Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Slips and Forced Approaches

"Eet was a tewwibul stome. De boat wocked and wocked. Up one wave, and down dee udder. Hey Mistah puddy tat, you don't wook so good. Would you wike some salted pork?"

Autumn has definitely come upon the foothills of the Western Rockies. It had been raining for almost 24 hours, the overnight low was just above zero Celsius, cold winds were blowing out of the NW, and the clouds formed a broken/overcast layer one thousand feet above ground. I was certain that my flight would be cancelled. Luckily my lesson wasn't scheduled for the afternoon and the weathermen (who get paid well to be right only some of the times) had been calling for clear skies in the late afternoon. As I started my drive from downtown to the field it was still raining and cold. To the west the skies were breaking up and many patches of blue could be seen over the mountains. I had 90 minutes to go until flight time so there was still a chance.

By the time I arrived, the skies were somewhere between broken and scattered - the broken layers were reported at 2800 AGL so I suppose we were good to go. My only concern was the winds which were reported as 16 knots gusting 22. I recalled reading something about "20 knots" being the maximum for student pilots at the club, but after some discussion with dispatch I learned that it applied to solo students. Dual flights were always at the discretion of the instructor.

If you can believe it - this lesson was with YET another new instructor; I5. We headed upstairs to a briefing room and he asked me who my primary instructor was. I responded that I didn't really have one and was sort of "an instructor whore", meaning that I was playing the field. Luckily he saw the humour in that one. I guess it is true now that I think of it - I AM an instructor whore. In 2 short months and close to a dozen sessions, I've managed to pair up with 7 different instructors at the school. I've flown with 6 of them, and the last one (I4) is scheduled for my next 3 sessions. I'm fairly certain that I won't add anyone new, and I'm also fairly certain I'll never fly with I1 or I99 again.

I'll admit I was a bit taken aback when he asked me if I had "read" the sections on Slips and Forced Approaches. Of course I did. Hell I'm paying good coin for these lessons, why in the world would I not bother doing my part. It really puzzles me that some of these instructors almost assume that most students DO NOT take the time to be prepared for the lessons.

The brief was a good 40 minutes long but very useful. We started with an overview of forced approaches. Why would we do a forced approach? Engine doesn't work. Why doesn't are engine work? Pick a card, any card. Well most common reasons are probably due to icing or fuel. We covered a few others. What's the first thing we do if we lose our engine? I said "Fly the plane" and he specified "Trim the aircraft for a glide, rich mixture, and turn on the electric fuel pump". After that we select a suitable landing field with the help of our COWLS check:

C ivilization: If possible, near a road or farmhouse in case help is needed
O bstacles: Have a good look for power lines, fences, rocks, trees, etc.
W ind: Look for clues to determine wind direction and speed. Smoke, Trees, or water. Otherwise use the last known winds.
L ength: Is the field long enough for you land on? How about if you have to take off again?
S urface: Is the surface the type you need for landing? A flat field ploughed in the same direction as the wind is a good selection.

Obviously there are a lot of factors involved when selecting a field. I suppose that depending on the scenario, you may not have a lot of time to make that selection. Once we do make the selection we decide on a "Keypoint". The keypoint should be lined up where you would generally be on "Final" approximately 1 mile from the landing field. Once selected you head straight for it and then fly a "bowtie" pattern until it is time to turn final.

One other thing we covered was that when simulating engine failure we should "heat" the engine every 1000 feet (or few minutes) for 1-2 seconds. In the winter we should heat it twice as often (500 feet or whatever half of a few minutes is).

From the time we hopped in the canopy of FIFA to the time we took the runway I had settled in nicely. I felt very comfy on the radio, and I managed to keep my taxi very straight, though I can't seem to get it right on the centerline. We did some of the checklists while on the roll and it dawned on me that I was able to run through them quickly now (but still as thoroughly). During the taxi, ground gave us a call and asked what side of HWY 22 we were looking for today since "something" was active. I looked over at I5 with that look on my face that said "I have no clue what he's talking about". It was then that I realized the ATIS mentioned something about something being active and my inexperience had me writing it off as something that didn't pertain to me. Pulling out my map (after I5 asked me) I realized that this tiny warning area over Cochrane was active for hang gliding! Probably want to avoid those guys as much as possible!

The takeoff roll was not perfect but was fairly straight. Everything went smooth and before we knew it we were turned to the north and on course. The winds were extremely nasty and we were getting hammered all over the place. I5 called it "Moderate chop" when tower asked us for a ride report a few minutes later. Then I5 asked me - so how are you going to avoid that hang gliding area? He answered for me by asking me to pull out my map and locate the are out the window. I didn't have to pull out the map at all. Cochrane is a town built literally on the side of an absofreakinglutely massive hill. If I was a hang gliding type guy, I'd want to jump off that hill too! Another nice addition was the realization that the warning area was nicely depicted on our GNS430. I told myself that I should make a mental note of that feature and probably review the Garmin user manual I had printed a few months back. Always nice to understand how that things work in case I need a backup.

We started talking about all of the fields around us, whether they were good candidates for landing, and where the keypoints would be. Turns out that most of the fields in the area are nicely laid out in 1/4 mile plots - so one can determine the field length (1/4 mile is about 1300 feet) and pick a good keypoint without injuring their brain.

Finally, I5 told me we just lost our engine - so what are you going to do. I immediately answered "fly the plane" and started pitching for 73 knots as I pushed the mixture rich and flipped on the fuel pump. Then I started looking for a field to land at. I made the selection and immediately turned for the keypoint I had selected. To my amazement - this all took me less than 10 seconds. As we flew towards the keypoint I5 told me that he wanted me to stay on that glide speed because it was "my lifeline". Then we spoke about why I selected this field over a few others. I noted that it had plough lines in the same direction as the wind - didn't have much of a treeline, no creeks or visible rocks, and was fairly close to a farmhouse. I also noted that the keypoint was a farmhouse beside a road which would make a nice reference point for the bowtie pattern.

When we hit the keypoint he asked if we should go final. It was obvious we were too high so I started on the 45 degree pattern out of the keypoint while remembering to keep the field at my 5. I turned back and decided we were still too high so started again outbound the other way. Soon after the second outbound leg I said "I don't want to be any lower, so I'm turning direct for the field now". I wondered if I had made a mistake. Then I realized that we were still far too high once on final. I5 said "perfect time to execute a forward slip - show me your stuff". I moved the rudder as far as it would go while rolling in the opposite direction. It took me about 5 seconds to really get the hang of this super odd configuration. The sounds from the prop were freaking me out and I could not believe how much altitude we were losing. We were literally dropping like a stone. I5 called for the overshoot and I firewalled the engine. He asked for climbout at best angle and I pitched for 57 knots (how the hell did I remember that when I've never done best angle before?).

We practiced 3-4 more forced approaches mixed in with a few powerful sideslip exercises where I had to stay lined up with a road the entire time. I fully admit that about 50% of the way through the slips my leg was absolutely killing me! Additionally - I realized that with our airspeed low, the airspeed indicator not reliable (in the slip), higher angle of attack with one wing due to the roll, and full rudder input in another direction - that we were perfectly set up to stall the aircraft and immediately enter into a spin. I suppose that a forward slip on final is a very useful procedure but must always be approached with caution.

The ride back to the field was bumpy and fast. The tailwind was giving us 143 knots over the ground. This is when I started growing concerned about the landing due to the winds. We were a good 10 minutes later than the normal "arrival" time for lessons and as a result there was absolutely no traffic. I entered my downwind and picked a good spot where I would turn base remembering to take a look to my right for the forty five. That's when I5 told me to turn base right away. "Right now? We're a bit close aren't we?" was my response, but I5 had other plans for me. "How is our altitude?". "We're too high" was followed by him telling me to hold my altitude. As I prepared to turn final he asked me to execute a slipping turn. Knowing I had to make my turn to the right I applied full left rudder and then rolled us to the right. The "slip noise" started again and we lost altitude quickly. I increased our roll and we started a turn to the right. After a few adjustments we rolled out on final - still too high so I held us in the slip until things started looking a lot better.

I5 then asked me what the winds were and naturally I had forgotten everything tower said except for "Cleared to land" so I keyed the mike and said "Tower, wind check for India Fox Alpha". "India Foxtrot Alpha, Winds 280 at 14 gusting 20". Ooh boy - this was going to be fun. I kept some right rudder in play and reminded myself to keep the nose down as I cut the power over the threshold. I of course was doing my "talking out loud" thing again. As we neared the ground I levelled out and pitched back a bit to bleed off the speed, all the while keeping us on the centerline. We started to float or balloon a bit and I said to myself "a little float but that's OK, keep it straight, keep it straight, hold it off, hold it off hold it off". Then something magical happened - somehow between my automatic inputs of rudder, aileron, and elevator we gently touched down on the right main gear. I held everything nice and tight and a second later the left gear touched down followed by the main gear softly meeting the pavement. We were literally right on the centerline! I then focused on keeping the aircraft straight while I5 said "Suh wheet landing!". The elation was immediately followed by a loud noise coming from the front gear. I had let up completely on the elevator which was causing excess weight on the gear. Have to remember that.

We headed back to the club without incident. After parking FIFA we walked to the club for a debrief. While filling out the paper work I5 asked me "Do you have the keys?". Oops - where the heck did I put them? We searched my flight bag, our pockets, and finally went back to FIFA to check her out. The keys could not be located. I felt like even more of a doofus 2 minutes later
when I found them in my shirt pocket! Another mental note for the Flight Newbie to make!

The flight was a success from start to finish. Although I would love to head out and do another session of forced approaches; I5 told me that I had passed my demonstration of all the requirements with flying colors. Apparently I'll be working on these again in greater detail but for now my time in the practice area is done. The focus now will be on the circuit! The syllabus calls for the next 4 flights to be in the circuit. This section of my training will climax with my first solo flight. I find it very hard to believe that in 4 short flights I may have enough experience and training under my belt to be in the skies alone!!

Before I can get excited about that I need to focus on three things. Perfecting everything learned to date, grasping everything I'm about to learn in the circuit, and preparations to write (and pass) the Transport Canada PSTAR examination which grants me a Student Pilot Permit (required for the solo).

Next Friday the circuit training begins with a TWO HOUR ground brief. I can hardly wait!

12.3 Hours and counting...

1 comment:

Keith Smith said...

Wow, that's an incredible level of detail in that write up, nice job!