It is just over a year now since I
returned from Florida. Until now my
flying blog has been incomplete – the final phase of my PPL training at Ormond
Beach was rather hectic and I also had problems accessing my e-mails – so sadly
it wasn’t possible to keep up the running commentary. I feel that now is a good
time to belatedly complete the blog, especially as it seems to have a fair
number of visitors. Finishing it on this side of the Atlantic also gives me the
opportunity to include selected photographs from the few that I was able to take
in Florida. I’ll pick up
exactly where I left off:
14th March 2005 –
Having done my first solo cross-country on the 13th, I was naturally
keen to complete the second cross-country today, as well as the vital qualifying
cross-country. The qualifying cross country (QXC) flight requires that a student
pilot completes a solo flight of at least 150 nautical miles, landing at two
other aerodromes enroute. Sadly, neither flight was possible due to bad weather
and worse still, this pattern continued for several
days.
15th / 16th /
17th March – All of these days were lost to bad weather. Generally
from the 14th to the 17th we (myself and the other
students at the same stage of training) seemed to slide into a routine of
getting up early for our scheduled flying, finding that it was cancelled due to
bad weather, but having to wait at the flying school just in case. Every morning
we did our navigation calculations for the forecast winds and fuel requirements,
only to rub it all out and start again at midday when the
new wind forecast was issued. I was starting to become very concerned that I
would not finish the course before my flight home. It was no comfort to learn
that the current poor weather was very unseasonal and due to the Atlantic
jetstream moving further south than usual.
18th March – The flying drought was
finally broken today, but not in the way that I had expected. There was no
daytime flying, but I was scheduled to fly the 3 hours of dual instruction for
the Night Qualification in the evening. With the bad weather and the pace of the
instruction so far, I had almost forgotten that the Night Qualification was
included in my course. I soon learnt that not only would I be flying at night,
but with a different instructor too – Tony. I was slightly apprehensive about
having a new instructor, but I also thought it might provide a new perspective.
Carrying out the pre-flight inspection by torch-light was certainly novel, as
was adjusting to the dim red cabin lighting of the Cessna 150.
If I recall correctly, the lesson
started with some circuits at Ormond Beach, to get
me accustomed to flying at night. The strangest thing was turning away from the
coastal strip that was brightly illuminated with streets and buildings, towards
the swamp and forest out to the west where the darkness was almost total. The
beam from our landing light shone out but was swallowed by the night sky. Tony
warned me to be careful not to become disorientated in this kind of situation.
Perhaps this is what it is like to be a moth, I thought to
myself.
After a series of circuits I was pleased
and relieved when Tony said ‘Well, I’m not worried about your landings at all’.
After that we moved on to Flagler airfield to practice joining the surprisingly
busy circuit and some more landings, followed by a navigation exercise up the
coast to St.
Augustine. During this part of
the flight I had first hand experience of a common nighttime optical illusion. I
saw a bright white light out to sea that appeared to be moving towards us. It
was actually a stationary boat; the apparent movement was a false
impression.
Returning to the
Ormond
Beach area, we entered the
airspace of Daytona International airport and were given permission for a ‘touch
and go’. As we overflew Daytona, Tony asked me to point to the airport. It was
unexpectedly very difficult to pick out among the lights of the town. I couldn’t
believe that an International
Airport was so
hard to spot, but I was told that most people have the same
problem.
Once we had landed back at
Ormond
Beach, Tony said that the lesson
had gone well and he was happy to sign me off to do my solo night flying. I had
really enjoyed the night lesson; the views of the lights of Daytona,
Ormond
Beach and the coastal strip north
to St
Augustine had been fantastic. My
only concern was that the red internal lighting did not pick out the Airspeed
Indicator very well, which made the circuits and landings difficult (and rather
unnerving for a student!) I resolved to try to fix this somehow for my solo
night flight.
Now that the weather seemed to have taken a turn
for the better, I wondered what the next day would bring.
19th March – I left the
bungalow in the morning with some trepidation, as the sky was overcast again.
Fortunately, the conditions were good enough to be signed off to do my second
solo cross-country flight that morning. I had been allocated N704ZW for this
trip, but when I did the pre-flight inspection and lowered the flaps they seemed
a bit sluggish, although it may have been my imagination. However, when I came
to start the engine, there was hardly enough power to crank the propellor. The
battery was flat, and Zulu Whiskey was pushed unceremoniously into the
maintenance hangar. It was really bad luck. I was running out of flying days
fast. My 21 day PPL course had technically finished, but due to the bad weather
I was now relying on the two ‘days off’ that I had allowed myself to look around
Florida before flying
home. Now, I had just wasted 40 minutes pre-flighting an aircraft with a dud
battery and it was uncertain if I would have a replacement. Fortunately, fate
(or rather Bill the flying instructor) smiled on me and I was given N704FE for
the flight up to St.
Augustine and back. Without
further ado I set about doing the pre-flight inspection and got underway. The
flying conditions today were very different to anything I had seen (whilst
airborne) so far in Florida, the sky was
overcast with a fairly low cloud base, and the visibility was more restricted.
Although the weather was safe and legal, it initially unnerved me because I had
been used to blue skies and a slight haze at worst.
Ormond
Beach soon disappeared behind me,
and I was flying up the intercoastal waterway with its series of inlets and mud
flats, looking at the foaming crests of the waves breaking on the long golden
sands of the coastline.
Flying north along the coast towards St. Augustine
After being instructed to join left base
for runway 31 (over the coastal salt swamps that are, I was told, home to many
alligators with big pointy teeth), I landed at St. Augustine.
If I remember rightly, the trip back to
Ormond
Beach was a pleasant flight in
rapidly improving weather. It was looking good for the QXC in the
afternoon.
After lunch, I was re-united with
N704ZW, which now had a fresh battery and was ready for my QXC. The pre-flight
inspection revealed that I needed to refuel and that is where my problems began!
When I got to the fuel pumps, there was a light aircraft ahead of me in the
queue in the process of re-fuelling. I had seen the pilot earlier in the office
– he was visiting Ormond
Beach. Unfortunately, after he
had refuelled he decided to take a call on his mobile phone – a lengthy one. He
did this whilst standing right next to the fuel pump. Of course, his aircraft
was still parked at the pump so I just had to wait. When he finished his call he
must have seen me pacing up and down and said he would be out of the way in a
minute. I actually wasn’t too concerned and was just a bit stressed because of
the flight ahead. Also, I thought it best not to upset one of the locals.
However, more delays followed. He got into the aircraft, but couldn’t close the
door properly. Then he did his start up checks, and started the engine but must
have realised (at the same time that I suddenly did) that he had left the
refuelling hose blocking the path of his nosewheel. So, he had to shut down the
engine, get out, move the hose etc. Then came further problems shutting the
door! I recall that I lost more than half an hour with this delay and the
refuelling.
Finally, with suitably full fuel tanks,
I took off from Ormond
Beach, heading for Palatka. It
wasn’t long before I could see the cooling towers that are just outside the town
(I heard various explanations as to what this landmark was, ranging from a
nuclear power plant to a waste incinerator). As I neared Palatka, I encountered
an unexpected problem. I had requested ‘flight following’ from Jacksonville
Approach and they gave me a squawk code to set on my transponder. I read the
squawk code back to them, and all seemed to be well. However, it soon became
obvious that they had not heard my response. I tried to read it back again, but
Jacksonville could not
hear me and said: ‘704ZW squawk 1200, radar service terminated, proceed
enroute’. It appeared that my radio could either not transmit or at least was
not being received by Jacksonville. This was
not yet a big problem, as I was not obliged to talk to anybody on this
particular route (other than the airfields I was to land at). It did cause one
moment of concern though. One of the other students, Neil, was doing the exact
same route as me for his QXC. He had gone out to his Piper Warrior at the same
time that I started up my Cessna 150. He had not had any refuelling delays and
the Warrior cruised faster than the Cessna. The result was that after I overflew
Palatka and was looking for my next waypoint (a grass strip that was difficult
to spot), he was en-route from Gainesville to
St.
Augustine on a reciprocal track.
I was still monitoring Jacksonville and heard
them notify Neil of ‘unknown traffic’ (me!) and my level (I had Mode C selected
on the transponder). The strange thing was that although I could hear
Jacksonville, I could
not hear Neil’s responses. I kept a very good look out, and sure enough I soon
spotted him and watched as he passed by harmlessly at a lower level and to my
left.
I was relieved when I spoke to
Gainesville and it
became apparent that my radio was working fine. The landing at
Gainesville was
uneventful, and I was marshalled into a parking space near the University
building where my all-important paperwork was stamped.
Soon I was airborne again, retracing my
journey back to the Palatka overhead, and crossing the wide, blue waters of the
St. Johns River. It wasn’t long before I could make out the hangars at
St.
Augustine and the sea
beyond.
Crossing the St. John's River.
After landing at
St.
Augustine, I got the second stamp
on my paperwork and got back in the aircraft for the final leg back to
Ormond
Beach. I had a scare when I could
not find the aircraft key. It wasn’t in my pockets, on the adjustment knob for
the altimeter, on the coaming or under the seats. Just as I was starting to get
rather worried, I found the keys in my back pocket!
Having left
St.
Augustine I was on the home
straight, and a familiar route. The weather was much better than it had been
this morning. My QXC seemed to have taken an eternity and I was relieved when I
saw the Tomoka
Basin come into
view, and then Ormond
Beach airport. At last I pulled
up outside the flying school and shut down. My QXC was
finished!
Me, flying N704ZW
As darkness fell, I was back at the flying school
for my 2 hour solo night flight, to complete the Night Qualification. I was
apprehensive about flying solo at night, but at least I found a solution to the
problem of not being able to read the ASI. I had a small torch with a red
filter, purchase from the local Wal Mart. I found that by wedging this torch in
the pocket of my kneeboard it shone directly onto the airspeed indicator –
result! Fortunately, there were no problems with the aircraft when I did the
pre-flight inspection.
Unexpectedly, I really quite enjoyed the
solo night flight. I did circuits at both Ormond Beach and
Flagler and savoured the great views of the lights of the coast. It could not
have been a better night weather wise, with a clear starry sky and not a breath
of wind. At the back of my mind though was always the concern about where I
would head for in the event of an engine failure. Tony had advised that a beach,
a highway, or even a very large car park were the best options, but none sounded
like a good prospect in the dark. The other worry was the trees on the final
approach to the runway at Ormond. Tony instructed me to always come in a little
high. My approach to the final landing of the flight was more than a little
high, but it was fine.
After I had walked back to the accommodation and
had something to eat and drink it was late, and I was
shattered!
20th March – Today I had a skills test
preparation lesson with another instructor – Steve, which was really useful. I
had explained the difficulty I had earlier in the course getting to grips with
stalling, so during our lesson we did quite a bit of practice on these
exercises. At the power-on stall he kicked the rudder to cause a wing drop, but
I recovered it OK and he said I had done fine. That helped my confidence a
lot.
21st March – Not only was
this the day I was due to fly home, but it was also the day of my skills test!
When we had lost so many days to the bad weather I had pretty much given up
hoping that I would make it to this point whilst in
Florida. Even now, my
main concern was leaving for the airport on time at around mid-day, rather than
the test itself. Also, if I am completely honest, the hectic pace of regaining
the lost ground had eroded my enthusiasm and enjoyment. I also don’t like doing
things at the last minute. I had made up my mind to look at the skills test as
another lesson with an instructor, nothing more. I actually think that this
attitude helped me a great deal.
I had been told to be at the flying school very
early in the morning. I had only had time to pack half of my belongings for the
flight home. It was still dark when I set off on the walk to the airport, and
when I arrived the school was locked and deserted. I began to worry that nobody
would turn up until later, but suddenly Bill appeared, and without delay he set
me the flight planning part of the skills test. I found it hard working against
the clock, but I finished in time. When I saw the aircraft I had been allocated,
my heart sank – it was the school’s Cessna 150 Aerobat. I had not yet flown it,
and the other students and hour builders didn’t have too many kind words for it.
They said the extra strengthening of the airframe made it heavy and a poor
performer, but the main gripe was that the flap indicator was mounted inside the
forward part of the doorframe, making it difficult to see. As it was, I needn’t
have worried. When Ken (my examiner) arrived and we got underway, I didn’t
notice too much difference in the flying characteristics. We flew part of the
route that I had planned earlier, out past Deland. I wasn’t too nervous and my
navigation was ok. Then Ken diverted me off the route back towards an airfield
on the coast. I made a good estimate of the bearing and distance to go, which
turned out to be almost spot on when measured from the chart. The airfield was
quite difficult to spot at first, but I was identifying other features that we
passed so I knew we were on track. After successfully reaching the airfield’s
overhead and flying out over a less inhabited area, we did the handling
exercises. I was most worried about the stalls, but these went well. Now I
started to get a little nervous, because I began to think that I might well
pass, as long as I didn’t make any really bad foul ups. By this stage there were
just some circuits to do back at Ormond between me and the
licence!
Ormond was soon in sight and the circuits began.
The flap indicator proved less of a problem than feared. I could actually see it
travelling up and down in the doorframe, probably because I am not very tall and
have to have the seat all the way forward. The landings all went well, including
the glide in from the downwind leg. I think the last was a flapless landing, and
I was glad when Ken told me it would be the full stop.
Back on the taxi-way and just after the
post-landing checks, Ken announced that I had passed the skills test! He asked
me to taxi to the pumps and re-fuel, where he got out and walked the short
distance back to the school. I think that the taxi and re-fuel was perhaps the
most nerve jangling part, because I was so pleased to have passed that I made
myself concentrate extra hard in case I made a stupid mistake! After filling the
tanks, I pulled up outside the school, parked the aircraft and shut down for the
final time in Florida.
All the other students congratulated me, although
it hadn’t really sunk in yet. I was very pleased to have passed, but I didn’t
want to celebrate too much because I knew that many of them were struggling to
complete the course because of all the bad weather we had had, so it didn’t seem
right. I waited quietly in the bar area until Ken had finished all my paperwork.
Then I said my goodbyes, was given a hurried lift back to the house (thanks to
Ian) and just had time to throw the rest of my belongings
together.
It wasn’t until I was waiting for the
taxi outside the front door of the accommodation with my bags that it really
dawned on me that I had passed and I was going home. I hadn’t realised how tired
I had been either – I slept all the way to Orlando in the taxi,
and I was fast asleep for most of the flights home to the
UK!
When I got back, I made back up photocopies of my
logbook and all the paperwork and posted all the originals off to the CAA. I
think it was a couple of weeks later before the package landed on my doormat
containing my shiny new licence.
So, that was how I eventually got my
Private Pilots Licence in Florida. At this
point I would like to thank all at Ormond Beach Aviation for really pulling out
all the stops to help me and ensuring that I got the flying done despite the
unseasonal weather.
I hope you enjoyed reading the
blog.
