Reliving My First Solo: My First Cessna 172 Solo

Yesterday (2/19/2017) was another special mark on my logbook, possibly a close second to my first solo flight conducted in Tooradin Airport south of Moorabbin on the 16th Day of July, 2016.

Yesterday's flight marked two "firsts" for me, my first Cessna 172 solo and my first solo in Shek Kong Airfield, Hong Kong. However as this is not the first solo, yesterday's flight is worth some analysis into some events that occurred during my solo check and solo flight.

The Plan:
I flew with an examiner and instructor I haven't flown with for a long time, full of experience and wisdom, I always enjoyed flying with him. He always had a way into a student's mind when he/she was feeling confused and confronted. Well enough of the instructor description, what was the plan?

In our pre-flight briefing, we gone through various emergencies but placing special emphasis on fire on the ground and/or in the air and how to deal with it. Thankfully I had the procedures memorised and rehearsed in my mind and that was done with ease. Our plan for the flight was to first do a glide approach starting from the abeam point and then a low level go around. The second circuit will be a glide approach towards the end of the downwind (basically what's different here is you turn straight towards the runway) and a landing. The third circuit will be a flapless, the fourth will be a normal approach and landing and the last will be a short field landing (just for the fun of it).

Note: He did not allude to sending me solo that day, it was a little bumpy due to the winds and the clouds were increasing in number.

The Pre-Solo Check:
To be really honest, it was very routine except for the amount of traffic in the circuit yesterday, due to the clouds no one was able to depart the circuit or more specifically, the airfield area. I negotiated with another pilot (he is my schoolmate as well) and he and his instructor agreed to climb to 2000 feet and stay around the west of the airfield so the circuit will only be occupied by 3 fixed wing aircraft (including myself) which is the limit.

We decided to do a short field takeoff just to stay proficient again, the recipe for a short takeoff on a 172 is very simple: Flaps 10 degrees, hold the brakes, throttle to full, confirm engine gauges in the green and then release the brakes and go!

It is to be noted that operating out of a runway with a displaced threshold such as Shek Kong, it is technically not correct to rotate before the piano bars. During the takeoff roll on a short field, I like to keep the aircraft accelerating on the ground using some (very slight) forward pressure. As soon as I am on the piano bars I glance at my airspeed and it is in the green arc so I give a little back pressure and we are in the air. One must hold it in ground effect until Vx is achieved and the attitude shall be established soon afterwards.

"Clear of obstacles, speed check, flaps up, Vy attitude." I recite as I climbed away.

As I approached the abeam position on downwind, the throttle was pulled to flight idle to simulate an engine failure. By instinct I pitched the nose up to gain altitude as well as achieve best glide speed of around 65 knots and start trimming up. I looked and planned a rough estimate for a key position which is half the circuit height which is, in this case 400 feet. I plan to use the constant aspect method to place myself on a good glidepath on final which I did. My final approach was the best I have done, without power I was right on glidepath to my final aim point of the piano bars with full flaps.

As I begun my roundout and flare my instructor called, "You bounced! Oh no! What will you do?"

Note, I did not bounce and it was time to do a low level go around. I applied full power while adding forward pressure to stop the nose from ballooning and stalling the aircraft (we were below 50 knots at that time already), as soon as it is under control I selected 20 degrees of flaps to reduce drag and started aggressively trimming off the forward pressure (Not too much on this particular Cessna 172R I flew, she is pretty nose heavy compared to others) required and adopted Vx attitude with flaps 10 after a positive rate of climb was confirmed. Once again, clear of obstacles, flaps up and Vy attitude. Easy as 1, 2, 3!

Subsequently, we proceeded with another glide approach, a flapless and a normal landing. All of these were performed with ease.

Until it came to the last circuit, a short field landing. This is not a pre-solo item, however we elected to practice it for proficiency. There's no real difference other than a pre-selected landing spot and more discipline on speed control and heavy braking after landing, 60 final and 55 crossing the fence does really well.

Remember how I said this particular 172R is nose heavy compared to the other 172R and the 172SP we have?

In the excitement of a seemingly perfect approach I seemed to have forgot and literally chopped the power a little too enthusiastically as I approached my aiming point. The nose drops as a secondary effect of power reduction rather alarmingly, I yank back on the yoke out of panic and I entered a slight balloon, it took a bit of concentration to keep that attitude stable and I held off and touched down a little flatter and firmer than usual. Heavy braking and back pressure!

We did get stopped in a short distance however as I backtracked the runway.

Just like my first solo I am daft enough to not realise my instructor's intentions, we did a full stop landing early, way earlier than the end of slot (30 minutes to spare....) so I asked, "So early? What's next?" I thought we were doing a full-stop taxi back to take-off again!

"I am sending you on your first solo!" He says.

Well... Not really my first solo, my first in Hong Kong for sure. Finally, after seven months I am going solo again. Emotions similar to my first solo returned in a wave, the excitement of the upcoming freedom and opportunities to learn!

However, unlike any student first solo (because although on paper it was a first solo, it really wasn't), he ordered my to fly 2 circuits and land in time for the next slot which should be able to go until the end of slot. He also didn't really brief me on the performance difference I should expect when I am solo, reason being it was in reality a sixth solo!

The Solo:

Secretly judging your landings...
Taken on the ground waiting in the run-up area

I positioned myself in our run-up bay (which is just basically in the displaced threshold before the arrows start, we don't have a lot of room here in Hong Kong) and waited. Why did I wait? Another instructor on frequency ordered all fixed wing aircraft to land and wait for me to take-off because I am technically a first-solo student although really I'm not.

The only aircraft in the circuit at that stage was another Cessna 152, after he landed and after another Cessna 152 landed I was ready to go. I lined up with the centerline and slid my heels to the floor and applied full throttle.

I rotated and was surprised at the acceleration, soon enough I am climbing rather quickly at Vy on my first two solo circuits here in Hong Kong. Abeam point, power 1600-1700 RPM and flaps 10, speed 80 knots. Abeam 3-ponds (our base turn landmark) power 1200 RPM and flaps 20 and turn base.

Two rolls of trim up and a little more gives around a good setting for 70 knots, adjusting the power for height I roll onto final and select the final stage of flap and feel the aircraft decelerate and settle at 60-65 knots. One small dash of trim up and I am basically flying hands free, I recited the wise words from my flight instructor in Melbourne when I started flying. Airspeed, aimpoint, aspect! The approach was flown at 60 knots, 5 knots slower than usual which is as expected as I am lighter.

I might be committing heresy here but 65 all the way down seems a little too excessive for me when you are solo, 60 knots is more natural and more comfortable. The 172 really handles well at low speeds. Besides, I had not a lot of fuel onboard at this stage and it wasn't gusty at all, in fact the wind died down and it felt smooth on final.

I was experiencing a crosswind (Not gusting) from the left and as I approached the aiming point I smoothly and slowly (very slowly indeed, as I am anticipating a significantly heavier elevator after this) cut the power to flight idle and look to the far end of the runway and level off. As the aircraft sinks I just apply a tad more back pressure just enough to stop the sink while adjusting with the rudder to maintain centerline.

My touchdown was reminiscent of my solo landings in Melbourne, it was an absolute greaser (not meaning to boast but it's true) and on centerline. Flaps up, re-trim, and full power!

As I rolled onto final for this last solo landing for the day, I nearly called "Tooradin Traffic." It was etched into habit, however I didn't let that happen of course. I came in a tad low so I delayed the flap extension and applied more power to level off. After the glide path was established a reduced power and put in full flaps.

I made the same mistake as my short field landing this time, I pulled the power too vigorously and did not respond quickly enough to the pitch down moment and ended up scaring myself a little and flaring late and far too quickly. I ballooned but this time I used power as I sunk onto the runway, at least I managed to salvage a smooth landing. However this time it was a smooth landing but not a good landing for sure. Looking back, I should've gone around.

I thought back on it on my way home from lunch after the flight, and realized that complacency settled in after that very good solo landing, and spent the afternoon visualising what had gone wrong on that final landing. As this isn't my first solo, it's therefore more worthy of critical acclaim and self-debriefing.

That being said, the aircraft wasn't damaged, I recovered with the appropriate actions and I have successfully completed my first Cessna 172 solo and my first solo in Hong Kong.

Stay tuned for more solo flights here in Hong Kong!


Have fun, fly safe!

--
Howard

A Story of VFR Into IMC: I have never been so happy to be on the ground

Yes, I am finally back. It was extremely busy this month with an internship with my flying club's maintenance division and Lunar New Year, but I have been flying and today I shall be writing about my flight today!

So this morning I woke up and looked at the METAR, TAF and Area Forecast and it all said the same story, Few clouds at 1500, scattered at 2500 and visibility of around 9 kilometers. Despite the low few layer, it should be fine right? Or so I thought.

Rocking up to the airfield, I already see the originally scattered clouds above give way to more sunlight, and despite the cloudy and still sort of marginal conditions towards the training area, it was looking rather optimistic for some nice afternoon under-the-hood instrument flying with my primary instructor, who also just returned from an extended holiday so I was super excited to fly with him today again!

I did my usual dump-everything-into-the-locker-and-then-dig-out-the-flying-stuff routine and went to get the weather and of course something to drink and eat, gotta fulfil the IMSAFE checklist. After seeing the NOTAMs and knowing that no restricted or danger areas are active today, I sat down on the nice couch we have in our office and just had some casual chit-chat with another pilot about some flying and aviation related topics. It was pretty routine, with the faint sound of radio chatter emanating from the Yaesu base station of our flight operations office. Weather looking like it's clearing up, awesome. Now I'm just waiting for my plane to come back in. Oh and I also filed a flight plan! Awesome!

And my aircraft arrived early, perfect, I love it when it happens. After completing an uneventful preflight, I went back in and met up with my instructor and we set off.

Rotating at 55 knots, we were climbing at a good rate at around 80 knots pretty soon, we do an overhead departure through a gap in the mountains we call, "Kadoorie", as the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden is shrouded in that valley, or "gap."

I turned overhead and levelled out at 1500 feet and it was the first sign of trouble, I switched frequency to "Hong Kong Information" which provides traffic advisory service and the first thing I heard was, "Visibility deteriorating in Fan Lau to around 2000 meters."

I thought to myself, "This doesn't make sense. The forecast says it is staying at 9km!" So I pressed on reassuring myself with that knowledge (Confirmation Bias!), my instructor is completely hands off as I am an overseas license holder, he likes me to act as if I am PIC. That's why I love flying with him, he gives me great and no BS feedback but also allows me to fly and develop my skills myself. But that's not the point of today's write-up, let's carry on.

I made my call, and all was well until we flew right past the valley and crossed the border to the sector, "New Town."

"Shit!" I thought to myself, "It was worse than I thought."

I put on my hood, but really he was only giving vectors to me so we can stay clear of clouds, however I could see from the edge that the visibility was quickly deteriorating and I ripped off the hood to have a better look. In retrospect I don't even think we had 2000 meters of visibility, I could barely see the ground or anything in front of me, we were skimming the clouds at around 1600 feet only and I was already weaving between clouds sticking out of the sky. I looked directly behind me and saw the valley we departed from, I can just barely make out the outline of the peak on the right, just as I was about to call it quits, my instructor told me to turn back.

They say great minds think alike, I say sane minds think alike. We never made it to Tolo, our training area.

I did my 180 degree turn back into the valley at rate 1, anticipating that if we ever go into full IMC I wouldn't become disoriented anyway. However a glance at the Direction Indicator (actually a HSI) confused me.

It froze, it wasn't showing a left turn.

God dammit, we now have an inoperative instrument! I strained my neck to keep sight of the slowly disappearing peak that signified kadoorie gap, and thank God it didn't disappear into the abyss of mist and clouds.

I looked over to the left in shock, I was right next to what appeared to be rolling mist coming in from the south, I could barely see the mountain ridge that was meant to be on my left, I sped up to around 115 knots to headed back as quickly as possible. We couldn't even enter at 2000 feet, which is our SOP, I was at 1800 and already wanting to descend ASAP.

Over to the west it was slightly better, and the direction indicator decided to work again, so I donned my hood once again and we did some descending and turning. Wonder why there was no climbing eh?

Both of us have had enough, I ripped off the hood and did the overhead join for runway 11, just as I was descending through 1500 feet I went right into cloud and lost all sights of the ground. Instinctively I chopped the throttle to full idle and dumped the nose right down, I watched as the IAS climbed above 120 knots with the altimeter unwinding like a broken wind-up toy. Thank whoever is looking out for us, we broke out at 1000 feet.

I was tired, shaken, scared (unbelievable eh?) and sweating (scorcher of a day today, never had the chance to adjust the air vents). Still with the thought of what could've happened I completely and royally f*ck up my first approach, high, fast and unstable. As soon as I turned final I called go-around, however it was the wrong decision, I didn't even try to fly a slip, because in retrospect a slip would've got us where we want, Why was it a wrong decision? The weather was closing in, the mist was rolling in, the clouds were locking us in. My instructor gave me the look as if I was insane.

This is why you never dwell in the past, I was shaking slightly, my breathing rate noticeably increased (This is the first time in my life I have ever encountered such misadventure).

We joined a quick and late downwind, and realised I was landing in a slight but noticeable tailwind, however there is no time for a runway change, and this time with a slip I was only slightly high. However the flare and hold off took forever, it's surprising how much difference only a couple of knots of tailwind can do to you. It wasn't a good approach, it wasn't a good landing, however I am so glad to be on terra firma again.

I threw the window on my side open as we backtracked the runway, for the first time in this flight I could say I relaxed.

After I shut down, my instructor said, "Sorry, we had to turn back." Without knowing I was going to make us turn back even if he said, "Carry on."

I simply said, "At least we made it back."

Reflection:
Sitting in flight operations, I reflected on the statistics, 75% of VFR into IMC are fatal. On average it would be 178 seconds before impact to the ground, I felt so stupid for even going today, both of us did. It was exactly what happens in most of these incidents, we decided to go out and "have a look," most pilots who were involved in such accidents also wanted to, "have a look." However I was grateful that both of us upheld our personal minimums and didn't go get "a closer look."

There were many human factors that came into play today such as confirmation bias and hazardous attitudes. I blame myself for my little regard to a little detail in the Area Forecast, "TEMPO Visibility 3km in rain/mist." Just because it usually doesn't happen, doesn't mean it wouldn't. Yes, we all learn from mistakes, but some of us never have such blessing to be able to live through our mistakes and learn from them.

I have been a licensed pilot (albeit an Australian license) since July now, although not officially licensed in Hong Kong yet, I find instructors here treat me like the PIC with the knowledge of my license, which is why I do take responsibility of what occurred today. With this, I became lenient, slack and complacent and really I admit that. Today was perhaps God's message to knock me back on my toes and off my boat of complacency.

As I went home, I checked the weather webcam of the airfield and find Kadoorie to be completely socked in with fog, and if we proceeded to Tolo with airwork, it would be around that time we are attempting to return. A SPECI was also issued with visibility as lot as 2100 meters and clouds as low as 600 feet. It confirmed that my, or our decision earlier to turn back and land ASAP was a right decision, or else we might find ourselves scud running at 500 feet with nowhere to go except to the front cover of tomorrow's newspaper tabloids perhaps.

The ground had never felt so comfortable under my feet before

However, enough of feeling sorry about myself, this is exactly the reason why I write this blog, so the future me can look back at how stupid the young me was. On the flip side, today was a great experience which knocked me out of my complacency, and now I know to take weather forecasts seriously.

Until next time,

Have fun, fly safe!

--
Howard

Aviation Headset Review: David Clark DC ONE-X

After using my H10-13.4 also by David Clark for my ab initio training, I decided it was time to upgrade to a headset with active noise reduction to protect my hearing and also to make me feel more comfortable during and after the flight. So naturally I hopped onto the internet and researched and narrowed my choices to the Lightspeed Zulu 2 or the Bose A20, however as I scrolled through the David Clark category in Sporty's, I found their newly released high-end competitor, the ONE-X. After reading reviews, I have determined that the ONE-X is the most well-built and has very competitive ANR characteristics which is great, however unlike the A20 and the Zulu 2 the ANR isn't

The ONE-X offers a familiar look, but modern technology

so aggressive that you can hardly even hear the engine sound. With a price of $895USD, it was reasonable as well for a high-end competitor in the headset market, so I took the plunge and went from green dome to another green dome.

Also kudos to Sporty's, excellent customer service and very helpful with shipment tracking, I recommend buying anything from them as they have a wide range of supplies to choose from.

When I received it:
It came in a white box with a prominent and iconic David Clark logo and the contents were well packed with the headset nicely wrapped up and the batteries to power and ANR unit nicely stored in an anti-static container. The headset also comes with a nice compact David Clark headset bag and it is free and included with this headset. It includes 5-year warranty and of course it is covered by the Sporty's 30 day test flight guarantee.

Comfort:
Comfort is arguably the most important feature in any pilot headset as you, as the pilot will be likely wearing the headset for an extended period of time and comfort is required to stay alert and to reduce fatigue, and the ONE-X does not disappoint.

Comfort, performance and good looks (Maybe not, I don't know)

The headset features swivel hinge stirrups, plush leatherette ear seals with slow recovery foam and an Outlast fabric headband. The hinge stirrups does a great job of distributing headset pressure and creates a very snug seal that is good enough for last week's near severe turbulence and also provides excellent PNR. However, that being said the clamping pressure is significantly lower than all passive noise attenuation headsets however is slightly higher than the Bose A20 and is slightly "clampier" than some ANR headsets however the ear seals are very soft and as it is slow recovery foam it works with my sunglasses and normal glasses very well without compromising performance. The headset is secure on your head and is not fatiguing to wear. Also, in contrast to the A20 and the H10 series headsets, the Outlast fabric and the leatherette ear seals manage heat buildup excellently and after a while I simply forgot that I was wearing the headset. The headset is also very light at only 12 ounces which also contributes to the increased comfort.

Quiet:
To many pilots, the quietness of the headset is also a very important feature especially if you fly a light GA piston aircraft. The droning of the engine can cause a lot of fatigue and can cause low frequency hearing loss, which is one of the most frequent types of occupational hearing loss reported by people working in or near aircraft. There are 2 types of noise reduction, Passive Noise Reduction relies on how hard the headset clamps and seals the ear which requires no electronics and therefore is pretty cheap. However this headset has not only decent Passive Noise Reduction from the ear-seals, but I think has excellent hybrid Active Noise Reduction (ANR). The ANR in this headset works by using one external dome mic and one internal earpiece mic in order to sample sound, and the sound waves run through a small microprocessor and then plays an anti-noise which reduces the unwanted low frequency sound. The NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) for the ANR is rated at 30dB at 150Hz, but is only for absolute headset geeks as we learn that NRR decreases as the frequency of the noise increases as these headsets only aim to reduce the low frequency rumble which is apparent in piston aircraft that these headsets are intended for,

Now enough of the geek nonsense, it's time to answer the question: Does the ONE-X hold up to the fierce competition between Lightspeed and Bose?

After holding the ANR power button down for 2 seconds, the ANR circuitry fires up and the engine noise gradually fades out to a quiet rumble at a higher pitch. I can still hear the engine, but there's just a whole lot less noise in my world compared to the time when I still used my old H10 passive headsets. Unlike the Bose and Lightspeed, I did not feel as if I was plunged into a world of utter silence, and perhaps both of those long-running brands in the premium ANR market has the edge over total ANR.

However, I actually appreciate the less aggressive ANR that David Clark developed. I feel as if David Clark has taken into account some incidents where ANR has delayed a pilot's recognition of an abnormality in the engine and aircraft systems as their headsets were simply too quiet. It's hard to describe how the ONE-X ANR performs because undoubtedly it is very quiet and it makes flying much more enjoyable, however it still lets in just enough noise so I can set throttle by ear and I am pretty confident I can pick up unusual changes in engine noise if that were to ever happen.

It's after the flight where you can feel the difference. Yes, you can still fly by hearing, yes you can still definitely hear the engine, but just much less of it. I remember that the H10 lets in so much engine noise sometimes that it becomes off-putting and simply a nuisance and the ONE-X removes much of that sort of engine noise. After the flight with the ONE-X, I feel cooler and much more refreshed thanks to reduced low frequency noise, and noise in general!

Sound Quality (Comms and Bluetooth Music):
Combined with the excellent active and passive noise reduction characteristics, the sound quality for the communications are excellent. I am not sure of ATC or my instructor can hear me any better but I hear them with no issue. The volume is adjusted by push buttons on the control module and it is straightforward and I find that the communications seems to have a tad more bass in it compared to the cheaper models, which resembles more of a normal conversation. I almost forgot I was talking through a mic and listening through a pair of headsets actually!

The ONE-X also comes with Bluetooth Music which defaults to audio mute whenever there is an ATC transmission incoming. When anyone speaks on the intercom, the music volume is decreased by 80% and I find this setting to be just fine and shouldn't be changed as this offers a good balance between musical enjoyment and ultimate safety of flight. The music quality is just as good as medium-high end consumer products with enough bass and clarity to allow me to enjoy a good dose of Kenny Loggins whilst flying.

Ease of Use:
This headset is very easy to use and well designed, especially the ANR control module. It is small and has a very nice mounting clip, everything is straightforward and the Bluetooth pairing is also very simple. There's a very useful pilot guide that comes with the headset and it is well written and clear with instructions.

My only gripes are that the headset defaults to a folded state which is great for storing but can be a little annoying when you have to spread it out every time in order to wear it, also the mic seems to be a little bit on the short side so audio reception if not adjusted correctly can be a little intermittent, but with proper adjustment to 1/8 inch away from lips it is fine. Make sure to adjust it so the mic is in front of the entire mouth, not only half of your lips.

The headband is easy to adjust and is detented to allow for precise adjustment, also it is tight enough so you do not have to adjust it for every flight and can be adjusted and left as is.

Reliability/Durability:
Currently it is a new product and I only used it for 2 hours but it feels sturdy with metal alloy headband and after all it is David Clark... They are well known for sturdiness and lasting forever. Other than that, I cannot comment any more as I am still new to this product.

Conclusion:
In closing, these $895 were money well spent, the headset is comfortable, well built and it's quiet but not too quiet to be functional and safe in an aviation environment and I strongly recommend any pilots looking to upgrade into the world of ANR to give these a good consideration, and I am happy to say that David Clark can finally compete in ANR! This headset is especially great if you are conservative with such choices and want to stick with the familiarity of the green domes, you will not be disappointed.

Have fun, fly safe

--
Howard

Instrument Flight and a new way of doing Forced Landings!

First of all, Happy New Year and I wish all of you reading a prosperous and enjoyable 2017!

The first day of 2017 I did my first flight of the year and already I am ticking off one box of my new year resolutions (which are ALL aviation related). I begun instrument flying for my 4 hours required to be a private pilot in Hong Kong! So here are the details of the flight:

We managed to start early, an entire hour early because my instructor's student simply forgotten that he had a lesson booked for today, presumably due to the alcohol and partying from New Year's Eve. But never mind that, it was awesome we can start early as we have quite a schedule for one hour. PFLs and Instrument Flying!

After a quick preflight, we got on and got started. We taxied out to the undershoot area for our engine performance check as another one of our 172s, B-LUW followed along, the aircraft was piloted by a well-known actor in Hong Kong and he was taking his two sons up for a New Year's Day ride, which is a great father and son(s) bonding activity to be perfectly honest.

We took off into the calm skies of this beautiful Sunday afternoon and departed the Shek Kong airspace via the Fire Station Gap, which gives us a perfect view of our neighbor city, Shenzhen. However, we quickly turned back into the training area and my instructor handed me the hood, time to "TRUST YOUR INSTRUMENTS HOWARD!"

The instructor remarked that my instrument flying was "An easy A grade, CPL standard." Well I did hold altitude within 50 feet and heading within 5 degrees, I must credit this performance for my first time flying under the hood to my numerous amounts of hours in FSX. However to any students wondering, yes you do feel the illusions as taught in human factors, and it does take practice to ignore it. I felt the sensation of the aircraft banking when in reality I was wings level, however I rectified it before the bank angle even exceeded 3 degrees. This is the thing about instrument flight is that if you spot a slight deviation, fix it there and then as a small deviation will very quickly exacerbate to a huge deviation. Also limit turns to no more than 20 degrees or around rate 1.

The Constant Aspect Forced Landing Technique:
After 20 minutes, I was cleared to use the actual horizon again and I took the hood off and we proceeded to do some PFLs, this is the fun part. Instead of doing the traditional square circuit with fixed "key" points, which if you are a pilot would probably be aware that it is on very rare occasions that you actually arrive at those points at the said altitudes. So it can be said that those altitudes are absolutely worthless. This is because there are many factors that come into account, such as wind and aircraft loading or even pilot technique! But the rules of thumb stays the same, maintain best glide speed, land into wind as much as practicable.

As the engine fails, the status quo remains, pitch and trim quickly for best airspeed as you look for the best field, preferably to the left and slightly in front, however do not limit choices to only that. I will not go into incredibly technical terms when it comes to field selection. Once the field is selected then you will first plan the general flight path and only then do the checks.

As I previously mentioned, the traditional way to execute and practice forced landings is by a square circuit with fixed key points with fixed altitudes, but in practice they are rarely met with any precision. This is why the Constant Aspect Forced Landing technique is a much safer and easier option. Consider the diagrams below:

Credits to the Royal Air Force

Credits to the Royal Air Force

These diagrams make up part of the RAF Bulldog Flying Instructor's Manual the better illustrate the Constant Aspect technique. The idea is to set a high key point (only for training, in the real world it will work at most normal flying altitudes).

As shown on the diagram on the right, an IAP (Initial Aiming Point) is chosen which is around 1/3rd of the way down the selected landing site, and the idea is to fly a left circular pattern in order to keep the SLA (Sight Line Aspect) the same during the entirety of the circuit. This is not flown so you can maintain sight line but flown like this as it allows for better fine corrections and takes away all the complicated extrapolation and guesswork from the gliding descent. Note that one must maintain coordinated flight throughout the circular loop and also maintain the best glide speed as it will allow for the most ideal glide ratio.

As shown on the diagram below the previously mentioned diagram, the SLA Angle is the angle between the horizon and your sight line towards the IAP, and by eyeballing it should be around the neighborhood of 45 degrees so you wouldn't be too high or low. Note that while flying this technique the key positions and altitudes can be completely forgotten and your eyes should be 90% of the time looking out of the window. Basically it's like flying a straight in final approach, you keep this aiming point at the same point in your windscreen and this removes most, not all of the judgement calls you have to make during a traditional key position technique for forced landings.

The judgement calls the pilot still has to make is whether their SLA is too excessive (Aircraft too high, overshoot) or not significant enough (Aircraft too low, undershoot).

What if you are too high? First of all this is a more ideal position as it is easier to lose height than it is to gain the lost height when your engine has packed up. There are a couple of things in your power to do if this was the case:

• Widen out the circuit - Slacken your turns a little bit and wait for the SLA to correct itself.
• Use flaps - However be aware that premature use of flaps may cause a too low situation.
• On final, overshoot - Like the first technique.
• Slips - Great to lose a whole bunch of height, however proximity to Vso and the ground may be factors against such technique.

Most of the time, widening out and slacking the turns will be sufficient for the SLA to correct to a more ideal 45 degrees. Just note, the 45 degrees is just an eyeballed estimate like anything in flying, don't get out a protractor on your flight test!

Most importantly at the end of the maneuver, watch your altitude, don't get carried away with the oh so amazing glide approach thanks to the RAF. The minimum altitude according to the rules of the air is 500 feet away from any persons, structures or vessels. So remember to start climbing away at or before 500 feet to stay within the minimums!

So my advice now? Go up with an instructor familiar with this technique, or talk to your instructor about this technique and practice safely, use reasonable bank angles and watch your airspeed. Eventually you will find that you can use this technique in any sort of power off landing maneuver like a glide approach or for the Americans, the power off 180. This technique takes away all the nuanced effects of wind and load, and brings it all together with one simple rule: Keep the SLA constant, you will make it down alive. As the landing field is made, apply full flaps and complete your security checks. 

How do you improve in the judgement of overshoot or undershoot? Well it all boils down to constant practice. So maybe this will be one of your New Year's Resolutions, to practice forced landings and be a better, safer, more competent pilot.

My flight path yesterday

So that's it for now, headset review coming up next!

Have fun, fly safe

--

Howard

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