Following my successful first solo back in August, I've spent the last month practicing navigation both dual and solo, interspersed with a few more solo flights around the local circuit, building towards my cross country qualifier.
At the end of last month, we started the navigation exercises - not much point being able to fly a plane if you don't know where you're going or how to get there!! This part of flying brings in to question your organisational and planning skills. Comprehensive planning of the route before departure, gives you more time in the air to concentrate on both the actual flying and the view. The first two nav sessions were simple triangular routes to visual points overhead other airfields or major conurbations within 30 or so miles of Stapleford. First we went via Tiptree (nr Colchester) and Gravesend (South bank of the Thames), and the second was via Laddingford (a small airfield east of Tonbridge) and Eastchurch (on the Isle of Sheppy). The main skills involved (assuming accurate planning) are flying the heading you have planned, correcting for any errors at the half way point, eg. if winds are lighter/stronger than forecast, and spotting your destination.
Some destinations are easy to see - large towns with distinctive railway lines/motorway junctions etc., some are much harder - microlight airfields, with perhaps just a couple of small aircraft on a grass strip. Using the elapsed time and looking out for a couple of nearby landmarks helps!
Sometimes of course you can't get to where you are going. Bad weather, closed airfields, or aircraft/passenger problems, can all require a diversion to a nearby airfield for a precautionary landing. This navigation on the fly (pun intended) is a bit trickier, with more mental arithmetic and double checking required to ensure you end up in the right place.
If a problem develops that is more serious (i.e. engine failure), sometimes you just need to put it down where you can. Practice forced landings join the list of things you hope you never need to call upon for real. First step, adopt best glide speed; it's no good looking out of the window for the "perfect" forced landing spot if while looking for it, you lose a thousand feet of altitude and then can't make it.
Once you have best glide speed, ascertain the wind direction relative to your aircraft and find a nice large wide field within gliding distance; we want to land approximately into wind with no obstructions around. Fly a circuit of the site, and use flap as necessary to get you comfortably into the field. There are several ways of losing height without power but no ways of gaining it!
At the end of last month, we started the navigation exercises - not much point being able to fly a plane if you don't know where you're going or how to get there!! This part of flying brings in to question your organisational and planning skills. Comprehensive planning of the route before departure, gives you more time in the air to concentrate on both the actual flying and the view. The first two nav sessions were simple triangular routes to visual points overhead other airfields or major conurbations within 30 or so miles of Stapleford. First we went via Tiptree (nr Colchester) and Gravesend (South bank of the Thames), and the second was via Laddingford (a small airfield east of Tonbridge) and Eastchurch (on the Isle of Sheppy). The main skills involved (assuming accurate planning) are flying the heading you have planned, correcting for any errors at the half way point, eg. if winds are lighter/stronger than forecast, and spotting your destination.
Some destinations are easy to see - large towns with distinctive railway lines/motorway junctions etc., some are much harder - microlight airfields, with perhaps just a couple of small aircraft on a grass strip. Using the elapsed time and looking out for a couple of nearby landmarks helps!
Sometimes of course you can't get to where you are going. Bad weather, closed airfields, or aircraft/passenger problems, can all require a diversion to a nearby airfield for a precautionary landing. This navigation on the fly (pun intended) is a bit trickier, with more mental arithmetic and double checking required to ensure you end up in the right place.
If a problem develops that is more serious (i.e. engine failure), sometimes you just need to put it down where you can. Practice forced landings join the list of things you hope you never need to call upon for real. First step, adopt best glide speed; it's no good looking out of the window for the "perfect" forced landing spot if while looking for it, you lose a thousand feet of altitude and then can't make it.
Once you have best glide speed, ascertain the wind direction relative to your aircraft and find a nice large wide field within gliding distance; we want to land approximately into wind with no obstructions around. Fly a circuit of the site, and use flap as necessary to get you comfortably into the field. There are several ways of losing height without power but no ways of gaining it!
No comments:
Post a Comment