Grant's flying

1st and 2nd GFPT Solos

It takes a brave, trusting and arguably foolish women to follow a man and his dream and get into a two seat trainer on his 2nd only flight following gaining his GFPT (General Flight Proficiency Test). That would be Jane (its a much braver woman who goes first, thanks Jo, but no pics alas!).

Things started off tentatively. I pre-flighted TGV, ordered the fuel, put the key in the lock and discovered I had the key for TGL (pictured). OK, they look the same, fly the same, are painted the same and they were parked next to each other. Jane is pictured saying "I am glad we are flying this one, it looks much bigger". Thing is the planes are the same, but I let her feel confident in the fact that we were now flying in something more like a 737 and less like a box kite.

Now Jane being the proficient military professional that she is has flown in more Black Hawk Helicopters than I have had hot dinners, and has even survived an emergency landing in an Apache. I had total confidence that she was the perfect companion should anything else go wrong.

We made an upwind departure on Bankstown's 29R and headed to the training area. It's a nice little flight out to Warragamba Dam then back via 2RN into the control zone. On the way back asked Jane if she wanted to experience some basic maneuvers in the Grob. She said "sure". So we did a couple of 60 degree 2G banked turns which is always a bit of fun. I then showed her the power off characteristics of the plane just to show that this was no helicopter and still flew fine with no engine, I pitched up, let the stall warning come on, recovered, reapplied power and flew back to Bankstown. I got cleared for a few circuits to keep my hand in so we did three touch and goes and finished our first flight together.

Now the thing is that the cool, calm and competent Major (Hotlips) Hancock was apparently somewhat less calm and collected than her external demeanour suggested. The thing is when I said I would demonstrate the power off handling characteristics of the Grob, it brought back certain less than fond memories of a stall in her Apache. Helicopters tend to make like stone when their engine's fail, but survival is (clearly) possible if they auto-rotate. Ah well, if the stall warning hadn't been so loud she probably would have enjoyed the steep turns and the three circuits more. (The CARS say that straight and steady stalls or turns in which the angle of bank does not exceed 60 degrees shall be deemed NOT to be acrobatic flight BTW) When I didn't stop the plane after our first touch, I gather she was looking for the ejector seat button but couldn't find it (and they were really good landings too!).


And a stall looking back into the cabin... don't forget the HASEL checklist - height, airframe, secure your doggie, engine, lookout..... (n.b. CAR 256A, 1. Subject to paragraph (8) below, the operator of an aircraft must not permit a live animal to be in the aircraft unless: A. the animal is in a container and is carried in accordance with this regulation; orB. the animal is carried with the written permission of CASA and in accordancewith any conditions specified in the permission, or C. It would make a good video for You Tube.

We have dined out on this story, even discovering a waiter at a Brisbane restaurant who also had flown helicopters in the military (but we got no free drinks, such is Queensland).

The sad followup to this tale is that the little Grob G115A trainers got sold off by the flight school a week or two after this flight. So I have had to re-endorse in the Piper Warrior, easier to land, but less fun to fly.

As it happens this was also our and my last solo flight. Life has got in the way of flight training in the last couple of months, but I am now at 60 hours, and ready for my first cross country solo (generally a flight down to Wollongong, back to Golbourn and a return to Bankstown). With my instructor, I've done this flight, a flight to Bathurst, and a flight to Cessnock via the Northern Corridor. This was actually a great flight. Our (old) family home is right under the southern flight corridor into Bankstown so my instructor Lawrence said "just do some circuits over your house", so I did. He put the plane into a fairly steep bank and a shallow dive. My soon to be sold house was looking resplendent in the afternoon light. The ground did seem to be getting larger in the window and I said to Lawrence "are you flying the plane", to which he replied "no", at which point I said "taking over" and resumed our track in the approach corridor. Fun though....

I'm at 60 hours flight time now, 1 flight away from my next solo and probably 10 hours away from my full Private Pilot License (perhaps 4 more flights).

1st GFPT Solo

It was my Sister Lyndal's birthday on the 29th July. So I had booked a T-Bird for Sunday 30th July to take her for a fly for her 41st. We had a little party at 5 Lockhart and watched the Rocky Horror Picture show on the home theatre. The thing is she had an ear problem and decided it was best not to come flying. So at short notice Joanne agreed to be my guinea pig and risk herself on my first flight.

We drove out to Bankstown, did the paperwork, preflight and fueled the (right) Grob. Jo was a bit nervous as we started up. We taxied out to the run-up bay for 29L. The thing is the run-up bay was full. So I figured I could park near the bay close to a fence. I actually misjudged it and quickly figured I was going to need to select reverse gear to back my way out of my tight spot. What, I hear you say, the Grob has a reverse gear? Well no. So I had to shut down the engine, get out of the cockpit and man-handle the plane back into the alignment I wanted. "This is all under control", I convincingly told Jo. We completed the run-up and joined the queue for 29R. I could still sense Jo's anxiety as we taxied out and lined up. OK, clear to take off, check engine, air speed active, keep alignment, plane getting light, gentle forward pressure until Vr, about 55 kts then rotate. The feeling of excitement as I leave the ground never gets boring! I looked at Jo. A mild look of anxiety was replaced with a huge smile. We did a standard up-wind departure to Prospect initially climbing to 1000, then 2500 at 3NM where I levelled out and turned west into the training was very twitchy as I made a standard 30 degree bank turn and I thought "wait till she experiences steep turns :)".

I kept it simple, tracked via the pipeline to Warragamba, and banked so Jo could get a good look. We kept tracking south for a bit then turned East towards 2RN. I was at about 3,500 ft and said to Jo "would you like to experience a steep turn". OK, J o was nervous again but agreed. So I put the little Grob into the 60 degrees 2G left turn. Miz Jo howled, grabbing onto my arm like we were on a roller coaster (which in a way we were). I kept the bank angle for a while and rolled out. Much to my surprise Miz Jo said "can we go again". Sure.... so I did another couple of turns because I could.

So we tracked back into Bankstown and I asked for some circuits which tower approved on 29L. I think I was a bit excited because I cut my crosswind circuit close the the threshold of 29 - the tower told me to turn left, but there was no traffic at it was all cool. I did some circuits and then it was time to taxi home.

I don't think I have ever seen anyone start so nervous and end up so excited. Jo phoned home to tell everyone she was alive (was there every any doubt). So thank you Jo for making my first flight with a passenger so memorable.

p.s. Lyndal still hasn't had her flight. Between divorce, interstate and international travels, selling my house and moving, and fitting in my regular flight training, I have had little time for recreational flying. My Class II medical expired on 19 Dec, so all those waiting their turn will just have to wait until the CASA boys get around to sending my paperwork back.

posted by Grant @ 3:57 PM