Red Letter Day stunt flying.
Discussion
eharding said:
croyde said:
eharding ? What's that?
A lot of people have asked that...generally while pointing and laughing.Not being a CPL, I'm afraid I can't offer voucher flights, but I can point you in the direction of some of the very best in the business for your next trip, assuming you enjoy the first one.
That's nostalgic; I did my PPL fixed-wing in a 152 Aerobat - G-FLIC.
Nicer than a standard 150/152, IIRC had a trick propellor that improved performance, rate of climb etc, and very useful glazed panels in the roof.
Bit cramped for two and now quite dated, but still fun. Make sure that you're not 'low G sensitive'
Nicer than a standard 150/152, IIRC had a trick propellor that improved performance, rate of climb etc, and very useful glazed panels in the roof.
Bit cramped for two and now quite dated, but still fun. Make sure that you're not 'low G sensitive'
Geneve said:
That's nostalgic; I did my PPL fixed-wing in a 152 Aerobat - G-FLIC.
Nicer than a standard 150/152, IIRC had a trick propellor that improved performance, rate of climb etc, and very useful glazed panels in the roof.
Bit cramped for two and now quite dated, but still fun. Make sure that you're not 'low G sensitive'
Low G Sensitive.Nicer than a standard 150/152, IIRC had a trick propellor that improved performance, rate of climb etc, and very useful glazed panels in the roof.
Bit cramped for two and now quite dated, but still fun. Make sure that you're not 'low G sensitive'
What's that then. Gulp!
I'm good on roller coasters and that thing that you sit on which then hoists you up a tower along with 11 other souls and then it drops like a stone.
croyde said:
So flight is tomorrow, Monday, afternoon but weather is very cloudy and winds 14 mph, according to metcheck, so will it go ahead.
Obviously I will call the airport before setting out but how bad does the weather have to be to cancel the flight?
Don't rely on Metcheck - it's comically unreliable for aviation - especially wrt 'gusting'.Obviously I will call the airport before setting out but how bad does the weather have to be to cancel the flight?
Metoffice is better http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/se/reigate_...
Well the day came and went last Saturday and I arrived at Redhill Aerodrome around 9 am with what looked like a beautiful day in the offing.
My pilot warned me that things could be very changeable but that we would go up and take a look.
Up we went in a Cessna 152 and although buffeted by the wind, I felt strangely more at ease than when I am in a Jetliner.
We followed the M25 West but the clouds quickly came in and my pilot apologised but said that we had to return to the airfield due to the weather conditions and the cloudbase being only 800 ft.
He had to head for a radio beacon but kept tapping the indicator, which worried me slightly, and after awhile told me and the airfield that his indicator was on the blink and that he had to gain altitude in order to be seen by the radar at Farnborough.
Farnborough could see us but we could not find a break in the clouds in order to return to Redhill so my pilot requested a divert and ILS approach to Farnborough.
They agreed to this but there was a £675 landing fee
,you could fly to Sydney for that. My pilot had to think about it then decided to go ahead but then his boss came on the radio to tell him to return to Redhill (He didn't want to pay) so Farnborough talked us over to Guildford where we managed to find a small hole in the clouds and continued our journey back just under the cloudbase.
The grass airfield at Redhill was waterlogged so we landed on the taxi way which looked about as wide as a footpath to me, but it was a very gentle landing even though the taxi way went up and down and bent to the right.
So after a quite exciting 1 1/2 hour first flight in a tiny aircraft, for me at least, it was still deemed a cancellation as no aerobatics were performed nor was I allowed to take control, so I'm booked in again for next month.
My pilot was very calm and professional and seemed amazed when I thanked him for the experience. He replied "Well if you think being stuck in clouds an experience.....".
Now a question for you pilots, what with being stuck around 1500 feet in clouds on a Saturday morning with plenty of other aeroplanes about, well I could hear them on the radio, how are collisions avoided when there is no radar on board. I realise that when Farnborough could see us, we could then be warned about other traffic but at what altitude can you no longer be seen.
Were we in any danger or was I worrying about nothing.
Cheers.
My pilot warned me that things could be very changeable but that we would go up and take a look.
Up we went in a Cessna 152 and although buffeted by the wind, I felt strangely more at ease than when I am in a Jetliner.
We followed the M25 West but the clouds quickly came in and my pilot apologised but said that we had to return to the airfield due to the weather conditions and the cloudbase being only 800 ft.
He had to head for a radio beacon but kept tapping the indicator, which worried me slightly, and after awhile told me and the airfield that his indicator was on the blink and that he had to gain altitude in order to be seen by the radar at Farnborough.
Farnborough could see us but we could not find a break in the clouds in order to return to Redhill so my pilot requested a divert and ILS approach to Farnborough.
They agreed to this but there was a £675 landing fee
,you could fly to Sydney for that. My pilot had to think about it then decided to go ahead but then his boss came on the radio to tell him to return to Redhill (He didn't want to pay) so Farnborough talked us over to Guildford where we managed to find a small hole in the clouds and continued our journey back just under the cloudbase.The grass airfield at Redhill was waterlogged so we landed on the taxi way which looked about as wide as a footpath to me, but it was a very gentle landing even though the taxi way went up and down and bent to the right.
So after a quite exciting 1 1/2 hour first flight in a tiny aircraft, for me at least, it was still deemed a cancellation as no aerobatics were performed nor was I allowed to take control, so I'm booked in again for next month.
My pilot was very calm and professional and seemed amazed when I thanked him for the experience. He replied "Well if you think being stuck in clouds an experience.....".
Now a question for you pilots, what with being stuck around 1500 feet in clouds on a Saturday morning with plenty of other aeroplanes about, well I could hear them on the radio, how are collisions avoided when there is no radar on board. I realise that when Farnborough could see us, we could then be warned about other traffic but at what altitude can you no longer be seen.
Were we in any danger or was I worrying about nothing.
Cheers.
Glad you had fun! When the weather went a bit cruddy the bloke driving your Cessna would be receiving a radar service from Farnborough, which means that the controller can see and give traffic information on everyone in the vicinity. There'd be a rectangular box on the instrument panel (transponder) into which the instructor would have dialled a 4-digit code (squawk) which the controller will have supplied. The transponder increases radar conspicuity and also enables the controller to track who's who, each aircraft under his radar service having been given a different discrete squawk code. The instructor would either have been under 'traffic service' in which the controller will call other traffic and leave your instructor to steer round it, or a 'deconfliction service' in which the controller will issue instructions to keep you from finding out whether the next cloud has a metal centre. It's all normal procedure, and designed to enable everyone to safely fly in reduced/zero visibility (not much lookout available in cloud).
The nav kit installed in your Cessna was probably very basic. Sometimes nav beacons on the ground become unavailable, or the kit in the aircraft breaks. If it does it's no big deal, as the radar controller can supply radar vectors for an approach to land, or cloud break in your case yesterday. Again, all perfectly normal. When I used to do trial lessons as a civvy instructor I found myself in the same scenario as yourself on a few occasions, particularly when based in Scotland! It's a fine line between making a (safe) attempt at getting the punter airborne and trying to find some decent weather, and cancelling on the ground. Good that the school are giving you another trip. It's more fun when you can see the scenery, especially when it's upside down.
ETA: When in cloud there is a minimum safe altitude for the purpose of terrain/obstacle clearance. You don't want to smack any hills, tv masts etc. That's why you climbed when the weather went crap. If you're high enough to meet the safety altitude requirement, you're high enough to be seen on radar on any unit close enough to be controlling you. Radar is line-of-sight.
The nav kit installed in your Cessna was probably very basic. Sometimes nav beacons on the ground become unavailable, or the kit in the aircraft breaks. If it does it's no big deal, as the radar controller can supply radar vectors for an approach to land, or cloud break in your case yesterday. Again, all perfectly normal. When I used to do trial lessons as a civvy instructor I found myself in the same scenario as yourself on a few occasions, particularly when based in Scotland! It's a fine line between making a (safe) attempt at getting the punter airborne and trying to find some decent weather, and cancelling on the ground. Good that the school are giving you another trip. It's more fun when you can see the scenery, especially when it's upside down.
ETA: When in cloud there is a minimum safe altitude for the purpose of terrain/obstacle clearance. You don't want to smack any hills, tv masts etc. That's why you climbed when the weather went crap. If you're high enough to meet the safety altitude requirement, you're high enough to be seen on radar on any unit close enough to be controlling you. Radar is line-of-sight.
Edited by speedtwelve on Tuesday 15th December 21:20
Ed Harding will probably be along in a minute re: Extra 300 flying, but try googling for Alan Cassidy at White Waltham, or look at Ultimate High at Kemble. There's also an Extra 200 at Cambridge. I agree, go direct to the outfit concerned, the 'red/green/blue letter' type companies take a big cut of your money.
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