2016-An airborne review

As 2016 officially ends tomorrow, I thought I'd share a few moments from the year relating to all things aviation, in no particular relevant order! Enjoy and once again thank you for your support and continued following of In Plane View, more of the same for 2017!  Happy New Year! 

 

In the cruise on way to Hurghada ,Egypt, for a post exam holiday, onboard a Thomson Boeing 737-800

Looking smug after my first aeros experience in the Harvard 

  

DC3 appearing at the Goodwood Revival 

 

The Needles, IOW pictured during an engine run-in flight in a Cessna 172

 

Prior to boarding to Vancouver on Air Transat Airbus A330-300, surprise holiday from my girlfriend! 

 

In the cruise overhead Greenland, Gatwick to Vancouver 

 

Downtown Vancouver Seaplane terminal 

 

Prior to boarding a DHC-2 Beaver seaplane for a short flight around Vancouver, really exciting! 

   

A few shots of the DHC-2 cockpit display 

  

Head in the charts...ATPL study in progress, Flight Planning and Monitoring to be precise! 

 

A frosty start to the day at the flying school, two Cessna 172s at rest before a busy day 

 

In the climb out from Goodwood, Chichester in view. Onboard a PA38 

 

Myself looking super smug again after soloing the Piper Super Cub for the first time during my tailwheel conversion in August. 

One week to go!

Once again, apologies for the lack of posts recently, a week tomorrow I pack up my car and head to my accommodation in Bristol prior to the revision/brush up week and following Module 2 exams at BGS. 

Revision is in full swing at the moment as I undertake mock exams and questions on the hugely helpful question bank! 

I've also found that creating digital flash cards has helped me to revise-creating questions and answers and reviewing them frequently. There are a number of decent apps for the smartphone or tablet which enable you to study whenever, wherever-really useful for people like me! 

I'm looking forward to consolidating my revision during the revision week and finally get the next batch of exams done, which will be between 19th and 21st December and then head home for Christmas for a break! 

Anyway enough from me for now, till next time...thanks for reading 

Module 2 update

August and September were busy months mixed with flying, work, study and birthdays, so I found time to study more during the evenings. The pace of study and revision is building by the week as I work towards my revision and exam weeks at Bristol in December, I've got a strange feeling two and quarter months are going to wizz by, so preparing myself now!! 

I've just finished reading the lessons for Air Law and Radio Navigation and nearing completion of the other two subjects. Thankfully I have moved on from electricity in AGK (by no means my favourite subject!) and just finishing up on Powerplants, some of this is familiar from PPL theory (piston engines) whilst some parts not so, but interesting all the same! 

In Flight Planning and Performance, I've recently covered VFR and IFR Navigation, which again I found very interesting but a very high degree of accuracy is certainly needed when reading the charts as I found out! I'm now covering the fuel planning topics which should near completion of this subject. 

Anyway, just a short post this time, I will try to update regularly as I can when time allows! 

Thanks for reading 

Newly qualified taildragger pilot!

Cheesy grin time! Post solo flight in Super Cub 

Downwind for runway 24 at Goodwood

The seated position of concentration, holding height in downwind leg! (All photos thanks to instructor Charlotte Dadswell) 

Last Wednesday I landed the Cub, kept the aircraft straight during the landing roll and taxied off the active runway.  I stopped momentarily, with a huge grin on my face and a series 'wahooo' exclamations! I'd flown the Super Cub solo around the circuit for the first time, completing the final stage required for  my tailwheel conversion.  

 I really enjoyed all training towards gaining this endorsement on my licence having completed the general handling, ground handling and a lots and lots of circuits! Working in flying school ops, I was lucky to gain quite a few 'taxy' trips taking the Cub from its daytime spot outside the flying school to its nighttime retreat in the hangar. This helped me to gain experience and confidence in taxying a taildragger on the ground. With this training under my belt, I will continue to hone my skills on flying tailwheel, alongside tricycle gear aircraft, and fly on a more regular basis once my ATPLs are complete. 

I am incredibly thankful to all the patient instructors I flew with! (You know who you are!) and ofcourse to the Air League who provided me with the bursary to undertake this training. 

Apart from flying, my evenings have been spent making steady progress through the lessons of ATPL Module 2. I've nearly finished Air Law and will soon undertake mock exams for this via the BGS online question bank-a life saver amongst many students!! I'm currently working through flight planning which so far I find enjoyable, the same can't be said for AGK electrics that's for sure!! I find this challenging but will spend extra time to learn the fundamentals of this important topic. 

As always thanks for reading, till next time...

Tail wheel conversion...the start

G-DRGL at rest between flights

Last Sunday I began the first step towards the  training required to gain a tail wheel coversion on my license, flying in the Piper Super Cub (150hp) 

G-DRGL belonging to Goodwood Flying School, where I work. 

But how did I get to be in this position? The answer is, a very grateful one, as I was granted a flying bursary from a generous sponsor through the Air League in April 2016 which I will use to cover my tailwheel tuition. After completimg Module 1 of the ATPLs, I couldn't wait to get started on the Cub. 

In order to gain the conversion, the training covers aircraft taxying ( appreciation on the position of the centre of gravity and wind direction) general handling and plenty of circuits to master the takeoff and landing.

I found taxying the aircraft a challenge , because  I'm not the first pilot to admit that I havnt used my feet much during taxi and sometimes flying! Taxying a tailwheel aircraft opens up many new challenges that must be overcome, like having a constant appreciation of the wind direction and how best to move the control surfaces to stop the wind playing havoc and turning the aircraft on its nose!  Something I never wish to see!! Secondly due to the high nose attitude, myself and the instructor behind me have a limited view ahead, so it's important to gently weave the aircraft to clear the path ahead.

My next lesson is on Saturday so it'll likely be in the circuit learning how to take off and land in a tail dragger! Can't wait! 

ATPL study is still going well alongside work and flying. I've decided to focus more on one subject at a time and currently working through the more challenging topics of aircraft electrics in AGK! 

More to follow next time...

Thanks for reading 

Results!

So after a short wait, I received my results for the four Module 1 ATPL subjects last week,and I was relieved to find I had passed them all! I came away from the General Navgation exam unsure if I had passed, as I struggled to finish it in time, the two hours allocated for the exam is by far the quickest two hours I have ever known!!

I passed the following exams; 

-General Navigation

-Meteorology

-Human Factors and Limitations

-Aircraft Instruments

 Overall I am very pleased with the outcome and realise that all the revision paid off and can't thank Bristol Ground School enough for the brush up week which prepared me well for the exams. 

After a quick break, I've begun study for Module 2 comprising of the following subjects;

-Aircraft General Knowledge (AGK)

-Air Law

-Flight Planning

-Radio Navigation 

So 4 down, 10 to go! 

Thanks for reading

Module 1 revision week and exams

Firstly, apologies for the lack of updates from me, hopefully the blog post gives you a reason why this might be! 

Since finishing the reading of BGS Module 1 which includes 4 subjects, I've been working flat out on revision towards the first set of exams- General Navigation, Meteorology, Instruments and Human Factors and Performance. 

During the last week of May I packed my car up with a two weeks worth of clothes, revision books and some food and set off to a lovely village called Churchill, south of Bristoll where I would stay whilst attending the brush up revision week and exams at Bristol Ground School. 

The brush up week consisted of revision sessions from 8.45-17.00 Mon-Fri in all four Mod 1 subjects. I found this week extremely beneficial to help prepare us for the forthcoming exams, we studied aspects of each topic in detail, especially if it's notoriously tricky aswell as plenty of past exam questions.A lot of people brought lunch with them but there is a Tesco about 10mins walk/2 mins drive away for those who wish to buy lunch. I was thankful that tea/coffee and water was available all day at BGS which certainly helps when my brain was starting to fry!!

The instructors were first class, extremely knowledgable, passionate and provided plenty of hints and tips for the exams! Help and support is in abundance at Bristol whether that be through the instructors, admin staff or amongst other students, where I made some great friends. Instantly I knew all the previous self study at home for Mod 1 was worth it! 

Books open ready for study! 

After an intense but enjoyable week of revision courses, it was time to face the exams!  I'd chosen to do my exams at BGS straight after revision as I wanted to retain the continuity which meant I took less time away from work,plus it was reassuring to take exams in a location where  I was already familiar with . The exams are conducted electronically with each workstation equipped with a laptop. 

A lot of my fellow students did the same as me whilst some were to take the exams in future sittings. 

I sat my Mod 1 exams over three days, Gnav on Tuesday, Met and Human Performance on Wednesday and Instruments on Thursday I found all exams very challenging and tough, particularly Gnav and Instruments! Now I'm just (anxiously) awaiting to hear back my results from the CAA!!

 

Until next time, thanks for reading! 

Revision at the ready...

Just a quick update from my world amongst the ATPL study folders! I've now read and completed all progress tests for the four module 1 subjects after 5.5 months of study! But the work is by no means coming to an end, I'm now into the revision stage, preparing myself for the four exams in early June!

Together with the revision, the progress tests have been extremely beneficial to indicate my strengths and weaknesses, allowing me to focus on areas which need more work alongside hitting the question bank daily.

A little over a month from now, I will pack my bags for Bristol and attend the brush up revision week before the exams. I'm looking forward to this as it will help fine tune my revision and understanding as well as meeting other BGS students! 

Until next time...thanks for reading 

Progress so far...

Essentials for revision, thanks Wilko, top bargain! 

So, nearly two months into Module 1 now and the work pace and content is really picking up, with constant flow of lessons and progress tests. I feel like I am learning more facts, acronyms, diagrams than anything ever before, my poor little brain is beginning to fry! But as I've heard from many other ATPL 'graduates' it's to be expected and to be honest I'm finding it all very interesting and enlightening even if I grumble when attempting to read through 'Polar Stereo chart projections' in a Friday night after a day of work! 

As a very basic list, I have touched on 3 of the Mod 1 subjects-Met, GNav, Instrumentation and studied aspects like;

 

Pressure instruments 

Gyroscopes 

Moisture and convection 

Chart projections 

Distance calculations-rhumb lines, great circle tracks  

...To name but a few. The learning curve is steep but I'm determined to achieve first time passes in the exams so I am throwing in the hard work and effort! 

I am working to a loose schedule, so I plan to attend the revision/brush up week in lovely Somerset around the end of May and immerse myself into the first batch of exams in early June...gulp!! 

As you have probably seen in the opening picture, I bought myself some revision essentials. I have been recommended using a whiteboard to scribble down various diagrams, facts etc- basically any way to drum it into my head! And ofcourse plenty of high lighters and post it notes to litter the walls of my room in revision goodness! 

Till next time...