Lesson 2 - 2nd August 2019
The lessons will now follow the Microlight Briefing Notes book. I have competed lesson 1, the Air Experience Flight, and lesson 4, Effects of Controls. We still need to go back and formally do lesson 2 and 3, which are:
2: Aircraft Familiarisation
3: Preparation For Flight and Action After.
In reality, I am OK with 2 as I have a reasonable knowledge of the constituent parts of the aircraft and their functions. As for 3, we booked at fueling the aircraft last time and this time, the first thing I was asked to do was add 10 litres of fuel to the aircraft.
This is a very manual task involving taking a 25 litre jerry can out to the aircraft and manually pumping the MOGAS (motor gasoline) in to the tank with a hand pump. You can then see how much fuel you have by looking at the fuel tank in the aircraft through a hole in the cockpit. It is not easy to see, but I am sure it will get more familiar as time goes on.
Once strapped in, we ran through the start checks:
START CHECKS
Brakes ON facing a safe direction, all clear in front and behind (prop wash)
Flaps Neutral
Main fuel tap ON
All Switches OFF, radio, transponder OFF
Master Switch ON
Record Hobbs meter reading and record TIME
Aux fuel pump on for 5 seconds when cold
Magnetos ON
Throttle CLOSED and choke IS required ON for the first start of the day
Check area is clear
Shout 'CLEAR PROP'
START engine and set RPM to 2000 (When cold set to 2500)
Strobe light ON
Check Aux fuel pump OFF and choke OFF
Radio ON and Transponder ON standby
DURING TAXI
Check Brakes
Check Slip Ball
Check Compass
Lesson 5: Taxiing
On the ground, the aircraft is steered by using the rudder pedals. In the C42, the rudder pedals are also connected to the nose wheel so this is a direct steering. In some aircraft, the tops of the rudder pedals are brake pedals and you use differential braking to onto the direction you want the aircraft to go.
Needless to say, it is not as easy as it looks when you first try it, but will get easier with practice. The main thing is to get your brain to thing differently. You will hold the stick back to raise the elevator as the prop was then adds some down force and relaxes the pressure on the nose wheel. There is a temptation to steer the aircraft with the stick and not the feet!
Another issue I had was when I wanted to stop, I applied extra pressure to the left foot, thinking is was a clutch pedal in a car! It will come with practice, but it wasn't brilliant first time.
The aircraft will turn better to the left than the right due to the prop wash so you can do tighter turns to the left. Taxiing down the right hand side of the runway when backtracking is therefore preferable for this reason.
PRE FLIGHT (VITAL ACTIONS)
Park into wind
Brakes ON and locked (hold on, do not rely on the clip)
Set throttle to 2000 rpm (set to 2500 when cold)
Controls full and free and correct sense
Harness and hatches secure (seat belts not trapped in door)
Loose items stowed
Flight instruments set and correct
Engine temperatures and pressures within limits
Magneto check at 3500rpm (max drop 200rpm) Hold brakes on
Throttle back to IDLE check it does not stop
Rest throttle to 2000rpm
Fuel ON, aux fuel pump ON, contents sufficient
Trim set for take off and flaps set as required
Wind check, strength and direction
Check all clear for take off
Check full power during take off roll (min 5000rpm)
AFTER TAKE OFF
Flaps neutral above 300 feet
Aux fuel pump OFF above 1000 feet
Engine temperatures and pressures within limits
Lesson 6: - Straight and Level
Once away from the airfield and at a safe altitude of 2200ft, it was my task to pick a point and head towards it without deviating. I also had to maintain the altitude of 2200ft within a margin of 100 ft up or down, using the engine power. It sounds simple enough, but when you are learning, the amount of concentration needed is a lot. Like with driving a car, it will become second nature, but for now, it takes a lot.
As you move through the air, you will hit areas of rising air called lift and descending air called sink. You balance this out with the throttle so if you get lift, you reduce the throttle to stop the aircraft from climbing and if you hit sink, you increase the throttle to keep the altitude.
When changing the airspeed in level flight, we were using the mnemonic:
P - Power - set the power to attain the speed you want to cruise at - in our case 60 knts
A - Attitude - set the attitude of the nose to maintain the airspeed by pulling back on the stick
T - Trim - use the trim on the aileron which means the aircraft flies hands off
We also started in incorporate en-route checks.
F - Fuel - sufficient, pump as required
R - Radio - Volume, frequency, call
E - Engine - T's and P's
D - Direction - or location
A - Altimeter - QNH/QFE as required
Airmanship
This time we were concentrating on the look out. At the same time as trying to fly straight and level, you need to be looking around you to keep an eye out for any issues. Add in to this, you need to keep an eye on the instruments to make sure the temperatures and pressures, T&P's, are all within the required limits. It is a lot to take on board at first!
Finally, I was guided through the approach to the airfield, the overhead join, dead side descending, downwind turn, base leg and then the approach and landing. My instructor took over for the base leg, approach and landing and it is a good job he did as it was very bumpy. He had to do a side slip to lose height and get in as there was a lot of lift keeping us off the ground. There was an option to go round, but his experience told him he was OK to bring it in.
Purchases this post
Flight - £130
Totals
Total Costs = £1047.39
Total Hours PA-28 = 1.05
Total Hours Icarus C42 = 3.05 hours
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