The road to my wings
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| Date | 23-08-2009 |
| Location |  |
| Message | (Sunday 0910) I did my second nav trip last Friday. It all went really well. One thing that I noticed about low level nav compared to anything else is how quickly the fuel gets burned. Jet engines are really thirsty at low level as you know so on a trip like that you really have to watch your fuel flow and fuel level at all times. At one point in the middle portion of a leg, the instructor gave me a simulated emergency, so I zoomed to gain some altitude and analyzed my engine instruments and concluded that my engine had failed. At that altitude there's only one thing you can do in such a situation - unless of course you have a runway right in front of you, which is very unlikely. So I called out "prepare to abandon aircraft" followed by "eject, eject, eject." He secured the emergency and then it was time to continue enroute but now all my planning was screwed up because the timing was way off due to the time that I had lost handling the emergency. So I calculated that I was now about 60 seconds behind so I went full power to the next turn point to try to reduce the error by as much as possible and by the time I got there I was only 10 seconds late, so it had worked. Then on the last leg towards the target I tried to reduce the error further and got on target only a few seconds late. My next nav trip is scheduled for tomorrow and this route is known for having alot of obstacles along the way. In the air we call them "threats" because we have to avoid them the same way that you would avoid threats from the ground if you were flying a fighter, whether they're SAM's or AAA. Threats during training could be large antennas, sensitive citizens, poultry or fur farms, villages and aifrields. None of them enjoy having an aircraft flying 500 feet over their head so we do our best to avoid them, both during planning and in the air. Now it's time to enjoy my Sunday. /GEA |
| Date | 20-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 1650) I had my first nav flight today. As I had expected, it was alot of fun. It's actually much easier than I remember it from the days at Flying School. Back then I was impatient and would typically jump to conclusions if I wasn't visual with what I was expecting to see right away. I also thought that flight preparation back then was to draw the map and that's it, but that's just the beginning. Ideally you would go through your route , turn points and target again and again so that you know it so well that you almost don't even need the map when you're in the air. Another big difference which contributes to "making life easy" here compared to back home is that we have GPS. Although we're not allowed to programme the route, we can read off the actual track and ground speed off the GPS. Then you just adjust your heading and airspeed accordingly and you can be sure to be over or very close to your next turnpoint. I flew over my taget four seconds late which I was happy with, especially for a first attempt. There were alot of insects in the air and by the time I finished my route I could hardly see out of my windshield. Then on on the way home I suddenly see a big flock of birds (probably seagulls) right ahead, approaching fast. Going at over 200kt, you only have about a second to react from the time you see them until they hit you - and if they do, they can do quite alot of damage. So I yanked the stick and flew above them. Phew! Then, only a few minutes later the same thing happens. The only difference this time was that the flock was much bigger and I didn't even try to avoid them as I was too close and had no time to do anything. So I just called "birds 12 o'clock" and hoped for the best. In that case you just hope that they just bounce off the airframe without too much damage. Fortunately I didn't hit any of them this time either... Then it was time to head home for an overhead break. Man it had been a long time since I had done an overhead break! It's great to be back in the front seat and doing things in a CH manner. Tomorrow I'm on the programme for Nav 2. /GEA |
| Date | 19-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Wednesday 1555) I quickly found out what they had in mind for me. Yesterday they put me on today's schedule for the Nav sim followed by the first nav flight. So I had no time to celebrate the test yesterday as there was a whole bunch to read in preparation for today. The sim went well but when the time for the flight arrived, the cloud base got low enough to cancel most flights. So I used most of my day today drawing the routes etc. for the first two nav trips as you always have to have two flights ready and planned. They're made in a NATO standard, so after you finish building your map, any other NATO pilot can take your map and fly the mission without asking any questions as the symbology is standardized. The first map takes you hours to complete but then you get more proficient quite quickly. But after a day drawing maps you're pretty cross-eyed anyway... Low level nav is going to be great fun, I think. The idea is to follow the planned route precisely, holding a 240kt ground speed so that you get on target on time. In the sim I flew over the target with less than one second of error. In real life it won't be that easy... The only celebration I had yesterday was an hour of storm chasing. We had a thunderstorm South of the base so I drove abit away from the city lights and just took a few pictures for the fun of it. /GEA |
| Date | 18-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 1405) I did my test and with that in place it means that I won't be doing IF for at least a month or so. The test went well ending with one of those beloved reptiles so I don't have much to complain about. I remember one of my granddads used to be terrified of snakes but I'm becoming quite fond of those slimy long reptiles. Anyway, the flight itself wasn't an easy one to say the least. The winds were calm and variable so we had runway changes both here and in Regina which means that I had to amend my plan again and again both prior to and during the flight. I also wasn't allowed to fly the approaches and hold that I had planned to fly because the snapper wanted something else. And then the worst of it all was probably that almost all clearances were non-standard with a bunch of restrictions along the way. But I coped with it so it's all good. I don't know what they have in mind for me next. It'll probably be the low level naviagtion phase but it could be the formation phase too. They might even give me a short break from flying because some of us Danes are quite a bit behind with regards to X's, so they might want them to catch up with the rest of us. I'll just wait and see - and in the mean time I think I'll start reviewing my nav notes from ground school. 3 down, 2 to go! Stay tuned. /GEA |
| Date | 17-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 1825) I had my pre-test this morning, where I flew to Regina. It was a very strong flight so I feel really confident about the test tomorrow. Actually I should be a bit (just a bit!) nervous but I'm not, and that's not too good, I guess. After the pre-test, one of our instructors at Bandit flight called the snappers lounge to see whether I'll be going to Regina or Swift Current for the test tomorrow. So they flipped a coin or whatever they do up there and told him that I'll be going to Regina, also for the test. To be honest I didn't really care where it was going to be. And if tomorrow morning the snapper comes and says "change of plan; you're going to Swift Current" I wouldn't care less. I'll just make a new route, print the weather for the new destination, file a new flight plan and go. It's one of those flights where I quench my teeth together before stepping out to the plane and feel like going up there and ripping that freakin plane apart. The snapper assigned to me also has a good reputation. But having said that, it doesn't mean that he'll be good for me just because someone else said good stuff about him. Anyway, like any other test it takes very little to fuck it up. And if you misinterpret a clearance it won't be a down-grade but probably a fail. In the real world it could cost you your life... Cross your fingers for me. /GEA |
| Date | 14-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Friday 1855) Two long flights back to back is pretty hard, especially when you're tired in the first place and they're IFR flights to other airports which require quite a good deal of planning. All went good however and I learned a whole bunch, getting exposure to some new stuff. On Monday I have the pre-test where I'll fly to Regina and then probably Tuesday I'll have the BIT, where I'll most probably fly to Swift Current. To be honest I don't know which airport I'd prefere to fly to on the test as they both have their advantages and disatvantages. Regina is controlled so you just get instructed on what to do and you just follow the instructions. As long as you follow them properly, you're safe. Swift Current on the other hand is uncontrolled which means that you have to call on three simultaneous radio channels telling them your position, intentions etc. so there's a few things that can go wrong especially during the transition back to controlled aisrpace on the way home to Moose Jaw. The good thing about Swift Current is that it's further away from Moose Jaw than Regina is, so you have more time enroute to prepare yourself for the approaches and remember all those checks and other crap that you have to do. Anyway, now it's time for the weekend. Tomorrow we'll be going to Saskatoon airshow and then Sunday I'll probably use a couple of hours studying. I didn't get "clearance" for the mess tonight so I'll be staying home. Have a good one! /GEA |
| Date | 14-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Friday 1410) I had a long flight to Regina this morning with multiple holds and approaches, both there and here on the way back. The weather is real IMC so it's great practise to get some actual instrument flying in clouds. After landing it was a quick lunch, quick debrief and started planning for my next flight which will be briefed in 5 minutes time. I'll be going to Swift Current. The plan is to make a VOR approach followed by a GPS approach and then head back home...and after that it's hopefully weekend. The plan for tomorrow is Saskatoon airshow with the wife and kid but the weather is looking rather moist for the weekend... /GEA |
| Date | 13-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 1410) The "cross country" went well. It was great fun to fly to Saskatoon via Swift Current yesterday. Perhaps it was a bit too exciting at times because of really nasty weather encountered at Saskatoon. Our original plan got changed several times during the flight because of heavy thunderstorms enroute and in the vicinity of our destination. So at times I was really busy indeed. This morning we got up at 0530 to check the latest weather and add it to our plans in order to take off at 0800. We ended up being five Harvards going home from Saskatoon this morning. The three uf us Danes flew to Regina on the way to practise a few approaches over there. Myself I flew two full procedure NDB approaches in Regina and then got vectors for an ILS in Moose Jaw followed by a point to point to a PAR approach. All went really well and in contrast to yesterday I felt ahead of the plane at all times so it was great fun. I snaked both flights so considering that I learned alot of new stuff and hopefully I won't repeat the same mistakes next time, I'm on the right track for the BIT. I'm on the schedule for another flight in only ten minutes but right now we have a standby programme due to alot of local birds around the area. However they seem to be moving away so we might go anyway. We'll just wait and see... /GEA |
| Date | 11-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 1925) I had IF19 this morning where I went to Swift Current to do a hold and a full procedure VOR approach. It was a hot day and there's nothing better than walking out to your aircraft early in the morning and smell that jet fuel. Afterwards I had IF15S which was the last IF sim and where I learned to fly NDB approaches and circling. Circling is when you fly to an airport which has an instrument approach to only one of the runways but the wind is for the other runway. What you do then is fly the instrument approach and when you get below clouds and you're visual with the airport, you visually manoeuver to land on the other runway. Both the flight and the sim went great and it was nice to fly somewhere else than Moose Jaw. Tomorrow the plan is that JØR, COM and myself fly to Saskatoon late in the afternoon, as we all have to do IF20 as the next trip. Then, after we've done all the approaches that we have to do there, we'll stay overnight and then Thursday we'll fly from there to Regina and then back home to Moose Jaw. It's going to be alot of fun I think so we all look forward to it. Now we only have five flights to go before the BIT so there's alot of learning to be done and little time to do it in. We'll probably do the test next week if all goes well with scheduling, weather and whatever else can come in the way. /GEA |
| Date | 10-08-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 1920) I had my first flight in two weeks and it was a review of my last flight because it had been so long ago. It went ok and I'm pretty happy that it was a review, where I could just relax and get back in the game without having to think about grades. Tomorrow I'm on the sched again. First for IF19 where I'll fly to Swift Current and then for IF15S which is the last sim before the BIT run. It's the sime where you do NDB approaches at Saskatoon. This weekend COM asked if we should fly our models as we hadn't flown them for well over a month. We ended up flying them on both days and it was great fun. I'll never get tired of that hobby. Every time I get surprised as to how much fun it actually is. That's it for now. I'll probably update again tomorrow. /GEA |
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