Continuation

Breaks---------------------OFF
Undercarriage--------------FIXED/DOWN
Mixture--------------------RICH
Prop-----------------------FIXED/FINE
Fuel-----------------------PUMP ON/SELECTED/SUFFICIENT
Instruments
      Ts&Ps----------------GREEN
      AMP------------------CHARGING
      SUCTION--------------CHECK
Carb heat -----------------CHECK
Hatches -------------------SECURED
Harnesses -----------------SECURED
Headlights-----------------ON

Starter Light---------OUT
Oil Pressure----------GREEN
RPM-------------------SET 1200
Ammeter---------------CHARGING
RADIO-----------------ON
Transponder-----------STANDBY
DI/Compass------------SET

Brakes ----------------------------ON/Cover Breaks
Unnecessary Electrical Equipment---OFF
Fuel ------------------------------Select Tank
Carb heat--------------------------OFF/Cold
Mixture--------------------------- Reach
Throttle-------------------------¼"Open
Primer-----------------------------Locked
Battery/Alt------------------------ON
Beacon-----------------------------ON
Shout------------------------------"CLEAR PROP"
Starter----------------------------ENGAGE

Breaks-------HOLD
Magnetos-----R/L/BOTH
Avionics-----OFF
Mixture-----CUT-OFF
Ignition----KEY-OUT

It’s a few months since I started my PPL training. I am now on the verge of finishing it and currently I am occupied with passing ground exams which will allow me to take the final skills test.
Now I fly bugger all and only my decision to pursue Night Rating is keeping me at the control, but this will end soon as well.
So, yeah time to finish and get my ass flying on my own license!

It’s amazing. My love for flying and computers is starting to have it’s children.

I’m kinda inventive and lazy guy. When I can automate something, I don’t bother to do it. This is very annoying when I’m flying. Especially annoying when I have to recall some details. Some of these details are … Takeoff and Landing time records.

As an ex. in mastering C++ with QT on Maemo ( and I believe all other QT platforms like Symbian ) I have started developing a small help tool for myself.

At the moment it is dirt simple ( took me 3h to write and test ) , with a touch of a button it records take off time and with another touch of a button, landing time.
It’s usable now, if you wanna try ( just drop a comment ).

I will be adding also recording of this data to a text file, with basic calculations :

• conversion to decimal
• time for pilot logbook
• tech log

So it’s just a beginning for me. And what a fruitful one. I never expected that I still remember that much C++ to scribble something that quickly with unknown API.

I was hoping that I would fly this weekend but I had to review that hope. Weather is no good for travel ( shouldn’t affect flying but trains are rubbish here ). Also have not study at all over the break and I want to start tackling exams when I’m in Bournemouth.

Hope that next weekend will yield much better environment to get down to Bournemouth. I really should avoid breaks longer than a month between flights.

My flying is getting interesting now. Before heading for Chrismas Break, I had passed my Nav Ex with 96% and flow first Solo Nav Route.

The Route was quite simple, EGHH→Wells→Crewkerne→EGHH .

There was something wrong with the DI or wind.On the first leg I had to correct more than 60° to keep the track! Second leg was about 10° correction and third was less than 5°. This was very strange.

I had very low cloud base and sometimes I was really worried that I will not make to Wells looking at what is in front of me. Had a few diversions to stay VMC. On second leg it was much much nicer, I had climbed to 4k feet and cloud were not that bad. Return leg to EGHH was annoying to say the least!

Radios, well, handled quite well, until 3rd leg, where after request to change from Bristol to Bournemouth radar … I couldn’t hear controller due to weather and close proximity of a danger area with loads of radio broadcasts ( which I could hear in my ), quick “back with you” to Bristol and listening out on a second COM for interference with Bournemouth sorted the issue and after some time requested change again… But now I had Bournemouth controller chatting up guys and there was so much rubbish on a radio that I couldn’t report my position at VRP… Fortunately she was looking at the screen and crap was cut out seconds before I came into controlled airspace.

I’m not proud of my landing, I flare too high. Then tower requested me to speedup vacating the runway and I was so compliant that I forgot to break in time for smooth deceleration and was struggling to keep the wheels not skidding and turn in time for taxiway… bad stuff.

Now after break… winter is really annoying, doesn’t look like I will be able to fly soon.

Ha! It looks like there is another BCFT student sharing his experiences online.

I actually had the pleasure of flying Marc around EGHH before I went solo.

You can find Marc’s blog at golfcharlie232.blogspot.com

It came the time when to do more flying, I have to pass theory exams. Confusers are amazing helpers to pass, but books just give you the knowledge beyond what answer for which question.

Bad weather does not help motivating me … but at least I have time to do exams now.