[OZAPRS] First Solo
Daryl Hooke
dghooke at gmail.com
Sun Apr 1 11:09:44 EST 2012
Congratulations Darryl,
All the pilots are coming out of the woodwork. I soloed over thirty years
ago and haven't stopped flying since.
Well Done.
Another Daryl (VK3AWA)
*
*
On 1 April 2012 11:05, Tony Farrow <tonyajf at gmail.com> wrote:
> A wonderful experience that's for sure Darryl. I still clearly remember my
> first solos around 50 years ago in both a de Havilland Chipmunk and a
> glider.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Tony VK2AJF
>
> On Sat, Mar 31, 2012 at 10:44 PM, John Williams - VK5ZY <
> vk5zty at bigpond.com> wrote:
>
>> Congrats Darryl
>>
>> I know that feeling well even if it was 20 years ago.
>> It is something you never forget.
>>
>> Cheers
>> John
>> VK5ZY
>>
>> On 25 Mar 2012 at 8:35, Darryl Smith wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > Hi Geoff
>> > I just decided to flight plan a flight to see where you could go on a
>> nav up there. Ybas to ytpe to
>> > yaye to kkcs to yhaa to ybas. According to my calcs this would be 181
>> minutes depending on what
>> > you do at ayers rock. 100l Avgas. Sounds like a fun little nav flight.
>> > I believe that for me nav will be easy. I have been on more nav flights
>> as an unofficial co pilot in
>> > flights to Coober pedy, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, etc. I actually
>> flew half the way from ypkg to
>> > YSBK. I have also done victor one in Sydney and some other navs...
>> Unfortunately this is all
>> > without logbook time. Richard has promised to take me on the ppl test
>> route the week before to
>> > make sure I pass. Helps when you only need to pay the cost of fuel, and
>> not even normally then :)
>> > I am fairly close to GFPT standard I think. The unofficial flying has
>> helped there. The rv I copilot is
>> > interesting to fly compared to the 152. The rv is far more powerful and
>> sensitive.
>> > Anyway, good luck with the ppl.
>> > Darryl
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On 25/03/2012, at 6:16 PM, "Geoff Gatward" <geoff-lists at gatwards.org>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Congratulations Darryl! It's a great feeling to get that first solo
>> under your belt :-)
>> > Next stop GFPT and buld up some hours - you need to get to GFPT
>> standard regardless -
>> > I've been there for some time, just getting back into things here
>> in the Alice after a 6-7 year
>> > hiatus when kids came onto the scene. Did my training out at Camden
>> where things were
>> > considerably quieter than Bankstown - 152's SOX and UNO, then
>> moving onto Warrior UNL
>> > once I had the GFPT under my belt.
>> > Starting my Navs now in 172 RBF (or JDH if it's about) - I have
>> been dorking around with
>> > taking the GPS up with me, and have started building up some
>> interesting 3D routes in
>> > Google Earth with the resulting plots.
>> > If anyone's interested in listening to airband comms, I also
>> provide a feed into LiveATC.net
>> > from here - the local ATC sector is linked to a massive portion of
>> the Melbourne airspace....
>> > http://d.liveatc.net/ybas for those that are interested.
>> > Cheers,
>> > Geoff VK8GG / VK2XJG
>> >
>> >
>> > On Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 2:58 PM, Darryl Smith <
>> darryl at radio-active.net.au> wrote:
>> > Greetings to All... I hope you will forgive my off topic message. It
>> > is slightly APRS related, but only slightly. I tried to do a GPS log
>> > but the App did not work. I really should have loaded the APRS app
>> > for my iPhone.
>> >
>> >
>> > Well, Tuesday, I managed to do something that I was never in my
>> life expecting to ever do -
>> > I took myself flying. I don't mean that I took a trip on a
>> commercial airliner. I have been
>> > taking them since just after I was born. And I don't mean that I
>> took a joy flight either. I am
>> > talking about a flying the plane myself without anyone else in the
>> plane - my first solo.
>> >
>> > And not only did I do my first solo, I did it at Bankstown, one of
>> the busiest airports in the
>> > world. It used to be #26 in terms of aircraft movements, although
>> it might have slipped
>> > recently.
>> >
>> >
>> > I arrived at the airport about an hour early, having had an early
>> lunch. At about 12:15, my
>> > instructor sent me out to pre-flight the plane. For once, I did not
>> need fuel but I did need to
>> > add some oil as the level was at minimum. Adding the required oil
>> was easy thanks to the
>> > provided paper funnel. We then took taxied the plane out to runway
>> 11R for circuits.
>> > Unusually, 11 Centre was being used because 11L was being used for
>> filming. This meant
>> > that I needed to be a bit more careful with my turns from base onto
>> final than normal.
>> >
>> > My first circuit was a bit rusty, but after that they got better.
>> My flapless approach was quite
>> > good, as was the following approach. To be honest I thought I had
>> stuffed it up but managed
>> > to touch down gently exactly where I wanted to. After about five
>> circuits in total, the
>> > instructor got on the radio and let the tower know that we would be
>> making a full stop, after
>> > which we taxied to an area where instructors wait for their
>> students. I then got a briefing,
>> > basically saying that my landings were quite good, do one circuit,
>> but go around if needed.
>> > Do as many go arounds as you need to until you are happy. If you
>> have any issues with
>> > radio calls, ask, and ask more than once if needed. Also, listen
>> for unrequested radio calls
>> > (we twice got asked to turn crosswind early during practice). Once
>> I was done with the
>> > circuit, request taxi to pick up the the instructor up and go from
>> there. And she got out of the
>> > plane.
>> >
>> > Was I nervous. Yes. How could I not be. I was in charge of flying
>> myself. As soon as she got
>> > out I checked the name of the holding point, and made the radio
>> call 'Cessna 152 UAK at
>> > holding point Yankee for first solo' to which the tower responded
>> 'Cleared for Takeoff, UAK'.
>> > I then taxied onto the runway and lined up. I turned the landing
>> light on and opened the
>> > throttle nervously but firmly, accelerating to about 55 knots. I
>> then pulled the stick back and
>> > started flying. Once I got to about 200' I was no longer nervous,
>> more interested in flying the
>> > plane than being concerned about things.
>> >
>> > There was no one in front of me which was great, so at 500' I
>> turned right and continued
>> > ascending. I did notice I got to the downwind turning point I was
>> probably 100' higher than
>> > normal and needed to level off and turn at the same time. No
>> problem here.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Then came the BUMFISH checks on downwind (Check Brakes,
>> Undercarriage Down,
>> > Mixture Rich, Fuel On, Contents sufficient, Instruments OK,
>> Switches On and harness
>> > secure.), but I noticed I needed to go through them more quickly
>> than normal. Then a quick
>> > call to tower 'UAK downwind for full stop'. Tower responded with
>> 'Downwind for full stop.
>> > Traffic is a warrior on late final (Runway Centre?). You are number
>> 1, UAK', to which I
>> > responded 'Looking for traffic, number 1 for runway right UAK'.
>> >
>> > By then it was time to set up for turning base, so I quickly put
>> the carb heat on and pulled
>> > back the power and kept the nose up until I slowed down and could
>> add some flap and
>> > turned right onto base and started heading for the beach on the
>> river. In the middle of this
>> > turn I was cleared for a full stop. Down about 500' I turned to
>> final and adjusted the power to
>> > keep my height good. I was slightly low and I had turned slightly
>> right - I will fix that on my
>> > next flight. I think I was using slightly not enough power on base
>> and also turning so I kept
>> > away from the path to the centre runway.
>> >
>> > I came in straight towards the runway, and was concerned that I was
>> going to touch down
>> > before the piano keys. Thankfully I landed just after them. Not
>> sure how far after, but it was
>> > fairly close. The landing was not the gentlest I have ever done but
>> it was fairly good. For a
>> > first solo it was certainly good enough. I was happy.
>> >
>> > I then taxied to the side taxiway and headed back to pick up the
>> instructor after making a
>> > radio call. When she got back in the plane and congratulated me, we
>> headed back and I
>> > made another radio call and got congratulations from the tower too.
>> I was really happy, as
>> > you can see from the photo above.
>> >
>> >
>> > It has taken about 27 logbook hours to get to this point in my
>> training. It should have taken
>> > 22 hours, but issues with my CASA medical caused some delays where
>> I just kept flying
>> > doing more lessons. If my medical had come through, I could have
>> done my first solo
>> > around February 19th. A bit over 15 hours of this has been doing
>> circuits. This was more
>> > than I was hoping to do, but I was having issues in getting my
>> landings to a standard that I
>> > was happy with. Eventually it twigged to me that my biggest problem
>> was that I was not able
>> > to explain to others how I was intending to land the plane, and was
>> therefore unable to land
>> > it properly. What had happened was that circuits were explained to
>> me before the first
>> > lesson of circuits, and in future lessons we both assumed that I
>> absorbed 100% of what had
>> > been explained. What really happened was that I had absorbed a lot,
>> but thanks to lack of
>> > reference, some things had not really sunk in.
>> >
>> > Once I realised this, I had another briefing from my instructor on
>> the correct landing
>> > procedure, and this made a significant improvement. This included
>> things like adding power
>> > when landing, regardless of the sink over the field on late final.
>> This allowed me to quickly
>> > improve my landings. If I am honest, I don't know that I would want
>> to have moved on from
>> > circuits any earlier as the time I spent doing circuits allowed me
>> to improve my situational
>> > awareness and circuit procedures.
>> >
>> >
>> > I decided to get my pilots license in October 2011 when Richard and
>> I arrived in Langley
>> > Park in Perth in a plane that we had built in a garage. After that
>> amazing experience, I could
>> > not hold off any longer.
>> >
>> > After some mucking around I did my first flight, a TIF in a Piper
>> Warrior on November 28,
>> > 2011. Since then, I have been flying Cessna 152's, generally either
>> VH-JNB or VH-UAK.
>> > Both these are basic aircraft with little in the way of modern
>> electronic avionics, which is why
>> > I chose to fly them. Having spent so much time in more advanced
>> aircraft, I wanted to go
>> > back to basics.
>> >
>> > Right now I would like to thank all those who have been mentors in
>> my flying experience. My
>> > best friend Richard Talbot has been extraordinarily helpful
>> providing advice and support. Not
>> > surprising really, since he is probably the most to blame for me
>> going for my pilots license
>> > after all these years. I would also like to thank pilots John,
>> Kevin and Ian for their advice,
>> > particularly as I was struggling with circuits.
>> >
>> > I would also like to thank my instructor, Olivia H. for putting up
>> with my amateur flying and
>> > fitting in with my varying work schedules.
>> >
>> > Since last Tuesday I have done another two solo flights, each at
>> about 30-40 minutes long.
>> > These are great for building up my confidence and abilities.
>> >
>> > From here, my next stepping stone is (possibly) a GFPT (General
>> Flight Proficiency Test)
>> > then definitely by a PPL (Private Pilots License). Then given some
>> experience a Command
>> > Instrument Rating is definitely on the cards. The CPL (Commercial
>> Pilots License) might
>> > follow, but I have not decided on that one yet. The GFPT only gives
>> me some limited ability
>> > to take passengers, which depending on how long it takes to get a
>> full PPL might not be
>> > worth it. Of course I will need to save up a bit to do all this
>> training, as well as buy that new
>> > iPad which is definitely needed.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > I am looking forward to a solo flight down Victor One when I get my
>> PPL.
>> > This is a trip where you take off from Bankstown, head to the
>> northern
>> > beaches, head south to Sydney Harbour, do a couple of loops near the
>> > opera house, head back out the heads and then south at 500' over the
>> > ocean before almost hitting Wollongong and returning to Bankstown. I
>> > think this will be a rite of passage for me!
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Darryl
>> > ---------
>> > Darryl Smith, VK2TDS POBox 169 Ingleburn NSW 2565 Australia
>> > Mobile Number 0412 929 634 [+61 4 12 929 634 Int] - 02 9618 6459
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
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>>
>>
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