My Flying

I really thought this was going to be a good day where I could continue and improve on the previous day's flying. By 10:00 the plane was on the runway, all the duty crew were in place, the winch was ready and it was green for go. Almost a record.

But sadly not! The winch popped its radiator during the first launch, and that was that. Launch aborted, winch ISM. :(

Took a short 29 minute flip in the Falke and tried to soar the eastern side of the ridge. It didn't work. Two touch and goes and then the full stop landing.

I was caught out twice on the downwind leg as the wind blew me further back than I expected. I thus eliminated base and headed diagonally to the threshold. Made it with extra to spare and used the brakes to touch down nicely. Thought I fixed a bad circuit rather nicely. It really wasn't much of a big deal for me lining up the runway at the last minute. What makes the circuit slightly trickier in the Falke is the runway sometimes is not visible below the wing. So that's about 108ZAR.

5 May 2007

I requested a special day of flying for Saturday and it was very kindly granted by instructor F(5). Even though I was at the field at 8am, the day started late due to the thick mist and then later problems with the winch.

The first flight was at 1pm and I completed six circuits successfully landing on three different runways during the day. Each flight was just a circuit and they ranged between four and seven minutes long.

I was a little disappointed in myself as I was not having a good day. All went off well, but some of the circuit planning and landings were a little rough and not as sweet as they should have been. 269,40ZAR plus 175ZAR for the winch driver, rather an expensive day.

The whole duty system at our club is falling to pieces. For the second week in a row the members on duty just decided not to arrive for duty and not to bother to inform anyone or arrange for replacements. This unfortunate and selfish attitude is beginning to define what our club is about.

Fortunately the instructor F(1) arrived and as there were so few people and the weather was threatening rain, we opted for a short flight in the motor Falke.

It was very pleasant and I did rather well, with it only being my 6th flight ever in a Falke. I handled the taxing and three takeoffs and landings very well. The only part I really only had a small problem with was judging the circuits. I'm not used to the extra variable of engine power and how to use that power to climb and descend. I was also not used to the effectiveness, or lack of there of, of the airbrakes when compared to the Twin. The flare when landing also went off well and I surprised myself by judging all three just right; not bad consider you sit a lot higher in the Falke than the Twin and also to the left and not in the centre.

So that was a nice 25 minute flip at 97,50ZAR. Actually a bargain compared to the Twin, where the same flights (three) would have cost 150,00ZAR.

A day rather to forget. Yet another calm almost windless Sunday morning, ideal to be set loose alone in the skies, but no. The winch driver doesn’t pitch, so to keep things moving I volunteer to take the first stint of winch duty.

The first two launches were a mess. I’ve been told to rev the V8 to 4500 rpm. The first launch gets a ridiculous 300 feet or something, so the CFI comes down to my end to check out the next launch. The pilot pulls the plug as he’s going way too slow. Now I’m told that you can rev the engine all the way up to 7000 rpm. So the third launch goes well, this time without the 120kg student.

For the forth launch (student on board) the cable breaks just as I give full power. What a stuff up. The windless day plus the rather heavy load in the glider didn’t help things.

So we all decide to go for aero-tows. This is only my third ever tow. The first two don’t count; for the first one I was a front seat pax and for the second it was IMC and I handed control over to the instructor a few seconds into the dust.

I was very impressed how I handled the tow. Fairly straight down the runway and I followed the tug well. At 1500ft, still attached to the tug, the instructor F(3) started some exercises, like pushing the plane wide of the tug, and asking me to correct. We also tried a high tow, just for the experience.

After the 8 minute tow we released at 2300 ft and glided back to the runway. On route he made me practice some tight turns, stalls and an incipient spin. Those and the landing went very well.

On the positive side I learnt some winch launching lessons, like rev it more and feed in the power more gradually. I also had a fantastic aero-tow. On the negative side I felt like a real idiot and I’m going to be real unpopular tomorrow when I dish out a non-duty-showing-up fine. Flight was 27ZAR with a whopping 160ZAR tow.