Until July, We Shall Meet Again!

It has been a while since I wrote an entry into this blog, don't worry I am still flying. Just that I have a school aviation program that I am busy with as well as the weekly flying. Just an update:

Flying back to Shek Kong after spin training

Currently I have done more and more solo and I had the fortune to fly the 152 (which by the way is a super fun plane) yesterday for Incipient Spin Recovery Training, which was really awesome. Today I flew with an airline pilot who is also a flying instructor and we brushed up on precautionary search, glide approaches and I went up for 0.7 hours of bumpy, hot and humid solo. Summer is coming... I know and it sucks! However the main part of this update contains some bad news, that I will be grounded until July (at least that's what the club says) because the airfield operator needs to do some major renovation which includes resurfacing of the runway. So the catch is that this blog will be rather sparse, don't worry, I am still alive.

In November I am leaving Hong Kong back to Learn to Fly Melbourne for further training, hopefully completing the flying instructor course there for Raaus, look forward to even more immersive flying videos on my YouTube and regular weekly blog entries (given I am not going mad at CASA CPL). I currently got intercom audio sorted out for my videos, now comes the tricky part of camera selection...

So that's it for now guys, until July... Blue side up and most importantly

Have fun, fly safe!

--
Howard

Scaring myself: Windy Solo Circuits

Now, I want to start off with a quote from famous YouTube pilot FlightChops, or Steve Thorne. During one of his tailwheel flying videos he put forth a remark that I didn't really understand until I did some solo circuits on Sunday. It goes something like, "If you're not scared, you're not learning." After this flight I gained the appreciation for sometimes being a little bit scared and pushing that personal limitation a little.

I really didn't know what I was getting myself into.
Photo taken on ground.

After 4 decent enough circuits with a rather unfamiliar instructor, I dropped him off as usual at the undershoot area and waited for a gap in the circuits to go up and take a bash. The weather wasn't ideal and there were two other aircraft in the circuit, one 152 and another 172R. After spotting a lull in the waves of aircraft in the circuit I lined up and applied full power and took off on my second solo on the Cessna 172R aircraft.

During the roll, I remember glancing at the windsock briefly and I saw the windsock to be half up, at around 7 knots with gusts up to 13ish knots at the time. It was also a direct southerly, meaning a direct 90 degree crosswind from the right which is unusual in Hong Kong as we are usually affected by a northerly wind from the left. The wind speed was also above my personal limitation of a 10 knot direct crosswind if gust factor was taken into account, however I figured today would be a good day to test those personal limitations.

At Shek Kong, we have trees on both sides of the runway, and therefore the wind at the beginning of the roll can be very different from the wind at the end of the takeoff roll, and after climbing above the trees I saw the nose drift off to the right, into the wind even more. I also felt a rather rough bump as my aircraft climbs into and out of mechanical turbulence, it was a very bumpy day indeed with this southerly wind. As I turn crosswind I realise that I had a strong tailwind behind me, and I cut across to downwind without a lot of "wings level" time, note that Shek Kong is a tight circuit also due to high terrain. Just as I roll downwind and after I make my downwind call, there was a warbling sound that started on my right earcup, distraction #1. I did the unwise thing of "jiggling" the headset jacks to get it to sound a little better, however it was little help and I kept flying. Abeam threshold, throttle 1800 RPM and Flaps 10, over 3-ponds throttle 1500 RPM and flaps 20 when within white arc.

My Ground track, as you can see the
downwind is cut from crosswind

On base leg with a lower power setting, I started adjusting my earcup which seemed to make the warbling sound fade slightly, distraction #2. After a quick look onto final I realise I will overshoot as I am turning onto final and honestly it wasn't a good set up at all. Nevertheless I stayed coordinated and once established on centerline I lowered flaps to full and set myself up for a 70 knot approach initially. As I approached the runway I slowly reduced my power to around 1000 RPM and held the attitude and this slowed me down to 65 knots which is my "key" or over-the-fence speed.

The runway rushes towards me and I close the throttle and transition my eyes down to the far end of the runway as I begin to roundout and flare, simultaneously I was applying left rudder and keeping my right wing down to compensate for the crosswind from the right. Personally I like this method for crosswind control as I am not a fan of flying uncoordinated too far out and it works just fine for me, I touch down gently on the upwind main gear first and then the downwind main gear and nose seemed to touch down less than a second apart. I found I did not hold off enough, nevertheless it was an acceptable touchdown.

Flaps up, re-trim and full throttle. "Shit!" I say to myself as a trickle of sweat ran down my cheek, I ignored it and flew the aircraft into and out of the mechanical turbulence on climbout. Once again I cut across from crosswind to downwind due to the southerly wind and I do a quick downwind check. Brakes, undercarriage, mixture, fuel, instruments, switches, hatches and harnesses! It was a very warm and humid day and even with the cabin air vents pointed towards me it was a scorcher in the cockpit, distraction #3. I spot the other 172R on base leg and I was already on late downwind, so I slowed down early in order to ensure sufficient spacing and turned base slightly late. With two other aircraft in the circuit it was a very high workload situation, however I felt as if though I was on top of the game and I am relishing the moment, and the next few moments will arrive as one of the most humbling moments of my aviation life.

On short final I was caught by a gust of wind from the right, the nose of the aircraft veered to the right due to the weathervaning effect and I was distracted and did not remember to slow down to 65 knots on short final and I flared and held off as if I was at 65 knots on short final, the aircraft floated and I was once again caught by another gust! The nose veers even further to the right and I was already compensating with left rudder, I add more left rudder and in an effort to "save" the aircraft from touching down with any side-load I have made a crucial mistake and I jerked the yoke backwards causing the aircraft to pitch up and balloon. Instinctively I noticed my mistake and relaxed the back pressure and re-established the landing attitude, however I was coming in with excess speed and I touched down on all three wheels at the same time. I shook my head in disappointment as I reconfigured for takeoff.

"Howard! Relax!" I didn't know why I was so tense at the time, perhaps it was because of my lack of experience on a high wing Cessna 172 as I am actually very accustomed to strong, gusty crosswinds due to the nature of where I originally trained in Melbourne. After another uneventful, but unsatisfactory circuit I came in on final for my last solo landing of the day and this was a scare that I will not forget.

Once again, at the same point on short final I was caught by a gust of wind, once again I forget to reduce my airspeed to 65 knots for short final because of this gust. I idle the throttle and start the roundout and flare, simultaneously applying crosswind correction and this time it seems to be working out so well. Out of the blue I see the nose drifting off to the right again! "Shit! Another gust!" I whisper under my breath, I correct this time accordingly and I thought my landing was going to be great because I didn't jerk the yoke up in the fear of the ground. However I forgot one thing: I was fast, too fast. Anyone who has flown a 172 will tell you how much of a difference 5 knots can make to your landing and I float.... and float.... and I got rather impatient and I simply did not hold off for long enough. I touch down on the upwind gear first, however just as I touch down that brain of mine decided to hold off so I move the yoke back! I went back into the air and I released a bit of the crosswind correction as I come down on all three wheels at the same time again! This time with side-load! "Shit! Shit! Shit." I screamed to myself through the mic of my headset. I glance at my airspeed and my suspicions were right, I was much too fast even after touchdown!

Analysis:
The combined distractions of the unusual southerly winds, warm temperature and headset interference ultimately led to the consequences of forgetting to reduce speed on short final to 65 knots and either a balloon or an insufficient hold off. In retrospect, all the mistakes made during this flight boiled down to my inability to slow down on short final to 65 knots, so here are the lessons learned:

- 65 knots on short final! Do not hold 70 knots all the way in! 65 is enough even for gusty winds!
- AVIATE FIRST, FLY THE PLANE!
- Train as you fly, fly as you train!

And I think the most important lesson from this flight is the safe management of distractions. When operating as a single pilot, distractions are inevitable however a good pilot must learn to manage distractions safely and remember the most important thing is just to FLY THE AIRPLANE! Everything else is secondary.

Hopefully this week I will be sent solo into the training area over Tolo Harbor, and most importantly.

Have fun, fly safe!

--
Howard

Bucket List Flight: Victoria Harbor

Hello once again my fellow aviators and readers! I have returned from an amazing week in India and now it's full throttle for flying!

Today is the first day of my term break holidays for school, so what a way to start the holiday eh? I arrived with a student pilot I grew to know as my favorite little human being I have ever met, she is coming along to be a backseat passenger on my flight! For the uninitiated, backseating and observing from the backseat offers a great learning opportunity for students as people tend to learn better when not under pressure to learn. Psychology aside, she is also coming along because her aircraft she originally booked was not available.

A little bit about the backseat passenger:

Left: Sally
Right: Me

Her name is Sally, she is 16 and is one of the most passionate, diligent and determined pilot I have ever seen and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. Currently she has 14 hours and unlike me, she flies the Cessna 152 (Suits her so well, she is physically small).

She has backseated on one of my flights before which occurred a day before I left for my trip to India, however that was only in the circuit and she didn't feel so well and neither did I, I flew horribly at that time.

So... onto the story:
Arriving at the flight operations office blew a breeze of familiarity that I had missed out on due to my time out of town, feels great to be back. A quick check with the Resident Flying Instructor confirms that my aircraft recently had an engine overhaul (basically a new engine fitted) and is still under the new engine break-in procedures, so absolutely no circuits or torturing of the engine. No problems today as the weather was few clouds at 2800 feet and we were having abundant sunlight. I figured we would be doing some airwork and instrument flying today with the instructor.

I went through the normal routine of checking the weather and recording down anything relevant as the instructor showed up, soon I realised he wasn't qualified to teach instrument flying yet. This was a problem as I expected to get an extra .5 of instrument hours, however that being said there are plenty of things to be ticked off from my agenda. Due to the awesome weather, we came to consensus that due to the great weather and the fact that we have a passenger we would go to the Victoria Harbor and do some sightseeing as well as get checked out to go into the Harbor.

The actual flown route
(No change from plan)

Most flight training here in Hong Kong is above the Tolo Harbor, and flying into the Victoria Harbor, the very harbor that defines everything that has to do with Hong Kong is a commodity to say the least. All the elements must be perfect in order for such a flight to take place. This is due to the compliance requirements to VFR cloud separations within controlled airspace.

Our flight plan was to exit Shek Kong via Kadoorie Gap, skirt the coast in the southern side of New Town UCARA, enter Port Shelter UCARA via Three Fathoms Cove, track towards Lohas Park into Waglan Zone, enter the Harbor via Lei Yue Mun, track towards Green Island and then fly the reciprocal heading and back to Shek Kong the same way we came.

Flight plan sent, lifejackets sufficient, checklist taken, map taken, toilet used, headsets taken and aircraft keys taken!

Let's go flying!

The Flight:
I calculated that we require 30 gallons of fuel in total, so I requested for some fuel and after a quick preflight we are onboard. Seatbelts on, doors closed, gloves on, kneeboard on, flight tracker on and here we go!

After engine start I leaned the mixture about an inch backwards in order to save the spark plugs, it's a habit I am getting into as ground operations with mixture at full rich is just a perfect recipe for fouled spark plugs. There are some slight differences due to the new engine, notably the throttle tension is now much more appropriate (looser) and the engines starts effortlessly and runs smoothly as expected.

Runup complete, finals look clear, upwind looks clear! "Cessna Uniform Whisky rolling runway 11," I say as I key the mic with my left index finger. Heels to the floor, full power. Instruments in the green, 60 knots and I just apply a tad bit of back pressure and the aircraft flies off on her own accord at 65 knots. A smooth rotation is crucial in operating with a significant fuel load and 3 persons on board, NEVER force an aircraft to fly or else you WILL STALL! The aircraft accelerates briskly in ground effect and at climb attitude a speed of 75 knots for best rate of climb was established. This new engine is running incredibly well, despite having more than 30 gallons of fuel and 3 persons on board we were climbing steadily at around 800-900 feet per minute.

Photo credits to Sally, tracking to Three Fathoms Cove

We cruised at 1500 feet as we flew into New Town, the visibility was excellent and as we listened on the Hong Kong Information frequency we quickly realised that there is no time for heads down and that the air was filled with traffic trying to do exactly what we intend to: Fly to Victoria Harbor.

Photo Credits to Sally
The workload is mounting

We tracked towards the Shing Mun River inlet and then subsequently to Three Fathoms Cove as we made a right turn to enter Port Shelter UCARA. I keyed the mic and quickly informed that I was in Port Shelter at 1500 feet. Port Shelter is unmistakable as there is a Yacht Club and Kau Sai Chau Golf Course. At that time there was one Cessna and two helicopters operating in Port Shelter, once again eyes peeled for traffic so no photos from me, all my attention was being put to flying at this time.

Tracking towards Lohas Park, we had our first glimpse of the Victoria Harbor and our entry point Lei Yue Mun. The radio was switched to 120.60, Hong Kong Zone control.

"Hong Kong Zone, Cessna Uniform Whisky Port Shelter 1500 feet request entry to Waglan." The initial call was made as we requested permission to enter an increasingly busy sector of the Hong Kong controlled airspace.

Photo taken by me, on the left is Hong Kong Island
with Victoria Peak in sight

Fortunately, we were accepted into the cluster of aircraft doing the same thing and we approached our entry point of Lei Yue Mun as we received clearance to enter and transit Island Zone in the Harbor. Off to the right of the nose we see the defunct Kai Tak Airport, now a cruise terminal which is a little bit of a sobering sight. However the best has yet to come. Making a slight left turn we entered the Victoria Harbor officially as we tracked westbound at 1500 feet towards Green Island. We were faced with views that define what flying is all about and remind us as to why we pursued a pilot's licence at the first place.

The throttle was reduced from a fast cruise setting of 2300 RPM to 2000 RPM which gave us a little more time to relish the view and grab some simply awesome photos that remind us as to why we fell in love with flying. This was a quiet time in the cockpit as we presumably is pondering thoughts about how privileged and fortunate we are to be able to say that this is our hobby, or even our to-be profession.

Photo taken by me, looking to Hong Kong Island

However as a figurative pilot in command (I am technically not licensed in Hong Kong as my RPL does not translate to anything within the CAD licensing regulations, however the instructor basically said he is literally just going to be a passenger for this flight and I will act as a PIC), I was responsible for safety and I still had my eyes outside looking cautiously for traffic in hotspots such as Shun Tak Heliport and The Peninsula Rooftop Helipad. I was also aware that if I had an engine failure here we would have to go into the water, so I closely monitored engine instruments, fortunately everything was uneventful.

Photo credits to Sally
Looking at the last
of Kai Tak

As we approached Green Island I made a left 180 degree descending turn to track back where we came from at 1000 feet. This time I got a clear view of Tsim Sha Tsui and landmarks such as the Space Museum, it was once again absolutely serene and I felt like the luckiest pilot in the world to be able to fly in such a unique corner of the world where General Aviation can somewhat survive.

Photo credits to Sally
Re-syncing the DI
with my right hand

We exited Waglan Zone the way we came in and climbed to 2000 feet for the rest of the trip back home. However this is not the time to let my guard down and in contrast this is the time I should be really back in the loop. I did a quick FREDA check which got me back in the loop and we cancelled our flight plan as we approached Kadoorie Gap and changed frequencies to Shek Kong CTAF.

Personally I was taught to monitor a frequency after switching to it first in order to create a mental picture of what to expect and I find it also a good time to do another FREDA check, due to the turbulence caused by the surface heating the gyro easily gets knocked out of place so the DI (Direction Indicator, Gyro Driven) must be re-synced to the compass regularly in order to ensure proper heading and subsequent tracking. I also find the direction indicator very useful as circuit joining in Shek Kong involves a high circuit at 2000 feet, descending to 1500 feet overhead the runway and as you turn on a high crosswind descending to circuit height of 800 feet aiming to be established by downwind.

At least this is what happens in a perfect world.

However this is far from perfect, everyone is trying to land at the same time and my initial call was being stepped on by another helicopter in the circuit. So I already done my initial call late. The high downwind at 2000 feet allows me to very well spot traffic and gain a better situational awareness and mental picture as to what is everyone doing and where. After turning overhead the runway I pulled the power back to 1800 RPM for a slow descent to 1500 feet. As I turned crosswind I heard something rather alarming. Another Cessna was turning crosswind, however he was out of a touch-and-go and therefore he must be below me climbing to 800 feet, I am 1500 feet just about to descend to 800 feet...

I did not descend, I waited for a confirmation of visual contact of me from him, however I hear nothing, I simply hear him reporting downwind as usual, I was at 1500 and he was at 800. I also kept making position reports ending it with "Holding at 1500 feet." Hopefully this will get his attention. The throttle setting was also set to 2300 RPM instead of 2000 RPM for the circuit in order to gain some extra speed to overtake.

It was very precarious, I dare not descend as by his radio calls he should be right under me which is a deadly blind spot, this further reinforces the notion that see and avoid is NOT sufficient and a good pilot should also HEAR and avoid. As he turned a normal base and I turned a "base" at 1500 feet he came into view, that Cessna 152 with a brown nose appeared to the left and far below us which confirmed my suspicions that he was right in my blind spot. I continued making position reports and as I turned overhead (he was doing a touch-and-go) I finished the call with, "Descending into circuit."

I finally heard what I had been waiting for, "Cessna Uniform Whisky, have you in sight, continue descent." My planning and decision making was confirmed to be correct, I descended in front of him with sufficient separation. It confirmed that my decision at 1500 feet to speed up was correct.

I levelled off at 800 feet by mid-downwind and I was striving for a normal landing. With 3 persons on board I decided to approach with full flaps and at 70 knots instead of 65. Past the airfield fence I glanced at the airspeed as I reduced power slightly and it was at 65 knots which was perfect, 70 final 65 over the key and as the aiming point tucked under the nose I set the throttle to flight idle as I held the aircraft off for the roundout and flare. The wheels squeaked the ground, we are back!

Lessons Learned:
Not only did I learn CTR procedures for Harbor, and experience the beauty of Hong Kong. I learned an important lesson of seeing, listening and avoiding. In hindsight my decision to not descend perhaps saved my life as I was presumably in the other pilot's blind spot as well as the Cessna 152 is a high wing and therefore seeing us above him was difficult. The combination of plain English radio calls, decision to speed up and overtake above and to NOT descend until I had confirmation of visual contact and separation perhaps saved my life and the other two occupants in the aircraft.

Ultimate lesson? If in doubt, don't descend onto someone.

Have fun, fly safe!

--
Howard