Lesson 12 - 14th March 2020
Circuit Work
The lesson today was to continue with exercises 12 and 13. After a full briefing, it was decided that the best way was to do things in stages.
Stage 1 - Take off.
Before take off there is a useful check H I R E
H - Hatches and Harnesses secured and tight.
I - Intentions - When the aircraft should be off the ground, i.e. the cross runway.
R - Reference Point - Where to aim for on take off, this is the extended centre line
E - Eventualities - What to do in the event of engine failures, where to land and where the abort points are.
1st stage of flaps set, line up, apply full power, apply some right rudder to combat the power yaw. Get up to speed and pull back on the stick and the aircraft will lift off the ground. Once up, slightly forward on the stick so the climb away is not too steep. This way you are close to the ground should there be a necessity for a forced landing. If you are too steep, there will be a steep angle to get back to the ground!
Once above 200 feet, remove the flaps and carry on. At 300 feet, start a climbing turn to the left (left hand circuits) to get on the circuit. This is specific to Clench Common and will be different for other airfields.
Stage 2 - The circuit
Standard circuits in the UK are Left Hand. This means the runway is always on your left and, as you pilot from the left seat (in a 2 seat, side by side aircraft), it is easier to see. This is specified as 2 5 Left Hand, so runway 2 5 on a left hand circuit. Some runways are right hand circuits and these are harder to fly and visualise. Runway 3 3 is RH as is runway 07. 1 5 is LH. The RH circuits are to keep away from the noise objectors and the 'No Fly' areas over domestic dwellings.
The circuit consists of several stages. Today we concentrated on Downwind, Base and Final. There are also The Overhead Join, Deadside and Crosswind but these will be covered later.
Downwind
Circuit height at Clench Common is 500 feet on the QFE. At 500 feet at the start of the Downwind leg, make a radio call:
"GOLF CHARLIE OSCAR Downwind 2 5" (subject to the aircraft you are in and the runway)
Then proceed to make the following checks, which almost reads as 4, 5 6:
F - Fuel pump on and fuel sufficient to go around.
A - All clear - check the circuit for other aircraft
W - Wind - Check the wind direction to make sure the runway chosen is still appropriate
T - Temperatures and Pressures on the gauges
S - Security - Harnesses and hatches secure and loose objects stowed away
5 - 500 feet on the QFE (specific to Clench Common)
6 - at approximately 60 to 65 knots airspeed.
Base Leg
Once the aircraft is at approximately a 45 degree angle to the centre of the runway, turn on to the base leg. Reduce the power to around 3000 rpm and when the speed has reduced so the airspeed is in the White Arc, apply the first stage of flap.
Final
Using an imaginary extended centre line, tun on to Final. (NB NOT FINALS!). Make a radio call:
"GOLF CHARLIE OSCAR FINAL 2 5"
You can also add other things like "TOUCH and GO", "GO AROUND", "TO LAND" or "FULL STOP", so that other people know your intentions.
Once on Final, reduce the throttle and apply the second stage of flap. There is an orange triangle on the ASI and this is the optimum speed for the approach and you adjust with either throttle or pitch to control this. If you need to apply forward pressure on the stick to stay at the correct attitude, then you can apply some trim to assist you. The aiming point is about half way between the fence and the cross runway and this should be roughly in the middle of the cockpit window. Imagine having gun sight cross hairs to help you aim the aircraft.
Once you are over the last line of trees, set the throttle to idle and continue. At about 100 feet, we did a go around. I gently applied full power and pulled the nose up so it was roughly in line with the tops of the trees at the other end of the runway. Once at 200 feet, one stage of flaps is removed. This has an effect on the aircraft that needs to be adjusted for. At 300 feet, the last stage of flaps can be removed so you are climbing away back on to the circuit where it all starts again.
Stage 3 - The Landing
We only covered this briefly. Follow the same process as above, but at 100 feet continue to approach. At about 20 feet, which you have to estimate, pull gently back on the stick to round out. The idea is to try and keep the aircraft off the runway and allow the speed to bleed off and the aircraft to land itself. Keep back on the stick, to keep off the nose wheel as that is the most vulnerable part of the aircraft.
At 20 feet, round off too little and you will hit the nose wheel in to the ground. Pull back too much and the aircraft will balloon back up. It needs to be somewhere in the middle. There is no magic formula, just constant practice under guidance of the instructor.
Summary
Today we probably did around 5 or 6 circuits at 500 feet to get the feel of the circuit, 5 or 6 that involved a proper approach with a go around at about 100 feet, 1 with a touch and go and 1 with a full stop.
It was a very intense hour with a lot of concentration. I was happy with the progress and Graham said that he was also pleased with the way I performed today. He also commented that at just over 11.5 hours, I was about where he would expect me to be in my training. This was good to hear as I am never sure how well I am doing. I often feel I have not done very well, but it looks like I am not doing too bad after all!!
Purchases this post
Lesson £135 - 1 Hour
Totals
Total Costs = £3386.41
Total Hours Icarus C42 = 11 hours 40 minutes
Total Hours PA-28 = 1.05
The lesson today was to continue with exercises 12 and 13. After a full briefing, it was decided that the best way was to do things in stages.
Stage 1 - Take off.
Before take off there is a useful check H I R E
H - Hatches and Harnesses secured and tight.
I - Intentions - When the aircraft should be off the ground, i.e. the cross runway.
R - Reference Point - Where to aim for on take off, this is the extended centre line
E - Eventualities - What to do in the event of engine failures, where to land and where the abort points are.
1st stage of flaps set, line up, apply full power, apply some right rudder to combat the power yaw. Get up to speed and pull back on the stick and the aircraft will lift off the ground. Once up, slightly forward on the stick so the climb away is not too steep. This way you are close to the ground should there be a necessity for a forced landing. If you are too steep, there will be a steep angle to get back to the ground!
Once above 200 feet, remove the flaps and carry on. At 300 feet, start a climbing turn to the left (left hand circuits) to get on the circuit. This is specific to Clench Common and will be different for other airfields.
Stage 2 - The circuit
Standard circuits in the UK are Left Hand. This means the runway is always on your left and, as you pilot from the left seat (in a 2 seat, side by side aircraft), it is easier to see. This is specified as 2 5 Left Hand, so runway 2 5 on a left hand circuit. Some runways are right hand circuits and these are harder to fly and visualise. Runway 3 3 is RH as is runway 07. 1 5 is LH. The RH circuits are to keep away from the noise objectors and the 'No Fly' areas over domestic dwellings.
The circuit consists of several stages. Today we concentrated on Downwind, Base and Final. There are also The Overhead Join, Deadside and Crosswind but these will be covered later.
Downwind
Circuit height at Clench Common is 500 feet on the QFE. At 500 feet at the start of the Downwind leg, make a radio call:
"GOLF CHARLIE OSCAR Downwind 2 5" (subject to the aircraft you are in and the runway)
Then proceed to make the following checks, which almost reads as 4, 5 6:
F - Fuel pump on and fuel sufficient to go around.
A - All clear - check the circuit for other aircraft
W - Wind - Check the wind direction to make sure the runway chosen is still appropriate
T - Temperatures and Pressures on the gauges
S - Security - Harnesses and hatches secure and loose objects stowed away
5 - 500 feet on the QFE (specific to Clench Common)
6 - at approximately 60 to 65 knots airspeed.
Base Leg
Once the aircraft is at approximately a 45 degree angle to the centre of the runway, turn on to the base leg. Reduce the power to around 3000 rpm and when the speed has reduced so the airspeed is in the White Arc, apply the first stage of flap.
Final
Using an imaginary extended centre line, tun on to Final. (NB NOT FINALS!). Make a radio call:
"GOLF CHARLIE OSCAR FINAL 2 5"
You can also add other things like "TOUCH and GO", "GO AROUND", "TO LAND" or "FULL STOP", so that other people know your intentions.
Once on Final, reduce the throttle and apply the second stage of flap. There is an orange triangle on the ASI and this is the optimum speed for the approach and you adjust with either throttle or pitch to control this. If you need to apply forward pressure on the stick to stay at the correct attitude, then you can apply some trim to assist you. The aiming point is about half way between the fence and the cross runway and this should be roughly in the middle of the cockpit window. Imagine having gun sight cross hairs to help you aim the aircraft.
Once you are over the last line of trees, set the throttle to idle and continue. At about 100 feet, we did a go around. I gently applied full power and pulled the nose up so it was roughly in line with the tops of the trees at the other end of the runway. Once at 200 feet, one stage of flaps is removed. This has an effect on the aircraft that needs to be adjusted for. At 300 feet, the last stage of flaps can be removed so you are climbing away back on to the circuit where it all starts again.
Stage 3 - The Landing
We only covered this briefly. Follow the same process as above, but at 100 feet continue to approach. At about 20 feet, which you have to estimate, pull gently back on the stick to round out. The idea is to try and keep the aircraft off the runway and allow the speed to bleed off and the aircraft to land itself. Keep back on the stick, to keep off the nose wheel as that is the most vulnerable part of the aircraft.
At 20 feet, round off too little and you will hit the nose wheel in to the ground. Pull back too much and the aircraft will balloon back up. It needs to be somewhere in the middle. There is no magic formula, just constant practice under guidance of the instructor.
Summary
Today we probably did around 5 or 6 circuits at 500 feet to get the feel of the circuit, 5 or 6 that involved a proper approach with a go around at about 100 feet, 1 with a touch and go and 1 with a full stop.
It was a very intense hour with a lot of concentration. I was happy with the progress and Graham said that he was also pleased with the way I performed today. He also commented that at just over 11.5 hours, I was about where he would expect me to be in my training. This was good to hear as I am never sure how well I am doing. I often feel I have not done very well, but it looks like I am not doing too bad after all!!
Purchases this post
Lesson £135 - 1 Hour
Totals
Total Costs = £3386.41
Total Hours Icarus C42 = 11 hours 40 minutes
Total Hours PA-28 = 1.05
Comments
Post a Comment