). Starting our descent on final, it was apparent that even if the surface wind was 12 knots, up here it was considerably more. I was crabbing at more than 45 degrees to maintain the extended centre line. A momentart confusion as to which way to kick the rudder to straighten up for the landing was resolved by trying it out -- left boot required! Closer to the ground and the wind lessened noticeably. The landing was best described as functional, but at least it was on the centre line!</div> <bR> <div> We climbed out to 1800 feet and turned onto a heading of 245. After a FREDA check, it was back under the hood. Alistair asked me to climb to 2200 feet, while maintaining the same heading. This time we were in the bumpy air under the clouds, and the sensation of being bumped around while not being able to see outside the aircraft was not entirely pleasant. Alistair gave me the option to take the hood off if things got too much, but I said that if this was for real, I wouldn't get that option, so I'd stick it out. Alistair then gave me various headings to fly, and as we got closer, he got onto the radio and did the talking. We set the QFE and now several descents were included with the heading instructions. Eventually we were at circuit height and Alistair announced downwind on the radio. When I took the hood off, we were over the pig farm and ready to turn onto final. The end of a very interesting lesson.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>