Regaining Currency: Thrown in the deep end

First of all I'd like to start with an apology, I forgot to turn on my flight tracking app and therefore I am not able to provide a ground track of my circuits today.

Sorry.

However the ground track probably looks like a snake on drugs today because it is my first flight after 2 weeks (I was in Vietnam last week), and today was probably the most turbulent day I have ever flown. I dare say that there were moments where I genuinely thought I was going to lose control, and staying in control required skilful and forceful manhandling of the Cessna 172SP around the sky of the Shek Kong Runway 11 circuit.

As I arrived at the flight operations office and checked the computer for a weather briefing, it was showing winds at 080 10 gusting to 15 knots on the surface, which is exacerbated due to the surrounding terrain of the Shek Kong Airfield traffic zone. All pilots today knew about this risk and as the first slot of aircraft and pilots got underway, I went outside to see the windsock shifting and indicating gusts of indeed up to and including 15 knots. If it was a steady wind it might've been a little more manageable.

Today was also my first flight with my new pair of ANR (Active Noise Reduction) David Clark DC ONE-X headsets that I bought for $895USD off of Sporty's, that is really something to be looking forward for.

I started the aircraft up rather clumsily due to my lack of currency and proficiency caused by a short break from flying. After firing up the engine, I held the power button of the ANR unit to activate the ANR circuitry and the passive noise reduction on the headset itself was already rather impressive, however as soon as the ANR kicked in it acted like a volume knob to the engine. I can still hear everything very clearly but there's just much less of it, especially the lower frequencies which causes fatigue.

Back to the flight details! A more detailed review of this headset will hopefully be published next week.

After run-up, we lined the aircraft onto the runway for a short field takeoff which was rather interesting to say the least given the very gusty conditions. Notes of the stall horn can be heard due to our slow speed however I kept the aircraft accelerating in ground effect and eventually we climbed away into the MOD-SEV turbulence at Vy.

My first landing was an absolute mess, I turned final and initially all is well, flaps 30 and speed at 65 knots. However at short final I saw airspeed plummet to below 60 knots, something must not be right, I added power and kept the nose down, still nothing...

Added more, and more, and more...

It was a downdraft, and I realised at 1600 RPM I was basically just maintaining 60 knots and decided to focus on the aiming point and flare. I kept the power in throughout the flare which allowed me to maintain better control but I cut the power way too early and did not compensate with increased nose up pitch and ended up slamming myself down... Way to start the lesson.

Subsequent circuits comprised of a lot of flapless, and to be honest doing flapless approach and landings in these conditions are arguably very ideal, keeping the speed at 75 knots throughout the approach and reducing it to 65 gradually allowed better control feedback from the aircraft and I managed to pull off some rather smooth landings despite it being long due to lack of drag and power. As my confidence builds I used flaps 20 for landing, I trimmed and set the power for 70 knots on final which is 5 knots faster than what I usually use with flaps 30 and this time I took the power out just before the flare, smoothly. The transition was smooth and I managed to nail a textbook crosswind landing with the upwind wheel (left mains) kissing the tarmac first followed by the downwind wheel and the nose wheel.

Nailing a crosswind landing with a 15 knot direct crosswind is one of the few absolute pleasures in life, I just want to relive that moment a couple of times!

Downwind was actually the most troublesome part of the circuits today with the easterly winds stirring up a massive area of mechanical turbulence in the area, you know the yoke "jiggle" you do to keep the wings level on a gusty day during flare at slow speeds? Yes I had to do exactly that on downwind at 2100 RPM at 90 knots, that's how bad the turbulence was.

Eventually I got tired, the instructor said our slot is nearly ending so we called it a day by completing with a demonstration of an Engine Failure After Takeoff by "going around" and then cutting the throttle and landing on the remaining runway, a very interesting demonstration that did not disrupt traffic or waste any time.

Next week should be a full review of the DC ONE-X as I delve deeper into the heart of Bluetooth music listening while flying.

Until next time,
Have fun, and fly safe.

--
Howard

Circuits! More Circuits!

Damn, it feels like I am redoing all my training from the pre-solo stage despite being officially licenced for 6 months already! But that's just part of being a pilot am I right? You're naturally a permanent student pilot because a good pilot is always learning!

So I now have 5 hours of flying here in Hong Kong and on a considerably heavier and larger Cessna 172S (I do have 1 hour on the R model, no real difference). It feels like I have to learn everything again, and just as I was about to be confident and a little too comfortable last week, today was a completely different story...

Firstly, what was last week like? Well it was wind calm with the windsock nice and drooped, however today was different, surface winds showed gusts of up to 15 knots and due to terrain around the airfield, mechanical turbulence tossed us around the sky in the circuit of Shek Kong airfield. Despite this, we continued with some more advanced circuits, such as glide approach, short field takeoff and landings and of course flapless. Flapless is very interesting due to the tight circuit in Shek Kong, once abeam touchdown point you will reduce speed from 90 knots on downwind to level flight at 70 knots and turn base at the normal 45 degree point. After turning base you will reduce throttle to near idle to compensate for the already high profile. Other than that, everything is status quo and pretty normal. Shek Kong circuits are high workload and everything happens very quickly, more often than not I find myself saying, "Cessna Uniform Whiskey late downwind 11 touch and go."

My first landing really wasn't great, I over-flared and ended up ballooning and then touching down rather hard. Another interesting point is that Shek Kong has trees on the sides of the runway and buildings on the approach end of runway 11, creating a "washing machine" when the winds pick up. It could be a nice steady headwind but as you descend below 100 feet, a headwind can turn to a gusting and shifting crosswind, which emphasises authority and strong control over a mushy aircraft at already low speeds. We rarely get any wind over here but when it does pick up, boy is it fun!

Subsequent circuits saw improvement as I can now anticipate where the updrafts or downdrafts are, worst thing was that there was a pocket of an updraft on short final, causing me to make the decision to go around once on a flapless and another time during a short field approach and landing. However both times the same words came out of the instructor's mouth, "Good decision, well done."

The instructor today taught me a trick to mastering glide approaches, I call it the, "Cut in half" method. It is really simple, when the engine quits you pitch and trim for best glide speed and then divide your circuit height to two. In Shek Kong our circuit height is 800 feet, so we pick two 400 feet reference points, approximated of course. This allows you to mentally plan forward where flap extensions should be and how the approach should be flown, and allowed me to be not too high but not too low every time.

Today knocked me out of my complacency, however also gave me more confidence with dealing with circuits and recognising the idiosyncrasies of the Cessna 172S, below is the track log for today's circuits. Note that I made the mistake of forgetting to activate the tracker before takeoff so I did it mid-flight.

Various lengths of final approaches
due to various types of approaches

 So that's it for today! Also I have ordered a new pair of David Clarks DC ONE-X headsets, my first pair of ANR headsets so be prepared for a flight review of that! Also next week I will be on holidays in Vietnam, so I will be back the week after.

Have fun! Fly safe!

--
Howard

A Weekend of Flying.... With an unexpected twist!!!

"OH HELL YEA!" I exclaimed awkwardly when I managed to book another flight after my flight on Saturday for the next day, Sunday! It is very rare here in Hong Kong that we get to fortune and blessing to be able to fly for both days of a flying weekend, but here I am happily trodding home after a smooth and fun flight on a Saturday afternoon.

3rd December, 2016:

Ergh... Way too early for this pilot shit.

That was what I thought as I got myself out of bed this cool Saturday morning, but at least I was going flying. I checked the bookings to reconfirm my aircraft placement, and it's correct and I am flying B-LUW, my favorite and the club's newest Cessna 172SP Skyhawk. It has an awesome climb prop and a very smooth running engine as well as some nice leather upholstery to top that up. Eventually I got myself up and running and went off to the airfield. The weather was a very hazy morning but I am very excited to get this first flight of the day going, as I joined the convoy of the flight ops directors and other pilots, we happily drove to the flight ops office and got everything sorted for the day. This includes turning on nearly anything electrical, especially the coffee machine (ain't that true!) and ringing the Civil Aviation Department to fax us a copy of the latest NOTAMs for the day. 

My instructor came very early and already completed the preflight inspection, I went out there and called for fuel and did it once again for proficiency and everything looks great, weather isn't but it is flyable. 

We set off and departed overhead to Kadoorie Gap into New Town and then to Tolo, he wants to see some of my general handling of the Cessna 172 and this flight was to get my head back into the 172, and also to fly some circuits as well. Visibility was barely 6km and there were an uncomfortable amount of helicopters around, because for some reason or another the visibility never seemed to phase the rotorheads. We made the safe call and decided to call it quits in the training areas and returned back to Shek Kong for some circuits to look at my landings. 

Shek Kong has a tight approach, mainly due to built up areas and the fact that high terrain surrounds the aerodrome, which is challenging as Shek Kong rarely gets any wind and the Cessna 172 can be very slippery despite having throttle at idle and flaps to 30 degrees. I consistently end up high on approach on the first two touch and goes and land long, but my hold off and flare technique was improving and some landings could've really been called, "Greasers." 

After experimenting with power and flap settings, we found the perfect compromise, on base we pull the throttle to very near idle and dump full flaps early and now my landings are nearly perfect, but could use with a bit more hold off.

That was 0.8 hours of Saturday done! Phew it was tiring, high workload but all in all some great fun and I got the privilege to learn from one of the most experienced instructors of our club.

So in a nutshell, I gotta still get used to how much the Cessna 172 floats in ground effect despite its weight compared to the Sling, and really I just have to be more patient and let the aircraft settle. It's some great news that the next day (today as I am writing this article) I am flying again as this will help consolidate my knowledge even further.

4th December, 2016:

Not so early today! Which is good, extra 45 minutes of sleep for me and a more normal schedule as I usually fly this slot. This time I am flying one of the oldest Cessna 172s in our fleet, which is a Cessna 172R. The registration will be withheld and this will be apparent as the story progresses. I arrive one hour earlier today which is normal for me as I do like to hang out and ask for some PIREPs from other pilots in the club, checking the weather it was just like yesterday, hazy with light winds. However today will be a complete circuit lesson, so this wasn't really phasing me at all, the wind was almost calm on the ground. 

I witnessed the beginning of the first slot, target engine start time for all aircraft will be around 9.00am as them must return for the second slot at 10.00am, however today was a slow and sluggish start with two aircraft starting literally 15 minutes before the slot ends. One aircraft, Papa Lima managed to snag in a couple of circuits before having to return and hand over to the next pilot but another one also in the run-up undershoot area, which is the 172R I will fly today spent an unusually long time doing the run-up, which is a fair cause for concern. I went back into the flight operations office as I heard his radio call, "Can someone please call the engineer to come down for some assistance? The oil pressure just dropped off."

My heart sunk, great, no flying today then. We decided to wait for the doctor's diagnosis and treatment. After the most frustrating and agonising half an hour wait, we got the green light and the flight operations director said, "She is fixed!"

There was a collective sigh of relief as the flying day seemed to be back on track for this aircraft, and not only I can fly, but the pilots who will come after me can enjoy the skies today likewise. I walked out to the maintenance hangar and a mechanic gives me the green light and I begin my normal preflight of this rather alien aircraft to me, I have never flown her before. My first impressions was that this aircraft is old, like properly old. The white paint on the wings and fuselage were wearing off with sections of bare metal showing, the flap hinges were showing bare metal but are all secure and safe, the avionics master switch was still the single rocker switch unlike the split rocker used now so the pilot can manually control avionics bus 1 and 2 independently. A sign of her age...

Despite her mature age, everything is looking good and I completed the preflight with confidence, especially the fact that the oil is completely topped off. Oil pressure? Shouldn't be a problem at all right?

Instructor showed up, we clambered into the aircraft and started her up, we are running late and both of us are eager to get going. However the instructor was the one I flew with yesterday and his wealth of experience tells both of us that these maintenance flights do have more inherent risks, and we agree that we should extensively monitor the oil pressure together to ensure that the previous problem will not return. Remember kids, your instructor is not only an instructor, use him/her as a pilot monitoring like the airlines, split the workload and practice CRM techniques!

We took extra caution as we advanced the throttle for our run-up or engine performance check, the oil pressure rose and stabilized in the center of the green arc which is completely as expected and both of us decided it was wise to advance and retard the throttle to check the fluctuations and/or drop in oil pressure as reported by the pilot prior to us will not occur, it seems to all be working as good as new! We did our pre-takeoff checks, lined up and I advanced the throttle and rotated smoothly at 55 knots for some circuit work. 

At this point I felt sure that the engine issue was fixed and that it was only a momentary hiccup, the engine was running just fine and we did everything in our power on the ground to ensure maximal safety. 

Once again, this aircraft, unlike the aircraft I flew the day before had a cruise prop instead of a climb prop, so I ended up high again. This time I had to go around once because I was really fast and high on final. Just sound decision making, going around is not a sign of failure! In fact it is a sign of good airmanship, judgement and maturity.

Subsequently, I flew the circuit at a lower power setting and lowered flaps and pulled power back further, and this time I am really starting to see a consistency in my landings. Approach, hold off, establish landing attitude and hold off even more and the main gears just squeal softly as we kiss the tarmac. Flaps up, retrim, check sufficient runway remaining and full power!

This was around our 4th circuit (nobody bothers to count them) and on upwind my instructor, in an alarmed tone said, "The oil pressure again!" I was at full power, a higher than normal oil pressure is acceptable as long as it's in the green range but not this time, the oil pressure has dropped off again! This time in an inopportune moment, up in the air.

I continued hand flying as I reduced power to level off on downwind and decided to make this one a full stop, if there is any doubt, there is no doubt! He decided to cycle the throttle through but the problem is not alleviated, we have now lost oil pressure. I observed the oil temperature needle and said, "Temps are stable."

In fact just after I said that I observed a definite but small rise in oil temperature, oil pressure is still gone, but now the focus has shifted to getting this plane on the ground. The engine still hadn't seized, and I did my normal base turn and aggressively slowed the aircraft to prevent another go around, we might not have the opportunity to. On final, the runway was clear and my approach was well stable at 65 knots with a tiny touch of power, despite the engine troubles I wanted this landing to be consistent so instructors further on will have the confidence of sending me solo again. I did my best to suppress the thought of the engine hiccups, I would definitely make the field if the engine seized up here so really I wasn't worried at all!

Above the piano bars I pulled the last couple of hundred RPM of power to idle and began to level off for the roundout, eyes to the end of the runway. Hold it, hold it, let it settle and just like magic, we are on the ground again! Not a shabby landing at all! On centerline, a little bit firmer but still smooth and I smoothly applied the brakes. 

Now as we backtracked the runway we had the time to relax and do more troubleshooting, the gauge sometimes risen to normal levels but drops off again, the oil temperature is higher than normal but stable and there is no burning odor. We taxied back in and was met by an engineer, I shut the aircraft down and we towed her back to the spot as my instructor ran off to talk to the Chief Ground Engineer.... Again.

"Sorry mate, I am so sorry but this aircraft is not safe to fly again!" I said to the next pilot, a CASA CPL holder looking to fly today, fortunately he understood and said, "At least you are alive and well."

You will rather be on the ground, wishing you were in the air.

Than be in the air, wishing you were on the ground.

Today I was edging to being in the air, really wishing I was still on the ground, we pilots have an inherent urge to fly anything with two wings and a propeller up front, but sometimes we must remember that we are indeed safer on the ground. Today was a reminder that despite the engineer giving the green light, it doesn't mean you can slack off in the air, just because the engine was worked on doesn't mean the risks aren't here. In fact there are more risk factors after a maintenance tweak, and all pilots should be aware of this fact. At the end of the day, ask yourself:

Is it you that is flying, or is it the engineer?

So until next week...

Have fun, and fly safe.

--

Howard