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Monday 26 May 2014

DA42 Circuits

My lesson today was another VFR multi-engine flight, although this time instead of general handling it was to practice some circuits, both normal and flapless (and a go around for good measure!). It is great to help you get to grips with the aircraft a bit better, and also grasp the take off and landing techniques of the aircraft. As well as this though, circuits are part of the CPL flight skills test, so it is great to get as many of them in my training as possible. The weather wasn't great; there were showers and a strong crosswind (very bumpy), so I was able to practice crosswind technique. The aircraft lands quite differently to the Cessna, although I managed to pick up the technique after a few attempts! The Twinstar seems to handle turbulence a lot better than the Cessna, although I guess that is unsurprising when you consider how much heavier the Diamond is. Next few lessons are asymmetric handling which is going to be good fun!
















Sunday 25 May 2014

Multi-engine phase is here


On a high, as today was my first DA42 flight; after all the waiting, I finally got to fly the beast!

Today was a generic general handling flight and was really to just get a feel for the aircraft and how it handles in various situations. After getting to grips with the fact I had two huge engines on two huge wings with two huge winglets either side of me, I managed to taxi it to the runway without bashing into anything (the clearance is extremely close, so safe to say it was a concern of mine!)

I practiced medium and steep turns, as well as stalls in various configurations (clean; approach; base to finals turn). After getting the hang of that I was talked through an emergency descent, which was great fun - basically consisted of lowering the gear and pointing the aircraft straight down to the ground.

Tomorrow I am going up for my circuits flight, which I cannot wait for - I will get to fly the entire flight (today take off and landing were demonstrated to me; unsurprisingly they have a much bigger kick than the Cessna!) Can't wait to have all of that power at my control on the take off.

Bunch of photos! 










RH engine start and a steep turn:

Tuesday 20 May 2014

IFR Update

So I am left with just 2 more Cessna flights before I get my hands on a Twinstar! I should have only the one left, but unfortunately had to cancel one at the last minute yesterday due to some crazy fog which didn't shift until early afternoon. The flights we are currently doing are SPIC, which basically mean we can log the hours as PIC, even though we are still flying with an instructor. The idea is to treat your instructor as a safety pilot, or perhaps even a passenger, although a passenger who knows more about flying than you and who you ask questions to... We are allowed to choose where we go (within reason) and are advised to use these flights as lessons to help improve anything we may find trickier or that we have had less practice of.

Tomorrow and Thursday is our Multi engine ground school, so we will begin to learn about the DA42's airframe and systems etc as well as be taught how to preflight it etc. We are hoping to have had at least one flight on it by the end of the week, but the weather will be the make or break decision on that!

I had my first VFR night flight a couple of nights ago which was up there with my cross country as one of my favourite flights yet. A friend on my course and me were both back to back in the same aircraft with the same instructor, so decided to back seat one another. Jack flew towards Auckland with some general handling before going back to the airport and practicing overhead rejoins at night; I flew locally for a while practising general handling before also heading north towards Auckland. I already have flown at night in the IFR stage, although of course wasn't able to fly visually until the last minute. I was surprised how easy it is to become disorientated and was tricky to work out when to flare, as height perception above the runway takes some getting used to. The next VFR night flight involves both dual and solo circuits, which will be brilliant!

A few photos from a night IFR flight I back seated:



VFR night flight:
Me preparing for takeoff

Air New Zealand aircraft shutting down for the night at Hamilton

Don't judge my landing to harshly! Only my second night one, so it was slightly, eerr... positive. 

Thursday 1 May 2014

My first IFR flight

I had the first of my 8 C172 IFR flights today! Was absolutely fantastic to get back up in the air. Today's lesson involved flying the SID, before practising point to point tracking and a few other bits such as spot wind checks. After this we practised some hold entries, before flying the VOR DME approach. Lots to do in 2 hours!

Both me and a friend had our flights back to back, so we each back seated one another's flight - this is really beneficial, as you see everything unfolding without having to concentrate on everything too much. All in all it was absolutely brilliant and I can't wait to go up for my next lesson, which involves practising the VOR DME approaches some more.

A few photos from my phone


The scenery isn't too bad!



Not a great shot, but Clearways from above

Today's aircraft

The mad evening fuel pump queue