Trial Flight Number 2
Saturday 6th April 2019
Saturday dawned, and as I had been advised, I rang the office at GS Aviation just to make sure the flight was still on. As with many things, flying is very weather dependant so I had to be sure before setting off. As it happened, at 9:30am it was still a bit overcast at the airfield. Microlight aircraft operate under what is called VFR, or Visual Flight Rules. This means you have to be able to see a minimum distance before you can fly, there is no instrument rated flying, or IFR.
As advised, I rang back around lunchtime to see if the flight was on. To my delight, it was, but I was asked to get there a little earlier to make sure the weather didn't change.
As previously said, GS Aviation is based on a farm, and this is a view of the airfield as you approach it.
I made my way to the office and was greeted by Sue, the owner's wife, and she had me complete a day membership form for the club, so I could fly in one of their aircraft. I then met my instructor for the day, Dave Slater, the owner's son. It could all get confusing as I am David, he is Dave and my friend who took me up in the PA-28 is also Dave! I think I will have to refer to them as Dave S and Dave L to save confusion!
After a brief chat about my background and the reason for the flight, we made our way out to the aircraft. This was G-CKVG or GOLF CHARLIE KILO VICTOR GOLF. It is an Icarus C42 and, in my excitement to get in the plane, I forgot to take a picture of it from the outside. As this was not a sightseeing joy ride and I wanted to do some flying, I was put in the left hand seat, which is traditionally the P1 seat. P1 means Pilot 1 or Pilot in Command (PIC).
Once inside I took a few pictures and, straightaway, you can see how different it is to the PA-28.
Summary
So how did this compare to my trial flight in the PA-28? Well, for me, it was more fun. It felt more like you were flying the aircraft, as opposed to the aircraft flying you. I know I keep using the analogy, but it was more like driving my kit car over my daily driver! Flying from the airfield was also a lot less stressful as there was very little other traffic around and the only thing I heard in the headset was Dave S. With the flight out of Staverton, there was a fairly constant RT noise, none of which I really understood, so that was confusing. Having said that, Dave L did try and fit a lot in to the hour I was in the PA-28, so that would have also contributed to the information overload.
Cost wise, if I go this route, it will be a lot cheaper. I covered all this in the post titled 'To Fly or Not To Fly - That is The Question' so I won't go over it here.
So, am I going to learn to fly? Probably, yes.
When am I going to learn to fly? That is the $64,000 question. There are things that I need to consider. Obviously there is the money. I don't have the money spare at the moment, so I would have to borrow it. I am not too worried about that as I can afford to do that.
My actual concern is time. With working full time, the only time to fly is either evenings, weekends or holidays. If I go with GS Aviation, the airfield is 1 hour away, so realistically, evenings would be out, leaving weekends and holidays. If I chose to learn closer to home, then evenings may be a possibility. But I have other things I do, so I might realistically only get to fly 1 or 2 hours per month. The NPPL(M) licence requires a minimum of 25 hours, probably more, so that could take me 2 years. If I start now, and perhaps have some days off to fly, I could complete this in maybe a year to 18 months. If I wait until next year, I may have more time available and the year after, I will have lots of time available.
If you can fly on a regular basis, you will make better progress. If you have too many gaps in your flying, you can take a back step at the start of each lesson, before moving forward.
So that is where I am. Still lots to think about!
Totals
Purchases: None on this post
Total Costs = £366.14
Total Hours PA-28 = 1.05
Total Hours Icarus C42 = 1.00
Saturday dawned, and as I had been advised, I rang the office at GS Aviation just to make sure the flight was still on. As with many things, flying is very weather dependant so I had to be sure before setting off. As it happened, at 9:30am it was still a bit overcast at the airfield. Microlight aircraft operate under what is called VFR, or Visual Flight Rules. This means you have to be able to see a minimum distance before you can fly, there is no instrument rated flying, or IFR.
As advised, I rang back around lunchtime to see if the flight was on. To my delight, it was, but I was asked to get there a little earlier to make sure the weather didn't change.
As previously said, GS Aviation is based on a farm, and this is a view of the airfield as you approach it.
I made my way to the office and was greeted by Sue, the owner's wife, and she had me complete a day membership form for the club, so I could fly in one of their aircraft. I then met my instructor for the day, Dave Slater, the owner's son. It could all get confusing as I am David, he is Dave and my friend who took me up in the PA-28 is also Dave! I think I will have to refer to them as Dave S and Dave L to save confusion!
After a brief chat about my background and the reason for the flight, we made our way out to the aircraft. This was G-CKVG or GOLF CHARLIE KILO VICTOR GOLF. It is an Icarus C42 and, in my excitement to get in the plane, I forgot to take a picture of it from the outside. As this was not a sightseeing joy ride and I wanted to do some flying, I was put in the left hand seat, which is traditionally the P1 seat. P1 means Pilot 1 or Pilot in Command (PIC).
Once inside I took a few pictures and, straightaway, you can see how different it is to the PA-28.
The C42 has a joystick type control as opposed to the yoke/steering wheel type, which I found more intuitive. However, unlike some aircraft and gliders with joysticks, it is in a central position so that either P1 or P2 can fly using the same control. You can see that in this particular C42, there is an extension bar fitted for the instructor, so the student can keep a hand on the joystick during flight training.
There are also fewer instruments, but it still has everything you need to fly, and be legal whilst flying. I won't go over these now as, if I do start to learn to fly, it will be covered in one of the lessons. I was strapped in with 4 point harnesses and the overall feeling was more like being in my kit car. It felt a little cramped compared to the PA-28, but nothing that was uncomfortable.
We went over some pre-flight checks and then taxied out to an engine run up point. Once there, we turned into the wind and did some further control surface and engine checks and then got ready to fly. A quick 'back-taxi' to the end of the runway and off we went. The C42 was off the ground very quickly and we were flying. The C42 is a high wing aircraft so the first difference you notice is that your view to the ground is so much better than a low wing aircraft. I think I prefer this.
We headed away from the airfield, following the route of the Kennet and Avon Canal towards Devizes. As soon as we were at about 400ft, I was given control of the aircraft and pretty much flew the rest of the hour, other than the landing. I settled in pretty quickly to straight and level flight and then had a go with left and right turns. The aircraft was very responsive, and Dave S had me have a play with the controls to get a feel for them. I only handed back the controls to allow me to take some photos. I didn't take many, as I wanted to concentrate on the flying.
Below are a couple of pictures from the flight.
Avebury Stone Circle and Henge
Caen Hill Locks
The hour flew by (pun intended) and we had flown full circle and were heading back towards the airfield. As we approached, I flew the join and the downwind leg, but Dave S took over to do the landing. This is a bit of a last minute video of the landing, so sorry about the shaking, but it was handheld on my DSLR camera. I would certainly consider filming my lessons but using my Go Pro camera fixed in the cockpit, as that will be more stable.
After we landed, Dave S allowed me to taxi the aircraft back the the hanger to put it away for the night.
There are about a dozen aircraft based at the airfield including this Eurofox and a bi-plane, to name but two. Dave did tell me what the bi-plane was, but I forgot, It is not a Tiger Moth as I originally thought, but it is a smaller version of it.
Summary
So how did this compare to my trial flight in the PA-28? Well, for me, it was more fun. It felt more like you were flying the aircraft, as opposed to the aircraft flying you. I know I keep using the analogy, but it was more like driving my kit car over my daily driver! Flying from the airfield was also a lot less stressful as there was very little other traffic around and the only thing I heard in the headset was Dave S. With the flight out of Staverton, there was a fairly constant RT noise, none of which I really understood, so that was confusing. Having said that, Dave L did try and fit a lot in to the hour I was in the PA-28, so that would have also contributed to the information overload.
Cost wise, if I go this route, it will be a lot cheaper. I covered all this in the post titled 'To Fly or Not To Fly - That is The Question' so I won't go over it here.
So, am I going to learn to fly? Probably, yes.
When am I going to learn to fly? That is the $64,000 question. There are things that I need to consider. Obviously there is the money. I don't have the money spare at the moment, so I would have to borrow it. I am not too worried about that as I can afford to do that.
My actual concern is time. With working full time, the only time to fly is either evenings, weekends or holidays. If I go with GS Aviation, the airfield is 1 hour away, so realistically, evenings would be out, leaving weekends and holidays. If I chose to learn closer to home, then evenings may be a possibility. But I have other things I do, so I might realistically only get to fly 1 or 2 hours per month. The NPPL(M) licence requires a minimum of 25 hours, probably more, so that could take me 2 years. If I start now, and perhaps have some days off to fly, I could complete this in maybe a year to 18 months. If I wait until next year, I may have more time available and the year after, I will have lots of time available.
If you can fly on a regular basis, you will make better progress. If you have too many gaps in your flying, you can take a back step at the start of each lesson, before moving forward.
So that is where I am. Still lots to think about!
Totals
Purchases: None on this post
Total Costs = £366.14
Total Hours PA-28 = 1.05
Total Hours Icarus C42 = 1.00
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