Although I'd flown with the school in the same aircraft before during a trial instructional flight (TIF), I knew my first lesson would be a different experience. Today when I arrived I was greeted by the chief flying instructor (CIF) with whom I had been in email contact arraigning my booking, and he was very welcoming. I was pleased to find out that the instructor I would be working with was the same guy who I did my TIF with, and I had enjoyed that experience due to his great instructional manner and sense of humor.
To start off I was given the handling notes for the Beechcraft Skipper 77 and plonked in the briefing room to have a read. It was great to have this document in my hands, which describes the basics of all the systems, checklists and startup procedures, performance characteristics (VNE and climbing speeds etc), as well as containing loading and performance charts which I look forward to getting acquainted with.
Eventually my instructor sat down and we went through the basics of aerodynamics, lift, aircraft controls and handling. I feel that I have benefited from studying the Bob Tait BAK book over the last couple of months as I had an understanding of the concepts, although it was beneficial to talk to someone and refresh and enhance the information. My instructor also offered plenty of helpful information on things I needed clarification on, as well alternative points of view that enhanced my understanding.
After the briefing we hopped in the Skipper and were promptly airborne. Takeoff was great, and I was able to monitor what he was doing with the rudder, which was a pretty hefty full right input to counter the slipstream effect.
After that I was able to get a feel for the aircraft in a broad range of attitude and power settings. We flew around the training area at about 3,300ft where I felt the controls at fast, slow, flaps down and up settings. It was a valuable learning experience feeling the difference in the inputs to the yoke between slow and fast maneuvers. Learning about trimming the aircraft was really interesting too. I feel I had a pretty good theoretical knowledge when going into it, but putting it into practice is another thing entirely.
Main lesson learned from the day; Pitch to desired attitude then trim and feel the resistance on the yoke. If attitude re-corrects and yoke resistance is strong, re-adjust attitude and re-trim. Repeat until desired attitude can be achieved through trim. Also, trim after each attitude change, and trim after each power change.
And also the training area, especially when hugging the mountains to the west, is incredibly beautiful. Good visibility today also meant I could see all the way over to the East coast, over Sydney CBD to the sea.
Post flight briefing my instructor was really helpful. There are a couple of additional books I'm going to get as well as a more practical pair of sunnies. He also advised me to hold out buying a David Clark headset just yet.... oh well.
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Friday, 24 August 2012
Finally getting started
This is a blog about a normal person in Sydney, Australia who decided to learn to fly. I'm writing it because when I was considering flying training I looked up lots of information on the internet, and what I found to be most helpful was other people's blogs. (favourites include http://makingtimeforflying.blogspot.com.au/ and http://fl250.blogspot.com.au/)
The story so far:
My Dad and my uncle took me to airshows when I was younger. Earliest memory from this period (age 3 or 4) is of walking through a C-130 Hercules thinking 'this thing is huge'. I remember vividly how cavernous the space inside felt. The next thing I remember is a Spitfire landing and taxiing right up to the crowd, letting the huge V-12 engine run for a while before shut down. I can still remember the noise and feeling in my chest from that huge engine, and my uncle recently told me I was trembling and wide-eyed in awe at the time.
Since then I have grown up and completed a degree in visual arts (nothing to do with aviation, trust me). After my really useful degree I have been working in childcare full-time. Thanks to my wonderful, beautiful, amazing, and fantastic boss (she doesn't like to be called boss) I have managed to be in a position where I have a steady income, for some reason, which has allowed me to consider getting my PPL.
Since childhood, having not spent an ounce of energy thinking about aviation. I purchased a flight simulator about a year ago called X-Plane, which at the time I wanted because I've always played games, including sims, and I thought it would be a great challenge to master. But 'master' is the wrong word. The program is so detailed and the possibilities so diverse that I quickly found out landing a Piper is very different to landing a 747. I still can't get those big jets down comfortably. And I'll give you a million bucks if you can land the space shuttle from orbit.
Since then I have done a couple of trial instructional flights (TIF), which most flying schools offer. First at Bankstown in a Piper Warrior, then at Camden in a Beechcraft Skipper. In deciding which airport to train at I went against some advice I had received from contacts who know more than I do and chose Camden. My choice was based upon the fact that although Bankstown seems the most logical option (diverse choice of training and aircraft, busy airport environment closer to commercial ops etc) I found it to be congested, alienating and industrial. Taking off and flying around over warehouses and main roads in smoggy air was pretty deflating too.
In the end I followed my heart and chose Camden, because its bloody beautiful. The people I did my TIF with were friendly and personable, and I'd rather fly over trees than warehouses. Plus Camden airport still feels like one of those old places you read about.
By no means let my experience influence your choice of training. From my extremely limited advice go and do some TIFs with as many schools/clubs as you can and decide for yourself. I've taken quite a while to consider my options, but it's better in the long run if you just go and do it. Then at least your partner/family members/pets can get a break from hearing you talking about it in the abstract.
My first lesson is this Sunday. I can't wait to write more stuff here about how much fun I had. I'm especially looking forward to feeling the resistance on inputs from the control surfaces!
The story so far:
My Dad and my uncle took me to airshows when I was younger. Earliest memory from this period (age 3 or 4) is of walking through a C-130 Hercules thinking 'this thing is huge'. I remember vividly how cavernous the space inside felt. The next thing I remember is a Spitfire landing and taxiing right up to the crowd, letting the huge V-12 engine run for a while before shut down. I can still remember the noise and feeling in my chest from that huge engine, and my uncle recently told me I was trembling and wide-eyed in awe at the time.
Since then I have grown up and completed a degree in visual arts (nothing to do with aviation, trust me). After my really useful degree I have been working in childcare full-time. Thanks to my wonderful, beautiful, amazing, and fantastic boss (she doesn't like to be called boss) I have managed to be in a position where I have a steady income, for some reason, which has allowed me to consider getting my PPL.
Since childhood, having not spent an ounce of energy thinking about aviation. I purchased a flight simulator about a year ago called X-Plane, which at the time I wanted because I've always played games, including sims, and I thought it would be a great challenge to master. But 'master' is the wrong word. The program is so detailed and the possibilities so diverse that I quickly found out landing a Piper is very different to landing a 747. I still can't get those big jets down comfortably. And I'll give you a million bucks if you can land the space shuttle from orbit.
Since then I have done a couple of trial instructional flights (TIF), which most flying schools offer. First at Bankstown in a Piper Warrior, then at Camden in a Beechcraft Skipper. In deciding which airport to train at I went against some advice I had received from contacts who know more than I do and chose Camden. My choice was based upon the fact that although Bankstown seems the most logical option (diverse choice of training and aircraft, busy airport environment closer to commercial ops etc) I found it to be congested, alienating and industrial. Taking off and flying around over warehouses and main roads in smoggy air was pretty deflating too.
In the end I followed my heart and chose Camden, because its bloody beautiful. The people I did my TIF with were friendly and personable, and I'd rather fly over trees than warehouses. Plus Camden airport still feels like one of those old places you read about.
By no means let my experience influence your choice of training. From my extremely limited advice go and do some TIFs with as many schools/clubs as you can and decide for yourself. I've taken quite a while to consider my options, but it's better in the long run if you just go and do it. Then at least your partner/family members/pets can get a break from hearing you talking about it in the abstract.
My first lesson is this Sunday. I can't wait to write more stuff here about how much fun I had. I'm especially looking forward to feeling the resistance on inputs from the control surfaces!
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