Multiflight Flight Training Centre student Adam Rahnavard has just completed hour 29 of his flight training towards his Private Pilot’s Licence (PPL) at our Leeds flying school. He shares the experience with us here:
“My regular instructor Paul was back from some holiday so after a usual coffee in the onsite Multiflight Café Bar I wanted to show him the two flying lessons I had had while he was away had been put to good on the forced landings and that we could move on to the next part of the syllabus, navigation. Weather wise ‘high pressure’ had moved into position over the UK so at this time of year could well be bright conditions and blue skies. As anticipated conditions were good and upon arrival was informed we were in my favourite Robin aircraft G-BXDT or ‘DT’ as it’s known. I booked us out with air traffic control and Paul asked me to go out and do my aircraft checks and he would be out in a few minutes. He wanted to see if my practiced forced landings in the event of an engine failure were up to standard, if they were we would be doing some general handling and an introduction into ‘instrument flying’ which is standard familiar to pilots who can fly aircraft with sole reference to the instruments and the data they give. You are required to do 1 hour of this work for the PPL syllabus.
It was a great day for flying with wonderful crisp blue skies over Leeds and York. We taxied out to ‘Foxtrot 1’ holding point and before long cleared for take off on runway 14. Paul’s standards are very high and from the very moment he has introduced anything new he expects you to aim for the same high standards: this is typical of all the instructors at the Multiflight Flight Training Centre at Leeds Bradford International Airport. This does require a lot of concentration but has pushed me to ensure I get it right as soon as possible in the correct manner. My practiced forced landings (PFL) were ‘ok’ on my last two lessons but I was determined to show him I could do them to the standard he would expect. On the whole this was the case and we did four where he would pull the power back and I had to (without delay) go into the process of how to manage the simulated engine failure competently. The pressure is on but safety is the number one priority so knowing how to do this is very important. There was, as with every exercise constructive criticism, but on the whole I conducted the exercise well. Paul always ensures the phrase ‘aviate, navigate, communicate’ is in the fore front of your mind with any parts of the syllabus that focuses on how to deal with problem or emergency situations and what you should prioritise. As a result you quickly develop the confidence that in the unlikely event of an emergency you know what to do to deal with the situation as safely as possible.
Paul happy with my PFL’s asked me to demonstrate some more general handling to keep my skills sharp and also stalling. There are always points to work on as you are pushed to aim for the best flying you can do but on the whole everything was satisfactory. The introduction to ‘instrument flying’ was quite an experience as you do think surely ‘it can’t be that difficult to fly looking solely at the instruments??’ Well you are in for a surprise if you think that! We only did ten minutes but having your view artificially restricted so you can’t see outside and then asked to perform turns, maintain altitudes and keep the aircraft level just on instrument reading is not easy! I enjoyed it though and think I did it ok considering it was my first attempt. The challenge comes from not being able to rely as you would normally on your senses of sight and balance, quite exciting really. We were next to return to Leeds and also complete one circuit if they could accommodate us. I am at the stage where Paul rarely, other than demonstrations does any flying during my lessons. I am conducting the whole flight myself under his watchful eye which of course includes the ongoing practice of talking to air traffic and switching between frequencies as you move from area to area. The confidence I now have gives me a real boost to keep working hard as pretty much all aspects of the flight are left to me manage, the feeling of really progressing towards that Private Pilot’s Licence is sinking in now.
The last major chunk of flight training in the run up to my skills test will be focused on navigation. Paul has helped me plan my first route which was due to also be this weekend, a trip from Leeds to Castle Howard near York, down to Market Weighton and then back to Leeds. The nav really takes you back to basics in map usage, plotting headings and calculating speeds/times for the 3 leg journey. The only thing we needed to do was factor in the wind speed/direction on the day of the flight into my calculations. The flight will however have to wait until my next lesson as is sometimes the case the weather falls below the rules for Visual Flight Rules (VFR), if these conditions in terms of weather, visibility and cloud base/cover are not met it is not suitable to fly. Unfortunately on the day the airport and surrounding area was very foggy and low cloud. I used to get really frustrated in my first few hours with the weather but just accept it now. Anyone training for a PPL in the UK has to accept the weather will disrupt your fair share of lessons, you just have to get on with it and be ready for the next lesson.
Safety is paramount in the industry and I have picked up a number of phrases while training at Multiflight that underline and remind you of this important fact. The one ‘it’s better to be down here wishing you were up there than the other way around’.
Very true. Will keep on practicing the flight planning and look forward to flying my first nav exercise on my next lesson.”
More from Adam next week!
