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:
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| Left: Sally Right: Me |
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Photo Credits to Sally The workload is mounting |
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.
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| Photo taken by me, on the left is Hong Kong Island with Victoria Peak in sight |
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.
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| 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.
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| Photo credits to Sally Looking at the last of Kai Tak |
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| Photo credits to Sally Re-syncing the DI with my right hand |
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
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