Extra260 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 After going to bed with the sound of heavy rain, I was thinking I would be foiled by the weather today, but the wind was almost calm and there was a bit of broken low cloud about. The plan for today was some circuit's. Although I've done plenty of circuits before (more than required, whilst waiting for my asic and medical), I'd only done one session of circuits in the 172. I have found that the 172 is a bit more difficult to land than the 150, a bit heavier through the flare and needing a lot more rudder in crosswinds.. so I was happy to get some landing practice. I went out to pre-flight the aircraft (VH-TAW, NAM is currently unserviceable), the pilot's seat was wet. With the heavy rain last night the cabin obviously had a slight leak... not a problem and all the avionics were working (about as well as they usually do.. scratchy radios being the norm). After fueling up and topping up the oil (apparently NAM had been flown with too little oil and had a slight emergency as a result!) we headed out on Rwy 12 (wind 140@5kts). On take off I felt water pooring onto my right shoulder! We did 2 circuits (landings improving but still not as good as I would like) and then Malcolm suggested I go and do a quick area solo.. so I called for a full stop, landed and taxied back to the hangar to let him out. Called for clearance again, no problems there (nice and quiet by now as the RPT rush hour was over), cleared off Rwy 12 to Mills Cross and then the Kings training area. There was some cloud around 4200ft, and my assigned Alt was 4000 so it was a bit bumpy under the cloud, I flew out to Mills Cross, did a turn over the Queanbyan Model Aircraft Club and then turned north to Bugendore. Malcolm had kindly folded the map for me before he got out, I had a bit of a chuckle when I looked over and saw he had folded it to show Albury rather than Canberra (Albury & Canberra are on opposite sides of the same VTC)! Around Bugendore the cloud base was down below 4000ft (broken), since this was meant to be a quick flight I decided not to try climbing above it and just headed back to YSCB. I was cleared direct to Canberra and and then giving a left base join for Rwy 17, that was then amended to left base for Rwy 12 due to an RPT jet about to line up on 17. Approach profile was good, the landing not as good as the ones I'd done earlier but not my worst \ I was pretty pleased with myself today, the flying is coming together quite nicely, I did a better job of trimming the aircraft (not so turbulent today, that helps a lot), stayed on the assigned altitude more accurately today and generally felt more comfortable. Next lesson on Wed 10am, solo circuits or area solo depending on the weather I guess. Vincent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bosch Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Excellent news Vincent! Great to hear you have that area solo out of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Anderson Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Excellent stuff Vincent, and glad to hear you've bounced back after the injury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petejohno Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Around Bugendore the cloud base was down below 4000ft (broken), since this was meant to be a quick flight I decided not to try climbing above it I'd stay real clear of that stuff mate until you've got a lot of hours under your belt - and a limited IFR rating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extra260 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Excellent news Vincent! Great to hear you have that area solo out of the way. Yeah, I wasn't expecting to be doing that today.. but I was fine with it.. pity it was so short. Vincent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extra260 Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Around Bugendore the cloud base was down below 4000ft (broken), since this was meant to be a quick flight I decided not to try climbing above it I'd stay real clear of that stuff mate until you've got a lot of hours under your belt - and a limited IFR rating Yup, I have no intention of pushing the boundaries with the weather. I do plan to get an IFR rating, not because I feel the need to fly IFR, just as an added safety measure. Vincent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petejohno Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Good one Vincent. I only mentioned the weather because of many years working in air traffic services, I have seen so many pilots get themselves into trouble pushing the weather without the necessary experience. The old " I'll just go and have a look " - some don't come back. Just trust your own judgement and don't be influenced by the pressure of "having to get there" - and you'll be a good pilot. Happy flying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extra260 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Good one Vincent. I only mentioned the weather because of many years working in air traffic services, I have seen so many pilots get themselves into trouble pushing the weather without the necessary experience. The old " I'll just go and have a look " - some don't come back. Just trust your own judgement and don't be influenced by the pressure of "having to get there" - and you'll be a good pilot. Happy flying Despite the comments from friends and family over my flight training, I'm not a big risk taker.. I've also done a lot of reading about flying, and what happens to vfr pilots in imc.. I've mastered the art of 180 deg turns and I'm not afraid to use them Vincent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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