Lesson 35 (I guess, but its been a while)

Lesson: 35

04/XII/2012

• Lessons time: dual - 0.9h, solo - none


• Total time: 31.0h (1.1h solo)


• Location: EGAD


• Aircraft: G-UFCM (Tecnam 2002JF)

I know I said it a lot before. But this time, it really has been a while.
I got back to the club last week, to see what's changed, have lunch and book few lessons.

So Today was the first booking , as always -  I was bit worried about the weather, but as usual this time of year - its nippy but sky is usually clear.

I thought a bit, about what to expect. To be fair, I was rather open about this - and felt that I'll probably be overwhelmed by the experience. I was also hoping for the anticipation and excitement of the first few flights.

So the morning came,  I wok up to the sound of alarm clock tune (which btw, is my own composition ). It was bit late, but I managed to get everything done rather quickly, left the house and drove to the club. I forgot how bad the traffic is during a week at this time of day (8:45 ish). Previous lessons were always during weekends, mostly sundays (because I had very stiff old fashioned employer previously). Driving through Belfast and area on Sunday morning is a breeze. Now that I'm self employed, I can allow myself much more flexibility. I knew I'm going to be late, so I rang up the club - to give them heads up. Problem with the 9:00 slot, is that its very short (1h 15 min). (note to self, and anyone training at UFC:) I really need to show up at 8:30 for the next lesson.

I got there 15 mins late, knocked on CFI doors (Gavin is now CFI !) and we went straight to action. I like it, no fussing about.
Preflight and this is the first time I got to sit in the aircraft. All in all, this lesson can be summarised with one sentence: lots of new things. Preflight was my way of getting familiar with the new flying toy :-)

Walk around done, I squeezed myself inside. There's lot more shoulder room in this aircraft, altho not as much as there is in C172. I decided to go for the Tecnam, as its £30 less an hour then C172 and as fast. I'm certain I'll do check ride on C172 once I get the licence anyway.

First impressions, stick feels strange but oddly enough more intuitive then yoke. Low wing makes a lot of sense, visibility is just so much better then in C152. On that note, remember to have your sunglasses handy folks. Never mind the winter time and that the sun is low, better visibility means you can be blinded by the sun more easily.

The aircraft seems to be much lighter (I'm sure it is) then C152, also there is no mixture leaver. But there is carburettor heat. Go figure, so its not an injection engine, yet the mixture is controlled electronically. Seems odd. Also, whoever decided to make the throttle very responsive in 15% and then not much responsive over the rest of the leaver range - had to be Italian (or not care). Very annoying !

But we managed to get up, I even managed to do some RT. Altho, I decided not to try out patience of the Belfast Approach bloke. So Gavin did the initial call.

We then headed out over the peninsula , usual place for any exercises done at UFC.
It felt odd first, as always I was very careful with controls - but in the end it was quite easy. This aircraft needs aaaa llooot of rudder! And I mean, tons. But that's good. I'm guessing its shorter, and wings aren't as massive as the ones in C152. The Cessna didn't need virtually any rudder at all !. I seldom had to use it. So that's a plus, I'll get a chance learn how to use rudder finally and properly.

I did few heading and altitude changes, few speed changes, 15 and 30 deg turns. Of course, I managed to forget few things, like that its not power attitude trim when descending. But I'll get there.

Since this is a new aircraft to me and slot was short, .. and I was slightly late, preflight took longer, and there was less time to do the actual flight. On our way back, I got some more time to reflect on the whole aircraft and look around bit more. Over the pluses I mentioned already, I got to say that I don't like the electric trim and flaps. I did prefer trim wheel and flaps controller with multiple positions. Set and forget. Having to verify on a different instrument where your flaps are seems bit mad to me, as a design idea. For difference of £250 in materials, why ? why ?

As soon as we joined on base, things started to happen too fast for my liking. Also, it was very bumpy over the city So Gaving took over for the finals and landing. I'm sure I'll get my hear around this eventually. But as this is the first time in the aircraft it felt odd. I knew what to do, just couldn't do it smoothly enough to feel comfortable doing it and land the thing. You really need to be focused and familiar with the aircraft to land it. Like they say, "Flying is the second most exciting thing in the world, Landing is the first one".
I remember my first solo landings in C152, it was bit busy, but at the same time, there was enough time to go over instruments few times and then still plenty mental capability spared for other things. Also, Gavin prefers that the last (drag) stage of flaps be extended only when you're on short final, is in case the donkey quits. This makes a lot of sense, but squeezes the landing time a bit. So you need to be focused and know where stuff is.

The flare it self was up to me, and I have to say - I didn't have to do much. Apparently low wing aircraft are far easier to flare in. Certainly it felt like it just had landed it self.

Taxing back was a breeze and it felt like I could do bit more speed on taxi way (compared to C152).

Because the aircraft is lighter and different construction then C152, apparently its prone to wing down attitude, which - if you are not on top of the game, can lead to stall and eventually spin. It's not certified for even simple acrobatic manoeuvres, never mind spins (which were possible in C152) - so my next lesson or two are going to be about stalls, handling and such. Also I hope some circuits will be in order.

All in all, Gavin said I did nice, and he certainly feels like I could do my first solo on this aircraft in no time. Time will tell. I need to do my air law again beforehand, because it expired.

Next lesson booked for Friday. This time with Rodger, one of my favourite instructors of all time :-)
Altho I haven't flown with Gavin as much, he seems to be very good and relaxed too.

No GPS trace folks, as I had no time to turn my iPhone's gps tracker on. I'm sure you's will manage ;)

I wish tomorrow was Friday already (not because of work of course).

• Route: T/O RWY 22 left hand, straight and level, turns, radio work, bimble around peninsula 


• Milestones: It's been a while (really!), new aircraft


• Exercises covered: straight and level, turns, ascends and descents, etc


• Weather: Nice day, bit bumpy over the town on landing. Otherwise rather smooth air.