Thursday 28 February 2008

Magic Plastic



I am feeling a little bit conflicted tonight... my body is screaming blue murder as I've just got back from pre-season football training and am hurting like a hurty thing, but my brain is screaming with delight and doing cartwheels with glee...

The magic piece of plastic has finally arrived! That's right boys and girls... my licence arrived in the mail today! Wooooohoooo!



I am so stoked that it has finally arrived, and I am now officially a licensed Pilot. All I need to do now is convince someone to come flying with me :)

My Mum and Dad are coming up this way at Easter... and traditionally my Mum is supposed to be my first passenger... so hopefully I can hold out for 3 more weeks! Hopefully I will finish my 172 Type Rating this weekend, so I will be able to take M+D and jade for a tiki tour around the city or something...

Monday 25 February 2008

Intro to type

First flight since my flight test and it was awesome... I've started my 172 type rating and it was the perfect end to the weekend.

With all the crazy weather, I honestly did not think that I would get in the air, but by around 4pm on Sunday, large chunks of blue were showing, the cloudbase was up over 2000' and the wind had died down to around 5 to 10 knots...

I had already spent Saturday doing all the groundwork (learning reference speeds, weight and balance, p-charts etc) so all that was needed was to cover basic handling, stalls, EFATO, FLWOP and some circuits... then an 'All up weight check' and some solo circuits and I am away laughing.

As the weather had fined up, I headed out to Ardmore and started pre-flighting DXJ. It is a 1970's (1976?) Cessna 172M. Visually, it is a little rough around the edges (the owner is apparently getting it repainted and the interior done this winter), but it has just had a new (not reconditioned, but brand new!) engine put in... and it just purrs...

Thought I had a problem with my homemade headset during startup, as it was crackling and lots of static etc, but it did the same thing with my 'proper' headset, so I guess the intercom has some gremlins in it.

Headed out, and while I should have expected the Engine Failure after TakeOff, I was too busy enjoying the different (and very spacious compared to the 152) aircraft... I handled it OK, and actually found some good paddocks to use...

Then down to the Training Area for some standard stuff, medium turns, steep turns, stalls and a FLWOP... which I totally nailed!

The biggest difference (aside from costing more ;) is just how smooth the aircraft is... even with the odd shower passing through and the breeze coming over the Hunua Ranges, the aircraft just seemed to glide through the air... whereas the 152 is best described as 'squirrely' :)

Back to the circuit for an overhead join, then a couple of normal approaches, a flapless and a shortfield... You really notice the difference in attitude here... the nose of the 172 slopes away, whereas the 152 is quite flat... and with 40 degrees of flap vs. 30 in the 152, you get to see an awful lot of ground on approach... its somewhat disconcerting as you get the impression you are nosing into the ground!

Now all I need is the 'All Up Weight Check', which is some circuits with a couple of passengers so the aircraft is fully loaded + some solo circuits and I will be rated for the 172.

This flight: 1.3 Dual
Total Hours: 90.1 (69.3 Dual, 20.8 PinC, 5.1 IFR)

Wednesday 20 February 2008

Good things come to those who wait

So the MoJ finally decided to send me my criminal history... they actually received it on January 9th. The letter stating that I had no criminal history was dated February 13th... and I got it on the 15th. So it only took 5 weeks in the end... jade tells me I should be thankful, some of the employees she has hired had to wait like 6 to 8 weeks for theirs! yikes!

So I got all the paperwork sorted with the flight examiner on Sunday, so it should have been sent off on Monday. He has asked me to note how long it takes for the license to be issued and let him know. Apparently, in today's post 11/9 world, the CAA want to talk to Interpol, the FBI, CIA, NSA, SIS, MI-6, KGB, DGSE, GSG-9, ABC and XYZ ;) to make sure that I am not a terrorist hell bent on flying my 152 into the tallest building I can find.

He has told me to expect it to take around 3 weeks. *sigh* I really want to take some friends flying, but until I have the piece of plastic, I am stuck being 'Captain Solo'.

So in preparation, I think I will just get a 172 rating, so that when I finally do get a license I can take 2 or 3 people at once, rather than 1 at a time in the 152. I also found out that DXJ has finished it's engine run-in, so is now available for flight training and is cleared for ab-initio pilots (unlike DXP which is minimum 100hrs PinC) for insurance purposes.

Sunday was not a complete write-off though... one of the other club members was getting current in the 182, and needed a check flight at all up weight. I am very good at being ballast ;) so I jumped at the chance to tag along for the ride. Got to test my headset out at the same time against a different intercom system and 3 other headsets and it was fine.

Then after getting current Nathan decided to go for a city scenic.


I have not flown over the city except in heavy jets making an approach for Auckland International, and it was a nice day so I was more than happy to sit in the back.



We took off, departed from the circuit on the downwind leg and headed towards Musik Point via Brookby.



Once at Musik Point we flew up the harbour, then circled around the Sky Tower before heading out to Waiheke.



Around Waiheke and back to Ardmore. A nice little 40 minute joyride... fabulous!

Thursday 14 February 2008

Do as we say...

and not as we do.

That seems to be the motto of the Ministry of Justice... Note the part that says "20 working days"...

I find it more than a little ironic that the government department charged with upholding law and justice seem to ignore it...

The Privacy Act 1993 states that an organisation has 20 working days to respond to your request, and if they cannot comply within that timeframe they are supposed to advise you, in writing, of the delay, how long they expect it to take and the reasons for it within the 20 day period. They even say this on their website!

But they have done neither and when I called them, they fobbed me off with some sob story about how its 20 working days, so you don't count weekends/public holidays, and that they're all snowed under since they got back from Xmas/New Years break... cry me a river.

When I pointed out that I have been waiting for around 25 days and I have not received either my requested history or a note detailing the delay, I was told they are only just processing requests from January 7th! So I asked if there was any way to check they had even received my application... "No, we don't send out confirmations"... Awesome, so given that 20 days has passed and I've had nothing and you wont even tell me whether you even got my application... how long should I wait now? 30 days? 40 days? Christmas?

*sigh*... I really should know better than to try and use logic and reasoning where government departments are concerned... still, I think I might send a note to the privacy commissioner expressing my disappointment with the Ministry of Justice...

Without the criminal history (which is empty btw), I am unable to complete the 'Fit and Proper Person' declaration which means I cannot get my PPL issued... grrrrrrrr

I hate paperwork and bureaucracy.

Monday 4 February 2008

The longest day...

Waiting... waiting... waiting...

8 years, 5 months, 24 days to be precise. That was the time from my first logged flight (August 11th 1999) to my PPL flight test (3rd February 2008) and in that time I racked up:

  • 90 flights...

  • in 15 different aircraft...

  • totalling 88.8 hours...

  • and 284 landings[1]


and what do I have to show for it? A handshake and a 'Congratulations' from the flight examiner :)

Yesterday was quite possibly one of the longest days of my life. After spending most of saturday evening doing my last minute prep and making sure I had all my documents in order, I found I was so excited I could barely sleep. In fact, I did not dose off until after midnight and I awoke around 6:30am.

After tossing and turning for an hour or so, I finally gave up and had a shower, triple-checked that I had everything and then headed out to the airfield.

Of course, no other idiot was stupid enough to be at the flying club at 9am, so it was all locked up. I just sat at one of the outdoor tables watching the early morning circuit bashers and doing some last minute study of the flight manual.

A couple of other people showed up, so I started ringing people to find someone with a key. A keyholder finally arrived around 10am, which meant I got to sit inside and be anxious instead of sitting outside and being anxious ;)

The flight examiner, John, arrived soon after, but had a lot of paperwork and some other business to attend to first. So I waited.

Around 11:15, I commenced the ground work portion (doing flight plan, weight & balance etc.) and thanks to a practice run on Saturday and my paper work prep the night before I had finished in about 25-30 minutes... you get 1 hour. I went to tell John, but he was busy doing an Instructor Renewal so he told me to go and get a coffee. So I waited.

During this time, the cloud turned nasty, it rained... it started to fine up... it started to shower again... you know, typical Auckland "4 seasons in one day" weather.

A couple of flights came back saying "cloud base and weather down to minimums"... so I thought it was over, but John said "we'll wait and see". So I waited.

He went and did the instructor renewal flight and came back and said the weather was not too bad so if we leave it a little bit and work through the paperwork it should be good to go. So I waited.

It rained.

So John decides he'll head back into town to go pick up his father and come back and drop him off at the Warbirds association for a beer... he'll be back in 30 minutes. So I waited.

He arrived back and said "Ready to go?" so I preflighted the aircraft (I had already done this earlier, but he wanted to watch how I did it) and we strapped ourselves and went. I made sure I verbalised everything that I was doing and worked through my checks thoroughly.

We taxied out at 5:30pm... and I was still feeling excited, nervous and amped despite being up for nearly 12 hours.

The next 1.1 hours were a bit of a blur... climb out, head down towards the training area via Drury, steep turn left, steep turn right, basic stall, fully developed stall, power-on stall, compass turns, forced landing, EFATO, bad weather/low flying, medium turn left, medium turn right, steep turn left, steep turn right, head back to the field for some circuits.

Rain showers sweeping across the field made it interesting, as did the light twin behind me doing asymmetric circuits, but it's his responsibility to get his spacing right so I was not too concerned with what he was doing.

So we did a normal circuit (I did a go-around because I was high and not happy with the approach), a flapless (demonstrating crosswind technique for John, not easy when the wind is calm!), another normal (with a go-around at about 10 feet!) and then a shortfield approach to finish (55kts all the way down final and totally nailed it!)

Taxied back to the club, parked up and ran through the shutdown checks at which point John smiled at me, then offered his hand and said 'Congratulations'. I thanked him and we chatted for a minute about a couple of things (my first go-around and my apparent reluctance to use full flaps) and then he asked if I minded securing the aircraft on my own. It was still raining and he obviously didn't want to get soaking wet, but I could have cared less...

Being the "professional" pilot that I am, I waited until he had climbed out and disappeared back into the clubhouse before celebrating my success... but I'm sure everyone inside heard me ;)

So I worked through the paperwork, then got out and secured the aircraft (the rain was actually quite refreshing) and headed inside to a dead quiet clubhouse before everyone burst in applause and congratulations.

My wallet ended up a little lighter after the bar shout and a nice cold Monteiths Summer Ale (in honour of the lovely summery weather), but the nothing could get the stupid grin off my face... It's still there today and probably will be for the next week or three :)

Then I had dinner with the in-laws (which became an impromptu celebratory dinner) and headed home. I had been planning on cracking open a bottle of Wild Turkey that a friend gave me for xmas, but by 10:30pm, I had been up for around 16 hours with about 4 hours of sleep before that... so as you can imagine I crashed pretty hard! ;)

And then irony of irony's... today is beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine... much like the 3 weeks of perfect weather before my flight test... Typical!

Anyway, I still have some paperwork to tidy up (Fit and Proper Person) before CAA will issue my license... and I cannot exercise my PPL privileges before I am in possession of the plastic license, but for all intents and purposes, I am a qualified Private Pilot (Aeroplane).

Now I just need to do my cross countries to lift the restriction... and get a 172 rating... and get a cherokee rating... and get a night rating... and get an aerobatics rating... and get a taildragger rating... and......... ;)


This flight: 1.1 PinC (Pilot in Command)
Total Hours: 88.8 (68.0 Dual, 20.8 PinC, 5.1 IFR)

[1] in case you're wondering how 90 flights ended in 284 landings, when you're doing circuits you do several landings per flight ;)