Quick catch up.
So far I've done few lessons at Biggin - and I have to say, my instructor is an absolute Zen master. I never had someone who was so patient and calm as an instructor. Even the most patient ones in the past, would at some stage let some steam out of their ears.
So to date I've done some circuits - including solo circuits (yay). Also PFLs and stalls (before solo circuits of course). Solo circuits were quite a milestone - as you can imagine. First time solo at Biggin. ATC, etc. And eye watering cost as well.
I knew the instructor will send me solo, every student wants to get out on his/her own. It was bit odd, having to ask for permission to do stuff - but oddly enough, I find that ATC airfield actually requires you to say less. I'm crossing runway 29 every time I taxy in and out, and usually get clearance through it - so I don't even have to say that I'm entering and leaving it. Very odd feeling. Would get major slap for doing that at Newtownards :-)
So I line up there, waiting for clearance to take off - and there's a 3-4 minutes of silence on the radio. The guy who just landed, didn't say he vacated, you can't see other end of the runway, as it's on the other side of the hill. I had to remind ATC of my existence. I reckon, the guy landing should have said that he vacated the runway - but I'll never find out what happened. Prompting ATC helped.
I went and did 4 circuits by myself, hoping/expecting some extra challenge to do with incoming jets, etc. But it turned out to be very boring session that way. Botched one landing, flared too high - but other then that, it wasn't so bad.
Today - after one cancellation due to the weather - we went to the west. So far all my flying here was to the East of Biggin. Blissful and quiet. West is different. Also, it's Sunday - anything that could go up - went up.
I did fair bit of planning with the instructor, we were to go to guildford, and turn around - use VOR, etc to find our way back. This is to prepare me for solo land away at Goodwoods, and need to turn around in case something goes south.
Active runway was 03, that was new. I prepared all frequencies in the PLOG, including VOR at Biggin (BIG). After departure, we were to keep straight for 1nm, and then turn left. Keep well clear of Kenley - these pesky Gliders have no radios, and also have the right of way. In many respects they are cyclists of the sky. Except that cyclists don't have right of away, but they think they do - so..
We have seen few winched out of Kenley. Apparently they do 0-60 mph in about 3s in these things - so it's a rapid acceleration. Also, since winch is used - you don't want to be anywhere close to the place - in case the cable starts flying around.
I tunned Farnborough West and couldn't get word in for a long long time. So I just started the nav. At some stage we crossed M25 - and only about there I was able to get Basic Service. Carrying on, on the same heading - we started following M25, and the VOR radial that we set to 270 - to warn us of the LTMA started creeping in towards the middle of the instrument. It was obvious that the wind is blowing us off course, so instructor quickly suggested the correction. I would have just guessed what the correction should be. The chart for this part of the world is littered with data - so it would take me 5-10s every time I picked up the chart to even orientate myself.
We went on, after the correction - Both Guildford and Woking were clearly visible. So we circled around Guildford and started playing with VOR :-)
On our way back, things started really get interesting - again, lot more playing with VOR and NDB, to fix my position, and also to find the track back to Biggin. Loads of new sceneries to take in - I of course never flew over this bit - and some local familiarity makes learning much easier. Lot of traffic on our way back, including a Heli that was flying towards London about 500ft underneath us and quite few gliders well outside their ATZ at Keston - and also - I think busting LTMA, as we were at 2400, and these guys were well overhead, and drifting towards Redhill. I had to make few aggressive turns to avoid them - as obviously they have the right of way - and no radios.
I switched back to Biggin about 8 miles out - only to be told to stand by. After few minutes orbiting - I reminded of my existence and was met with 'G-FC standby' again. In the mean time, absolute silence on the radio. Obviously controller was busy phoning up someone about some traffic. My read backs were horrible, I made a horrible mess - I have no idea why. But controller patiently did repeat all stuff over and over again, until I got it right.
We were cleared for Left Base for 03, and to report 5 miles out. When we were about 5 miles out - I noticed paragliders to my right, luckily not chancing it as much as the Gliders did.
In for a straight nice long finals for 03, I purposely did stay bit high to avoid anything that could be moving underneath - such as paragliders. Quite nice landing, even tho I had to loose a bit of extra height, which turned into bit more speed then required (75 instead of 65). But runway is long, there's a run up area - so I used that to slow down and aim for numbers. Taxied back, shut down, and paid hefty fee for an hour and landing. This time the ATC earned that monies, being patient with me, and having to repeat everything so many times.
All in all, very exhausting lesson - but I learned a lot. Instructor was very patient as always - despite me being clumsy in the morning and forgetting few things.
And The customary breadcrumb for ya.
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