tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13819686873166255182024-03-19T05:33:59.901-07:00ericje's PPL blog (EN)My flying adventures. From the very start through the course to my PPL, and beyond! ... (I hope ;) )Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-33709012007225365412016-05-19T01:35:00.001-07:002016-05-19T01:35:12.771-07:00Liberation FlightMan, what a loooong time it takes, for my license to arrive! Actually it's not that much, but those couple of weeks feel like half a year! But, upon returning from a weekend away, I found it on the mat on May 1st.<br />
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Of course, my first licensed flight would be one with my wife, Petra. She had flown with me on my very first lesson, in 2011 in a C172. At the time she was a bit nervous about the whole flying such a small airplane, and that had not changed since. So we were about to finde out if she would like flying, or maybe have grown a fear of flying in the mean time...<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The plane was already booked (someone else had to make the booking for me, because I still had no license at the time) for the 5th of May: Liberation Day in the Netherlands. So this was to be our "liberation flight" :)<br />
I had planned a relatively short flight, leaving open the option to immediately return to the field, should the situation so require. We would go from Lelystad via Dronten and Kampen to Zwolle. We would go look at the Liberation festival in Zwolle, but from above, this time. From there, the plan was to go south along the IJssel river, and then West again from Olst, passing over the camping where we have our second home (just like Petra's parents and her brother). From there, perhaps a little detour at higher altitude for some turns and even a little steering of her own. And then back to the field. All that would take less than one hour.<br />
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So said, so done. May 5th came closer, and the weather started to look better and better. It became sunny, and even warm! Only the wind was expected to be fully cross from the South-East, but not very strong.<br />
In order not to challenge Petra's nerves too much, I kept the remarks on going flying to a minimum, right up until the moment we stepped into the car to go to the airport. That's when I started telling her all about what was to come: that I would be busy for about an hour prepping things (plane, wheather, NOTAMs, W&B, Fueling procedure), and that she could help me with that (except for fueling up).<br />
After a final briefing of our route (and the fact that there is no shame in returning to the field if the excitement gets too much), Petra got to hold the chart. She would be my navigator (a great way of keeping your passenger distracted from their fears, and looking out the window; less nausea ;) )<br />
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During the entire flight I kept telling what I was about to do, and in some cases also why. That keeps the mind busy as well. "I'll take the checklist, not because I don't know what I'm doing, but because I want to make sure I do things in the right order, while not skipping anything", "Tower can't hear us talking. Only if I press this button can they hear us. So dont push that button, unless, of course, you have something worth mentioning to Tower :D". I did that throughout the entire flight, and that was much appreciated.<br />
Arriving at the run-up area for runway 05, the windsock hung like a dead cat, so there should not be too much crosswind after all. After the run-up we had to wait for two arriving aircraft, but then it was actually our turn to take the runway ...<br />
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As soon as we left the ground, I felt that there wàs a significant crosswind, so the buildings next to the windsock must have shielded it from the wind. Those buildings also cause some turbulence, exactly over the runway. Nothing worth bothering, normally, but it made for a less-than-comfortable take-off for someone who steps into such a small plane with a load of tension already. She held brave, but her silence geve away her tension.</div>
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Also, over the polder landscape, turbulence due to thermals (the first really warm day of the year...) was bigger than I had hoped for. So I just kept talking about what I did, pointing out flower fields, and recognizable points in the area to keep her mind occupied, and her eyes outside. It took a good quarter of an hour for Petra to get used to the bumpy conditions, and relax a bit. By then, we were approaching Zwolle already, and looking at three recognizable bridges, plus the city center, calmed her nerves a bit.<br />
After Zwolle, the IJssel river, the city of Epe, the ice cream truck at Gortel, and of course the camping provided for some more distraction, but I decided not to go make turns over the camping. Also, the bit of extra flying over the wooded sands of the Veluwe did not seem to offer much added value, so I cut it a little short by proceeding directly to Bravo, and return to the field. She will get a chance to steer the plane during a next flight. This have been enough impressions for one day...<br />
The wind had picked up to about 13 knots crosswind, so the landing took some effort. It was a good landing, but not a pretty one. But that's OK. Now, the bar isn't set too high for the next landing ;) Because she said she would fly with me again, so I must have done something right. Let's just hope the weather is less bumpy, then.<br />
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My first entry in my new logbook is now a fact!</div>
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-83037943730658969622016-04-04T04:52:00.000-07:002016-04-04T04:52:50.353-07:00Exam(s)<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
March 17th, 2016. I have an appointment with our CFI for a pre-exam flight. That is the last flight of my curriculum, and if he is convinced I can perform well enough, we'll go apply for my practical exam...<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">A touch nervous, I head out to the field. It's OK weather; reasonably high cloud base, good visibility, not too much wind, and from a favourable direction. It's more or less "on the nose" with runway 05. That is the least-used direction of the runway, because of prevailing South-Westerly winds in the Netherlands. So I have used this runway direction (with it's right-hand circuit) the least of the two directions, but I am confident that I can fly this one perfectly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I am way too early, because there's a lot of preparation to do. For example, I have a standard take-off and landing performance calculation in my flightbag, that shows I can land and take off on a wet grass runway of 700 meters, on a tropical day (30°C). This means I can come and go to Hilversum, no matter what the weather does (provided it is VMC, of course). But at the exam, you'll need to demonstrate that you can use the Performance Tables (or Graphs) to calculate the actual performance of tat day, and compare that to the required performance of the planned flight. So I calculate that I will need 230 meters of the available 1250 meters for the take-off run. The same sort of thing goes for the NOTAMs, weather, weight and balance, ... A bit more extensive preparation and printing, so that I have my story ready.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Our CFI starts out with asking me all sorts of questions an examiner might ask, about the details of this flight preparation. All in all that was quite extensive, and took about three hours ...</span></div>
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So I was already "cooked" before we took to the skies.We only did some airwork and circuits, because navigation would take too long for us to complete before the next one had an appointment with our CFI. Some stalls, steep turns, emergency landings, they all come by at some point. And all have some minor remarks, of course, but that's only normal for this kind of flight. My three landings were progressively better, with a nice, smooth landing to close with.</div>
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Overall, it was good enough. So after the necessary paperwork, we could apply for my exam. Our CFI would send me some addresses of examiners, and then I could make an appointment myself.</div>
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That all was on a Thursday, and that evening I got an email from our CFI, asking if I could do my exam on Tuesday already. I immediately accepted! Almost no time to worry about the exam. Ideal!</div>
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Tuesday the 22nd was the day. I had taken the day before aff as well, so I could prepare a flight to Münster-Osnabrück (Germany). I knew, of course, that we would not be flying back and forth, but I made a navigation plan, and a flightplan for both legs, just to be complete. Printed all NOTAMs (28 pages!), and crossed out those that were irrelevant to our flight; marked the ones that were important with an pink marker pen. Man, those Germans are active in placing new windmills!</div>
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The weather was for the Tuesday itself. I needed an current weather forcast in order to complete my navplan with wind- and speed calculations, and my meteo briefing.</div>
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The weather was not ideal, that day. The cloudbase was relatively low, completely overcast. But it was legal to conduct the flight at 1500 ft, so no "no-go" there. The forecast promised ceilings rising, so if anything, things looked like they only would get better. Wind was not too much, but somewhat cross to the runway. Enough to reach my personal limit of 10 knots crosswind. Visibility was about 10 km. Again, well above minimums, but with so much moisture in the air, that the horizon was somewhat blocked by greyness.</div>
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I did not make things easier for myself by declaring the weather "good enough".</div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The flying itself went OK, especially considering the circumstances. When we passed Deventer, my examiner asked me to divert to Hoogeveen, and that's where things started to go wrong. I asked the examiner to fly straight and level for a bit while I would plot our new course on the map (good call). I determined the heading, allowing for wind compensation, and calculated that it would take me 21 minutes to get there. Only, I forgot to note the time at which we started to deviate. The landscape in the East of the Netherlands is pretty featureless. It's "fifty shades of green", with a couple of villages of no more than 300 people, they all look the same (the villages, that is). No railroads, no major highways, no distinctive water features. That, combined with my not writing down the start time of my deviation, and the exam stress induced warped sense of time, made me feel like I should have already passed Hoogeveen after some 10 to 15 actual minutes. I felt like I had already been searchin for Hoogeveen for half an hour! Than I spotted a larger settlement, which fulfilled a couple of requirements for being Hoogeveen: a road to the left, a road underneeth, and industrial area to the North, and some green fields that could well be the airport. "OK", my examiner said, "Fly me over the airfield; no need to actually land". As I approached, I noticed that the roads were no highways, the green fields were soccer fields, ..., this was not Hoogeveen! And because I could not find anything on the map that resembled what I was looking at on the ground (I was sure I had already passed Hoogeveen, remember?), I had to admit that I was not sure of my position. I retrospect, there are a number of things I could have done at that moment, but I just shut down.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">On the way back to Lelystad, we did the other air exercises (steep turns, emergency landings, no stalls because of low ceiling), and at Lelystad three landings (normal, flapless, precision). All the exercises and landings were quite good, despite the 12 to 15 knots crosswind that were measured at that time. But the damage had </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">already </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">been done, of course.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">They call it a "partial pass" to formulate it positively, but it felt like a big failure. 5 Out of 6 sections were passed, but for the section Navigation, I was given a second chance to prove myself on a different day. It was up to me if I wanted to take some extra lessons in between.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I decided to go for a quick-as-possible re-try. That was on March 30th, with only Lelystad-Hoogeveen to prepare.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Of course I knew that there would be another diversion. The choice would be between turning left to Drachten, or right to Teuge. Leeuwarden is a military field, and Groningen is controlled. So that leaves these two. Since Teuge would be too easy (fly past the city of Zwolle, and follow the river IJssel), I decided I would practice a diversion to Drachten in Microsoft Flight Simulatoer, with NL-2000 fotoscenery, to see what features I could expect. And indeed, at the exam I flew exactly the same diversion. Even from the same point enroute, and with the same wind I assumed during the trial run. Plus, visibility was 20-30 miles, so I could see Drachten from the moment I started the diversion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Near Drachten I was instructed to navigate to Urk. Did the same as when diverting to Drachten: let the examiner fly stright and level, plot a line on the map, add time tick-marks, note the time of the start of the deviation, regain control, and steer the heading, Immediately I saw that big pancake called Noordoostpolder, with all those toothpicks standing in line along the IJsselmeer coastline. Where this line of toothpicks is interupted, that's where Urk is. So I didn't need those obvious features as Heerenveen, Tjeukermeer, that one forest in the middle of the clay polder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">After another extremely well 15 knots crosswind landing (I am now raising my personal limit), this time I DID pass the 6th section.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">It has been a learing experience for me. If you ever find yourself in a position that you are up for your PPL practical, here's some takeaways I can offer from this experience:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tips:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">1) do your thing. You know how to fly, just follow your nav plan, keep your altitude as best you can.</span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">2) You know you'll get a diversion after some initial navigation. Try to think of a diversion that you would give, if you were the examiner, and look it up carefully. Preferably in a flightsim, but Google Earth will do fine as well. Look for the features you'd be looking for from the plane.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">3) As your examiner to take the controls for a minute when you plot and plan your diversion. That will give you time, and hands to do the preparation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">4)Have enough space available on your nav log too add extra lines, or at least take a new, empty one with you, so you can document the diversion in a structured way that you are used to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">5) No need to worry about the other exercises until you have done at least one diversion leg.</span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">6) An examiner thinks you have passed, until you prove the opposite. He's not the Boogeyman, just another fly guy.</span></span><br />
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I for one am sure I will never forget to write down the time I start a diversion. On top of that, I always have the G500, backed up by an iPad, backed up by an iPhone that can all tell me where I am, and were I can or may go to. But those are off limits during an exam, of course...</div>
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treated myself to a new logbook, to start this new chapter in my PPL life fresh.<br />
Now all that remains is the long wait for the piece of paper...<br />
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To be continued... ;D</div>
Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-30629035962649775942016-03-25T05:50:00.003-07:002016-03-25T05:50:52.472-07:00Exam Preparation<div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">In preparation for my practical exam, it was needed to plan some cross-country flights. "The real deal", including Nav plan, course-time keeping, fuel calculations, that sort of thing. Even calculating with True Air Speed (TAS), if that only makes a difference of one knot at 1500 ft under near-ISA (International Standard Atmosphere) conditions (you do the math ;) )</span><br />
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So said, so done. Planned some flights to Dinslaken (Germany), Maastricht-Aachen (Beek), Rotterdam, Münster/Osnabrück (Germany again). Below is a report on what came true of that...<br />
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On a beautiful 11th of October, we took the flight to Dinslaken / Schwarze Heide. With half-way, of course, some emergency landings in the low-flying area between Deventer and Zutphen.<br />
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I was rather surpised that I cold not easily spot Dinslaken. I knew it would be east of the highway near Raststätte Hünxe (a big "resting place" - parking with restaurant, toilets, benches - well known by all Dutchies that ever drove into Germany via Arnhem). But I still had trouble locating it, even though it is a clear strip of tarmac in a clearing in the woods... But I just kept looking too far away, for some reason. Strange how one can miss the obvious right in front of their noses... Lesson learned: if you don't locate your target, just keep scanning - also in places you are "sure it cannot be".</div>
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Once found, it was an easy approach. Pass the airfield to come in from the south, and make a standard 1000ft Right Hand circuit for runway 08. Now, I am used to 700 ft circuits, as they almost all are in the Netherlands. So I came out a bit high - or far, it's just how you want to interpret it. Nothing scary or dangerous, just not as neat as possible, that's all. It's difficult to loose ànd speed, ànd altitude in an airplane that glides so well, so you have to choose one of them. If you bleed off speed, you'll end up with a higher descend angle at the same descend rate, so that's usually the way to go, then. Another lesson learned: I could do with some more practice on 1000 ft circuits.</div>
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Dinslaken has a good and cosy restaurant. The whole village comes there for lunch, it seems. And drinks. And cards ... :)</div>
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After a good "Schnitzel", we went back to Lelystad. Rather "uneventful", this time, because the whole enroute thing, and the approach to Lelystad is quite well known to me, by now.</div>
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The next flight was planned to go to Maastricht. I had made a plan to follow the East border, through the Niederrhein CTR, to the Bravo Arrival for Beek. The departure, I had planned via the Uniform departure to the east, then North passed the Geilenkirchen CTR, and in between the Niederrhein and Düsseldorf CTRs towards Arnhem again. From there, via Teuge back to Lelystad.</div>
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But the weather was not very co-operative. I had to cancel the next two bookings. And when it finally was flyable n Lelystad, the Southern part of the country was still engulfed in fog. So we decided to go North, and practice 1000 ft circuits at Texel. The weather at Texel still was not beautiful, but above minimums, at least. And it had already been a month since I last flew, so it was about time to get in the air again!</div>
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After a "grey" crossing of the Waddenzee (grey sea below, grey sky above, grey misty stuff covering the horizon), I spotted the field very quickly. Ed and Mike (Mr. Texel, and Son) had just put up two blinking LED lights at the threshold of the runway in use, that morning! Especially on a hazy day a welcome clue as to which green field is actually the runway :)<br />
After some 4 or so touch-and-goes, we quickly added some fuel, paid the bill, and flew back again. Because the days are shortening very fast this last semester.<br />
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Later that month, 28 November to be precise, it was again not good enough weather to go to Maastricht. We did a local flight, only I do not have a GPS trace, nor photos, nor a nav log, nor a recollection of what exactly we did that day. We did not go to Maastricht, that's for sure ;)<br />
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Another two weeks later, December 12th, was my next flight. Again, not to Maastricht, because of weather, but a local flight. A front was approaching from the West, and would arrive at Lelystad by three in the afternoon. In, and behind that front would be unfavourable conditions to fly in, so the risk of not getting back from Maastricht was too high to take that one on. I still had a solo navigation flight on my list, so that's what it would be. I drew up my nav plan, made sure to incorporate the low flying area near Deventer / Zutphen, and got on my way. In the air, I started to make calculations on when I would have to leave the low-flying area in order to be back at three again, and stuck to that. Worked like a charm! Exactly at 15:02 I landed with the weather front less than ten miles away, first drops of rain on the canopy already. It had not been dangerous weather yet, and in retrospect the weather front did not cause much havoc. But better safe then sorry. And always nice to see that a planning can convert to actuality :)<br />
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That would become my last flight of 2015. Only on January 9th, 2016 could I fly again, after even having been to the field in vain one day. That day, the weather was supposed to get better during the day, but it did so only at the end of UDP (Universal Daylight Period), so there was no flying then. The weather on the 9th, again, was not good enough to fly to Maastricht, but we still had a few topics open on the "basic IFR" list, so that's what w e did then.</div>
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Uiteindelijk zou dat mijn laatste vlucht van 2015 blijken te zijn. Pas op 9 januari mocht en kon ik weer, na eerder een keer voor niets naar het veld gekomen te zijn (het weer zou toen opknappen, maar dat deed het niet op tijd. De 9e was het ook niet goed genoeg om naar Maasticht te vliegen, maar we hadden nog een paar items uit het hoofdstuk "basic IFR" open staan, dus dat hebben we toen gedaan.<br />
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Next to theory, and the practical exam, I also need a Radio Telephony (RT) practical exam (already got that), and a so-called LPE. Language Proficiency Endorsement. That's an endorsement on my license that says I am proficient in the English language. The fact that I translate my blog to English does not count ;) I need an official assessment for that.<br />
I had made an appointment on the 10th (the day after that basic IFR flight) for the LPE assessment with CAVOK at Lelystad Airport. They were a recommendation by our CFI (Chief Flight Instructor), and rightfully so, I might add.<br />
There are three possible outcomes: LPE-4, LPE-5, or LPE-6. Or actually there is also the outcome "failed", if none of the other three apply... LPE-4 means proficiency is at minimum working level required for aviation, and the assessment has to be repeated after two years. LPE-5 signifies enhanced competency, requiring re-assessment only after 4 years, and LPE-6 means "expert", and no re-assessment is ever necessary anymore.<br />
After a listening test - multiple-choice questions on a scenario that you could play a maximum of three times through an MP3 player - a bit of small talk about what you do for a living, and how come you got interested in aviation. 20 minutes later, and €144,= poorer, I walked out with an LPE-6 in my pocket :D<br />
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The week after, I had booked on the 16th, but the weather was so bad, that it would not be a flying day. Luckily, the 17th would be better weather, and both my instructor and airplane were still available. So after a short coordination with my instructor, we moved the lesson back one day.<br />
Maastricht was still pretty much fogged in, so we picked a solo to Rotterdam as flight of the day.<br />
I had planned the outbound leg via PAM (Pampus VOR) to Gouda, and then to Rotterdam via the Mike arrival. The return leg would then go via the Hotel departure, North along the coast, and though the Schiphol CTR back to Lelystad, if I would get the permission to do that. If not, then I would follow the coast further, until just south of Alkmaar, then via Enkhuizen back to Lelystad (always have a backup for if you do not get the permission.<br />
In order to fly to Rotterdam, you have to arrange handling by the Rotterdam Flying Club (VCR), otherwise you'd have to park on the main platform, and pay the main handling fees. Handling by VCR must be approved 24 hours in advance. I had arranged thing for the Saturday (the 16th), but that was quickly moved to Sunday. All set, ready for departure!<br />
It turned out to be quite a bit of workload to get to Rotterdam. I had never been there, never seen the Visual Reporting Points from above, did not know the area very well in general. Then, when I contacted Rotterdam Tower, I got all the usual RT, but also a warning for traffic, circling near reporting point Mike. If you don't expect that, it turns out to be difficult to hear at first. You go "did I hear that correctly?", then, "Oh, now I have to look out for traffic in the air, for Mike on the ground, and my altimeter inside". And all that at the same time. That caused me to miss Mike, so I took a peek at my iPad to check if I didn't already pass Mike. And when I found out I had just missed it, I announced on the radio that I had just passed Mike, with no traffic in sight. The traffic that had been circling near Mike reported overhead Papa, but I only know that now, because I listened to the ATC recordings afterwards. As it turns out, the circling traffic requested that circling just before I switched to Rotterdam Tower. So I did not hear her earlier, otherwise I would have recognised her voice (not too many female voices on ATC frequencies). Anyway, I continued to look out for traffic, and followed the train tracks towards the airport. Meanwhile, other traffic was also approaching from Romeo, so a sharp lookout was called for anyway. Scanning for traffic, the landscape, chart, altimeter, and so on, I finally got overhead the field. I could not descend very early (or better: did not want to), because of low flying traffic next to the runway (banner tower picking up a banner; don't want to get in his way). So my first attempt at landing was too high, and ended in a go-around. Second one was a perfect touch down, a little bit long, so I could quickly exit via V4.<br />
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The platform at VCR was very slippery, because the shaded areas were still frozen over. I almost fell twice... But I made it to the club's cafe, for some coffee and a chat with a couple of pilots that just got back from a fly-in at Teuge.<br />
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In the end, it happened to be not too busy at Schiphol - I have heard more traffic on the frequency at other times. Plus, the runway usage (36L for departures, 06 for arrivals) was ideal for a Zandvoort-to-Victor CTR crossing. The RT was exactly as I expected. Then, it all sounds nicely professional, increasing your chances of approval for the crossing ;) So I got the clearance to cross from Zandvoort, via overhead, to Victor, with those points, plus Hoofddorp as mandatory reporting points. Quite the adventure, to overfly the nation's biggest airport during training. Solo, even!<br />
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The next flight was on February the 5th. Again, the weather was only marginal, so not OK for an extensive cross country flight (to, say, Maastricht...). That day started with an engine that would be shaky around 1100 rpm. Low stationary, and cruise or full power OK, but that rpm range was out of balance. We decided to let it be, and see what it would do during the run-up test. It just might clear with sustained additional power. There were no anomalies during run-up so we decided to start out with some circuits, and meanwhile monitor the temperatures and pressures. Once in the air, the cilinder head temperature gouge would not indicate anything, then a "normal" value, then nothing again. Two potential failures is enough to turn back, so after only one circuit (6 minutes flying time) we were back at the club again. Piet called the maintenance firm, and they suggested we would run the carburetors empty (close the fuel valve with the engine running, when it starts to sputter, open the valve again) to see if that would clear any possible contamination of carburetor needles. It did! And for the loose contact of the cilinder head temperature gauge, the mechanic could tell where to look for it. That spot could be reached from the oil inspection hatch, and fumbling about restored the contact, so both issues were solved.<br />
Then there was still the issue of marginal weather, so we decided to stay close to the airport, and "just do some airwork" - steep turns, slow flight - followed by some circuits in various configurations. Oh, and a bit of low-level navigation at 500 ft AGL (Above Ground Level), because that gives a totally different outlook on the surrounding terrain. Makes navigating visually that much harder, and you have to rely more on your ability to maintain a heading on instruments.<br />
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The remainder of he month of February, the weather remained bad. Definitely not appropriate for an extended cross-country (to Maastricht...). Take February 20th, for example. I had booked in the afternoon, because Piet had to work during the morning. In the morning, the ceiling was at 1200 ft, with 6 km visibility, which is only enough for some local circuit work. With rain, those values would drop to 800 ft and 3.5 km, respectively. Not quite what you'd want. Especially not when the rain coverage looks something like this<br />
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In the end, it took until February 28th (again, almost a month later) before I got to fly again. But: this was the day! We were going to Maastricht! The last Dutch field I can normally land on. Schiphol would be "possible", but due to landing fees, I will postpone that one until I have to divert due to flying past UDP. All the other fields are either Military fields you don't get to land unless you are a member of the local flying club, or closed, or MLA/Glider only.</div>
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This would be my final exam preparation flight with Piet, so I dusted off my navplan, added wind and temperature related calculations, and off we went! From Harderwijk to NYKER (indeed, an IFR waypoint near Nijkerk), where the exam prep kicked in already: (simulated) engine failure! Try to restart, pick a field, fly a glide-in circuit while reporting your situation on the radio... All went well, so with three minutes delay, I picked up my route from NYKER. Next came the question "If you would want to divert to Hilversum now, what would be your heading?". I had put a dot on the protractor for the current wind, so after a little fiddling with the chart, I got my answer. A wrong answer, after checking with the G500, caused by too much clutter on my map due to all those routes I plotted on it already. Re-did the estimation and got it spot-on. Ah well, in March the 2016 charts will be published, so I'll just leave it like this for a bit. I have a "virgin" one for my exam, if that will be in March already.</div>
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After a bit of flying, the same question: diverting to Mönchengladbach, this time. Only, this one came moments before I would contact Beek Approach for a clearance to enter the Beek TMA1 (climbing to 1800 ft for the Bravo Arrival. It was considered a good call to respond "not now, I'm busy" ;)</div>
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The Bravo Arrival was a piece of cake, actually. As long as you stay between the Maas river, and the Julianakanaal, you'll be OK. I got clearance for "direct left base 03", which makes at least the RT easier than the "overhead join right downwind 03" option. The up-slope of runway 03 was more than I envisioned, and together with the larger width, the "picture" was absolutely, completely different than anything I was used to. So-asked, I made it a long field landing (landing at, in this case, about 2/3 of the runway length). That makes a huge difference in taxiing on a 3km long runway...</div>
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It was very quiet at the platform. One bizz jet, and yours truly. That was all. So also the crew lounge was very quiet. That sounds like a luxury, but drinking mediocre coffee from a machine, together with two Albanian pilots that qualify for LPE-4 at most, in a room with no view at the apron is far from that what I had expected to find here. Meanwhile, I hear some noises in the hallway. It is the lady of the handling agency, opening their counter. So I could now pay my €20,03 landing and handling fee (which is quite OK, compared to the €53,= I paid at Rotterdam).<br />
So back via Germany. The lady of the handling company had stepped out to get herself a cup of coffee too (in another building; thay must have good coffee somewhere else ;) ), which meant we could not get out on the apron for a while. But with some 10 minutes delay, we got out there, and departed as planned. Uniform departure is quite easy too: climb out until sufficiently high, then turn right, and follow the high tension lines towards the highway, then follow the highway. As soon as you come to a built up area, you are at Uniform.<br />
After saying goodbye to Beek Tower, on to Langen Information. Far better service than Dutch Mil! These people do not mind at all to talk to G.A. aircraft. :)<br />
By the time we started approaching the Dutch skies again, we noticed that the fuel gauges were pointing further south than comfortable. Let's keep a sharp eye on that, and make a quick Fuelstop at Teuge, if necessary. We would rather not, because that would be cutting it close with end of UDP, but if necessary, just do it. In the end, while almost overhead Teuge, we decided it would be OK to continue on to Lelystad. It went all OK, but the remaining quantity of fuel would have made a diversion back to Teuge rather critical.<br />
Most important lesson of the day: do not plan so critically, fuel wise. If it does look like it is going to become critical, plan the fuelstop already. Just to be prepared. You can always decide not to make that fuelstop, that's an easier decision than the other way around.<br />
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Only one week later, March 5th, I got to strike the last item off the curriculum: a solo flight with "excersises as deemed necessary or useful by the instructor". So just a rather relaxed solo flight, repeating the basics. Piet did not have a list of exercises I needed to do, just go out and have some fun :)<br />
I planned a route over the houses of an aunt of mine (Laren), and my brother (Hilversum), followed by some airwork over the Veluwe area (wooded, meadows, not much built-up areas).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Laren van boven het centrum naar het oosten</td></tr>
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This was all quite relaxed and OK. After turning a few circles over those houses,, and then on to the Veluwe. Once out from under the Schiphol TMA1, the Class A airspace above me is 6500ft and higher (instead of 100 ft), so that gives some more opportunity to do some of those exercises that require some altitude, like stalls. I also practiced an emergency and an precautionary landing, and then it was already time to return for a couple of touch-and-goes. All in all, an hour flies by pretty quick!</div>
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Now, all that remains is a pre-exam flight with our CFI, Erwin. If he signs off on it, I will be allowed to apply for my practical exam...</div>
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Below, links to the usual KML files:</div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!190&authkey=!AFny1gRmz9NEWmo&ithint=file%2ckml">Dinslaken 1</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!190&authkey=!AFny1gRmz9NEWmo&ithint=file%2ckml">Dinslaken 2</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!190&authkey=!AFny1gRmz9NEWmo&ithint=file%2ckml">Texel</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!190&authkey=!AFny1gRmz9NEWmo&ithint=file%2ckml">12-12 Local</a></div>
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<a href="http://09-01%20lokaal/">09-01 Local</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!217&authkey=!ALKZLhX-wm_b98A&ithint=file%2ckml">Rotterdam 1</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!219&authkey=!AI56dLI0rKY9Ruk&ithint=file%2ckml">Rotterdam 2</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!338&authkey=!AC9XBUIXHSzZol8&ithint=file%2ckml">05-02 Local 1</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!337&authkey=!AHwqWlTLOTRkduo&ithint=file%2ckml">05-02 Local 2</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!336&authkey=!ALGmnMOnXrPZi4I&ithint=file%2ckml">Maastricht 1</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!335&authkey=!AHY5VVlSyQ0R5Gk&ithint=file%2ckml">Maastricht 2</a></div>
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<a href="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!358&authkey=!AHyba90UIueCE6I&ithint=file%2ckml">05-03 Local</a></div>
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-38557130834850832132015-12-21T05:39:00.003-08:002015-12-21T05:41:14.473-08:00XC-ing<div>
I decided it was time to step up one notch, and increase the frequency of flying a bit. With all those weather- and holliday issues, lately, I have had to skip or cancel too many flights to make any serious progress. Every time there was yet another whole month between two flights, I noticed I would end the flight at the same level as where I left off the month before, but not significantly better.<br />
So I booked lessons pretty much every week, and now I have a different problem: I can't keep up with my blog :D<br />
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So below you will find a blog on 8 flights, divided among 7 flying days during a period of 8 weeks...<br />
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11-07-2015 EHLE-EHHO v.v.<br />
In order to get my soft- and short field take-offs and landings to a higher level, we decided to go to Hoogeveen and do some circuit practice there. The away trip was a navigation excersise, with some upper aerial work (stalls, steep turns) along the way.<br />
Hoogeveen city is easy to spot from the air, so the airfield is well findeable too, if you know it's at the North-East corner of the city.<br />
But coming in West - East alon the south end of the city, it's hard to judge how far the circuit area actually extends. So I took a very large margin (there was glider and para activity at the field) when I flew around the field to join the circuit from the North. Motorised traffic pattern is to the North, and runway 09 is in use, so a comfortable lefthand circuit. The circuit itself is pretty clear, I thought. Yet still, I got called on the radio that some neighbours of the airfield had complained about noise, and the quaetion if I could fly more compact circuits. Of course I complied, but from a post-flight analysis of my GPS track it was clear I had stayed within the circuit area all the time. Ah well, there's bound to always be somebody that does not share your passion for flying ;) Probably had something to do with good BBQ weather...<br />
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After some 6 circuits I had a good feel for the ground effect, and the "hold the nose high" principle. It was time to go pay. It was nice and cool in the air-consitioned tower, so we stayed a bit to talk aviation geek for a bit. Amongst others, we talked to a previous owner of PH-EAM, a Cessna 172, formerly owned by Aeroclub Schiphol (in the time General Aviation had it's own place at EHAM), which is now based at my home airport, Lelystad.<br />
There was not really much time to explore the recently renewed restaurant, so we decided to skip the coffee and cake, and head on back home again.<br />
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It was a fairly standar return leg: stalls, steep turns, a couple of toucha nd goes. The usual :)<br />
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18-07-2015 EHLE-EHAL v.v.<br />
With my new, unofficial "Grass rating" in the pocket, it was now time for me to go solo on my long-prepared flight to Ameland (which has a grass runway too). My ancesters (Dad's side) come from the island, and my father always had a special bond with it. So I took up the idea to fly to Ameland, buy my dad a bottle of the local nip for his 80th birthday. Just to relive Ameland a little, now that he is no longer capable of traveling there. Add a couple of photographs to that, and voilà: an excellent present :)</div>
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So said, so done! There was still a fair bit of wind, but the direction was 270; exactly the runway direct ion at EHAL. Ceiling was still at 2700 ft, So after circling Balk (my niece lives there) I climbed to 2500ft to cross the "Waddenzee"via the West side of the Leeuwarden CTR. Nice and clear weather, with all the islands visible from that altitude. Spectacular view! :)<br />
After a good and solid touchdown (a little turbulence over those sand dunes in front of the threshold), I had to give way to a glider on final, when I was taxiing to the apron. Took a while, because with such a wind, a glider on final has near-zero groundspeed :D<br />
In the village of Ballum, I could not get the "Oerder bitter" (my first choice), because that's a drink brewed in "Buren", a vilage 5 miles away... So I bought a "Nobeltje", because I did not fancy a 10 mile walk.<br />
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Also, I wanted to return to Lelystad in time for the next pilot's booking, while I had also planned some extra exercises for myself.to do some airwork excersises. The return flight took me around the east side of the Leeuwarden CTR. Some restricted airspace in that area will keep you from flying over 1200 ft. Below that, it's class G, or "do whatever you want" airspace. But the island itself is supposed to be overflown at a reasonable altitude, as well as the "Waddenzee". I opted for 2000ft over the island, and the sea. That meant I had to drop a minimum of 800 ft over a distance the width of a dike. So I flew parallel to the dike for a bit, while descending.<br />
Once clear of the restricted airspace, 65000 ft. is the limit of airspace class "E". Below is G, so I decided to climb at least over 6000 ft. There was hardly any cloud, so there would not be a problem. Why 6000 ft? Because I had never been that high (except for a couple of occadiond with an airliner, and 6000 ft is 1 nautical mile. So now I can say I'm a member of the mile high club too, right?...<br />
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At that altitude I perform my trics: stalls in various configurations, steep tuns. Man, that rocks, pulling some G's!!! Makes the final stretch to Lelystad a bit dull, in comparison. When I punch in reporting point Bravo in the G500, it tells me it will take me another 35minutes, while I am supposed to be back in the hangar in 30 minutes. A little extra speed is required! Luckily the air is smooth, so I can just trim the nose down, while keeping the power settings to 6% cruise power. That takes me down at 400 fpm, with a speed of 135 KIAS; just about end-of-yellow-arc on de AirSpeed Indicator (ASI). And all of a sudden, the GPS thinks it will take me only 18 minutes to get to BRAVO. Reality will be somewhere in between, but it's good to see that I will be back at least reasonably in time. :)<br />
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22-07 EHLE-EHHV v.v.<br />
In the Netherlands, there is one more "soft" field I haven't flown to yet, even though it is the number two diversion field for my home field: Hilversum Airfield (EHHV). Piet wanted to go there together, because the runways at Hilversum are relatively short, and with a buch of trees on final rwy25 (or take-off 07) that make the picture on final look pretty awkward. With the south-western wind prevailing, runway 25 would probably be in use, and that's the one you need to approach "through" the trees. I had studied the approach plates at home already, and I had memorised what I expected to be some visual references for the approach. I found that very helpful when actually flying that approach.<br />
After the predictable engine failure over the low-flying area that lies mid-between Lelystad and Hilversum, I followed the A27 highway to Hilversum, and contacted Hilversum Radio. Indeed, runway 25 was in use, with glider activity to the right. I found all my visual references ( :) ) and got on to a final rwy 25. It is indeed a strange thing to look at the last tree tops, and just not see the threshold - on a runway you know is relatively short... The visual clues you are getting are that you are very low (the tree tops are not the ground, but it does kinda feel like that), so the natural response would be to fly higher. That also brings the entire runway into view, but sets you up for a too steep (read: too fast) approach, because you will want to force her down by pitching down. So you have to overcome that feeling, and virtually "land"on the tree canopee, after which you close the throttle, and keep the nose up to slow down as much as possible - without running the risk of stalling. If you manage to loose some speed, then the final approach will be steep enough to start a flare over the threshold, and be stopped half way down the runway easily. If you don't loose the speed, chances are that you start your flare with a little extra speed, which you bleed off way less because of ground effect. Then you'll touch down at about half way down the runway. Not a problem, because the runway is 600m long (which is half the length of Lelystad's runway), and 300m should suffice in "normal, dry"circumstances. I did the math with the Pilot Operating handbook once, and 600m would be enough on a 30°C day with a wet grass runway to clear a 50ft obstacle. So it should all be OK, but the psychological factor certainly plays a role here.<br />
All in all, I did 5 landings in several configurations (flapless was a challenge...), and I felt my confidence grow with each landing.<br />
Back to Lelystad, we did my first lesson "Basic IFR". With view limiting goggles - which limit your view to only the instrument panel - flying by the instruments, as ordered by my instructor. Checking altitude, heading, speed, orientation with respect to a beacon, and that again, and again, and again,... Funny thing is that you actually fly better, "cleaner" when restricted to instruments :) If you want to fly a certain heading, and do so by looking at a point in the distance, you will fly a more irratic path, then when only looking at the instruments. With VFR flying, you need to have eyes outside pretty much all the time, of course, but this was kind of a surprise to me.<br />
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31-07 EHLE-EHBD v.v.Budel<br />
I had already planned a cross-country flight, crossing the Eindhoven CTR, to Budel. I was going to do this one solo, and that was rather exiting, a first solo CTR crossing. I had of course seen Groningen CTR already (crossed it dual, and flew to EHGG dual, and solo), but this is Eindhoven! A military field with civil use as well. And quite busy, compared to Groningen. Good RT (Radio Telephony) is then essential, because if the controller doesn't get the feeling that you know what you are doing, he will deny you the crossing clearance. Then you'd have to fly around.<br />
Apparently, I did well enough on my opening sentence, because I got the clearance, and a request for my intentions. Well, let's do a standard Tango arrival, followed by a Zulu departure, descending overhead (Tango = 1500 ft, Zulu = 1000 ft). "Approved, report Tango". Wow, this is really going to happen! Meanwhile, a Rynair flight is lining up for departure, and two others are standing in queue behind it. I get instructed to cross the field over the threshold, due to traffic. And of course, I comply.<br />
It is only after passing the airfield that I realise that I did not turn on my camera yet, so I don't have any pictures of it. A pitty, but there are worse things.<br />
Once arrived at Zulu, things go very quickly. Budel CTR is adjacent to Eindhoven CTR. After the approval to switch frequencies, I call Budel Radio. I immediately get the landing information, although I am still some 10 miles out. I read back the information with the remark that I will only be joining the circuit in abot 5 minutes. Apparently, they usually get the initial call only seconds before joining the circuit. That circuit has just been changed, with the latest charts updat a few days earlier. It was now "a tight turn around the chimney and a skewed course as a base leg rwy 03. Circuit entry was drawn at about the threshold rwy21, so I visually aimed for that, with a heading perpendicular to the runway. I estimated when I had to start the 90 degree left turn to join mid-downind by the location of the chimney (and made the appropriate radio call). Then tight around the chimney, following the lines in the fields below, and then final 03. I did all that with only the paper chart in hand, and the GPS trace, plotted on a geo-referenced approach plate, later confirmed that I did that pretty well according to the plate :)<br />
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There was not very much to do at Budel airport. There was a terrace with the restaurant, which is supposed to be very good. I only had a something to drink, but I hear that the restaurant is very good. I think that must be true, because it was relatively busy for an airport where only two airplanes are parked in front of the tower (a C172, and myself). So I just chilled a bit in the sun for half an hour, before heading back hoem again.<br />
The return trip was going to be the same recipe: ask to cross the Eindhoven CTR, and if permission was denied, fly around it. When I taxied out to the runway I heard a helicopter report in that he would be crossing the Budel CTR West to East. When I announced my lining up runway 03, I got the warning also from Budel Radio. I acknowledged the information, reported the helicopter in sight, not a factor, and departed. By the time I was half way down the runway, I was already above the helicpoter, which was a Chinook, "grazing" the trees some 3 miles ahead of me. After passing the helicopter, I said goodbye to Budel Radio, and called Eindhoven Tower. A different controller this time, but I got my permission to cross nevertheless. This time at 2000 ft for the whole crossing "due to landing and departing traffic". Well, fine by me! :) A bright pnk Whizzair Airbus was taxiing back to the apron, when I crossed the field this time. Other than that, it was rather uneventful.<br />
Over Tango, I thanked the controller for being cooperative, and switched to DutchMil (responsible for Dutch Airspace in the eastern half of the country, outside the CTRs). Usually, I only monitor their frequency, but since I was in an "RT-mood" anyway, I decided to give them a call too. Not that that made much of a difference, because I gave them another call near Nijker to anounce that I was swithcing to Lelystad, and that was alle the RT I had with them. The thing that you notice immediately when switching from DutchMil to Lelystad is what a henhouse Lelystad Radio is. Everybody trying to squeeze in their bit of RT. Too busy on a beautiful weather weekend day, if you ask me...<br />
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08-08 EHLE-EHLE<br />
After the first IFR lesson, there were still some other things to cover, and that was not only to fly a certain heading, but make that a certain heading towards a beacon (or away from it). I had alread planned the lesson, but a friend of mine had his birthday too, that day, ... , and it was going to be flying weather. Difficult to combine! Or not ... ;) I had a GPS location, so I could navigate there acurately. It must be possible to fit in today's schedule, based on navigation.<br />
I had already dialed in 117.800 into the NAV1 radio, which is he frequency for the nearest VOR beacon, Pampus (PAM). 113.000 (SPY) was in the standby frequency of NAV1, so I only had to create a user waypoint in the GPS for my friend's house, and we were good to go.Departure was in the direction of Harderwijk, to practice flying to and from the PAM beacon. Only to leave PAM on a more northerly track to intercept another radial of SPY, and from there roughly in the direction of my user waypoint. Back to GPS navigaiton again, and "direct user waypoint" took me to that bithday party. I circled the garden a couple of times, hoping they would actually see me. And they did, judging by the SMS I got within 3 minutes of overflying (oops forgot to put the phone in flight mode...). So I got to be the talk of the party anyway ;D</div>
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From Alkmaar to Lelystad we did a couple more navigation excersises. One was an ADF approach towards ENKOS (Enkhuizen). There is no actual ADF in my plane, but the GPS can very well simulate one. Back to Lelystad via NOVEN (Emmeloord) at higher altitude, so we couls also practice some stalls. It turned out to be a very educational day after all!<br />
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11-08 EHLE-EHLE<br />
Piet though I was about ready for my exam, so we should start preparing for that. First thing to do is to have a flight with our CFI (Chief Flight Instructor), so he could assess my candidacy. So I asked Erwin (that's his name) if he had some time for me in September. I got a reply with dates in August. I had not thought he would be able to fit me in on such short notice, and I thought of september, because Piet would be on holiday that month. But hey, this date he proposed was within my holiday, so that was convienient for me too.<br />
We agreed to meet at 18:00, and because I want to fit my camera and stuff, and then do the final preparation work (weather, NOTAMs, Weight and Balance), I was there at 17:00 already. When Erwin arrived, we went over the entire flight preparation process, including the walkaround. I had already performed it, but he wanted to go over it again, and ask me some questions like "What's this for", "What does that do", "If this fails, what would you do?", "Can you reapir this yourself?", "Would the aircraft be fit to fly is this bit was missing?", "What's that radiator for, oil or coolant?","I see an opening here. Why?".<br />
Pfff...<br />
I did not have that all prepared, so he just kept on asking. All in all we had been talking for about two hours, and time was running out. We decided to only go for a couple of circuits, because we would be running against end of UDP (Universal Daylight Period - the time it is legal to fly VFR), and the airport closes at 21:00 anyway, unless you request extended hours - at a price. The standard deviation fields Teuge and Hilversum were already closed, so if we had to divert, it would probably be to Groningen. In the end it did not come to that, but it's good to think about it upfront, and not be surprised if it should happen to you. Now, we were the only ones in the pattern, so there's not much chance of having to divert, but hey...<br />
Blunder: before starting up, I had processed the entire checklist right up to the point of turning the ignition switch .... Still had the keys in my pocket! Auch! Open the seatbelts, open the canopee, stand up, get the keys out, and start the entire checklist all over again... There goes my air time!<br />
Ah, well, things will runs smoothly from here, right? Well... even during taxi and "before take off checks", Erwin was able to ask some impossible questions. And once we were in the air, we had 3 engine failures. In 4 circuits!<br />
Just before closing time, we reported on the blocks to the tower, and go back inside. We still need to do all the administrative work, remove the bugs, empty out the plane, and we did not cover all the pre-flight topics yet, so I ended up leaving at 22:30. Totally exhausted, but it was a very enlightening evening. We sould do this again soon, but with more air time, because Erwin will have some remarks on my flying as well. Or maybe not so much. He did not have many remarks on my flying skills. It was more that I should have my systems knowledge, and theory, more readily available. We'll see. To be continued.<br />
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19-08 EHLE-EHLE (2x)<br />
My next lesson was planned for the 19th of August. I had planned a flight to Rotterdam, and to Beek (Maastricht-Aachen Airport, EHBK). But a couple of days before the 19th, LVNL (Air Traffic Control, ht eNetherlands) published VFR routes over the Sail Amsterdam 2015 area. I was actually looking for NOTAMs declaring the area off limits, when I found it. Over the Amsterdam area (there was also an IJmuiden area, on the other side of the 18C and 18R approach areas) there was a route that would take you over the city center, right up to the Eurometaal terrain (I used to work there), and back again.<br />
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So I asked Piet how he thought about overflying Sail. He was not immediately enthusiastic about the idea of letting one of his students fly out there. He wanted at least to go with me, to be an extra pair of eyes. That would mean I would not get around to collecting my solo hours yet, but to let that argument spoil such a unique opportunity, ... nahhh! And: especially on days like these, you get to meet the odd cowboy in the sky (not taking any rule or regulation very seriously), so that extra pair of eyes may come in handy!<br />
So, I punched in the GPS co-ordinates of the waypoints SELIN, SELMI, and SELEX in my iPad, and modified my Rotterdam and Beek plans to go via Sail Amsterdam. Skipping if necessary is always easier done than adding at the last moment.<br />
When the 19th approached, the weather outlook became more and more uncertain. So the long flight to Beek was soon skipped. And in order to go to Rotterdam, one has to file for handling 24 hrs in advance. But the 18th was a terrible day - weather wise. And the outlook for the 19th was "it is going to get better, but there's no telling when". It wasn't even sure that I would go flying at all... So I did not apply for handling, effectively cancelling my trip to Rotterdam too.<br />
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With no plan, other than maybe Sail, I went to the club. Grey skies were opening up a little already, so it just might be that I would get to fly after all. When I arrived, all rain had moved east of the airport, and even some blue skies appeared :) We decided to make it a dual hour over Sail, and to see if there would still be time to do an hour of solo work.<br />
Most of the fleet was booked that day, and many wanted to take the Sail route. My plane was still in the air when I arrived, with my instructor, and another student. I watched them do some touch and goes, as the weather kept improving. As they were doing the debriefing, and administrative stuff, I did my pre-flight, and put up my camera. I put the camera more to the front to get a better ground view, but that also meant it had to do without the power line. Batteries were fully charged, which will last it for about three hours, so that should be enough for a roundtrip over Sail.</div>
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The inbound leg to Sail was a rather hectic one, because it only takes about 10 minutes. After leaving Lelystad Radio for Amsterdam Information, I had to check the Schiphol ATIS, and contact Schiphol Tower already. They had a special controller in charge of all the VFR traffic for Sail. Which was a good thing, because it was busy! When I got my permission to join the pack, the controller mentioned "15 aircraft in the circuit". That's a lot for such a small circuit. Especially when everybody is there to be distracted from flying...<br />
We join a pack of four planes, all flying relatively close to each other. Flying slow (80 knots, flaps 1) to maximise Sail time, the first lap was more to get used to flying close to other traffic, than to enjoy the scenery. So we took a second lap. By now, the controller only said "lot's of traffic in the circuit" to any newcomers. We made sure that we were the first of the pack when starting the second lap, so that we'd have a bit more time to look at all those vessels in the water. Most of them were still in the "Noordzeekanaal", sailing towards Amsterdam. Here's tha kind of view you get then:</div>
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What an adventure, and opportunity. Not only did I get to FLY over SAIL - which is held only once every vife years. I got to do that as a flying lesson, and in that sense, I'm pretty sure I'm unique ;)</div>
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To get my solo count up a little, we decided I would go up alone, after we got back, to do some airwork and touch and goes. So decided to fly over the camping, and then do some stalls and steep turns over the Veluwe. I thought my steep turns were a little under par, while stalls were well within the exam limits. Best I practice those steep turns a little more, then. It's a nice excersise, pulling some G's, but to do that without loosing altitude requires some "feeling"- which you'l only get by doing it a lot.<br />
For the next flights, we'll be planning Beek (Dual), and Rotterdam (Solo) again. I still have some Basic IFR skills I need to get "ticked off", so we'll probably do that on our way back from Beek, or in a separate lesson. I could also do EHMZ ("Miden Zeeland") again, because have been there ony with my first lesson, and my instructor did all the take-off and landing bits there. Also, we'll be going to Texel (EHTX) some more, to perfect my 1000 ft pattern skills.</div>
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So, here's the KML files of all of the above flights:</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXhdcX">EHLE-EHHO</a></span><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXhkoG">EHHO-EHLE</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXhv3i">EHLE-EHAL</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXhCfx">EHAL-EHLE (Deel 1)</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXhCfx">EHAL-EHLE (Deel 2)</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXhQmR">EHLE-EHBD</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXhTir">EHBD-EHLE</a><br />
<a href="http://ehle-ehle/">EHLE-EHLE</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXhYTj">EHLE-EHLE</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXi2T3">EHLE-EHLE (Sail Amsterdam 2015)</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1VXi4u1">EHLE-EHLE</a></div>
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-29701522314482635972015-07-30T12:25:00.000-07:002015-07-30T12:25:07.859-07:00X-countryMy oh my! It sure has been while since I have last written here! It was not for a lack of flying, though...<br />
I've been very busy with a lot of things (like holliday, and such ;) )<br />
Meanwhile, I have logged 9 more hours, and 10 landings. Yes, I have started solo season :) In the chart off to the right, you can see where I've been so far. That is really starting to look like something, now!<br />
I have been to Leer (Germany) mid-april, and Groningen Eelde en of May, as well as early June. In between was a holliday period for both my instructor and myself. That meant a pauze of 1 1/2 month, which is quite a lot, I can tell you.<br />
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Flying to Leer was mostly about navigation. And about flying to an unfamiliar field, with German RT. I froze on my RT last time in Germany, so that had to be set straight. To make the return trip to Lelystad a little more exiting, we planned through the Groningen CTR to a stop at Drachten (EHDR)<br />
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The runway at Leer is markedly narrower than what I'm used to, and there was about 10 kn wind, exactl perpendicular to the runway. Trees on the upwind side for half the length of the runway also did not make things easier. When I contacted Leer Information, I got a "direct base 08", which meant following the river Ems, and make a 90 degree left turn directly to the runway. I was a little bit high and fat for that, but initially, I thought I could bleed off both speed and altitud before the threshold. But man, does that Aquila glide!... So I elected to go around, and take the full circuit to get prepared and stabelised on the approach. That worked bettter :) A "narrow" (20 m is stil twice the wingspan, but 2/3 of what I am accustomed to) runway looks even narrower in crosswind conditions!<br />
Once landed, the harbourmaster swiftly comes outside to help us to some fuel (which makes the landing free of charge, by the way). And after a few liters in each wing: Shnitzel!</div>
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When in Germany... ;)</div>
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The flight back to Lelystad went via the Groningen CTR to Drachten. I notced that I had my VFR standard phraseology reasonably well at the tip of my tongue, but the whole crossing a control zone bit had faded away somewhat already. It was a quiet day in the Groningen CTR, so that was no problem, but a point for improvement there, anyway!</div>
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The approach to Drachten is slightly non-standard. There are a lot of built-up areas to avoid, and Drachten itself was one of them. That meant a near threshold baseleg, on a shorter and narrower runway. Starting the descend early is the tric here, but turning final, you don't want to be too low. In general, it is not a good idea to make turns at low altitude. So not only descend early, but also turn shallow. To make it all work, you then also need to fly slowly... So accurate speed control (with pitch!), and descend path cotrol (with throttle!) is crucial to make the Drachten approach a successful one.</div>
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It ended up not to be a problem at all, but that can only be said because of the above mental preparation for this approach. Lesson learned: always carefully study your approach plates. Especially when going in to an unfamiliar field.</div>
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Added bonus of the Drachten runway: good grip because of the rubber on the strip. Every now and then, dragraces are held on this strip, so it's a good idea to call to the field (before you flythere) to find out if it even is actually open :)</div>
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So by now it is getting to that point where I get to do my very first solo cross country. I had prepared a flight to Ameland, plus an alternative flight with instructor to Groningen (Eelde), followed by a visit to Oostwold. Dat was all to take place on the 31st of May. As my luck dictates, it was crappy weather that day. Strong winds from the South-West (15 to 20 from 240), a total grey overcast, and few showers during the day. Ceiling was still at some 3500ft in the morning, but would decrease to some 1500 ft in the afternoon, towards the end of my block reservation. The wind and rain kept me from doing my flight to Ameland, because it has a grass runway 27, so that's a touch too much risk of too strong crosswind at a slippery grass runway. So we went for the instructor version EHLE-EHGG-EHOW-EHLE, because it was flyable weather anyway.</div>
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So, this was my first towered airport destination. Going there, we did the entire book of tricks, and of course all the necessary radio calls. My landing was below standard. Not enough rudder to "kick straight" the "hanging into the wind". And the runway is about 5 times the minimum required length, so it took a while before I got to the first available exit on the right. That could have gnoe a touch quicker :). OK, noteerde for next time.</div>
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Arriving at K-Apron, we were welcomed by a genuine marshaller. Another first for me!</div>
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Paying the landing fee was a something different too. There had been a fire in the server room, and not all computer systems had been restored to full duty yet. I had to fill in my name and address, and I would get the bill at home. OK, let's wait and see how much this will be (inclusief a handling fee, and ATC charge...)</div>
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We quickly proceded on to Oostwold. This is a relatively young airfield, off to the North-East of Groningen, direction Delfzijl. Departure from Groningen-Eelde Airport is according to controled-field procedures: listen out on the ATIS frequency, contact Eelde Delivery for a start-up clearance, then switch to Tower for taxi instructions, and finally take-off clearance. I has requested a departure route to the North-West, to follow a route "over the North" of Groningen city to Oostwold. At Oostwold, my landing was another one that left enough opportunities for improvement. Rudder, again! I'm not very much in shape, today.</div>
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Talking about radio usage ... Oostwold is the exact opposite of Groningen. No procedural phraseology, not even English, ..., no, a simpele Dutch "go right ahead" is your landing or take off clearance :D and in a true Northern accent too :) Hahaha!</div>
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The week after this flight, I had reserved another big block. The big difference there: it was beatiful flying weather, this time! Only thing was the wind. There was a lot of it. Some 15 to 20 knots from direction 240 to 250. That was a bit too much for going to Ameland just yet. So I got to fly the same route as the week before, only this time: solo! So this would be my first (and second, and third) solo cross country flight, my first solo towered airport, and my "solo triangle" (two away airfields, and a trip total > 150 nm), all at once! :) And with this day of flying, I would also double my solo hours from three to six ;)</div>
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This time, I practiced some steep turns and emergency landings, and some slips to get more of a feeling for the air-plane's reaction to foot-input (rudder). This time, I had to do without the marshaller at Groningen. But I also did not have to pay landing fees, yet. "You already have an account, here." "Oh?". "You are in the system already. We'll send the bill automatically". When I got home, I found the bill for the previous week's landing: €24.88! Just as much as Lelystad charges for a cross country landing. I had expected Groningen to be more expensive than Lelystad, being a regional towered airport and all. Or actually that Lelystad would be less expensive, but that is a whole other discussion.</div>
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This time, I filed, and got cleared, a Uniform Departure: back to Assen, and then turn south of Assen back to the North-East, for Oostwold. The by now familiar voice of Rico at Oostwold Radio made me smile again :) As I arrived at the tower to pay the landing, I got a cup of coffee, and a package with some aluminium plates destined for Lelystad. I was going that way anyway.</div>
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After a sandwich on the terrace, I headed back "home" to Lelystad. Because this was a flight without flightplan, and I still had enough time left on my plane reservation, I decided to go back the scenic route, and do some excersizes along the way too. Nice and relaxed, this is the true joy of flying!</div>
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Back in the Lelystad area, it was very busy at Lelystad radio. Weekend, good flying weather, the middle of the afternoon, ..., all the ingredients are there. So I keep a sharp lookout for traffic when approaching the airport. I hear a radio call I had not heard before: a straight in announcement. It was the PBY Catalina, coming back from a "Splash and Dash". She's too big to follow the standard circuit, so she gets to fly straight in. We were going to be on final pretty much at the same time, so I had to monitor that situation closely. I ended up on final with about 1 minute head start, so I went for it. I estimated I could vacate the runway just in time, and that was the case. I reported "runway vacated" with the Catalina on short final.<br />
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So now it is all starting to look like the real deal. I have 6 solo hours, so I'll need to add at least 9 more of those. Further more, we are going to polish my short- and soft field techniques, steep turns, emergency procedures, stalls in turns, ..., enough to do with dual hours too. But this tastes like more! Check back regularly for updates :)<br />
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Folder with <a href="http://1drv.ms/1QEstmo">KML files</a> of my flights</div>
Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-68524401489071955382015-03-16T02:48:00.000-07:002015-03-16T02:48:01.467-07:00Centennial LandingAs my booking for March 3rd was cancelled (weather, again...), and my next booking was only at the 18th, and my instructor had previously indicated to be available at the weekend of March 7th and 8th, I decided to put a backup reservation in the system for the second half of the afternoon. A backup, because two of my flying buddies had reserved the plane for a trip across the Channel, to Biggin Hill, and back the next day. Should their flight be cancelled (due to bad weather on Saturday, or on the other side of the Channel, e.g.), then I would have first dibbs for the plane. Now, the weather promised to become steady, beautiful spring weather, just about at that weekend. So it was just about WHEN the weather was going to improve. In time for my friends to go make their trip, or in time for MY flight, or only after the weekend...<br />
It soon became clear that the weather improvement would come well before the weekend. So they went ahead, and made their flights. It was their fourth attempt already. Three times before, thay had to cancel due to bad weather, or uncertainty about the weather on the second day. So, good for them! Less good for me, because now my flight would not go through ... or would it ...<br />
Itso became that there was a stong south-westely wind, which made them go really, really slow on the way to Biggin Hill. It took about an hour longer than planned to get there. As the wind remained over the weekend, the return journey ook much less time than foreseen :) Also, because of ground fog at their half-way stop Le Touquet (France), they decided to make it straight back to Lelystad. It ended up being only a 2 hour flight! That meant (and luckily they kept me in the loop) that they would be back on the field around noon. And that, again, meant that I could go do my flight that afternoon!<br />
When I arrived at the club at 1:00LT, she was alreday sitting out on the platform, waiting for me :)<br />
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(foto: Piet de Hondt)</div>
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<a name='more'></a>Piet was going to be slightly later (he has a little more commuting time), but airborne at 15:00LT should be possible. Weather forecast said the later that day, the weather would temporarily deteriorate along the coast, and in the Northern provinces. That would mean only a few kilometers of visibility, and a cloudbase at 600 ft. With 700 ft circuit altitude, and 500 ft windmills in the neighbourhood, that is not the type of weather you would want to find yourself in. That change would come somewhere between 16:00 and 19:00 LT, so we would at least have an hour, most probably more. Should it happen at 16:00, then things might get tight, should it be 19:00, then we'd all already be home, having dinner...<br />
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We decided to first go do a couple of patterns, after which I would go fly the "IFR waypoints navigation flight" we did last time, but this time as a solo flight. The guys left enough fuel in the tanks to go do all that, and still have fuel for diverting to Teuge, and then still have some fuel reserve left. So we would not have to waste time refueling, which saves another 10 to 15 minutes. So I stick my camera to the canopee, put my iPad inmy kneeboard, connect the headset to the iPad, and start the apps for recording sound and the GPS track. We are ready for departure!<br />
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Apparently, my first traffic pattern was canvincing enough, because the second one could be a full stop landing already. The wind was exactly "on the nose" when landing; that makes things a lot easier, of course. So, I dropped my instructor Piet off at the club, to start my first solo navigation flight. Punching in the route has become an easy thing already, as this is my third time to practice it in-cockpit.<br />
Off we go! All alone ... still a weird feeling!<br />
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On my way to the run-up area, I get a reminder that this hobby of mine is to be taken very seriously at all times. I had to pull over to let a truck pass, with a light airplane (MLA) on a trailer. The plane hat it's undercarriags laying flat underneeth the fuselage. I do not know exactly what had happened - nor do I want to go speculate - but this is not what an airplane is supposed to look like.<br />
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Ah well, let's go on to the run-up area, and do the pre-take-off tests. We just did them only 15 minutes ago, but I'll just go do them all again. If something's off, motor-wise, this is the time to find out, and abort the flight is needs be. Luckil, all systems are still "go", so I can take off. With pattern practice, we had to wait for about 10 minutes before we could ente the runway (busy weekend; landing traffic has right-of-way), but this time I could just keep on rolling on to the runway. I did make the radio call to say that I was lining up, just to be sure. The fact that I did not hear or see anybody in the traffic pattern, does not necessarilly mean that there isn't anybody...<br />
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(foto: Piet de Hondt)</div>
After a smooth take-off, I leave the traffic pattern with the prescribed 45 degree turn. I give the radio call to let other traffic know I'm out of the pattern, and make a climbing turn to the north-east, in the general direction of my first waypoint ARTIP. This time, I even do not forget to give a radio call for leaving "Romeo 100" (the former VFR Area Lelystad). I see another plane coming from my left, at about the same altitude. I climb a little more, but the airspace here is limited to 1500 ft, and that is just not enough for comfort. So I make a right turn for a bit to show him my white belly, and that works. He makes a left orbit to eventually pass behind me.<br />
Meanwhile, I am approaching ARTIP, and from there I climb to 3500ft (FL35, as TA = 3000 ft in NL), and I switch the radio over to Dutch Mil Info. Next waypoint NOVEN. At NOVEN, I need to make a sharp turn to the right, so I need to prepare and be ready in time befor the waypoint to start the turn. That too can be done with the help of the GTN-650 / G500 combination. It can tell you exactly when to start a rate 1 turn so that you end up exactly on track when you reach your next heading. Neat! :)<br />
Just like the previous flight, there is an inversion partially obscuring the ground. Not as strongly polluted as the last ime, but it still takes away a lot of effective ground sight. I had promised Piet to go look for some visual reference points, like my next waypoint OSKUR - the intersection of the A28 and A50 highways. That one was well visible from some 5 miles out, but to pick a point in the distace to keep flying in that direction was out of the question.<br />
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I could also descern the meander in the IJssel river near Olst, which was my next VRP. But the waypoint after that, TENLI, is not so easy to spot (it is an IFR waypoint, so it is only defined by GPS coordinates, and does not necessarily need no have a visual landmark). I would better keep the IJssel bridge of the city Deventer as a VRP. Right, next waypoint is FLEVO already, which takes me more or less overhead Teuge airport. I need to start my descend somewhere over the Veluwe area. During the leg OSKUR-TENLI, I had already entered a descend into the GTN-650, so now it is telling me that I need to start descending at 216 fpm in 4 1/2 minute to get to 700 ft, some 2 minutes before reporting point BRAVO. So, let's try that.<br />
In the mean time, I hear over the radio that at least three planes are headed in the opposite direction, from Lelystad to Teuge. Most of them do so between 1000 and 1500 ft, so I already know I need to be extra watchful when passing this height enveloppe.<br />
And indeed: I see a landing light heading straight for me at 1500 ft. I make a turn to the right to avoid the oncoming traffic. That cannot be continued indefiniely, because there is a restricted area off to my right (military firing range). So I return to my original path as soon as he has passed.<br />
By now, I am already flying north of Harderwijk over the lake "Veluwemeer". That means it's time to switch to Lelystad Radio again, and announce my intentions. I skip waypoint FLEVO, and head direct to mandatory reporting point BRAVO. This saves me a little distance, but more importantly: this keeps me away from a group of windmills.<br />
Although it was relatively busy in the traffic pattern, it all came down to me "leading the pack". There was no traffic in front of me in the traffic pattern. It is good practice (although not often practised) to make the traffic pattern a short one: over the markers. The traffic pattern area extends a little further, but that extra room should only be used to create some extra separation between a slow "leader", and a faster "follower" in the pattern. I usually make the pattern tight, unless there is other traffic in front of me. So this time, I make a very tight pattern, which almost comes down to a glide-in. Wind by now has already shifted from 230 degrees to 280 dergrees, so that 8 knots of wind mean some 5 knots of crosswind component. That's OK, it's not extreme. I made a decent landing out of it. My 100th landing! (Hence the title). I'll drink to that; Cheers!<br />
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100 landings in 33 hours... that's 1 landing every 20 minutes, on average :)</div>
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Returning home, my camera appeared to have been in time-lapse mode, and Air Nav Pro did actually not record my GPS track. Too bad! With those gadgets, I have an attitude of: spend time on them before flying, and after flying. During flying, they should be "fire and forget"; I am not going to troubleshoot them if something seems off, once I've started the start-up check list (like a purplish blinking LED on my camera remote, instead of a red one). Those are of secondary importance, and the workload is high enough as it is, without these distractions. Especially as student pilot, you should focus at the task at hand.<br />
So below you will find a time-lapse video of my first solo navigation flight (with one of those standard YouTube music tracks...) and the KML file of only the two circuits (traffic patterns) I did with Piet.<br />
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<a href="http://1drv.ms/1Mn5ZpV" target="_blank">Link</a> to KML file</div>
Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-7780142224193774222015-02-20T06:17:00.000-08:002015-02-20T06:17:03.780-08:00Kickoff 2015Finally! I got to fly my first flight in 2015. Visibility threatened to be the big spoiler again, this day (February 16th) ...<br />
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But the afternoon forecast was better, so we (my instructor and me) decided to head for the airport, and decide then and there what we were going to do that day.<br />
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When we arrived at the field, it already looked better than the webcam picture suggests. But there was a whole lot of moisture and dirt in the air, and a strong inversion layer to keep that all pinned low near the ground. So it promised to be better, higher up. The risk, however, was that as it cools down by the end of the afternoon, all that moisture in the air starts to condensate again, creating mist. So we decided a cross country flight would be too risky (of not being able to return home). We were going to stay near the home base, and do a naviagtion excersise. Last time I sat in the airplane, I already programmed a flightplan in to the nav computer, so we would go do that again, with a local route, connecting some nearby IFR waypoints. After following the route, we would see if visibility allowed for some touch-and-goes.<br />
I ended up flying this pattern:<br />
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The whole pre-flight check, startup procedure, radio call, taxi, I've got that all down already. Now, we added punching in a nav plan, but that's peanuts too with the GTN650/G500. No hurries, no worries. It takes time for the engine to warm up anyway, so no time was lost there.<br />
Take-off was already a little while ago, so that took a little "getting a feel back" for the amount of rudder needed to remain centered. But no real problems or so, there! :) After a right turn, the first waypoint was ARTIP. That's the (in)famous waypoint where the "Big Boys" are stacked in a holding pattern when there is too much inbound traffic for chiphol. Not today, however, so I only saw one "Big Boy", passing by high overhead.<br />
Visibility up 'til then was about 3 km, and that is not much! It is legal to fly in class G airspace, below 3000ft, with the ground in sight and clear of cloud. But that does not make it comfortable! It is somethin like driving your car in a very, very large parking lot (no road) in misty contditions, knowing that there are others out there doing the same, and all of you are driving 60 MPH... You get very tired of staring into that thick grey soup.<br />
Fortunately, after ARTIP we can climb until we are above the inversion, and that's a whole new, different world. Crystal clear skies, no bump in them whatsoever. Below you, there is this greyish white layer of muck, through which you can clearly see the ground, looking straight down, butnot looking any significant bit further forward.<br />
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"Follow the magenta line" sounds easy enough, but there's quite some work involved, actually. Especially when your instructor tries to distract you at those critical decision moments ;)<br />
But in this weather it is a valuable tool to get you where you want to go, along the route you planned, despite the lack of visual references on the ground (there is no "point afar" to be aiming at).<br />
Piet also demonstrated the descend planning tool, built into the GTN650. A nifty little calculator that not only tells you when to start descending at what rate, abut can also be used to monitor if you are still on your planned descend path. Of course, you can calculate in-bteween altitudes by heart, but that takes effort and capacity, that can better be put to use scanning for other traffic as you are approaching your destination airfield, descending back into the grey soup.<br />
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So you always have something to do, besides enjoying the view, when you're flying. Especially if you plan short legs like I did in this example. Because then you'll be adjusting your heading every 10 minutes.<br />
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Another new experience for me is landing agains a low sun, in these hazy conditions. The sun had done her best, so much of the fog had disappeared already by then, but still it was difficult to see the runway from base. Remarkable how little such a slab of asphalt does not stand out between all the grass. Only water is very well descernible. Once on final, it was more or less OK again; asphalt shines more than grass :) The difficult bit was to decide when to start the turn to final.<br />
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I ende up making 10 landings. Three were flapless. I am going to need some more practice to really nail this, because it all was not very precise or reproducable. Partly due to me not flying for two months already, partly because those 6 to 8 knots wind were also practically the crosswind component too. Nevertheless: practise, practise, practise!<br />
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I do not have any film footage, only audio :( The pictures hre were all taken by my instructor, Piet. Thank you for that, Piet!<br />
We did agree to do this flight again (so I get another shot at filming it...), but then solo, as a preparation for my first solo cross country flight. It is getting more and more real! :)<br />
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(Photographs: Piet de Hondt)</div>
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KML of the flight:</div>
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-48004471054689148462015-02-10T04:24:00.001-08:002015-02-10T04:24:32.280-08:00Weather, Weather, Weather, ...It's not that I did not have the time to write, these last couple of months, I simply haven't flown for that long already! My last flight was December 6th, 2014. Between then and today (February 10th, 2015), I have had 6 bookings in the system, but none matured to actual flight. Every time, the weather played a decisive role. 2014 ended with a stormy, gusty December month, with occasional gusts over 40 knots (30 knots is our Club limit). Then January came with a lot of icing conditions, and bad visibility. Last Saturday, every 10 minutes or so the cloud cover dropped to some 400 ft, putting the wind mills with their heads in the clouds. We have a lot of those in the vicinity of my home field, so I would have to slalom between them... NOT!<br />
On a couple of occasions, the day before and the day after were fine flying conditions, but thaat's the downside to being dependent on not only my own availability, but also of an aircraft, an instructor, and so-called "Visual Meteorological Conditions". At least, once I have my license, I will have one less of those factors ;) Then again, passenger availability becomes a potential issue. Mmmmhhhh... Anyway:<br />
I hope that next Monday, the weather will cooperate, because then I have my next booking.<br />
<br />Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-31163954569279644092014-12-31T02:21:00.003-08:002014-12-31T02:21:27.151-08:00Post soloOw yes! The enormous first-solo experience is in the pocket :) But that does not mean it's over... Better yet: now it's really starting to get serious business. I have the part "vehile control" well enough down, now we focus on navigation, and expanding my solo experience. Ultimately resulting in a solo overland navigation flight. ("overland" means from one airport to another). Plus, we'll polish the special procedures (emergency landings, steep turns, that sort of special moves).<br />
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<a name='more'></a>So, the next flight, we went a little further away. Even abroad! Stadtlohn (EDLS) lies just accross the Dutch-German border. If you fly the pattern too wide, you'll cross borders! As the flight to EDLS is therewith an international one, it requires a flightplan too, which is something new for me (actually; Stadtlohn has a special arrangement with Dutch Air Traffic Control authorities, exempting it from the flightplan rule, but we just pretended that did not exist). One of the items in a flightplan is the time at which you expect to cross the border. That "forces" you to think a bit about "What route am I going to fly, and how long is it going take me"; a navigation plan.<br />
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Underway to Stadtlohn we'd pass the low flying area south of Teuge, so we practiced emergency (forced) landings there. Plus, we added something new "steep turns". Turns of more than 30 degrees bank angle are considered steep, and in the Netherlands, 45 degree bank angle turns are the maximum that are required to be performed during examinations. In the USA, the maximum bank angle is 60 degrees, and as my instructor had his initial training in America, he also wanted me to experience 60 degree bank angle turns. That is quite something different! You will pull 2Gs if you perform the turn coordinated and level... So far, flying focussed on comfort, but this is more something you'd do to avoid oncoming traffic :D<br />
The planning was to do some solo circuits at Stadtlohn, but by the time we got there it was already getting kind of late. So we skipped those, and headed back to be home before dark.<br />
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For homework, I got to prepare some more overland flights to Leer (also in Germany, but more to the north, near Groningen), Budel (near the Dutch/Belgian border), and Hoogeveen.<br />
I cancelled my next flight, because I did not feel well that day. That meant my next flight was more than a month after the Stadtlohn one. When the day came near, the weather gods appeared to have other plans. Fortunately, exactly at the time I was going to fly, there was a small but distinct improvement in the weather. But all the rain of the last couple of days meant that Hoogeveen (grass runway) was too wet to go there. And there was still a weather front over the eastern part of the country, including the south-east, so also the Germany flights, and Budel could not take place. Instead, we went to Seppe (Breda) to stay west of the bad weather. Down side of that is that I did not really have a navigation plan prepared. I only quickly drew some lines on the map, named the waypoints, and added course information. No distances, no times, so not a good navigation excersize. Further, I noticed I was a bit sloppy keeping altitude (a +/- 200 ft window is not acceptable), and I forgot to do my flow checks every so many times (or at least I did not show what I was checking).<br />
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I did get to fly some solo circuits at Seppe. It became 5 in total:<br />
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The circuit at Seppe is narrow at the North-East end, due to built-up areas to be avoided, so base leg is shorter than usual. In fact, a glide-in from turning base was needed to not overshoot the threshold rwy 07 too much. The runway is shorter and narrower than at my home base Lelystad, but in about the same ratio. That means the optical effect of being on the glide path is pretty much the same. It's just that you reach the end of the runway much sooner (which can foul up your landing if you have a long flare). So it is very important to close the throttle soon enough, or you will end up approaching high or fast; both will result in a "far" landing.<br />
The other end of the circuit is rather spacious, so turning to the crosswind leg can be done at circuit altitude (730 ft) already. No climbing turns, so 30 degree bank angle is OK. That makes life easier again.<br />
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Landing #2 resulted in a go-around, without touching the asphalt (I ended up not having to pay for that landing either; kind folks at Seppe). There was a northerly wind, which is pretty much perpendicular to the runway. From the right in the above picture.All those trees on the right cause some turbulence and windshear on short final, and on that particular landing I was still (over-) correcting for that when it was time to make the call - push on, or go around. So I decided to go around. In retrospect, I probably could have landed OK, but I'd rather be safe than sorry! And, there's one thing worse than not going around, and that is to break off a go-around. That's a sure recipe for a faulty landing. Especially in this phase of my training.<br />
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KML files:<br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1z6xspv">Lelystad to Seppe</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1DaCMgJ">solo circuits</a><br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1DaCXbS">return to Lelystad</a> (started only a few minutes after take off)<br />
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Video:<br />
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-78448216836139431122014-10-15T03:35:00.000-07:002014-10-15T03:35:46.831-07:00SOLO !!!I knew it was due some time soon, yet fully unexpected I got to fly solo!<br />
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I had not flown in 4 weeks, and in my opinion it was only then that I had shown true proficiency in circuittry. And because the weather looked marginally at first, we were going to use this lesson to practice circuits again in all their variants. That is to say: normal landings, but also flapless, and glide-ins from 1000ft. I had expected this lesson to be all about speed control, and the next one focussed on forced landings. Maybe my first solo would be the lesson after that, or even after that one. Probably in December or so. But no! It was this lesson already! :)<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The day started with mist, followed by sunshine. Just as predected, by the end of the morning, clouds would draw in, and cause some rain with a slight chance of thunder and turbulence. I was going to leave my work at around 14:00, so during lunch break I checked the lates METARs and TAFs (weather reports and forecasts). That did not make me feel much beter. The "standard" weather was kind of marginal already, with a cloud base at 2200ft, 8km (5 nm) visibility, and winds from 180 degrees, 10 to 15 knots. But the "PROB30" (30% probability) wind 200 degrees, 15 knots, gusts 27, with an 1800ft cloudbase, and 5 km (3nm) visibility could be a reason to stay on the ground for this lesson. So, before leaving, I called my instructor to hear his thoughts. He was convinced we would have suitable weather to fly at least for circuit practice, staying close to the field. That 30% probability is more like 10% in practice, he said. So, with that mind set I left the office for Lelystad Airport.<br />
Much to my surprise, I drove into a tunnel, while under a low, dark grey overcast that touched the chimneys of an energy plant I was driving by, and I drove out of that tunnel under a much lighter sky with even some blue patches! This is going in the right direction! :)<br />
When I arrived at the airport, I first took a couple of pictures of the two Peruvian F-60s (military variant of the F-50), which were recently sold by the Royal Netherlands Air Force. They were re-painted by QAPS, which house right behind our hangar, and today, both of them were visible at the same time.<br />
Then I did the walk-around of my airplane, put her outside, and went back in to finish my flight preparation. Weather was done already, NOTAMs had nothing important to say, except maybe some RC flying West of Dronten, but that would only be up to 400ft. While Piet started work on updating the Garmin databases, I did the Weight and Balance calculations, assuming half-full tanks. We would have to fill her up anyway, because there was only for about 1 hr worth of fuel in the tanks. Half-full is still within the weight and balance limits, and will give us some 3 hours worth of flying time (with enough reserves to be diverting after that).<br />
So off to the fuel station. The fuel gauges indicated that the lefthand tank was filled well les than the righthand tank. So we put in a little more on the left side, a little less on the right side. After that, the left gauge indicated way more fuel than the right gauge. That shows that these gauges are indeed as inaccurate as the are said to be :) Ah well, we'l simply start off on the left tank.<br />
As said, the circuitry today consists of all types of landings.We start off with a couple of "normal" landings. That is: with full flaps, and standard speeds throughout the circuit. That goes well, right from the start, so after a few landings, we go for flapless landings. Flapless landings are with a higher pitch because of the obvious lack of flaps, and with a slightly higher speed, becuse the stall speed is higher. All timings and adjustments are different, resulting in a flatter approach, with higher speed, and less view out the front. These went well too, so we went on to three glide-ins from 1000ft. That simulates the same conditions as with forced landings: no power and 1000 ft at the threshold of the landing field. A bit more pronunciated where to land, of course, but it is all about the gliding characteristics now. Two out of three went reasonably well. With one I came out short of the runway. There is some room for improvement there ;)<br />
After another couple of normal landings, which all went well, the clock said well over 1 hour flown, and 10 landings. So when Piet said "the next one will be a full stop", I just assumed this was the end of the flying lesson for today. But, while turning off the runway, he said "How would you like to give it a go yourself?". Boink, boink, boink, ... my heartrate went up a notch. Did I hear this correctly? Yes, I did!<br />
I get to go SOLO!!!<br />
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I let Piet out at Air Waterland, after consulting with Tower. From then on, I'm on my own. I find myself messing around with the checklist. Read, Do, come back to the checklist... where was I... "Don't drive yourself crazy, E-J. You've done this before, you can do this". While I start taxiing, I call Tower without previously thinking about what I am going to say (let alone what to expect back in return). Beginner's mistake! I stumble over my wordt, and manage to get "1 POB" (Person(s) on Board) out, but I forget to tell the pilot's name. The controler calmly asks for it, and then I get to say: "Pilot's name is Oud; Oscar Uniform Delta". That's when it hits me: It is ME that is alone in this airplane, and it is ME that is going to make this thing fly! :)<br />
I regain myself while taxiing out to the run-up area, where I perform the run-up checks as I have already done so many times before. By the time I am ready for departure, I am "me" again.<br />
Take off goes smoothly. A touch more directional control (feet) would be nice, next time. My very first solo landing is simply good. Well felt, but not too hard. So flaps up one notch, Carburettor Heat in, and full throttle. I landed slightly off to the right of the center line, so I want to use the left tendency that comes with opening up the throttle to get me back on track. That makes for it that it shows a little swervy, so I'll try to improve on that next time around. That begins with landing on the center line, of course ;)<br />
I come in a little low on my second landing, so I have to thottle up to reduce the descend rate. That poses the risk of accelerating, and coming in fast (especially with a sleak plane like this Aquila). So I increase very slowly, and over the threshold I reduce throttle very slowly. I try to maintain about 1ft above the runway, which works out wonderfully well. Maintianing that "altitude" reduces speed to the point where I cannot possibly maintain that 1ft altitude anymore, and the airplane gently "sits down", right at the beginning of "the blocks" (touchdown markers; aiming point for landings), and on the center line! Flaps up 1, Carb Heat in, Full throttle. This time with exactly the right amount of feet to maintain straight on the center line :) A little back pressure on the stick, and we're off again. Proud of this combo! I put another notch on my kneepad (that's for counting landings), and when I look up again, I see a flock of birds passing just above my climb path... Keep your eyes outside, E-J!<br />
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According to plan, I was going to make one more landing, but I made a mess out of that one. The speed indicator bounces up and down from 60 knots to 70 knots (too slow to too fast), so it's difficult to maintain proper speed control. Then, while rounding off, I misjudge my altitude. I tuch the runway bfore I intended to, and bounce up, so I immediately decide to go around. I touch the ground a second time still, but I have decided to go around, so that's what I'll stick to. Looking at the video footage, I think I could have continud the landing without major harm or damage, but at that time and place, one simply does not have the luxury of hindsight. So I first want to get away from the ground, then build up some speed, then reduce flaps. In the video, you clearly see the three phases in sequence. Again, with hindsight, I could have raised the flaps earlier to increase accelleration, but the potential loss of altitude withheld me from doing so.<br />
Baffeled by all this fuzz happening to me, my climb out was far from perfect. Too high speed, not enogh climb rate. Resulting in a climbing turn to crosswind. It wasn't until downwind that I regained full control again. Downwind checks HARS (Hoogte, Afstand, Richting, Snelheid - Dutch for Altitude, Distance (to runway), Direction, Speed), I can hear Piet say it out loud. I was a little high, and a little fast. Distance, and direction were OK. Piet had said earlier that day that, with this much wind, the downwind section of the circuit would be relatively quickly over with (the tailwind component needs to be added to the indicated airspeed, to obtain the groundspeed). That means that relatively agressive throttle work is needed to get this sleak airplane to slow down before end of downwind. So that's exactly what I did: Carb heat on, pull back the throttle to even below the normal descend power setting, and maintain altitude with pitch. That slows the plane down, and as the speed gets correct, keep the pitch the same. Then the plane will start to descend. When almost reaching the desired altitude, slowly throttle up to reduce the descend rate to, ultimately, 0. That worked well! Even before mid-downwind, I was HARS OK, and even had time to scan for incoming traffic. Everything back under control<br />
The final landing was a near-perfect one. Groundwind was near zero, which helps, of course. Bt at circuit altitude, there was still this 15 to 20 knots wind. So while descending, less and less crosswind correction was needed. Windsheer effect was noticeable, and turbulence around trees and buildings was more noticeable, as well as some very local thermals (only under the right wing, on final, e.g.). I ended up nicely lined up, and I managed to stay afloat with a constant pitch up for 3 to 4 seconds before a buttery soft touchdown.<br />
Me happy!!!<br />
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This is a milestone in my flight training! The fact that I was allowed to go solo, means that my instructor has faith that I am proficient enough in the basics of flying. As you can read above, that is true, but I also still learn from each landing. That will probably always be so, vecause every landing is different. But the foundation is there, and from here on, I can start building on that to become an overall proficient pilot. :)<br />
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-42409339048459016132014-10-09T01:33:00.003-07:002014-10-09T01:36:52.447-07:00Emergency ProceduresAfter practising circuits, this time we'll look at what to do when the engine stops mid-flight. Not that that happens so often, but should it ever happen, it's good to know upfront what to expect, and what to do (or not do!)<br />
There are two low-flying areas in the neighbourhood of Lelystad Airport, where it is allowed to fly lower than the minimum VFR altitude of 500 ft over uninhabited terrain. One is located a few miles to the south of the airport, the other is located between the cities of Deventer and Zutphen (south of Teuge Airport, EHTE).<br />
While driving to the airport, the entire southern part of the polder it is located in is covered in mist. Visibility varies between 200 m and 1000 m, but no more than that! For a moment, it looked like it was going to be a no-go that day. But north of the "Knardijk" (a dike that divides the polder in two more or less equal parts), the weather was all clear. There were some Cumulonimbus (CB) clouds, which looked very active, and high, so the chances of thunderstorms and turbulence were high. Better stay well clear of those clouds...<br />
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I arrive early, as usual. So I have plenty of time to set up my camera and headset, so I can re-play today's flight, and maximise the learning experience. I also take the opportunity to try out my new photo camera on our Piper Arrow II, PH-KAX, which is taxiing out for an hour of local flight. While I'm at it, I re-do a shot I made with my previous camera already: the cockpit of my plane. In my previous shot, the fuel selector and parking brake lever were not in view, so I corrected that. :)<br />
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<a name='more'></a>We start the lesson off with an extensive briefing on the do's and don'ts in case of an engine failure at reasonable altitude. First check the essentials: Carb-heat on, fuel pump on, switch the fuel selector, and try to start again. If that does not do the trick right away, then assume the engine is not coming back to life, so you switch off those fuel supplying bits: pump off, fuel selector to "close" position. Next is to place an emergency call, find a field (long enough, no obstacles, preferably in to the wind), and land there, as controlled, yet low-speed as possible. You do that by making sure you enter a shortened glide-in circuit from 1000 ft, with the 1000 ft point at the beginning of your field, on the downwind leg. Of course, this all is only possible when starting the whole exercise at high enough altitude. When faced with an engine failure at low altitudes, the order of priorities "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate" kicks in. First and foremost: you fly the plane. Preferably going exactly there where you want it to go. And if time allows for it, you could tell Air Traffic Control of your intentions. If you get to that point, you definitely stand a better chance of receiving help soon(er). Moments before the actual landing, you also should switch off all electrical systems by disconnecting the battery and generator (the red double switch on the dashboard). This minimises the chance of electrical fire / sparks (low priority item).<br />
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So it's time to give it a try. We decide to fly off in a south-easterly direction, towards Harderwijk, and see what the weather looks like in the direction of Teuge. If it still looks too convective, we might consider the low flying area in the polder (although there are a bunch of new windmills there, limiting the "into the wind" bit significantly), if visibility looks OK. We are in luck, the visibility has grown to well over 10 km, and the activity of CB's has just moved north of Harderwijk. So Deventer it is! Passing well clear of Teuge Airport (Gliders, Parajumping) to the IJssel river, then follow that river south, while climbing to 2500 ft.<br />
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Then, when Piet pulls back the throttle, I get a little over-excited. Right away, my view goes outside to the ground, to pick a suitable field. Fortunately, I realise soon enough that there is enough time to go through the drills. While slowing down to the best glide speed (airspeed at which you reach the furthest, gliding down) at 2500 ft, some time passes. Then, lower the nose a little and trim to maintain that speed while descending slowly, results in a descend rate of about 400 to 500 ft per minute. That gives a total of more than 5 minutes from engine failure at 2500 ft to touch down. That is quite a lot! Even worse: in all 5 of my attempts to glide in to a field, I had to re-choose my field, because I was going to overshoot it. Man, does that Aquila glide well! This is obviously something I need to grow more feeling for :)</div>
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Subsequent tries all were from a lower altitude: some 1500 ft; so about 1 minute until reaching the 1000 ft point. That goes at the expense of practising the restart procedure, and the emergency call, but it does mean at least one extra glide-in - and that's where I need to get better.</div>
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We'll be practising this some more in the next few lessons, but now it's time to head back to Lelystad. I follow the IJssel river back north, and turn west well clear of Teuge airport again. We fly over the camping where my wife and her parents are, on to Harderwijk. Back at Lelystad, I do 2 touch and goes, and of course one full stop landing. I am finally getting the hang of the speed control in the circuit, and that leads to near-perfect landings :)</div>
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So a little honing of my speed control, and a good deal of practising emergency landings, and I am ready for my first solo! Getting there... ;)</div>
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<a href="http://1drv.ms/1vLY10i">Link to KML file of this flight</a></div>
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-50363039717027391552014-08-30T13:18:00.001-07:002014-08-30T13:24:59.087-07:00Back in the AirAfter a three month "break" due to a shoulder injury, I finally got to crawl back into the cockpit again. That's a long time, soo flying took a bit of getting used to, all over again!<br />
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<a name='more'></a>So the first flight was called "refamiliarisation"- getting to know the plane, and it's characteristics again. Some steering, climbing, descending, stalls, some circuits...</div>
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The basis was still there; no problem. But it's all about the details, right? Especially at the end of the hour, during circuit training, I had already used up so much energy that the "sharpness" was way out the door already. At one time, it even leaded to a "bouncer"; a landing with too much speed, and a forced decend rate by pointing the nose down too much. You are supposed to simply fly too slow to maintain altitude, but if you force the plane down by lowering the nose, speed will increase, creating more lift. That's what happened with that one landing. Upon trying to pitch up again, to land on the main gear, the main gear touched the runway, bouncing back up. That, combined with the extra lift because of the too high speed, caused the plane to bounce back up in the air. Problem is, that the bouncing force of the main gear acts to the rear of the centre of gravity. This makes the plane pitch down again, and the risk is a (relatively) high speed landing on the nose gear. Nose gears aren't made for that ;)</div>
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Fortunately, my reaction was correct: go-around. Right at the moment my instructor reached to advance the throttle, I did that myself. A true go-around this time, and not one that is because of an imaginary elephant on the runway.</div>
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Subsequent landings went OK, but there is still some room for improvement ;)</div>
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So the second lesson was all about circuit training. We took our time for the briefing, plus we had to fuel up somewhat, and the plane was booked adjacent to my slot, so in the end I only got about 40 minutes of air time. Nevertheless, I made 5 landings, of which the last one was completely unassisted, and butter soft. There was quite a lot of wind, but that was directed pretty much in the runway direction. So this time, the crosswind correction was especially on the travere legs of the circuit, "crosswind leg", and "base leg". That all went far better than ever before, so that made up for the mess I made of those previous landings. After three months out of the running, I am back on track in less than 2 hours. Now let's try to keep the momentum.</div>
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Circuits are now better shaped, and far more consistent :)</div>
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-34313648615136722612014-07-24T06:55:00.000-07:002014-08-30T13:20:53.979-07:00Theory is in!Yay!!! I have passed all theory exams!!!<br />
I now have a theory certificate, that is valid for two years. I will need to do my practical exam in two years, r I'll have to take the whole theory course all over again. I don't expect that to be too much of a problem, if my shoulder does not throw me back too much. I have what is called a "frozen shoulder" (adhesive capsulitis), which is basically a deep-tissue inflammation. It was very painful for the first two months, but now the inflammation is subsiding. The joint-encapsulation is now thick and rigid at the place of the inflammation, so I experience a more "mechanical" limitation. I only have (severe) pain, when I exceed those limitations. Physiotherapy is helping me to get more reach, and I see small improvements every week. This can take a good while to completely heal, though...<br />
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<a name='more'></a>But: my theory is "in tha pocket" :)<br />
I have to admit that I had expected it to be somewhat easier. The subjects are OK, and do-able for an MSc Engineering like myself. But the problem is time management. It takes a lot off your free time to be in class once a week, and study weekdays for the exams that follow classes (I have other plans / priorities during the weekend). And because I want to be able to use the radio once I'm allowed to fly solo, I had also enlisted for the RT (Radio Telephony) practice course. Another weekday's evening in class, and another subject to practice during other evenings...<br />
One time, that caused me to be too late with my application for two theory exams I had just finished ground school for. That meant I had to wait another month before I could take the exams, meanwhile starting ground school for the next subject, and still following, and practising, RT practice. That one was tough, because I had to juggle 2 theory classes I did not have lessons in any more, with the one theory class I did have ground school for, plus RT at the same time.I had to prioritise all my actions, every evening again. In the end, I did OK, because I got the theory exams with the minimum required 75% score, and got my practical RT license in two attempts (froze up on the first attempt; not a pretty sight).<br />
The only thing "theoretical" that remains is an LPE, or Language Proficiency Endorsement.<br />
That is a test to determine how good one is on one of the official ICAO languages, in an aviation environment. In the Netherlands, that language is English. In our neighbouring countries we have a lot of other languages (German, French, Spanish) that are spoken on the General Aviation radio. An LPE ends in a score, 4 through 6. Less than 4, and you are not qualified to operate a radio, while level 6 is comparable to a native speaker. The score also determines the validity period of the endorsement. With LPE level 4, one needs to re-take the test after 4 years, with LPE 5 after 6 years, and LPE 6 is valid indefinitely.<br />
I estimate myself to be somewhere between LPE 5 and LPE 6. So I'll wait for a bit until more towards my practical exam before I take the test. That way, if I get LPE 5, I'll have my license valid for a year longer than if I would earn that score now already. Re-taking the LPE exam is another chance to score an LPE 6 again, so I expect to end up with LPE 6 in the end; just not sure yet when exactly ;)<br />
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Anyway, it's time to go fly again!<br />
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-1882698493268509092014-07-24T06:21:00.001-07:002014-07-24T06:21:14.900-07:00Cross CountryAfter some 5 "local" lessons (from and to the same airfield) since my official start per the first of Januari this year, I now finally have flown to another airfield too!<br />
The first so-called Cross Country flight went to Texel airport (EHTX), the second one to Teuge (EHTE).<br />
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The 28th of April (yes, I know I'm a bit late writing about it), we flew to Texel for some touch-and-goes.<br />
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During the first bit of the flight, we used the meadows to play the game of "where would you put her down if your engine would quit on you now?". An engine doesn't stop all that often, of course, but if it does, it's good to be prepared. Knowing your potential landing spots before any such thing happens to you, just might make the difference between a stressful situation and sheer panic. Therefore, this look-out technique should become second nature, on behalf of flight safety.<br />
The Texel circuit is at 1000 ft, while the rest of the Netherlands has circuits at 700ft AGL (Above Ground Level).<br />
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The two grass runways at Texel are also 33% wider than the runway at Lelystad. That gives a totally different perspective on the runway. First of all, the contrast between the runway and it's surroundings is minimal. And then, the width of the runway makes you think you are nearer to the ground than you actually are. Of course, I have to do without all visual references I use at Lelystad too.Lt's see how this goes ...<br />
Closing in on the island, it soon became clear that the ugly weather for that dat was closing in on us from the North-East. During the circuit flying, we needed to descend to 700 ft, to stay clear of clouds. After 3 touch-and-goes, we called it a day already, and decided to go pay the harbour master (yes, aviation and maritime life have a lot in common). After shaking Mike de Bruin's hand (the man is a living legend in the Dutch General Aviation world), and paying the landing, we went on our wy again. The front that was closing in, would soon after Texel airport, also close in Lelystad Airport, so there was some pressure to leave. Alternatives would need to be to the south-west, so Hilversum would be the logical choice, if it ccame to that. If we would need to go to a hardened surface airport, due to wet terrain at Hilversum for example, we would need to go to Rotterdam or Breda International (former Seppe). Both did not sound as attractive alternatives. Nice to go there, some time, but not as a forced deviation<br />
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Once we got back to Lelystad (in between Lelystad City, and the Oostvaardersplassen, then south of the ATZ, to reporting point Bravo), it looked like we could still do some extra landings. So we did another two T/G's (and one full-stop landing, of course). As can be seen in the picture above, I had to build in some delay in my first circuit, to create the proper separation with the aircraft before me. But other than that, pretty neat circuits :)<br />
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Talking about diversions: the "standard" diversion airport for Lelystad is Teuge (and the other way around). Both have similar length, paved runways, but in different directions (comes in handy if at one of the two, the crosswind component is too high). They are some 20 flying minutes away from each other, so well within the fuel reserve limits. It even leaves some room to cancel the deviation, and return to the home field, if the situation improves suddenly.<br />
Time to go have a look at Teuge. So the next lesson is off to Teuge to familiarise with the local circuit, and do some touch-and-goes there too.<br />
The circuit at Teuge is different from the circuit at Lelystad, in the sense that it is shorter to avoid noise sensitive areas, but wider so that the flown distance is about the same. The points at which to change power settings are therefore different with respect to the Lelystad circuit, and that takes some getting used to.<br />
Especially when runway 27 is in use, final is rather short, so turning final takes place at significantly lower altitude. Then, the runway is about the same length, but considerably narrower. That gives an optical illusion of being longer, and of the plane being higher than reality. Needless to say that this poses a certain risk of coming in too low.<br />
After some stall exercises again over the Dronten - Biddinghuizen area, I had to simulate a diversion to Teuge. That means I had to navigate my own way towards the field. Now, I have already overflown the camping where we have our mobile home a number of times, so that was easy to find. And I know that from there, a track of 135 degrees will take me over the field, so all I needed to do is compensate for the wind a bit. I still had some altitude because of the stall exercises, so the city of Apeldoorn came into view soon after we passed the camping. So there was no problem at all navigating to Teuge at all (since it sits just East of Apeldoorn).<br />
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To stay clear of the field, the city of Apeldoorn, and the Deelen CTR south of Apeldoorn, we decided to go "over the north" to the east side of the field, go around the village of Twello, and try and find reporting point S (Sierra) along the A1 highway.<br />
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Sierra is very conspicuous, as there are several orange / red containers piled upon each other, right next to it. I was surprised to learn how well the little ditch we needed to follow towards visual marker C (Charlie) is visible from above. I even saw the marker itself! As we arrived, runway 09 was in use, so at C a left turn towards B, which is situated right before the A50 highway. The "avoid to overfly" area just north of B is a large greenhouse complex, which forms a good visual reference for turning base. Then it's a matter of turning final at the right moment, and aligning with the runway. This, I found to be the most tricky part. Late on the first attempt, early on the second, and a bit "swervy" (not very straight, oscillating, over-compensating) on the third attempt. But that is exactly what this training is all about: practice makes perfect, in the end...<br />
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Finally time for coffee ... or not. After paying the landing fees with the harbour master, it appeared the restaurant was still closed! Ah, well,... Let's go back to Lelystad, then, and have ourselves a coffee at the club. As we taxied out, the doors of the restaurant terrace opened ... But we were now on our way "home", so that's what we decided to keep doing. On our way back, I got to play a llittle with the rudder; slipping. Just roll right, and compensate with left rudder to keep flying straight. This induces a lot more drag, so you loose speed almost immediately, and therewith altitude. This is the way to "brake", if you're coming in too fast or too high. Maybe I'll need it later, but for now let's focus on a correct glide path. After that, some more stall excersise, and then head for reporting point "Bravo" at Lelystad.<br />
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I now have two cross-country flights in my logbook. If I also fly to Hilversum, then I will have all three alternates for Lelystad in my book. The langs counter is now at 40, so that's starting to look like something already too!<br />
All I need now is some training in emergency procedures, and I'll have covered everything necessary to go fly solo. Now all I need to do is to jack up my proficiency in all areas, to get my solo clearance ...Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-1020613070077959012014-05-11T12:36:00.000-07:002014-05-11T12:36:54.382-07:00StallsMeanwhile, I'm also taking flying lessons, of course!<br />
I may not write each and every time about my lessons, but they do continue. I have had my seventh lesson as I write this, which is also lesson number 7 in the syllabus, so I am progressing as planned. Lesson 7 is all about slow flight and stalls. Stalling is effectively flying so slowly, that the wings reach that critical point where they stop producing lift.<br />
So, yes, you start to fall from the sky, and no, that's not scary :)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIuzXdNzbqZIoczpa7p5SyOzl3EigN2AlMUNpV-C5tUGzR3TCHlGlBTg-73qhcoJCeZncGA_iYVKyqbw8RpjIF9eiL6jlfpywsaVkNHTa4_B2uF7R8YL5DuC3_ZzYJIVeZu4p-hTC9yk/s1600/1000px-StallFormation.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIuzXdNzbqZIoczpa7p5SyOzl3EigN2AlMUNpV-C5tUGzR3TCHlGlBTg-73qhcoJCeZncGA_iYVKyqbw8RpjIF9eiL6jlfpywsaVkNHTa4_B2uF7R8YL5DuC3_ZzYJIVeZu4p-hTC9yk/s1600/1000px-StallFormation.svg.png" height="231" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:StallFormation.svg</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>As you progressively fly slower, you need to point the nose more upward to retain altitude. That will increase the angle of the wing profile, relative to the air flow, which increases the lift per quantity of air flowing around the wing. This quantity, of course, decreases as you fly slower; hence the need for an increase in the so called "angle of attack". However, there is a maximum to the angle of attack. At that angle, the airflow over the top of the wing becomes "separated" over too much of an area of the wing; it does not cling to the top of the wing anymore, so the lift is reduced dramatically.<br />
So if you close the throttle, and keep your altitude by pitching up as needed, you will inadvertandly meet that situation where lift drops abruptly. That moment, you enter a stall situtaion.<br />
The moment you start to "fall from the sky", the little wings at the tail end of the airplane (the horizontal stabilo) will cause the nose to be pointed further down again, much like the tail of a dart. A small amount of pitch down will improve the airflow along the wing profile in the correct direction already, and the plane becomes controllable again. The remedy therefore is to put the stick in the neutral position (it was strongly pulled already when entering the stall), and apply full throttle.<br />
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So stalls it is! The main purpose of my lesson at the 9th of april. It had already been a month or more since I last flew, so I wondered if It would all come back to me soon. "Q" was already booked before and after my flight, so not too much time for extras. Luckily, my work and traffic cooperated nicely, so I was at the club early enough to get settled, and prepare the Weight & Balance. The one before me came in ealy too, so while he was debriefed, I did my walk-around. All nuts and bolts accounted for, and in place, moving parts free to move, and enough oil, only a little short on fuel. About 1/4 full in the left tank, less than that in the right tank (the dipstick starts at 1/4 tank). So we would need to fill her up; also good excersise :) It really isn't all that complicated, as long as you don't forget the ground cable, it's all pretty similar to fueling up with a car. Except for the two tanks, that is ;) It comes in handy if you figure out how and where to park, so that you can actually reach both tanks with the hose, you can see the pump while fueling up both tanks, and so that you can simply drive out of there.<br />
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I'm starting to get the hang of things, so Piet did not have much to do, until just before take-off. As there was a fair bit of (cross) wind, he talked me through the take-off, and initial climb, before entering the runway. But that was about all. We started out doing some climbing excersises at Vx, and Vy. That are the speeds for best angle of climb (comes in handy when trying to clear nearby objects, such as trees) and best rate of climb (feet per minute, handy for reaching a higher flight level as soon as possible). So we descended to 500 ft, and start to climb, descend again, and climb again... you get the picture. Clouds were at 2200ft, so that's how far we'd climb. That was also the altitude for stall recovery excersises.</div>
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We practiced stalls with and without flaps, both with recovery at the sound of the stall horn, and at the onset of a fully developed stall. 4 Different excersises. Fully developed, without flaps is, of course, the most difficult one to recover, because the instability seems bigger, and more airspeed recovery is needed to regain control than with flaps.<br />
Because the effect is bigger, and the recovery effort is more extensive, the difference between the one wing and the other will be more pronounced too. Most likely, one wing will stall before the other, and that's why you get a so-called "wingdrop". By moving the stick in the oposite direction, you only worsen the situation: the stalled wing gets stalled deeper, while the unstalled wing gets a little more reserve towards stalling. It is the natural reaction to countersteer a wingdrop, though. So you need to suppress that reflex, and steer along with the roll, in order to regain control quicker. That only applies when bank angles are not too steep, of course.<br />
This situation can also lead to a spin, where you turn towards the stalled wing so fast, that the "outside wing" does not stall at all, while the "inside wing" remains stalled (thus producing no lift). This can lead to an equilibrium state too (albeit a very dynamic one) where you spiral downwards with one wing stalled; the spin. This equilibrium state requires control inputs to recover from; in this case stick neutral, and full opposite rudder - kick yourself out of the spin. This will give the stalled wing some airspeed, while the stable wing looses some airspeed. Anyway, "intentional spins are not allowed", according to the pilots operating handbook, so we're not supposed to get to that stage.<br />
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None of that happened during my excersises, just some sloppiness of the controls, and a distinct sinking feeleng. Nose just under the horizon, full throttle, close the carburettor heat in the same movement, and up flaps one notch while you have your hand near the handle anyway (with full flaps only). I lost only some 200 feet in altitude, so that's OK. Especially for a first-timer ;)<br />
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I had another lesson planned to do stalls, but the weather was just not good enough, then. Too much crosswind on the day itself. The days before and after were beautiful flying weather, but hey, you can't win 'em all.<br />
<br />Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-90962264629135600112014-04-12T13:14:00.003-07:002014-04-12T13:14:56.304-07:00Hoogvliegersdag Lelystad 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Busy times, with practical RT (Radio Telephony - talking to the tower) on Tuesday evenings, and still my theory course (one more lesson Meteorology, then Human Performance and Limitations) on Thursdays, plus the occasional flying lesson in between. I really hope to gt through these two exams OK, that'll leave only one - Air Law... RT takes a bit of preparation, but especially lots of practice, so that takes time as well.</div>
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Still, I wanted to be a volunteer again at the annual "Hoogvliegersdag" at my home field, Lelystad airport. That's a day, organised by the Hoogvliegers foundation, during which chronically ill or disabled children get to be a pilot for a day. They are antertained thoughout the day, and at some moment during the day, they get to fly in a real airplane. If their illnes or handicap allows it, they even get to steer the plane around a bit! That way, those children forget all their troubles for a day, and get to be a child again :)</div>
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<a name='more'></a>Just like last year, the Hoogvliegersdag was organised by Cees Ootjers en Aloys Bodewes of KLM Aeroclub (my flying club), but this time in close cooperation with Rob Hoogboom of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). So I joined the crew of volunteers, and was assigned the static line, like last year. That's a nice assignment, because you get to see the children marvel at those majestic planes. Most of them are in that age where all they want to be when they grow up is fireman, policeman, or pilot, so a line up of static aircraft is always very exciting :)<br />
The day started early. My wife and I stayed at the camping over night, so it was only half an hour's drive for me. But still, getting there at a quarter to seven means getting up early! It started out misty, that morning, but the forcast was that things would clear up soon, and even get sunny by the end of the afternoon. And we first had to park some planes, put up some fences, unfold some tables and benches so that all 65 children, 130 companions (family, care-takers), and 125 volunteers would be able to sit down somewhere...<br />
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The first children arrived well in time. The official opening would be at 09:00, but the first ones came in at 08:30 already. No problem, there was plenty to do and see for them already! First, the children go to the check-in counter, where they put on a special T-shirt, and a cap, yo indicate that they are the pilots of today. They get a goody bag, and their ticket, of course! On the terrain, there is a bouncing castle, a clown, music (with live singing) french-fries, make-up, colouring, food and drink, the Hoogvliegers souvenir shop, and of course the static line.<br />
The RNLAF put a Fokker 50 of theirs on the static line, which could be seen from the inside as well. They also brought a truck with two F-16 simulators, for the children to show off their magic Top Gun skills :)<br />
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They also came flying in with a low pass of an Apache combat helicopter, and the Royal Chopper (Alouette). They stood on the static line for all to come look up close for the major part of the day, and flew off late afternoon. A mighty sight, sound, and air displacement! ;)<br />
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But what it was all about in the end: they got to fly an airplane!<br />
There were a lot of people assigned to the static line, and there was a shortage of airside companions (if that is the correct English word for it), so I changed assignments to that function. I got myself aone of those high-visibility vests, and an airside authorisation, so I could help people accross. Everybody that wanted to go to or from airside, needed to be accompanied by someone familiar with the field, and aware of the risks of walking in between moving aircraft, with hyper-excited kids. That would be me, sir!<br />
My first job was to accompany the film crew of a local news television station. They wanted to catch André Kuipers (Dutch astronaut) who piloted one of the first planes of the day. How cool is that, if you can say at school that you flew an actual Dutch astronaut through Dutch skies! After the film crew, I got to walk the children and their families to their air planes, stow the wheelchair (if applicable), and accompany the non-flying remainder of the family back to "landside". And, of course, when they came back, I did all that in reverse, picking up the children after their flight.<br />
It is truely amazing, how much emotion you encounter during those walks to and from the air plane. On the way to the plane, it's mainly nervous anxiety. Especially with the family, by the way :) When they return an explosion of joy and exitement, when a kid tries to explain to his family what all happened while he was away. They try to tell about a one hour rollercoaster ride in one sentence; a wonderful sight!<br />
Emotional moments too. Like with the little girl, that apparently expressionless entered the airplane, and came out wide-eyed and smiling into her crying mother's arms. There's just no words to describe the avalange of emotions that overwhelm you at that moment.<br />
Or the little brother, all hyper from his own flight an hour earlier, telling his sister everyrhing she can expect, and needs to know, for her flight. Who is happy that his sister is now flying because now, finally, <i>he </i>can sit in that wheelchair...<br />
Airside companion is such a rewarding "task", because you get to experience all the emotion this day is all about, first hand, but as a by-stander. I'm already sure I'll sign up fot this task next year.<br />
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The RNLAF had one more surprise up their sleev: all children got to fly a tour in another Fokker 50 they brought along. As this was the last flight of this air plane in service of the RNLAF, and the "retirement flight" of the captain, the Lelystad Airport Fire Brigade welcomed the flight back with a water curtain :)<br />
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And, as icing on the cake for me, flying buddy Barry proposed to take "our" plane out for a spin, end of the day. We did three orbits around the camping, and then asked if we could cross the Schiphol Control Zone (CTR). We got a reply to call back approaching Victor, which is the entry point of the CTR for VFR traffic. We still had some 15 minutes to fly to get there, so we weren't sure yet (clearance to cross depends on traffic density at the time of the crossing). But as we approached Victor, we soon got clearance to report over Bravo (the second compulsary reporting point) where we go a clearanc to pass the threshold of rwy24 (which was the active take-off runway), and then turn right in front of the tower, and leave the CTR through the Amsterdam sector.<br />
Marvelous sight, those 737s, and even a 747, forming a line before the runway, and being able to overfly that so close. And ehhh, flying over Amsterdam is also something one doesn't do every day either ... :)<br />
We made a couple of turns over Barry's house before exiting the CTR towards Lelystad again.<br />
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Here's a GPS track of our flight, or at least until the battery of my phone went dead ;) So the last bit to make it a closed loop, you have to imagine that for yourselves ...<br />
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<a href="http://1drv.ms/1ewIIiV">Link to KML file</a><br />
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I had an incredibly wonderful day! Completely buggered, but so worth it ...<br />
Next year, I'll do it all over again :)Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-41803040975563594142014-03-09T03:08:00.001-07:002014-03-09T03:08:38.046-07:00Human Performance and Limitations<br />
Every aviation incident has Human Factors as at least one of their root causes. So a lot of research has been put in that subject over the last few decades. Human Performance on the one side, but espacially the limitations. Man was not meant to fly, so we are taking man out of their natural environment, yet still expect them to perform above and beyond what is expected "on the ground". One of those limitations is the amount of information that can be processed. It has been demonstrated that the human brain, when overloaded with information, goes into "survival mode", where only the information that is perceived as essential for survival is processed, and the remainder is "parked" in short term memory, only to be collected again after the essential information pool is processed. Short Term memory has a limited shelf life, so it is well possible that information that is not perceived as essential, is not processed at all.<br />
Now this is all well and understandable, but how does that affect me, the (student) pilot? Surely this will be applicable in a crisis situation, but even then ... I know what to do when things go wrong, so it won't happen to me, right?. Well, I can tell you this: you're WRONG!!!<br />
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My third lesson this year finally seemed to go through. It all depended only on how the winds would develop, because the forecast was not very positive (19020G26). About 45 degrees relative to the runway, 20 knots get you close to the demonstrated crosswind component for this airplane (15 knots). Also the gusts were nearing the club limits for flying (30 kts). Challenging weather, especially for an inexperienced student like myself.<br />
When I woke up that morning, I had a cramped out neck, and a terrible headache. I had just finished a couple of weeks of stressful work, and a whole bunch of things besides work. I had my theory lessons resulting in two exams the Friday before, and I have volunteered to help set up a safety management system for the flying club. So all in all I had slept too little in the weeks before, and also had I slept badly, with recurring dreams, and waking up in the middle of the night, that ere associated to that. All in all I was over-tired, and felt like a rag. But that day I would finally get a chance to fly again, and it had been too lang already, in my view. So I took a long hot shower, and that made me feel better already. I had not taken any medication, so I found that I was fit to fly. During the drive to Lelystad, I looked around a lot, turning my head. So by the time I got to the airport, my neck was getting more and more loose already. Wind had not picked up, so we were gonna fly! :)<br />
I got to do it all myself, this day. Taxi, fuel up, take off, climb, level off at 1300 ft, find the "Ketelbrug" (a bridge to the North of Lelystad, where we went to do our excersises last time), and there we did all the excersises of alst time once more: level flight, climbing, descending, level turns, slow flight, slow flight with level turns. This time, we'd also do slow flight with climbing and descending turns. Already during the level turns, I noticed that I wasn't very "sharp" today. When Piet told me to "turn left heading 210", I would realise that I had overshot the 210 heading only at heading 160, or so... Much too late! Nothing safety critical, at this time, of course, but a sign of me being overloaded already...<br />
Once back in the circuit around the airfield, the workload really comes into play. There's just so much thrown at you at the same time, that you need to have an organised flow, or you'll find yourself playing "catch-up" all the way to the landing. Complicating factor this time was the wind, of course. At 45 degrees to the runway direction, it affects you sideways at all four legs of the legs of the circuit. There's a couple of "resting" moments in the circuit, so that's when you can catch up, but you in fact need to be thinking and preparing two steps ahead already.<br />
Because it it now the time in my course to start practicing landings, we would go do a few. Three "touch-and-goes", and one "full stop". By the time we were at the third touch-and-go, I had already lost track of my number of landings, and figured it would be the last one. I did not regiter Piet making the radio call "Papa Lima Quebec, final 23 for touch-and-go", and just put the flaps up after landing, and rolled out, preparing to exit via C. In the movie below of that landing, you can see Piet gesturing that I need to open up the throttle, and take off again ...<br />
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<span style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://youtu.be/t4ZPRAMKbec">Lesson 5, 3rd landing video</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a href="http://1drv.ms/1fW7fNL">KML file lesson 5</a><br />
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I learned a lot, that day. Not only that crosswind circuit work can be a handful, but also, and especially, that fatigue is something that is not to be underestimated. Especially at those moments where your actions become critical, it is absolutely paramount that you have a clear head!<br />
This was all of temporary nature, luckily. A week-and-a-half later, I had a perfect flight with a repetition of all those exercises, including 4 landings. All went perfect this time. Or at least as good as can be expected of a student with my number of hours, that is ;)<br />
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<a href="http://1drv.ms/NME5dQ">KML file lesson 6</a>Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-84080509244953048812014-02-24T04:35:00.001-08:002014-02-24T04:35:36.302-08:00Belated Valentine's Flight<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
After the cancellation of my first flight lesson this year, I enjoyed a lesson on January 12th. The next lesson I had planned for February 5th fell through because of rain, wind, and low clouds. The next one, Feb. 11th, was "blown away" by way too much wind. So, statistically, my flight planned for Valentines Day should go through, right?</div>
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<a name='more'></a>Meteorologists see in the above picture a warm front approaching from, say, overhead Paris, a high pressure area over northern Italy, and a steeply low pressure area just south of Ireland. The two pressure systems make for a lot of wind (especially over Great Brittain, but also over the Netherlands. This also makes the warm front move in rather rapidly, which in turn causes a lot of convection, which results in rain...<br />
The picture is the forecast for mid-day Valentines Day, as predicted at 7pm the evening before. So although the warm front is predicted to progress quickly, it's still over France at mid-day, and my flight is planned at 14:00, so the meteorological situation should allow for a one-hour flight, and then soon deteriorate...<br />
On Valentine's morning, the warm front seemed to be in even a bit more of a hurry than predicted. The associated bad weather was now expected to arrive in Lelystad at 15:00 already. After a quick phone call with my instructor, we decided that I would leave work as soon as possible (at around 12:00), so I could already start to pre-flight the aircraft, and he would follow some half hour later. That way, we could take off at 13:30, and since we would stay near the airport, we'd come in as the weather would come down (or after one hour, whichever comes first).<br />
While I was doing the pre-flight, my instructor had received the latest weather update from his meteo connection at Schiphol airport. The warm front had moved north even faster than previously predicted, and probably would hit Lelystad at around the time he would be able to get there. So then and there we decided to cancel again. My success ratio has now dropped to one-out-of-four, while I had assumed a one-in-two ratio for this season.<br />
Oh well; I got to meet my airplane for Valentine's Day, and got to practice pre-flight, including Weight & Balance, and collecting and reading NOTAMs.<br />
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I anxiously followed the weather forecasts over the next couple of days, because my next booking was set for the 19th. And that Wednesday promised to be the best day of the week, in terms of flying weather (mainly because it was the day with the least amount of wind). The booking was from 15:00 'til 17:00, so this time we could wait for the mid-day weather update, before deciding if we would head out to Lelystad. But already during the morning, the "good to go" was cast :); my Valentine's flight would be a couple of days late, but finally there!<br />
My instructor had booked the plane with another student the hour before my lesson. When I arrived, they were just departing.<br />
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Based on their Weight and balance, and the amount of fuel I estimated them to burn, I pre-filed mine. A look at the NOTAMs revealed that one TRA was active in the neighborhood that day, due to flying with unmanned aerial vehicles, controled by wire, up to 948 ft. Probably a test day for NLR, I would guess. Anyway: stay well above 1000ft, and we don't get caught in the cable. Als EHR3, including all stacks up to FL175, is active during weekdays, due to gun firing. So that's a something to avoid alltogether, and by a margin! After a cup of coffee, the other men returned already, so I could do my walk-around, and place my camera. On the moving part of the canopee, this time, so I can maybe see my control inputs a bit better. At least for so far as my rudder input is concerned.<br />
We finally get to fly again!!!<br />
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I am supposed to be able to perform all tasks up to driving up to the runway, so Piet (my instructor) basically only sits back, and monitors all my actions. Providing some distractions at certain semi-critical moments.<br />
Take off was mine too, this time, with his hand and feet monitoring my movements. I knew I had to give right rudder when I open up the throttle, but I had no idea how much exactly. So swagging about like a drunken duck, I lifted off. Climbout at the correct speed, retract flaps at 500ft, adjust pitch, level off at 700ft, trim, and after Piet's call saying we are leaving the circuit, a climbing RH turn to the north, while staying east of the highway, level off at 1400ft. Pfew, a little getting used to everything again ... there's a lot coming at you in this short bit of time!<br />
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A little later, a climb through to 2000ft, followed by a cruise descend (carb. heat on, throttle back; simple :) ) to 1600 again. "Turns to a specific heading" were up next. For that to work, you not only have to make neat turn entries and exits, but also timing them becomes an issue, while your instructor distracts you with chit-chat and funny remarks. The the same again, but at a slower speed. And straight-and-level, even slower. We are now at Vs+10, well in the "region of reverse control". A funny thing to experience that flying slower requires more thrust.<br />I did all that well enough to go try an approach to the airfield. "You go fly to Biddinghuizen", Piet said. You have to know where Biddinghuizen is, and wehere you are yourself... "West side of Biddinghuizen?" I replied, because there is a glider field to the south of Biddinghuizen, which you will overfly after passing Biddinghuizen around the east side. Alwys a risk, a glider field. Those guys and girls climb steep and quickly, when winch-launched. And then there is of course the winch cable; also not a pleasant mid-air encounter. And flying over a populated area is also not prefered. Those Biddinghuizen people have enough on their minds, with those expansion plans of Lelystad Airport över their heads". They don't need me to add to that ;)<br />
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The circuit is busy. Entering over mandatory reporting point Bravo, we fly a little slower, becaus a DA-20 just joined the entrance in front of us. We need to create some separation. There are in total 4 planes in the circuit area, and this time I did see them all :). We went for some touch-and-goes. So land, rool out a little, flaps to tak-off position, carb-heat off, full trottle and full rpm, and it's time to pull the stick already. Vr of 55 kts is nothing, before you know it you are airborn again! First landing ws reasonable, with a lot of help from Piet, second landing was slightly better, with less help, and the last landing was the best. Especially being lined up with the runway, and on a more or less steady glideslope went much better than the previous ones. In the end it was quite a boink when we landed, but for a first-time unassisted landing not too bad, if I say so myself.<br />
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Pretty satisfied. Enough room for improvement, but for a flight so early in the course, and after having not flown in over a month, not a bad job! I for one am pretty pleased with my flying today, and so was Piet. Not let's hope I can keep that up.<br />
I have booked my next lesson for next Sunday already...<br />
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Here's a GPS plot of my flight today:<br />
<a href="http://1drv.ms/1d39puJ">http://1drv.ms/1d39puJ</a>Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-49222417243591844652014-01-15T10:59:00.000-08:002014-01-15T10:59:35.234-08:00On a roll!<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Sunday the 12th was the day! My first lesson in 2014 :)</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This is the start of my practical PPL course. From here on, I'll be flying as much as the calendars (and my wallet) allow; from here, I start rollin'!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">My first appointment, January 3rd, was cancelled due to bad weather. High winds wist too big gusts. But this time, the weather was exceptionally kind ,especially considering the autumn storms we've been having, those lase weeks.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">PH-WVO leaving for circuit work, while Piet is retrieving the W&B form</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>Piet (my instructor) had made the booking in AeroPlus from 14:00LT to 16:00 LT. We were to meet half an hour early for a pre-flight briefing, and I wanted some extra time to install my camera, and hook it up to my headset. I am not too familiar with that procedure yet, so I wanted to take my time for it. So I aimed at 13:00LT at the club, and that worked out pretty well.<br />
Tim was already in, one of the planes was flying, and another was parked outside, ready to go. "My" plane was still in the hanger, and had not been booked earlier on the day. So I got on the plane, stuck the camera to the roof, connected through wifi to the camera with my phone (change the order of that, next time; makes life much easier!), checked the camera image, adjusted the lens orientation, and switched all off again. Plug in the audio cable (next time: do that before sticking the camera to the roof), and connect to the headset controller, then plug in the headset. Pfff... you almost need a checklist for this procedure :D )<br />
Not much later, Ard, Linda and Erik arrived for their flight. They are plotting out a navigation exercise as a club event. And today they'll fly the route, taking some aerial pictures of the navigation landmarks the contestants have to discover. But, I'm not here for that, so off to the briefing room.<br />
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As I entered the briefing room, so was Piet. Nice timing! After wishing everybody the best for this new year, we quickly went on with flight preparation and briefing. "Have you ever done eight and Balance?", Piet asked. "Yes, no problem" I answered quickly. And that's true, but it was over half a year ago... Ah, well, it's not difficult. There's an Excel file for that, and the briefing room PCs are well protected, so there's no forest of shortcuts that other people find handy ;) So I quickly found the W&B file for the PH-KLQ, in it's latest version. Uhmmm... o yeah, you need to know how much fuel is in the plane first! So out to the plane again, and gauge the fuel tanks. Left tank was slightly under 3/4 full, right hand tank about 1/2 full. With 60l per tank, that amounts to 45+30=75l worth of fuel. Well enough for our planned trip, and still within weight and balance limits with two heavyweights like myself on board ;) After entering weight, name, address for both Piet and myself, the graph showed we are legal to fly this plane, loaded like this. This is a mandatory exercise for every flight, since one must have the calculation present at any time. It is one of the first things that gets checked by authorities. Rightfully so, I might add, because if the balance of the plane is outside it's limits, the plane can become uncontrollable.<br />
So we make two prints, one to leave behind in the briefing room so that everybody knows who's flying what plane, and one to take on board. But wait a minute, ... The printer does not work! Rather than spending a lot of time troubleshooting this, I just entered the values in the other computer, and printed from there (previous flight was printed from that PC). That worked! On with the briefing.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2078157263443902245" name="more"></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Weight and Balance</td></tr>
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The only thing to remember next time is to not leave the printout in the printer... ;)<br />
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Piet had prepared a briefing for this lesson as a PowerPoint on his laptop, so we sat down in a quieter place to go through the briefing. It was all about power settings (thrust and rpm levers control the power output) that go with certain uniform speeds for straight and level flight. Typically at 100 and 110 knots indicated air speed (KIAS) for the cruise phase, 85 KIAS for pattern flying, and 65 KIAS for approach. We are going to try them all out in the air in a minute.<br />
Because this was the first flight of the day for the "Q", we had to do a "Daily Pre-Flight Check", which is slightly more extensive than the regular "Pre-Flight Check". The regular one is only performed, if someone else has already preformed the more extensive version. Piet walks me through the Pre-Flight, this time. Next Time, it will be up to me. Piet will then monitor my actions.<br />
It has been quite cold for some time (max. 6°C throughout the day), so the oil is thick, and needs more work spinning the prop before the first "gurgle". That gurgle is the sign that the oil has been pumped all through the system. Because of the cold, I repeat the tric one more time, before actually gauging the oil level. It is at the lower end of the scale, but good enough for our planned flight. Probably, when "gurgled" yet another time, the dipstick would indicate an even higher level, but "good enough" is just that.<br />
Many of the inspection items are low to the ground on this plane. So a lot of knee-bending involved here. Now, that's sort of a problem with my rusty knees, but hey, the pitot tube needs to be inspected, of course. As do the tyres, fuel drains, aileron- and flaps hinges...<br />
Moving the plane outside is wonderfully easy. It's light, and rolls easily. And the yellow lines Cees painted on the floor guide you well clear of hangar walls, doors, and pylons. Outside, I park the plane with it's tail over the grass. You don't want the prop wash after starting to be directed at people, or into the hangar.<br />
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OK, get in, adjust the seat, close the harness, take out the checklist. Oh, oh, ..., left the Weight and Balance sheet on the printer! One copy has to be on board (it is one of the first things any inspector would ask for), and before I knew it, Piet was already underway to retrieve it. :) That gave me the opportunity to switch on the camera. I want to film all my lessons with my action cam, so that I can review (and re-listen; is that a word?) my performance from the comfort of an armchair. I'll probably publish a movie at some point, but for now, the footage is just too dull (see all the pictures in this post - all reasonably the same).<br />
We taxi to runway 23, where we have to wait with the pre-take-off checks ("run-up checks") until the oil temperature gauge starts to move. Meanwhile, I rehearse the run-up checks out loud, which seems to fall well with Piet. After the actual run-up checks, Piet takes over for take-off. I can "feel along" with his moves, but not yet do it all myself. That will come soon enough.<br />
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The exercises for today are straight and level flight at 1200 feet, at different speeds, and with different flap settings. In between the straights, some 180° level turns. I felt like a ferry between the villages of Urk and Kampen :) Purpose of the day is to get a feeling for what happens when power is applied, or decreased, what it takes to remain straight, and what it takes to remain level, in those cases.<br />
Especially selecting flaps gives a strange sensation. Lift immediately increases, which causes a nose-up tendency. At the same time, drag increases, so the plane slows down. This reduces lift, and pitches the plane nose down, although this effect lingers a bit behind. So your first reaction is to lower the nose, which, by the time you actually do that, is amplified by the deceleration. It's not a car, though. You need to get a feel for which things you need to respond to immediately, and which things require you to wait and let an equilibrium set in. So that takes a little getting used to :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Full flaps, descending</td></tr>
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There was a fair bit of wind, some 6 to 8 knots, but that was comfortably constant. That made straight and level a lot more controllable. Finally I got a good feel for the trim settings (precision-adjustment of the null zone of the control stick). It is indeed possible to find an optimum trim setting, and fly straight and level with no hands (nor feet)! That's the way to go!</div>
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We took off pretty late already, well past three PM. And an hour is gone before you know it, so by the time we had covered all the speeds and configurations, it was starting to get darker already. The sun was very low above the horizon, so it's time to return to the field. The radio, once tuned to Lelystad Radio again, revealed that there wer a lot of planes approaching the compulsory reporting point Bravo, so it was going to be a busy circuit. With the low sun, and hazy lower altitudes, it was pretty hard to spot other planes. Because of all the traffic, Piet took over, once we were past Bravo. This was a good thing, because this way I could focus on finding the other traffic in the pattern, a technique in itself. I spotted only three out of the four that Piet saw, so it is safe to say that I need the exercise.</div>
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Piet's landing was a textbook one. Beautifully executed, with only a small squeak as the tires touched the tarmac. No lateral force whatsoever. And that sunset ...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Beautiful sunset landing</td></tr>
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Taxiing was then up to me again. Mental note: stay on the yellow line better; "cutting corners is cutting wings". Also: throttle idle, or just above, is sufficient to start the plane rolling, when you release the brakes. Nose wheel steering simplifies the ground manoeuvring a lot :) Oh, and steering is done with your feet, but I was already used to that, behind het PC screen. Stick into the wind, if there is any significant wind. And keep looking outside for other planes, and obstacles. Those 7 meter wings stick out a loooong way!</div>
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My next lesson is only planned for the 5th of February. There just wasn't an earlier opening in all of our calendars. From then I have three lessons booked with two-week intervals, and one lesson somewhere there in between. So that's 4 in 4 weeks; that should get me somewhere!</div>
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Meanwhile, I don't have to be bored, though. I have my theory class Navigation, with an exam at the 21st of February, together with Communications theory. And I have volunteered to help update the Safety Management System of KLM Aeroclub. It needs an update because of the new EASA legislation. I was asked to help out, because of my professional background in quality management, machine safety, and food safety. So this should be a walk in the park. Ahum. That sort of thing always takes up much more time than anticipated. Anyway, because of my background, I was the obvious candidate ;)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Home, sweet home</td></tr>
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More later!</div>
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Until then,</div>
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Eric-Jan</div>
Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-19815385857645864462014-01-04T13:42:00.001-08:002014-01-04T13:42:49.373-08:00Farewell ValkenburgOn Saturday, the 28th of September 2013, ACV (Aeroclub Vlkenburg) held their yearly fly-in. In itself nothing extraordinary, since they do that every year. Only this year was slightly different. Former military Airbase Valkenburg closed down quite a number of years ago already (I believe it was in 2003, or thereabout). The terrain remained state-owned, and nothing much changed, except the military operations seized to exist. Now, the airport is about to be turned into a pleasant, sustainable, eco-friendly living environment. So this was most likely the last fly-in to this 2.5 km (8200 ft) runway. I was lucky to to able to arrange a last-minute fly-along with a friend of a friend, Frank de Jong, through a quick facebook exchange of messages. We would go fly one of the Dynamic WT9's.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">EHVB in de verte</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>The military basis has closed down for quite a while already, but the land is still government property. ACV is merely tolerated there for history's sake, together with the Glider club and Model Airplane Club. But people from outside cannot simply land there. Only certain visitors of national level (heads of state, prime ministers, ...) get that privelage. Not too long ago, one would even need a complete military screening procedure to eb allowed on the premesis (either through the gate, or from the air). Now, that would even not be a problem (previous work had me screened for military class "secret"), but it takes typically two to six weeks toe process a request. So, simply deciding one morning to fly to Valkenburg, has never been an option.<br />
Another thing is that the airfield is pretty much on the extended center line of Schiphol's runway Kaagbaan (06/24), at about 10nm out. That's just about where "the commercial plots call "established on the localizer". So the airspace near Valkenburg is class A (forbidden for visual flights, as we hobbyists do) from 1200ft upward already. With minimum altitude of 1000ft because of all the built-up areas, that leaves not much margin for error or traffic avoidance.<br />
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I went to meet Frank at 12:300 at Hilversum Airport. hen I arrived, the other WT9 of the flight school was already parked, ready to also fly to Valkenburg.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirM228i62Cblg9Yd1pjmml9qW27TtQLSNXNyzw_1KCh47FV4Wwk0DM1QDR-Y0wUTyWcl3EFa7Iax7ibAhl8-qGbzbmEkK1mG9uEHXiSmxZ_OHPTnD8PQI7ACBPbPMtDh_UpR3V-g5surE/s640/blogger-image--322316725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirM228i62Cblg9Yd1pjmml9qW27TtQLSNXNyzw_1KCh47FV4Wwk0DM1QDR-Y0wUTyWcl3EFa7Iax7ibAhl8-qGbzbmEkK1mG9uEHXiSmxZ_OHPTnD8PQI7ACBPbPMtDh_UpR3V-g5surE/s400/blogger-image--322316725.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">PH-4G3, the other WT9 of Dwarf Powered Gliders</td></tr>
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This one has a retractable gear. The Ph-4B7we will take, has a fixed gear.<br />
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But before we can go, we first visit the tower to tell the aiport manager / Air Traffic Controller of our intentions (round trip Valkenburg, returning this afternoon). So now the ATC knows what to expect already, and in case we do not return, and do not report that that was intentional, he will call Search And Rescue.<br />
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After visiting the tower, the next thing to do is fuel up. One needs to be able to not only make the intended flight (round trip, as there are no fueling facilities at Valkenburg anymore), but also make it an alternate, with fuel to spare. An alternate in this case could be Lelystad, but chances are that if you can't make it to Hilversum because of weather, that same weather will ruin your chances at Lelystad. Rotterdam seems a more logical choice then (Schiphol is waaaayyy too expensive). Returning to Valkenburg would not be the best idea, because the plans were to start (re-)construction work on Monday, so the airport would then be officially closed.</div>
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So: we took on enough fuel to cross half the country. That meant MTOW (Max Take Off Weight); borderline legal.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Fuel up...</td></tr>
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After a struggle with suction cups, wifi settings, extra wires and more of those frizzles one seems to need with these modern gadgets, I am finally ready: action cam stand-by, remote switched on, DSLR within reach, ... let's go!<br />
I had never flown fron Hilversum Airport, so I got a little confused which markers belonged to which runway, and how one is supposed to taxi. On asphalt, it's clear. Just follow the yellow line, and when you hit the grass, you know you've done something wrong. This was something different: a big square patch of grass with all those red-white markers indicating three crossing runways, plus two glider launch sites, and some parking indicators... From the air, it's all quite clear, but from low to the grond, it's more like a busy meadow.</div>
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Ah well, it;s Frank's home base, so he knows his way around blindly. There's a fair bit of wind (10 to 15 knots) from the east, so 07 is the runway in use. As soon as we climb out above the trees that surrond the airfield at two sides, we get set away to the left quite abruptly. Somewhat scary, but good fun at the same time. A good opportunity for Framk to demonstrate his ability :)</div>
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The WT-9 is lighter than the Aquila, and therefore more susceptible to crosswinds. It is also very sensitive to stick movements,much like the Aquila, I think (I need a bit more experience to really judge that).<br />
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The journey to Valkenburg to about half an hour. Just south of Nieuwkoop, then North of Alphen a/d Rijn, over Woubrugge, and then via the north edge of Oegstgeest around Katwijk to join the Valkenburg circuit. Very nice to fly below Schiphol CTR3, which is the approach sector for the landing commercial traffic to Schiphol, this day.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5KJYTnwCG0SXmHc_9g0t_hfMhMKa94dDcVliY88qAY1Hm_3w_9mQB_D1IRbfAYASFzJ7b49CyeVbvxkLM8c5_73Xz3irm8UbMUdRg-o5w_DF1v5aZBUBdiWnPVW7afXomhgFgFXAWK8/s1600/commercielen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5KJYTnwCG0SXmHc_9g0t_hfMhMKa94dDcVliY88qAY1Hm_3w_9mQB_D1IRbfAYASFzJ7b49CyeVbvxkLM8c5_73Xz3irm8UbMUdRg-o5w_DF1v5aZBUBdiWnPVW7afXomhgFgFXAWK8/s400/commercielen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Never flew this close to a 737 before</td></tr>
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The approach to Valkenburg starts at the KAtwijk lighthouse, but that was difficult to discover. Or better: the white building was very well discernible, but it wasn't very obvious it was a lighthouse. It's a converted church, and that's what it looks like. I did not even see the white building, from the right-hand seat, so I could not be of much assistance here.<br />
From there, we turned inland to join mid-downwind runway 05. It was kinda busy in the air, and on the radio, so eyes wide open! It even took until final before Valkenburg Radio acknowledged contact. On short final, we got "set aside" again by a gust of ccrosswind. But Frank got it all under control, and well, with 2.5 km (1.5 nm) worth of runway, he had all the time in the world to get lined up again. It was even quite a long runout anyway, before we got to the first taxiway to vacate the runway. So a long flare was not a problem at all!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">On final EHVB</td></tr>
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The picture above shows the parking line for visiting planes on the left. Busy, for a closed airport! :) Just near the furthest parked airplane (so where we parked), but on the right side of the runway, was the harbourmaster's office. We would need to get there to pay the landing fees (and get our coffee). That's quite a walk, since it's not allowed to cross an active runway... There was a shuttle service from the threshold, with private cars, and walking down the parking line with all those planes is never a problem, of course!<br />
After our trip to the harbour master we sat down with a cup of coffee to watch planes that were leaving already. KLM Aeroclub was also present at EHVB, with the Cessna 172 PH-JBH. That plane just got re-painted, so I had to go over and take some pictures.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">PH-JBH, taxiing out</td></tr>
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Time to head back already. We both wanted to be back home in time for dinner, and the journey to the plane would probably be an adventure equal to the one getting across in the first place. Busy time at the runway too, being used for both arrivals and departures. A very nice sight!<br />
As we got back to the plane, I saw that I did stop the camera, but did not shut it off, so now the battery was empty. Too bad, no movie of the return trip. I did manage to get an GPS track of the return trip, though, which did not work for the first leg. Conclusion: I need a bit more practice with those gadgets!<br />
Ah, well, most important is of course that I can say that I was there, at the last fly-in of Valkenburg Aerodrome. A unique experience!<br />
After a cola at the Airport Restaurant Hilversum, we both went our ways home for dinner. A perferct end to a perfect day :)<br />
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For those that are interested: I have the movie of the entire trip EHHV-EHVB below. It is uncut, so the full 34 minutes length. You can skip pieces as you please, of course. I just did not take the time yet to edit the footage.<br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/_uOuL6cT3Qs">EHHV-EHVB footage</a></div>
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And here's the <a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!142&authkey=!AHReGhlsNja0-e0">Google Earth File of the return flight</a> (or actually, the "recording" already started at the harbour master). Altitude information near Hilversum was not very reliable, apparently, but the route seems pretty accurate.</div>
Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-3461661769499245552014-01-04T12:30:00.000-08:002014-01-04T12:30:25.298-08:00New Year's resolutionsFist of all, my very best wishes to all of you for the new year! Of course, this is the time of the year for resolutions, but I don't really do that. However, I dis plan to start my PPL lessons "full swing" from January, so that could be called my New Year's resolution for 2014. :)<br />
I had already made an appointment with my instructor Piet, and booked the plane in the new booking system for Friday, Janusry 3rd. I had been saving up my leave days at work, so that I can use them for flying lessons as I need them, and this Friday was a day my company was closed, so I decided to start my PPL lessons on that day, to make best use of my "forced" day off.<br />
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Now, there's 4 things a student pilot needs for a flying lesson: Daylight (check), Plane (check), Instructor (check), and well enough weather.<br />
The days leading up to Friday the 3rd did not show very good weather. And just as I decided to check the weather forecast Thursday evening, I got an email with the weather forecast from Piet. It's usually not very good news, when an instructor sends you the forecast...<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2078157263443902245" name="more"></a>[Translated from Dutch] "... Wind: before the occlusion Southeast to South, along the coast 20-25 knots, Ijsselmeer (near Lelystad, where I fly) 25-30 knots. After the occlusion has passed, South to South-West. Gusts up to 10 knots above the average value".<br />
The clublimit is set for 30 knots, measured in gust speed. If the forecast to exceed 30 knots during the projected flight time, the Pilot In Command must cancel the flight. And so early in the course, we apply bigger margins, of course. The wind alone was reason enough to cancel my lesson. Apart from that, there were isolated thuderstorms, some with hail. These were localised, and temporary in nature, so chances were that we could perhaps avoid them with careful planning and observation, but again, that's not how you want to fly your first lesson.<br />
So, my first flight for 2014 was postponed for a week or so. Next week Sunday, we'll give it another try. I at least have had everything in my flightbag in my hands again, charged the batteries of my camera and remote, put the batteries in my headset again, and fluffed Co Pilot.<br />
I'm ready to fly; bring on the good weather!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Co Pilot</td></tr>
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-30054150346418928252013-12-18T03:09:00.000-08:002013-12-18T03:09:17.205-08:00JAR-FCL RTF / EASA ATO, and the consequences for my PPL TrainingJust to throw out some more abbreviations here, I wrote another article on the changing legislation in the world of aviation. More specifically: the world of Flight Crew Licensing. I'm hoping to shed some light on the matter, for the benefit of those that have recently started their PPL training, or are about to start that training (like myself). It all started with a discussion on the legislation concerning training organisations, and the licensing of those organisations, and on what the consequences for students would be. Especially the transition from the "old" regime to the "new" regime, and in how far the "old" education would be recognised end fully creditable towards the "new" education. Lots of that discussion is based on the personal interpretation of the applicable legislation, so there's a certain uncertaincy in the arguments used. Therefore, I decided to ask the executive institute for the Netherlands (the "competent authority"), IL&T (Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport)<br />
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<a name='more'></a>First off, a couple of abbreviations, essential to the following article:<br />
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<li>JAR-FCL (Joint Aviation Requirements - Flight Crew Licensing). The "old" regulation</li>
<li>Part-FCL (Part Flight Crew Licensing). The "new" regulation</li>
<li>EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency). Founded as an advisory body for the European Commision, for drafting the legislation on aviation.Also, nowadays, given the role of enforcer of that legislation (there's a conflict of interest in there, but that's a whole other discussion)</li>
<li>IL&T (Inspectie Leefomgeving & Transport). The Dutch competent authority in the sense of the European Aviation legislation</li>
<li>RTF (Registered Training Facility). Training organisation under JAR-FCL, with certain qualifications and requirements</li>
<li>ATO (Approved Training Organisation). Training Organisation under EASA regulations</li>
<li>AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association): Association representing (student) pilots worldwide, with national chapters in various countries, among which the Netherlands</li>
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I formulate this all in a generic sense, because it not only applies to me, and my situation, but to all PPL students and training organisations that provide PPL training.</div>
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OK, here we go. </div>
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Training Organisations must be ATOs as from 08-04-2014. ATOs use the EASA syllabus for their PPL training. Until that date, Training Organisations may provide training according to JAR-FCL syllabus. Even more: the EASA syllabus, as defined by AOPA-NL in conference with EASA, is still in an approval phase by IL&T. Until the approval of the syllabus, trainers use the JAR-FCL syllabus.</div>
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Not a problem, as long as the proposed EASA syllabus is approved before 08-04-2014, and JAR-FCL RTFs are certified as ATOs, based on that syllabus.</div>
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All training according to JAR-FCL can be credited in full to EASA Part-FCL training, by means of a credit form (sort of checklist, cross referencing the JAR-FCL experience to EASA Part-FCL training requirements), and the training can then be proceeded under Part-FCL without a problem.</div>
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But: there is a transition period in place, during which the above JAR-EASA conversion of the syllabus can take place. The transistion period ends 08-04-2016. After that date, for the practical examination all training received under JAR-FCL is no longer considered valid. Only hours and excersises followed at an ATO under Part-FCL are considered for experience requirements.</div>
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Theoretically, this could lead to a situation where one could file for a practical exam after 08-04-2016, where not all minimum required 45 hours are counted (even though one may have received more than 60 hours of flight training already). I have to admit that one would need to fly less than 45 hours in a 2-year timeframe (assuming all trainers are ATOs by 08-04-2014), but that is not entirely unthinkable. If one aims for 1 hour training per week, and gets a success rate of 50%, that would take 90 week, which is almost two years. Not much needs to go wrong there, to cross the limit.</div>
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The sloution then would of course be to fly the extra hours, which would only be a few. But if you are thinking of starting out right now, it might be worth considering your time path, and perhaps wait a few months before you start. That way, you'll start with an ATO, under Part-FCL, and you would not have to worry about conversions, deadlines, and so on.</div>
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Those that have already started their training: no worries: as long as your exam is before 08-04-2016, nothing really changes, and if your exam is after that date, chances are that you will have flown your minimum hours under Part-FCL anyway.</div>
Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-80885302722187115552013-11-14T05:10:00.002-08:002013-11-14T05:10:55.060-08:00Two down, Five to go!I've just had my first two theretical exams for my PPL course. If I am to believe the preliminary answers, I passed both exams! :D Only five more to go ...<br />
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Totally nerveous, I arrived at the exam venue of CBR/CCV. That is the same institute that does the exams for drivers licences (CCV is the professional transportation section of that organisation). I was well on time, as usual, but not the first, this time! There were two others of my theory class already there. The rest of the group came in, minutes after me, so we were all in time. Five minutes before the start of the exam, we started question ing if we were in the correct waiting room ... One of us had a look, and sure enough we had to move to the second floor (no signs whatsoever on ground floor!). Just in time, we all got there, and were alowed in the classroom.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>PPL theory exams are multiple-choice exams. You get a form, and a set of questions, some spare paper, and a little answers strip. You are only allowed to take the answers strip with you outside the classroom, so that's where you'll want to jot down your answers so you can check them with the published answers after the exam. 75% (or more) of all answers need to be correct to pass the test, and there is only pass and fail to choose from, so that's where the goal is.<br />
I did "Performance and Planning" (PP) this time, together with "Aircraft General Knowledge, and Principles of Flight" (AGK/PoF). The latter is all about "what's a plane?", and "howcome it flies?". And then, once you are up there, you'll want to know how long you can stay up there with your amount of fuel, and when to start climbing if you want to top that ridge ahead. That's what Performance calculations are for. And then there is the question "Is this runway long enough, given the elevation, temperature, runway condition and slope?". One usually wants to find out before take off, hence the Planning ;)<br />
Now, those guys (and gals) that make up these exams, they are not dumb. They know the commonly made mistakes, so especcially in the PP exam, you will find your calculation result amongst the others, even if you've made one of those mistakes. So you don't really have a clue if your answer is right, only if it's very, very wrong. And then there are the answers to questions like "Which number comes closest to the value you calculated?". Those are just plain terrible for exact scientists like myself.<br />
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Right at the beginning of the exam, I already panicked. Question number 1 looked like a very impressive calculation, with double interpolation between two columns of a table, and some chart reading as well. I decided to skip that one for now, and concentrate on the "easy" calculations first. That settled my nervesa bit, and after a couple of straigth-forward calculations, confidenc grew again. In total there were 5 of those big calculations, and question number 1 turned out to be a relatively easy one of them, in the end. Read one value from a graph, and then only add and subtract other values that were given in the question itself already. Then it came down to reading, because the question was for a quantity of fuel, in liters, while all the data was in pounds. Of course the answer in lbs was in there between all possibilities too..<br />
I left the exam with quite good confidence in all but one question, so I was convinced I would have 14 or 15 answers right, out of the total of 16. It turned out later that day that I had "only" 13 answers correct. Enough for a "Pass", but slightly dissappointing for me, nevertheless. Apparently I had fallen for more tricks than I had thought or hoped.<br />
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AGK/PoF were 32 questions, and those were more of the "you either know it, or you don't" category. So that one was done pretty quickly. It took me only 20 minutes, where a full hour was allowed. I had 5 questions of which I had some doubts whether I had answered them correctly. I marked them with a question mark on my answers strip, to check if I were right later on. I find it always particularly difficult to imagine which way a gyro wants to move, once upset, and of course, there were two such questions. One of them even presented the result, and had us reverse engineer the degrees of freedom, and the orientation of the gyroscope inside a heading indicator. Pfff... But that one, I had right ;)<br />
In the end, according to the provisional answers, I had 28 out of 32 right, which is not a bad score, and in line with the expectations I had when I left the exam room.<br />
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Utterly exhausted, I arrived home, that afternoon. Man, that drains a ton of energy! But such a good feeling I can leave those two subjects behind me for now, and move on to the next. Of cours I have to wait (max. 2 weeks) for the official result is published, but for my state of mind, these chapters sre closed.<br />
No time to sit back and relax, though! The lessons continue. First up is Communications (theory; there's also a practical test, but that is additional to this theory course. Communications manly consists of memory items: abbreviations, some rules, phraseology, phonetic alphabet, ... My Flight Simulator experience will help me out there for a large portion. No doubt I'll learn tons of new stuff, but the essentials are in there already.<br />
Next will be Navigation, a traditional pitfall for aspiring pilots. Plotting a course is never much of a problem, but all those terms, definitions, abbreviations, chart projections, who does what in which airspace, operating priciples of all the various kinds of antennae... to much to even mention here. But I'll have until somewhere mid-februari (lessons each week except for the holidays) to get it all stuffed in the ol' attic. That's when I plan to do my next two exams.Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-80619135337778116292013-10-28T13:30:00.001-07:002013-10-28T13:30:43.229-07:00Theory, theory, theoryI have started my PPL (Private Pilot's License) theory course by now. That consists of 7 subjects, each with their own exam. I get 18 months to pass all exams, starting from the first try. They are multiple-choice questions, of which at least 75% of the answers need to be correct, to pass the test. During the 18 months, one gets 8 tries, and in those 8 tries, one has to pass all 7 subjects. The strategy will be to do multiple exams per try, but not too many, because then you'll be too worn down for the last test. Plus, you'd need to study all the subjects at once, and chances are, that you'll have forgotten too much of the first subject you started to study, already.<br />
Furthermore, one has to follow classes with a state-accredited (flight) school, so doing it all as self-study is not allowed. Not that I had intended to do it all by myself! I know quite a lot already through my Flight Simming experience. But all that, I got from well-meaning amateurs like myself. So it is very well possible that I have taught myself wrong things. And for sure I did not teach myself everything. KLM Aeroclub does not have enough appliccants to maintain a certified instructor for theory classes, and to keep the theory education certificate valid every year. So I registered with another certified flight school: "Dwarf Powered Gliders", based atHilversum Airport (EHHV), after consulting with my Flight Instructor, and some flying friends.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Dwarf Powered Gliders, off to the right of "Vliegschool Hilversum"</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>We are with 8 in our class. Large enough so it is still economically viable, yet small enough for personal attention during class. Ideal! In principle, I have class every Thursday evening, and during the weekend before an exam date, a Saturday morning of exam training. All this until June 2014, so I won't be bored for another half year :)<br />
First two subjects are "Aircraft General Knowledge, and Principles of Flight" (AGK/PoF), and Performance and Planning (PP)<br />
AGK is all about the airplane itself: What are all the parts called, what do they do, why are they there... Most of it, I already knew, but I must admit I was surprised of how much I learned new as well. For example instruments: I knew that an altimeter was just a mere (static) pressure gauge, but how that works on the inside of that box, was new to me. Same for the Air Speed Indicator; I knew it subtracts static pressure from total pressure (resulting in dynamic pressure), but how that is mechanically done ...<br />
PoF is, in fact, Aerodynamics. It used to be a separate exam, but was fused with AGK to a single one.. When I was still in college (BSc echanical Engineering), I lived a while with three students Aeronautical Engineering. I always said that that was the same study, but with a different medium (air in stead of water). Dat is still the case ;) Keeping an airplane in the air is simply harnessing the kinetic energy of the air (1/2*m*v^2, per m^3 1/2*rho*v^2) to generate lift. In order to accomplish that, one uses wings with a certain profile, and relative angle to the flowing air: Cl. This profile has an effective surface area A, and voila: the Lift formula: 1/2*rho*v^2*Cl*A. The energy conservation law and continuity law complete the set of tools one needs to master for this course. "F=M*a, and the rest can be derived", to quote another (in)famous sentence from my college years.<br />
Once in the air, it's always nice to know just about how long you can keep that up, and how far you'd get in that time. PP is all about that kind of calculations: range, fuel consumption, speeds, times, mass sistribution, ... In short: a calculus subject. In order to not have to do all those calculations by heart, and not be dependent on batteries, someone invented a special slide rule (a circular one at that), that is called an E6B Flight Computer. It has, amongst others, a time scale, so that time related calculations become a lot easier. No need to divide by 60 all the time, to multiply the remaining fraction by 60 again. Pffff.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">E6B Flight Computer</td></tr>
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These are my kind of subject, as a technically inclined person. I don't expect too much problems, as long as I keep my cool, and take the time to read. In fact, that is the thing I fear most in these subjects: questions with all the same answers, formulated slightly differently, for which you need to pick the best answer (as opposed to the one good answer). There's always a couple of those questions in the exam, and there is not a lot of margin in the number of errors allowed.</div>
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My exams for these subjects are planned at November 12th. Suspense ...<br />
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Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381968687316625518.post-90768202621507455152013-08-30T14:55:00.000-07:002013-08-30T14:55:37.121-07:00$100 musselsThe $ 100 burger is a phenomenon well known in the U.S. General Aviation . It has its origins in the search for a destination to fly to. Lacking a "real" reason to go anywhere , a trip to a distant restaurant obviously is a good excuse to have some air flow under the wings.<br />
As a variant of this , I found the mussel fly-in on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Aeroclub Zeeland a good reason to book the Aquila. This time with Piet de Hondt as an instructor and thus my first flying lesson in "my own" air plane was booked :)<br />
For me, so no $ 100 Hamburger, but mussels , this time !<br />
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And : this time the bad weather came only a day later , so I've actually flown my first flying lesson in the Aquila!</div>
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My idea had also inspired the KLM Aeroclub event committee to nominate the mussel fly-in as a club flight. Thus, two planes of the club flew to MiddenZeeland, with a total of five men : Rene Bins , Nard Sonneberg and Sergio Moya Boom in the Cessna 172 PH-KBA, and of course, Piet and myself in the Aquila A210 PH -KLQ .<br />
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Lesson 1 is about flying straight and level. Sounds so simple, but it is actually quite difficult to do for a longer period of time. The 100nm to Midden Zeeland ( EHMZ ) airport is a good stretch to practice.<br />
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Of course, it all starts off with a briefing. What is flying? Where do we go? How do we get there? What's important to watch for? After all that, the walk-around . This time from the heart (Piet's), but next time I'll do it all myself, with the use of the walk-around checklist to make sure that I 'm going to miss anything. See if all bolts are still in place, if moving parts are moving, general condition of the aircraft, things like that. Also very important: how much of which fuel is in which tank, and is there any water in the fuel? Plus of course gauge the oil (turn prop until gargle, then turn until second gargle, and then read the dipstick).<br />
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In the cockpit I get information about which gauges do what, and which ones are the most imposrtant to keep an eye on in flight. At first glance, it all seems very complicated, but it isn't, really :)</div>
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Piet read the checklists out loud, and I execute them. There is still quite a lot to do before you may turn the key to start the engine. I did the taxiing, after a brake test on both sides, and a check that all direction indicators move in the correct direction when we make a turn. After Piet obtained the latest aerodrome information, we taxied to rwy23 . The take-off and leaving the pattern was done by Piet, because that may not yet be expected of a first lesson student. Then it was my turn to "take the helm".</div>
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We both had mapped out a route independently, but as both were exactly the same, that was quickly decided upon. We'd use the VOR beacon PAM ( Pampus ), then along the east side of the Rotterdam CTR (area around the airport where special rules apply becuse of local traffic) and then South-West to our destination . I had added another waypoint too: the home of a friend / colleague Dennis in Almere . That was very close to the route, so the only deviation from the syllabus was that had to make some turns! I started out with a right-hand curve, but Peter suggested to turn left, because then would have better visibility myself.</div>
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Dennis even managed to take a photograph of us! :)<br />
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The rest of the route went quite as planned . I have yet to develop a workflow in the cockpit where I check my altitude more often, because that varied a little bit to much . If the trim is not quite perfect, or if circumstances change, a very slow climb or descend will result, and I noticed that too late. Of course I can say that there was good 20 knots of wind and there was a strong varying cloud cover, but the bottom line is that I just had to notice the altitude changes earlier.</div>
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Point of attention!</div>
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At Midden Zeeland the almost 20 knots of wind was almost perpendicular to the runway. At least 10 knots X-wind component, so Piet landed the plane. I had my hands and feet on the controls to gouge his inputs, because X-wind landing requires quite a special technique. Also, Midden Zeeland has a grass runway only, which requires a bit of extra attention not to damage the nodsewheel. I will eventually get to master all those techniques, but not yet today .</div>
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Then, of course, it was Mussels Time! I am not even that big a fan of mussels, but these were great! I have eaten a full dish, some 20 odd pieces, where my personal best is about 10 :)</div>
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A nice chat under a tent with fellow aviation enthusiasts, while sipping a coke - this is the life :)</div>
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After a chat with someone who was interested in the Aquila (of course :) ), it was about time to go back to Lelystad. Lesson 2! Time for another walk-around !</div>
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During the return leg, we would have those 20 knots of wind in the back, so the journey would be somewhat shorter. Well, Piet found a solution for that: medium turns, and slow flight.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDG3-S9T7lSCwuYopi_qiYpEKLTjOEfyl8NIFd3UZpYJjFtSiXXQQKwzAIvbwZ4yG4I0lOAfXDH7vFLKa0fPwgw7q9Gh2cLPlfrSwqyqVMqIQu7q52lrYZmrMcfsxZvsRtCmQrbs9V73s/s1600/GE-terug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDG3-S9T7lSCwuYopi_qiYpEKLTjOEfyl8NIFd3UZpYJjFtSiXXQQKwzAIvbwZ4yG4I0lOAfXDH7vFLKa0fPwgw7q9Gh2cLPlfrSwqyqVMqIQu7q52lrYZmrMcfsxZvsRtCmQrbs9V73s/s400/GE-terug.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Above the province of Zeeland already, he made me do some 90 and 180 degree turns. Watch that nose position very carefully! I tend to "over pull" the nose. More in a right-hand turn than in a left-hand turn. That latter is what most people do. So there's another point of attention for me.</div>
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When flying slowly, the plane reacts differently. This is because, obviously, the airflow around the wing is slower . Also, the noseneeds to be a little more up, to continue to fly at the same altitude. That is not very convenient. That's why flaps were invented. In the first picture of this article, you see them fully extended at the back of the wings. Flaps in that position provide a much larger "curvature" of the wing, which means more lift. So the nose can be lowered a bit during the approach. They also provide significantly more resistance, so a little extra throttle is needed if you want to maintain altitude. Pushing the nose down also increases speed, so it's a matter of doing it a lot, and developing a "feel" for how the plane responds is all configurations.</div>
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We landed safely back at Lelystad . After a total of 2 1/2 hours flown, lessons 1 and 2 are now in my logbook, along with the introduction two flights that I did before. This now totals to 4.5 hours. It is starting to look like something . :)</div>
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I've decided that I'm going to take lessons on a regular basis (about once a week) from the beginning of the new year. Meanwhile I have also signed up for a theory course , already about to start in September.</div>
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More about that in next reports. Until then !</div>
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<a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!141&authkey=!ABajKcMKSOlVwf8" target="_blank">Google Earth file of the first leg</a></div>
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<a href="https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=1A5CA32E09A1AB5C!140&authkey=!ANNzde0OP9sSjSo" target="_blank">Google Earth file of the second leg</a></div>
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PS It was not a $ 100 , = Hamburger, but a € 400 , = serving of mussels; that's pretty expensive feed at € 20 , = per piece. Haha! ;)</div>
Eric-Jan Oudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15794677577685922434noreply@blogger.com0