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
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