Next Up - TSA Clearance

Good news from the Flying School. They say I can complete my flight training on my current VISA. I was worried that I required a M1 which would have delayed my training ($ impact too). Additional good news, they also confirmed my JAA hours count towards my FAA ticket.


Next I need to get TSA clearance and a medical complete. Plan to drop into the flying school one evening this week to start the process.


In the mean time, I am studying the local sectional to get an idea of how airspace is structured. I love the www.skyvector.com website. I prefer the paper sections spread out on the table, but the @skyvector website is a great alternative.


I am also carrying my handheld scanner with me in the car so that I can learn the different between FAA and JAA  terminology. I am a little worried about the radio's over here, but I have flown enough hours to know I should just fly and be confident in my ability.

Like Father, Like Son

This weekend my son will take his first flight thanks to the Young Eagles.

He will take a 30 minutes flight out of Stella Airpark (KSLJ) in Chandler, Arizona.

http://www.stellarairpark.org/YoungEagles/Welcome.html

Travelling to Phoenix

On Sunday 20th November, I travelled with my family from Dublin to Phoenix via Heathrow. Thanks to @Planefinder on Twitter, they tracked my flight at various stages;


https://twitter.com/#!/planefinder/status/138376315349909504/photo/1

One of the cool features on the @Planefinder website is it's playback feature. On the following link you can see my flight approach Casper in Wyoming.


http://planefinder.net/flight/BAW9CG/time/2011-11-21T00:55:00%20UTC

The flight was pretty much uneventful other than the low vis procedures in place at Heathrow. This result in a 30 minute dash from Terminal 3 to 5 in order to catch the Phoenix connection. We departed 09R 90 minutes late in <500m vis. The rest of the flight was spent chasing the sun set west. Landed in Phoenix at 1940 local time approx 10 hours after departing Heathrow.


Next blog update will be when I take my first FAA training flight in December.

Last Ireland Flight

On the morning of Saturday 12th November, I woke up at 0700z to more or less CAVOK conditions. I headed off to the airport for my last flying lesson before heading to Phoenix. I had booked a two hour slot in Bravo Charlie Kilo, my solo aircraft! 

My regular instructor was not available. I have always relished the chance to fly with different instructors. During the duration of my training I have flown with approx. six different instructors.


I have come to realise there is no one way to fly an aircraft correctly. Each instructor has his or her own take on how things should be done. For example, I normally climb at 75KIAS. During the flight today, the instructor suggested I target 80KIAS on the climb out.


At Weston Airport (EIWT), the rejoin procedure is 1500' overhead on the QNH (airport elevation ~150'), join the downwind and then land. For the last few flights I have struggled to get the height off. Quite often, I found myself turning base at >1000' which always resulted in being too high on final. Armed with a new instructor, he instantly realised what I was doing wrong. We called up the tower and asked if we could go back round to the overhead 1500' point. My issue was that I was trying to bleed to speed from 100KIAS cruise down to 75KIAS before losing the height . This time, my instructor had be reduce the power but simply point the nose down. As expected, the height dropped, and before I knew it, I was at the circuit height. At that point whilst maintaining the height, the airspeed fell back to the desired 75KIAS. Turned final and landing with 30degree of flaps (40 available in Bravo Charlie Kilo).


During the flight I had my first real introduction into navigation. We flew for 75 minutes west of the Weston Control Zone but below Dublin Controlled Airspace. Since the solo, I have been become more confident about trimming the aircraft and letting it fly with the smallest of corrections. 


Confidence Points - This allowed me time to focus on the map and look for those confidence points. The instructor taught me to focus on rivers, roads, pylons, towns, villages. Even the simple thing of a road passing a railway line, or a river being parallel to a road can be used as a confident point along your planned route.


Landed after clocking up another 75 minutes. Very enjoyable flight. Pleased I had a chance to fly with this instructor.


Time to wrap up my Irish training. On the 1st January 2011, I had no idea what the year had ahead. New job, back flying and now moving to the US for a couple of years. 


When I next fly in Ireland, I better have that PPL Ticket! 


Goodbye Ireland, see you in 2013.

Solo

Mixed emotions during the solo flight. I felt ready. I treated the flight as it was any other flight. 


I taxied to ALPHA for power checks. I double checked everything, I questioned one of the magnetos during the RPM drop check, but I gave it the thumbs up. Just paranoid. There was no issue.


I taxied onto the active. Then it hit me. The decisions I make in the next 10mins could kill me. It really hit me as I applied full throttle. Rudder control. Ailerons neutral. 65kts.


I probably flew one of my best circuits. I was 100' high on the downwind. I extended my downwind leg due to traffic ahead turning base. I didn't panic. I didn't want my first approach to be a go around with the need to retract the flaps.


Turned final. 600' on the QNH. Felt low. Power. Pitched for 70kt. 10deg then 20deg. Perfect profile. 65kts. Runway not moving up or down.


Wind? Slight xwind. No factor Fly the approach.


Landing was amazing. With an instructor, you always feel he/she is giving you guidance. This time, there was no help. I felt in complete control.Right wheel, followed by left (1sec). Then the nose wheel. 


I had done it. I think I only swore ten times to myself during the circuit!

ATC audio available on the following link. Audacity misses the first second of each transmission.

0 --> 2156mins (Solo!!)

My journey to date has all been about stop/start. 


2000 --> 2001 = 733 minutes (stopped due to lack of money. Medical not complete)
2007 --> 2008 = 858 minutes (stopped due to work commits situation. Medical, complete 1hr before training stopped!)
2009 --> 2010 = 140 minutes (lack of flying due to work commits) 


I started flying again on the 23rd July 2011. Circumstances came together allowing me to fly at least a couple of times a week. At this point, all the previous experience started coming back to me. "I just get it" I said to myself after nailing a few landings. After another 425 minutes of flying, I was ready for the solo. 


On Tuesday 20th September, the wind was 10kts down the nose. I had been struggling with cross controls with a cross wind component >8kts. I knew there was a chance that today would be the day. 


I started off with two normal flapped T&G's. Nailed the landings. On the third landing, the instructor called the tower asking for a glide approach and the option for a full stop/touch and go. I knew at that point that if I nailed the landing I would be going solo Glide approach, turned base early, no flap until I knew the airfield was reachable, full flap, pitched for 60kts, nailed the landing. Vacated at BRAVO and taxied to the ramp. My instructor said, "On you go, power checks at ALPHA, 1 circuit and come back and pick me up.


The time had come.

Grounded

Just as I was getting back into flying in the circuit and pushing for that solo flight, the weather closed in. I have not flown for almost two weeks. This week Ireland bore the brunt of ex Hurricane Katia with winds gusting over 50kts. (http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/hurricane-katia-photo-iss)


Being grounded has allowed me time to think about the procedures I need to follow whilst in the circuit. @askcaptainjon on Twitter has asked me adhoc questions on what I would do if a particular scenario transpired. There is no harm in revising the procedures once in a while. I am fully aware that a PPL is a License to learn and not an indication that I know everything about flying!


On a positive note, I did pass my English Proficiency Test. Armed with my valid Student, Medical and EP License, I am now ready to push for that elusive solo flight.


Next flight is Wednesday 14th.

English Test

Where possible I am practising all my radio calls ready for my English Proficiency Test next week.


The radio doesn't scare me. Just need to remember to write everything down that ATC asks me to do. I am always anticipating what the Controller might ask me. When I flew out of Newcastle (EGNT) last year in a PA28, I came unprepared to fly out of such a big airport. No pen, no paper etc. Lesson learnt!


Here is a link to a recent flight where I had to call into the Dublin Controller who was handling several inbounds into Dublin. I know it's not perfect. Didn't mention VFR once. But with the help of websites like liveatc.net, I am improving.


http://bit.ly/nylE8d

What a Difference a Day Makes & Social Media

With 3 years away from flying, the world has become a smaller place. Since starting to fly again in August, there is a large amount of information out there to aid student pilots. One resource is Twitter. I am now tweeting updates on each flight to my followers (I call them fans!). I am finding that people are very helpful with providing inspiration to continue and advice when needed. 

I lost a lot of confidence during my latest lesson where I could not judge a 40degree 10kt crosswind. People like @askcaptainjon and @JamesDCessna152 are providing instant feedback on what I should be thinking about. One comment was made that I should not get back in an aircraft until I understand the following. Thinking about what the Tweeters were writing to me helped me understand the issue.

Speaking of the issue - On Tuesday, I nailed the 6 T&G's. Felt I was getting closer to solo. On Thursday I screwed the whole thing up. What a difference a day makes. I now understand what went wrong and I need to work on ensuring it doesn't happen again.

Thanks to those who are tweeting me. For me, it's an additional briefing/de-briefing session.

Now focusing on getting these landings sorted and solo before moving to Arizona in October.

Next up is my English Proficiency test.

Back Flying

Well it's a long story that I can tell you over a beer one night. But I am back in Ireland. Back flying again. Hired a C172 this evening and clocked up another 50mins with 2 T&G's and 1 landing.

Moving to Phoenix Arizona next month for eight months. Expect lots more blog updates as I aim to complete my PPL in under12 years!!

Meeting the STS-132 crew

This week I had the opportunity to meet the crew of Shuttle mission STS-132. They have just completed a week long visit of Great Britain. 10 days ago, the Center for Life group managed to secure the astronauts for an evening.

The crew spoke for an hour, showed several slides and a video. It was a very inspiring evening. My seven year old came along for the ride. He very much enjoyed meeting them too. He managed to get one of his questions answered during the Q&A session. I still don't think he has separated Doctor Who/Star Wars from real life! I think he was expecting the crew to arrive in a Tardis or with a light saber!

First flight at an international airport

I hired a PA28-161 Warrior for an hour from Northumbria Flying School and flew from Newcastle to Carlisle and back with an instructor.

My mission goal for the flight was two fold (a) just get flying again and (b) practice my RT skills in relatively busy airspace.

The lesson got off to a bad start when the instructor asked me to pre flight the Warrior. 95% of my previous flying has been in a C172, but a plane is a plane and I started my external checks. Mistake number 1. I was very disappointed with myself. I failed to get into the aircraft and start the internal list first. The instructor proceeded to remind me of all the small mistakes I was making for the first 20 minutes.

Once I finally took off, I settled down and enjoyed the rest of the flight. We flew VFR to Carlisle never getting above 2200'. I managed to make a couple of mistakes locating some of the key visual reporting positions, but I did manage to find Carlisle without any help! I performed a touch and go on runway 25 and arrived back at Newcastle approx 80 minutes after starting the engines.

I was not prepared for the lesson. My knee board did not work too well and I failed to write down all the read backs from ATC. Mistake number 2!

I have to be better prepared next time. I know I can do better.

One of the reasons for learning to fly is so I can fly amongst the airliner traffic. This was my first flight at Newcastle and a chance to test my RT skills. Despite a couple of stumbles, I survived and only made an arse of myself once. I just need be write instructions down in the future.

Lesson's Learnt
(1) Follow the checklist from the beginning and don't rush (I should have done this)
(2) Buy a good knee board and write everything down.

Pushing Tin

On March 17th I had the chance to visit the Air Traffic Control Facility at Newcastle International Airport. The reason for the visit was to become more familiar with the local procedures and the airspace as I was in the process of trying to find a flying school in the North East of England where I could complete my PPL training. There was additional interest due to the fact that I have spent the last two years flying our of the airport on a weekly basis as self loading freight on business trips with my day job.

The accompanying video to my visit can be found on below.

The Facility

The new ATC facility opened in 2007. The facility has moved away from the terminal buildings allowing a better view of runway 07/25 and the surrounding taxiways. The new facility is split into two areas. There is a Radar/Approach room on the lower floor and the Tower Visual Control Room (called the tower) located at the top. The airport is served by Easyjet, Ryanair, British Airways, BMI, Jet2, Thomson, Emirates and a few others. But as you will read below, depending on the day of the week, the controllers can handle a wide range of military traffic.

Radar/Approach

I knew the facility was only a couple of years older, but I was not expecting the equipment to be as state of the art as it was. Must admit, I was expecting the scopes to look much more conventional, rather than modern LCD monitors. There are three workstations forming a semicircle. The Director Controller (125.825 MHz) sits on the right hand side and the Radar/Military Controller (124.375/284.6 MHz) sits in the centre. On the left hand side there is a work station where the Assistant Traffic Controller spends his/her time. During quiet hours, the Director frequency is normally not manned. On this particular day, both the Director and Radar freqs were in use. The Director controller was handling the inbounds into Newcastle. The Radar Controller was handing the civilian outbounds. The Radar Controller was also working the military frequency 284.6 MHz.

Tower

Due to the location of the new Tower, it's difficult to see aircraft parked on the domestic stands. But state of the art monitoring equipment allows the Tower Controller to monitor all ground movement in reduce visibility operations. There are three workstations shared between the assistant, ground control and the Tower frequency (119.7 MHz). The ground frequency was not used during my visit. In fact, I believe it's only used early in the morning when several aircraft are looking for clearance at the start of a the day. The Tower was less hectic than the radar room. During my stay up top, the daily Emirates A330 arrived (UAE35). One of the flights that I frequently travel on with business also departed.

Airspace/Radar Plot

The majority of departing and arriving traffic will use the Papa18 (P18) airway that is south west of the airfield. Other traffic will route either North or South (normally on track Ottringham which is located in Humberside). There are several over flights largely comprising of Transatlantic traffic going in or out of Europe. There aircraft are under the control of Swanick or Scottish Control and don't tend to interfere with Newcastle ATC operations. The Controllers use a state of the art communication system that allows them to talk to other controllers around the country by simply pressing a button. The controllers spend their idle time when not talking to the pilots on another line with other facilities, e.g. Leeming, Durham Tees Valley, Scottish Control. I have a Mode S receiver at home which allows me to monitor aircraft that are transmitting ADS-B signals. So the first time I saw the radar screen at Newcastle, I was very surprised at seeing no callsigns on the aircraft tags. The data tag shows only the squawk number and height readout. The software would need upgrading in order to display callsigns. The Controllers use normal flight progress strips for tracking the aircraft progress/intentions.

Military Traffic

I probably visited on one of the busier days in term of traffic mixture. There were two major military excercises going on around the north east of England. The Radar/Military Controller monitoring 124.375/284.6 Mhz had to co-ordinate a mixture of different traffic ranging from Apache's out low to the west, F-15's up north, Hercules requesting to operate within the P18 corridor near Leeds and traffic that was transitioning the corridor that lies north west of Newcastle (Hexham Gap). One of the highlights was a Eurofighter Typhoon practising a simulated hijack escort of an airliner. The hijacked aircraft was played by a Hawk (PIRATE12). The Typhoon (GUNFIGHTER1) escorted the airliner to the ILS and then broke off and went on-route. The Hawk received a talk down/PAR approach from the Director Controller.

Palo Alto/Bay Tour C172 Video

5 minute video of my Bay tour out of Palo Alto - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfIdjYDhSm8

ATC clips were taken from liveatc.net.
Radar plots were taken from SFO noise monitoring website.

Palo Alto C172 Flight

After waiting for many months, my business trip finally went ahead The weather sucked most of the week whilst I attended my conference. Temperatures in the mid 50's, cloudy, some drizzle and wind. Reminded me of a summer's day in England!

I woke up on Sunday 28th Febuary to a clear blue sky. We arrived at the airfield to discover that the aircraft hadn't returned from the previous flight. After a short tour of the airfield grounds admiring the other aircraft, N84695 arrived. We walked over to the fuel pumps to start the pre flight. I was very impressed with how my pilot for flight prepped the airplane. He performed a very methodical pre- flight inspection.

During the preflight, ATC switched from RWY 13 back to the preferred direction RWY31. By the time we started her up, there was already a backlog at the holding point for 31. After a few minutes waiting we were cleared to line up behind a Citabria (N59WD).

Our planned departure was to take off on 31, climb to approx 1500' QNH on runway heading and turn west towards the mountains >2500'. We then planned to route to the Golden Gate bridge via Half Moon Bay and north under the SFO Class Bravo. Shortly after rolling out on a heading of 270 in the climb to 2500' we could see a layer of low cloud lingering over Half Moon Bay. We turned north and continued a climb to 3500'. On contact with NORCAL , we were cleared through the left side of the SFO Class Bravo. At this point I was at the controls and for the first time in my short life as a student pilot I had to nail the heading and height requests passed on from ATC. Whilst transitioning the Bravo, I got a great look at the traffic heading into and out of SFO. Departures were on 01L/01R and landing on 28L/28R.

We were then cleared to continue VFR onto the Golden Gate Bridge and Alactraz which was fun. For the return back to home plate, we planned to head down the coast towards Half Moon Bay, but the low cloud had not cleared. NORCAL advised us to contact SFO Tower for another Class Bravo transition. We were subsequently cleared through the Bravo with the request to keep highway 101 on our left. Any closer would mean infringing SFO traffic.

After passing the lake at "Slack" we were advised to contact San Carlos tower. There was then a mix up with our squawk code. We had changed back to 1200 VFR, but ATC wanted us to remain on 0375. We soon rectified the problem, but I learnt about how ATC can be pretty straight to the point when talking to you.

San Carlos passed us back to Palo Alto tower. Appeared to be at least four other aircraft in the circuit, but we managed to fit in a touch and go before coming to a full stop.

All in all it was a great adventure me. It's everything I thought it would be. I enjoyed the sightseeing. Most of all I enjoyed the chance to be in some busy airspace close to an international airport.

My sincere thanks to TR for taking me flying.

Waiting ages for a bus

There is a saying in the U.K. "you wait ages for a bus then three come along". I had only once before seen an Airbus A380 from a distance prior to the 21st February.

When I recently departed for California on a business trip from the U.K. onboard Speedbird Two Eight Five (BAW285), I saw three A380's Airbuses depart Heathrow whilst we were taxing from Terminal 5 to runway 27L.

First I saw an Emirates A380 rotate and then as we approached the active runway, I caught sight of a Sinagpore followed by Qantas A380. The Qantas bus departed from interection N2E and we lined up behind via N1.




I managed to capture a video of the Qantas bus departing 27L ahead of our flight. Apologies, the video quality is not brilliant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVQbzQxf1L4

My flight to the US ended up with a foggy, damp landing on 19L at SFO. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noImlmuGDLs

Next up in the blog is my Bay trip report from my C172 flight out of Palo Alto.

California Dreams......

At the end of Febuary I will be going to the US on business. Fingers crossed I will be hooking up with some relatives and hopefully flying over the Bay area @ SFO in their C172.

I will be flying out of Palo Alto................

Aviation Law

My job takes me from the U.K. to Europe everyweek. Most weeks I fly from Newacstle International Airport (EGNT) to either Amsterdam (EHAM) or Brussels (EBBR). I get at least 3 hours per week to catch up with my favourite podcasts, Uncontrolled Airspace & Airspeed.

My time waiting in airports or on a flight can now be used to brush up on my ground school. I always dreaded reading about Aviation Law. But I must admit, after picking up my Trevor Thom Aviation Law book 1, I was plesently surprised how interesting the subject is.

Tonight on my RJ85 flight into EBBR, I learnt about some new simple rule of thumb's - Red to Red is Safe & Red to Green is Unsafe.

Only 170 pages left to read.....................

The journey begins.................................

So here it begins. My journey.

I am starting my 2010 New Year's resolutions earlier than normal.

In 2010,
(1) I will complete my Private Pilot's License (PPL) and
(2) fly a particular aircraft that I only dream about today (details will be revealed in the coming months).

This blog details my journey from zero to PPL completion and the ultimate flight of my dreams.