Going like a Boeing! (#6) -
In my first lesson what we basically did was flying first with visual reference to the natural horizon and then seeing how it should look inside on your instruments. In my second lesson I got to fly with those very attractive-looking foggles, which look like my dad’s welding glasses but they’re misted on the top half so that you are only able to see your instrument panel. My instrument flying went pretty well – since I got a lot of critique in my PPL phase about my looking at the instruments too much! It felt really strange in the beginning not being able to see outside and I kept on wanting to lift my head to see where we were going. I started feeling a bit queasy during this lesson – something which is apparently normal when flying by reference to your instruments only. What causes this is your vestibular organs (to put it simpler – the little things in your ears which sense balance and gravity) sense movement, for example, a bank, but your eyes are not seeing the outside picture. In the following lessons you are more in control than the instructor is, and therefore you expect what you are going to do and this reduces motion sickness. I also experienced my first bit of “spatial disorientation” – you read about things like this but you don’t imagine it actually happening to you. I was absolutely convinced that we were banking towards the left, although my Attitude Indicator was indicating wings level. My instructor confirmed that we were indeed flying straight and level. To compensate for this I found my self leaning slightly – thus experiencing “The Leans” – amazing… You will learn to fly straight and level, climb, descend, do medium, steep and Rate One turns, fly with a limited panel and recover from stalls, incipient spins and unusual attitude all by reference to your instruments only. You will also learn a basic scan – which works! It is amazing how if you fixate on one instruments how the others go wonky! Your AI shows that you are perfectly wings level and when you eventually decide to scroll your eyes down to your VSI, find yourself in a 700 f/min descent – your airspeed and RPM going crazy! I also did two hours on the simulator – learning how to use the ADF and VOR. Speaking of scanning, I found myself fixating on my AI in the simulator and when I looked at my VSI I found myself in a spiral dive! I was convinced that there was something wrong with the simulator because my wings were level – but what had happened was that my instructor failed the AI! It’s a good thing that I learnt this on the simulator and not out there in the real world – I will always do a proper scan from now on!
Flying at night must be one of the best experiences I have ever had. You will not believe how smooth the air is and how beautiful the world looks below. I got to flight school early to re-fuel my plane before the fuel bays closed. I had a briefing and then it was off for a flight “on my trusty steed” into the gorgeous night sky. Lined up on runway 11, in my dimly red-lit C172 cockpit, my instructor beside me, I added full power. The aircraft sped down the runway, the edge lights dashing past in my window… 55 knots, rotate. Then it’s straight onto the instruments, so as not to experience vertigo – something which is common after take-off at night. For the first two circuits we were controlled by the tower, after that they said “goodnight” whereupon the field became unmanned. My night landings – I couldn’t believe – were better than my day landings. My instructor told me that it was due to the fact that I had no other choice but to look at the end of the runway when landing (the landing lights were switched off) and so could not fixate on the centerline right in front of me – terrible habit I have. It’s strange though, because you have to use your peripheral vision to determine when the edge lights are half way in your side windows and then begin rounding out. Luckily for me, Wonderboom has PAPIs so it is relatively easy to judge your height and glideslope on finals – something which gets tricky, I found, when landing at places like Witbank on my night Nav. which did not have this luxury (beware the Blackhole approach!). The full flap landings at night felt a bit strange to me – because of the steep gradient and the dark terrain below, it looks as though you’re going straight for the ground. The second, and last, night of circuits did not go as smoothly as the first as I was fighting a crosswind. But it was definitely a good experience for me. Night flying is absolutely the best! Nothing can beat it – nothing.
The Night Rating test – as with all tests, nerves creep up on you. Once again, get to the flight school early, do a thorough pre-flight and re-fuel before the examiner arrives. We took off just after 17:30. After take-off, my examiner took control while I put on those delightful foggles. In the GF I was asked to do medium and steep turns – all went well. My Rate One climbing and descending turns were not fantastic, incipient spin went well, first stall went well, second stall not fantastic. QDM’s and QDR’s were great. After spending about an hour in the GF we flew back to Wonderboom for 3 night circuits. I was given a simulated electrical failure and a glide approach – so prepare for those and know what to do. Make sure that you have your torch nearby… and that it has batteries in!
I had passed my Night Rating!
A little advice – it will take time to master this new skill of instrument flying. I kept on trying to be perfect and eventually started focusing only on this and started to lose the “big picture”. I am much too hard on myself. Do not stress out about mistakes – more importantly, concentrate on rectifying them. If I may quote a “Great Truth” Mike Malherebe gave me: Be patient with yourself! Good things take time to mature, and there are few things that don’t improve over time”.
You can contact Natalie at: ngarden
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