{"id":689,"date":"2012-08-20T07:51:46","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T06:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fortyfivehours.co.uk\/?p=689"},"modified":"2012-08-20T07:51:46","modified_gmt":"2012-08-20T06:51:46","slug":"lesson-28-standard-flapless-circuits-or-that-was-the-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fortyfivehours.co.uk\/?p=689","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 28 : Standard & Flapless Circuits (……or that was the theory)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was scorching hot weather, the sky was blue, so I was very surprised when the aero clubs number appeared on my phone.\u00a0 I had no lessons booked for them to cancel today and surely nobody would have cancelled in weather like this, would they?<\/p>\n

Someone had, now I just had to decide if I wanted their slot…….after a bit of a reshuffle of the schedule for the day (and some negotiations), sure why not \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Instructor Number Eight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"G-SHWK\"<\/a>

G-SHWK<\/p><\/div>\n

Upon arrival I was told I’d be flying with another new (to my log book) instructor, we’d nearly gone flying before but I’d had lessons cancelled.\u00a0 However, if we’re being honest I’m not a huge fan of getting new instructors.\u00a0\u00a0 There’s a phase of learning each others ways which is just hard work at best and feels like you’ve gone a quarter of a lesson backwards at worst.<\/p>\n

Still, when it happens, I remind myself that the examiner will be someone new and I just have to be able to jump in a plane with anyone.<\/p>\n

He seemed keen to go, so several signatures to authorise the flight and a set of keys for G-SHWK<\/strong> later I was out checking the plane.<\/p>\n

Maybe it’s just me, but I quite like walking round a plane in the sunshine – there are just worst places in the world you can be than at an airport playing with aeroplanes, surrounded by other aeroplanes.<\/p>\n

That’s where the enjoyment ended.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The checks were fine, we got our clearances and taxi’d out no problems, but from there it just unraveled.<\/p>\n

I put the checklist away after the power checks, thought about it, thought some more.\u00a0 Then the instructor said “Done with all the checks?”<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then it dawned on me I’d put the checklist away about 15 items to soon!\u00a0 I knew it felt like I was missing something…..arrrgh.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It might sound daft, but the checklist could almost do with a “You’re done, taxi to holding….”<\/em>\u00a0 line.<\/p>\n

Circuit #1\u00a0 :\u00a0 Low
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whiskey Kilo was having none of it today, <\/strong>I brought the power back to 2000RPM for 90 knots, <\/strong>forget it, it just wanted to sink.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> I ended up at 2,200 RPM just to get the right speed and it all still felt wrong, the attitude looked wrong, the power settings should be wrong………<\/strong><\/p>\n

So it shouldn’t have been a surprise when the the landing was a bounce, a few milliseconds to grumble and then on with the power and abort the landing for a go around (not on to a great start).<\/p>\n

Even the go around went wrong, I retracted the flaps below 200ft.<\/p>\n

Circuit #2<\/strong> :\u00a0\u00a0 More wrongness<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plane still didn’t sit right, I’ve never had to put this much power on to get it to be in a fighting chance of keeping it all together.\u00a0\u00a0 I want to say I can look back now and it was obvious, or that the instructor reminded me I was doing something stupid or out of sequence……..but I can’t.<\/p>\n

Height was still a bit of a mess on the circuit and for such a blue sky day, we were getting constant gusts of wind raising one wing or the other – not helping the workload.<\/p>\n

The approach was better and I got it down this time, on the left wheel first, which made for a messy touchdown.\u00a0 Still at least the landing matched the circuit, just not my best form at all.<\/p>\n

Circuit #3<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the climb out I was asked “How are the conditions….?”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

With hindsight perhaps I should have called it here, it wasn’t happening today and maybe the smart move would have been to quit and try again tomorrow.\u00a0 However, I’ve been there before<\/a>, <\/strong><\/em>if you walk away early, you’ll walk away unhappy with it – <\/em>the risk now was:\u00a0 Don’t walk away and you’re burning money.\u00a0\u00a0 I decided to risk it, that the next few circuits would be better.<\/p>\n

I’m pretty sure I was doing a fairly rubbish job and my instructor seemed to agree, this approach even got some added instruction on getting the landing a bit better and to be fair, the landing was better.<\/p>\n

There are highs and there are lows, this lesson was becoming one to write off.<\/p>\n

Circuit #4 :\u00a0 Flapless<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forget going solo today, even I wouldn’t have sent me solo today.\u00a0 Still when the instructor said “lets try one flapless.”\u00a0\u00a0 My confidence took a boost, I think because I’ve never had one I can remember that was bad, I nailed it first time and went solo on my first proper go at them.\u00a0\u00a0 This is probably because the approach speed is a touch faster and the nose ends up naturally being higher……In my head I could land a C172 without flaps any day of the week, why adding flap makes the landings more hit and miss remains a mystery.<\/p>\n

I’d got use to Whiskey Kilo giving me a really hard time on the power and the circuits were starting to return to my normal good 1000ft.\u00a0\u00a0 Honestly, for the plane I fly the most it was kicking me today – though my tendency to converge on downwind I couldn’t really blame on the plane \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n

Sure enough the approach was nicer, 70 knots all the way down ending in an ok landing.<\/p>\n

Circuit #5 :\u00a0 Flapless<\/strong><\/p>\n

Much of the same as circuit #4, as you might have gathered, the less I say about this lesson, perhaps the better.\u00a0\u00a0 However, once again I found I had no real problems with a flapless landing.<\/p>\n

Circuit #6\u00a0 :\u00a0\u00a0 Normal……and just give up<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Time to land, none of these circuits had been special and the lesson wasn’t all that enjoyable as a result.\u00a0 It was just a lot of work fighting a plane that seemed not to like me any more, fighting gusts of wind all the time and generally landing in sub-standard fashion.<\/p>\n

Honestly, if first impressions count, my instructor must have walked away from this thinking “My god, they’ve sent this guy solo how many times????……Are they insane!?!”<\/em><\/p>\n

Debriefing<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve never exited an airplane so slowly in my life, when the instructor got out and left me to tie the plane down, I found myself just sitting there contemplating how bad it had just been and how had I gone so far backwards?<\/p>\n

In the debrief, being honest, I think my new instructor was struggling to find a good point:<\/p>\n