Better weather has seen Multiflight PPL student Adam Rahnavard progress further with his Private Pilot’s Licence at the Multiflight Flight Training Centre at Leeds Bradford International Airport. Here’s his latest flight training blog:
“As Spring appears to be in the air my optimism of being able to get back in the sky was increasing and the weather was looking quite settled this weekend. On arrival Paul confirmed with me that I had done my homework and planned up next navigation route. I confirmed I had which would take us from Leeds to Denby Dale, from Denby Dale to Goole and from Goole to Elvington before routing back to Leeds. I had also calculated wind drift and journey times/speeds as a result and was all set. Following all my aircraft checks and start up procedures Paul did what he often does to develop my ability and announced that it was very much ‘over to me’ and that he wanted to see if I could pull the whole flight together myself. He would be making notes and if necessary provide any guidance if I became stuck etc. This was not a huge surprise as I am at the stage where I am building up to my solo nav trip in a few weeks hopefully and I will need to be competent in every aspect of the flight. The pressure was on though to show I could do it, manage the flight safely, fly accurately and navigate correctly. I was sure that Paul would be pointing out things in the de-brief but I felt confident I could get us round the route safely and on time.
After departing Leeds Bradford Airport, this time on runway 14, I set our heading to take us out initially over Dewsbury. I had my map at the ready and stages/key features marked on and could see Dewsbury on the nose of the aircraft. I moved our comms from Leeds Tower to Leeds Radar who asked me to confirm my routing. The controller was happy to provide a service to me until I needed passing to Doncaster Radar later in the journey. My flying plan said I would be overhead Denby Dale in 11 minutes and this was on track, I had to make a few minor adjustments but it was going ok if not for a bit of cloud dodging I need to be a bit quicker at anticipating. Learning to fly is a significant investment of time and effort and of course money and while you are there to learn from every minute you are allowed to ensure you are enjoying it too and Paul allowed me to alter my course very slightly so I could overfly the the area I live: I appreciated this. To see my wife waving in the garden was a bizarre experience for both my wife and I and already something not many people can say they have done to overfly their own house, things look somewhat different of course from the air but you get used to it.
Back to the route having regained track and then identified Denby Dale I was able to alter course to Goole. I was a minute over for the slight diversion but making reasonable progress. This next section would take 16 mins and I had the benefit of key large markers such as the power stations at Ferrybridge and Drax to assist my bearings and confirm my position. You quickly realise how it’s not just one things but a whole host of aspects that ensure you navigate correctly, from speed to altitude and from land marks to journey leg times I was aware that getting used to doing everything was not easy and I was making some basic mistakes such as not flying my altitude accurately enough but think I was doing ok. Before reaching Goole I would be entering, albeit briefly, into Doncaster Airport’s airspace so I terminated my basic service from Leeds Tower and moved to Doncaster Radar where permission was granted to route North East across a part of their zone. Once I identified and reached Goole I steered on to my penultimate leg for Elvington Airfield, the controller at Doncaster needed to pass me to another controller as I was no longer in his airspace and asked me to radio RAF Church Fenton. This was my intended next step anyway as I would need permission to transit the base given Elvington is located in it.
Soon at Elvington, easily recognised as I did some of my circuits take off / landings there earlier in my training, I steered to head back to Leeds. All was on track and going to plan and we continued our comms with Church Fenton. The MATZ penetration approved I stayed on this frequency until leaving the MATZ which was approximately over the A1 motorway. This was my marker to move comms to Leeds Radar so I could request permission to re-enter the zone via Eccup reservoir. This is all very standard to me these days. I was granted permission, handed on to Leeds Tower ad given a left hand, runway 14 join. Paul asked me to do a ‘glide approach’ to land which would practice a sudden engine failure on landing. This is different to a normal approach in that you delay your descent from circuit height (1000ft on Leeds QFE) set speed of 75kts until you are sure you can reach the runway. Once I confirmed this I lowered flap to increase my glide angle and lost the necessary height. I think the landing was ok.
During the de-brief Paul had recorded a number of points he wanted me to work on as part of prep for my next nav exercise which I needed to work on and a new route. On the whole Paul seemed happy with what I achieved today and confirmed, subject to polishing out the few small errors I had made were still on course working up to my solo nav. I was asked to plan up a new route but this time he would not be asking me to factor in wind. The reason for this being Paul wants to next develop my ability to navigate and correct any track errors without knowing the wind, which could happen one day. All in all the workload is high but despite a few general errors I think I completed the exercise ok for my first attempt at doing everything. Paul’s standards are very high but it avoids the danger of complacency and ensures my learning curve remains steep.
I am really enjoying the navigation training part of my Private Pilot’s Licence and even more excited to progress through my PPL course at the Multiflight Flight Training Centre at Leeds Bradford International Airport, Leeds, UK.”