Ode to the Taildragger

Tail Dragger I hate your guts
I have the license, ratings and such,
but to make you go straight is driving me nuts.
With hours of teaching and controls in my clutch
It takes a little rudder — easy, that’s too much!

You see, I learned to fly in a tricycle gear
With one up front and two in the rear.
She was sleek and clean and easy to steer
But this miserable thing with tires and struts
Takes a little rudder — easy, that’s too much!

It demands your attention on the takeoff roll,
Or it heads towards the boonies as you pour on the coal
Gotta hang loose, don’t over control

This wicked little plane is just too much
With a lot of zigzagging and words obscene
I think I’ve mastered this slippery machine.
It’s not too bad if you have the touch
Just a little rudder — easy, that’s too much!

I relax for a second and from the corner of my eye
I suddenly realize, with a gasp and a cry
That’s my own tail that’s going by!
You ground looping wreck,
I hate your guts
Give a little rudder — Oh no, THAT’S TOO MUCH!

*not mine

PPL

Fear not, brave readers, I’m not dead, despite the fact I haven’t posted much in the past few months.

In November 2011, I did most of my nav training, flying pretty much every day. It was a fair learning curve, to try and learn how to navigate using nothing but a map, compass and watch!  I also learnt how to operate in controlled airspace, navving to Moorabbin and Essendon every nav.

Well, today it came to an end and I obtained my PPL. I’m now licenced to fly all around Australia and in CTA. I still can’t believe it’s happened!

I’m very excited about all the possibilities this opens, both in places I can fly to, and the endorsements I can now get. I have to admit I’m slightly disappointed my navs are over though, I really enjoyed the nav training, I’d say it’s definitely been the best part of my flying training so far. I’ve got lots of good memories of this training.

Still, onwards and upwards!

What I learnt from not going to Avalon

For those not in the know, ‘Avalon’ is the Australian International Airshow held at Avalon Airport just outside Melbourne. Most pilot locals fall into one of four categories when it comes to this airshow – 1. they fall into paroxysms of joyous excitement at the very thought of the show, 2. they think it’s kinda cool and decide they may as well go, 3. they go because it’s a good networking opportunity and they’re in the biz, 4. they’re a bit over it and wish the organisers would change things more from show to show.

I thought I’d be somewhere in category 2. Yet this week I found myself dithering between whether I should go or whether I should ditch it because it was expensive ($100+ on ticket and petrol before I even got in the gate) and I really couldn’t be bothered driving all the way to Geelong (over an hour each way).

This week, between my dithering, I’ve also been reading a book by Antony Woodward called ‘Propellerhead’ (highly recommended – bought it here) and I came to a passage which seemed to sum up my feelings and made me realise just why my level of interest about the airshow wasn’t enough to outweight the cost/effort of getting there.

“I bought books about planes, but though they always seemed interesting in the shop, once I got home I seldom opened them again. Looking at pictures of planes, I soon realised, didn’t have much to do with flying…Full of hope, I went to several air shows and although they too were initially exciting, I always came away bored and slightly disappointed (with the mandatory stiff neck and a headache). They appeared to be about many things – noise, speed, power, danger, the chance of explosions – but, oddly, not really about flying or what it felt like to fly. I realised that it was doing it, not watching it, that I liked.”

The reason I love flying is for the flying itself. It’s the feeling of the aircraft under my hands, knowing I’m in control. The feeling when the wheels leave the ground and you become airborne, the fun challenge of getting everything to come together at once for landing, the thrill on a nav when all the landmarks appear right where they are on the map and you know you’ve nailed your planning. Looking at planes and watching other people fly just isn’t the same.

So I saved my $100+ to spend on flight time and learnt a little about myself 🙂

Update

Well, it’s been a fair while since I last posted. Life’s started getting busier – I’ve been madly doing assignments for uni, looking after the house while my parents are overseas (which takes up more time than you’d think really) and still managing to fit in some flying (yay!).

A fair bit has happened since I posted last – I’ve done some more solo time in the Jab, obtained my passenger endorsement, started my GA training in the Warrior and taken my first passenger for a flight.

Rather than doing separate posts for each flight, I’m just going to do one big update post 🙂

Local Flight

In which I do my first ‘hire & fly’ as a RA-Aus Certificate holder

RA-Aus Certificate Flight Test

In which I hang around at the airport for the afternoon, act as ballast in a TravelAir without a headset and do my RA-Aus Certificate flight test.

Circuits with T

In which I do some circuits with T.

Pre-licence check: part IV

In which I do a practice forced landing, fly some nice circuits and am cleared to book in for my test.

Where to from here?

Now that I’m close to obtaining my RA-Aus Pilot Certificate (at least, I think/hope I am!), I’ve been giving some thought to where I intend to progress to next in my flying training.

One option is to continue with RA-Aus and obtain a cross country (XC) endorsement, enabling me to fly around Australia in RA-Aus registered aircraft.

However, even since I began flying I’ve intended to move onto my PPL after I complete the RA-Aus training. So instead of doing navs in RA-Aus, obtaining the XC endorsement, then doing the conversion to PPL, I’ve decided to move to GA for my navs and get my PPL which (I think – I must check this sometime) will automatically give me the XC endorsement on my RA-Aus certificate.

Having decided that, I’ve been setting things rolling for beginning my GA training.

On Monday I completed the paperwork for the Student Pilot Licence and posted it off to CASA – hopefully in the next few weeks (it could take up to or over 6 weeks apparantly, but I’m hoping I’m lucky) I’ll receive my SPL and ASIC card. I also applied for an ARN which will hopefully be sent out to me soon and I can arrange to get a class 2 medical certificate from a DAME (aviation medical examiner).

I also had a chat to the CFI on Monday about my goals for PPL. I have set myself a time goal, but I’m not telling you in case I don’t meet it! Apparantly it might be a little optimistic but I pointed out that after exams in mid-October I’ll be able to fly practically every day, which should help things along a bit. I’m also planning to fly with some other instructors, to get more experience with different instructors – right now the plan is to probably fly with K and JL – although that isn’t certain yet, I’m not making any bookings or anything until I’ve completed my RA-Aus certificate (logically).

The other major change is that I’ll be switching over to a new aircraft – a Piper Warrior. These are low wing GA aircraft, a fair amount larger than the Jab! They’re also supposedly easier to fly than the Jab (well, anything seems to be really). So the first few hours of my PPL training will be conversion training onto the Warrior – going through basic handling and then first solo and first area solo etc. Hopefully that part won’t take too long, but either way it’ll be fun to move onto a new aircraft. Then it’ll be onto navs!

I also intend to get my passenger (PAX) endorsement for my RA-Aus certificate at some point, but I’m trying to decide between doing the last 2.7 solo in the Jab at the same time as starting the Warrior conversion, or waiting until I do some solo time on the Warrior and counting that for the 2.7. I’ll probably end up doing it in the Jab simply so that I can get it sooner.

So overall I’m very excited about it all – it feels a bit like a clean slate – not skills wise (hopefully!) – but new plane, new instructors and new challenges. And once I get my PPL, there’s lots of interesting endorsements to do! 🙂

Pre-licence check: part III

In which I fly badly.

RA-Aus Board Election

I’m running for election to the RA-Aus Board as Victorian Representative.

Rather than putting my name on here (still trying for some anonymity), I’m just going to say that out of the two candidates, only one has a female name, and that’s me.

If elected to the RA-Aus Board I will bring a new perspective, the perspective of a younger member. RA-Aus is a constantly evolving organisation and it is up to the Board to lead that evolution and represent the changing needs and views of the members. Part of this evolution is recruiting and supporting younger members and it is important that the Board reflect this. However, it is equally important to not neglect the experience and wisdom of the older members. A mix of wisdom and youthful enthusiasm working together on the Board will benefit every member of RA-Aus.

I am in my final year of an Arts/Law degree and believe that the skills I have obtained from these degrees will aid me to effectively represent the members of RA-Aus.

The purpose of an elected representative is to represent the views of the members. A Board where the representatives act only for themselves causes nothing but harm to the organisation that they claim to represent. The Board should represent the views of the members and work together for the future of the organisation and, if elected, I intend to do so.

We all share a passion for aviation. I intend to support that passion by representing the wishes of the members as a Board member and by raising awareness of RA-Aus in the wider community, to encourage the growth and evolution of this organisation. We all fly for fun and I intend to work to keep that as the central focus of RA-Aus.

Pre-licence check: part II

In which I learn how to start the Jab in cold weather, manage to do half my pre-licence check and fight with the throttle.

Pre-licence check: part I

So, the plan for today was to do my pre-licence check. Unfortunately the weather gods didn’t comply and instead gave me clouds and fog (sigh).

Anyways, we didn’t get to do the practical part but did do the theory part of the check. Basically I was asked a series of questions about things like the privileges/limitations of the RA-Aus certificate, knowledge about the Jab and how I’d deal with certain scenarios in the air.

Overall it seems I would’ve passed the theory part, which is good. The flying part had to be postponed until next week, but hopefully next Saturday the weather will be kind! 😛

I feel like I’m so close to actually doing the test, it’s rather disappointing to have it affected by weather. Ah well, I guess that’s what I get for getting to this point in the middle of winter!

Steep turns & Circuits

In which I do some solo flying to build up PIC time, dodge some rain and do some rather nice landings

Circuit Revision

In which I fly some circuits, manage to remember how to do a precautionary search, and deal with a stack of engine ‘failures’

Basic Aeronautical Knowledge Test

Last weekend I set myself the challenge of learning all of the information for the Basic Aeronautical Knowledge test in one week and sitting the test today. Well, while I didn’t get to fly today (I hate winter), I did get to the airport to do my test.

I’m pleased to say that I passed the GA BAK with a mark of 87.5% 🙂

Unusual Attitudes

In which I learn how to deal with unusual attitudes and attempt to fly S&L with my eyes closed.

Circuit Revision

In which I revise various different things in the circuit and land unusually well (if I do say so myself)

Short-Field Landings

In which I do the Human Factors test, have another crack at short-field landings and seem to be improving.

Circuits & Short-Field Landings

In which I sit the radiotelephony test, do some circuits and try to get the hang of short-field landings.