Practice Forced Landings Part 2

That ever elusive first solo flight is remaining out of my grasp. Again the winds were too strong to remain in the circuit so we head away to some open fields to do some practice forced landings. I am not with my usual instructor as he was booked out but he is in the club house and tells todays instructor what I should be learning

It is my most confident take off to date. I seem to zip through the pre take off checks and am lining up on the runaway without the instructor saying much. I even get the radio calls right (mostly). We take off west from runway 26 and begin our climb to 2300 feet. It is fairly bumpy but not as bad as last week. We enter Farnborough Airspace and switch our radio to their service.

My instructor suddenly indicates there is a plane at our 12’ o Clock and sure enough seconds later it zips by underneath us at about 50 yards to our left. I am slightly shocked by how close it was and the fact that I did not see it. It was in our blind spot beneath the nose as we climb. The instructor does not seem to make a big deal out of it so we carry on.

We do some practice forced landings the majority of which seem to go well then we head back to Fairoaks. We switch radio to Heathrow to get permission to enter their airspace temporarily so that we can climb high enough to do an actual forced landing. So at about 1900 feet over Fairoaks the instructor sets the throttle to idle and we are gliding.

I am over keen to make the runway so as we approach we are way too high. I push the nose down to lose some height but subsequently pick up too much speed. I manage to land it quite heavily about half way down the runway. Still it was a successful if not slightly untidy forced landing. My instructor seems pretty happy with it and says the wind was partially to blame.

We taxi back in and disembark. There is not much of a debrief and then I’m back in the car heading home. Hopefully back to the circuits next week. 

Total Flying Time: 15hrs 45 mins

An unexpected (and rather bumpy) flight

The sky is fairly clear as I make my way to the airfield. I notice the autumn leaves blowing in the wind and start to wonder whether it will be too windy to fly. Sure enough when I arrive my instructor tells me it’s about 15-18 knots. The wind limit for the Cessna 152 is 12 knots. There is a crosswind on the runway and it is not suitable for circuits.

We settle into an hour of ground school instead. I learn about Tafs and Metars and get my own log in on the Met Office website. They have a free General Aviation Briefing Service. It all looks like gobbledygook but by the end of my lesson I am starting to get the hang of it.

I stick around afterwards chatting to another trainee pilot at about the same stage as me. As I do so my instructor approaches me and asks me how much I want to fly today. His next lesson has not turned up so he has got an opening. We won’t do circuits instead we’ll go off and do some practice-forced landings. I momentarily contemplate the slightly worse than acceptable weather conditions before saying “Okay let’s do it.”

Everyone is sat inside at the airfield café because of the weather as I stride across the tarmac to the Cessna clutching my headphones and flight bag. I feel a mixture of nervousness and excitement hoping this was the right choice. I watch the larger more stable Pipers in the circuit bobbling around in the wind and wonder how the smaller Cessna will fair.

“I’ll do the take-off and landing today” says the Instructor. Fine by me I think and I sit back as we accelerate down the runway. Then we are airborne and my first thought is wow this is pretty windy. “Did you bring sickbags?” I joke nervously to my instructor as we bobble about. “I think we’ll both probably need them.” He replies reassuringly.

He gives me control and we climb to about 2300 feet just south of Guildford. The turbulence comes in patches with my stomach occasionally being left a few feet above us as we suddenly drop. I try to relax and focus on the flying. As is usually the way my instructor demonstrates first this time a practice forced landing. He closes the throttle to zero and then we are gliding. Above 2000 feet you try to restart the engine and check what might have caused engine failure, below 2000…. you just pick a field and concentrate on trying to get down safely. A simulated mayday call is made stating our situation, location and number of people on board. Then you brief the passengers (hands and feet away from the controls, evacuate aircraft quickly on landing etc.) Then as we are about 500 feet above the chosen field my instructor puts the power back on and we climb out.

Then it’s my turn. It all seems to go okay. My passenger briefing to my instructor includes the words “start praying” which makes him chuckle. The wind is so strong that we feel like a balloon being blown sideways. But I manage to line us up with the field I chose. As we climb out the downdraft is so strong we struggle to make altitude.

My instructor cuts the power again about 2300 feet. This time I notice the disused airfield at Ockham and decide to aim for there. “Good” my instructor says. However the compliment is short lived as it soon becomes apparent we are not going to make it. “Look for other options” he suggests. It’s all paddocks and trees as far as I can see. We power back up and climb out. I could have made it had I turned in earlier my instructor tells me. Lucky it was only a practice!

We head back to the Airfield and rejoin overhead. As we approach the runway there is a Piper landing ahead of us. His landing looks extremely hairy and at one point it looked like his wingtip was going to touch the ground. They don’t manage to touch down and I hear over the radio the pilot saying they are going around. As they climb out I’m aware it’s our turn. “Let’s see if I can land this” my instructor says with modesty. We are coming in angling to the wind (the crab approach for crosswind landings). Then we are on the ground without too much drama. I breath a small sigh of relief and am aware that I am buzzing with adrenaline. It was a good if not slightly nerve wracking experience.

I pay in the clubhouse and head back home feeling good about how the day turned out. I am feeling like things are starting to come together having passed my first ground exam a week ago. My next milestone is my first solo flight.

Total Flying Time: 14 Hrs 50mins

A New Blog (about Flying)

I decided I would create a new blog dedicated solely to my flying. I am a trainee pilot with about 16 hours worth of flying time and after posting a couple of posts about flying in my other blog I decided it deserved its own blog. I am learning in a Cessna 152 working towards my JAA PPL single engine fixed wing licence. To pass I will need a minimum of 45 hours, pass 7 ground exams (I have passed one so far- 6 to go) and will need to pass my skills test in the air. I hope you enjoy my writing whether you are into aviation or not.