Dual time today: 0h 55m
Solo time today: 0h 30m
Total time to date: 31h 45m
It’s been four weeks since I last flew - a fact that was about to make itself unmissably clear. Today, the brief was solo overhead join. I mentioned to the instructor that I’m pretty confident about overhead joins, I’ve done a few and did some in microlights a couple of years back. Should be straightforward.
It was still minus two at 0900, a crisp and clear morning, so de-icing took some time, but eventually we were ready to go. I gave up trying to start the engine after two prolonged periods of cranking without it firing, but the instructor applied more priming and a bit of magic, and we were off. Takeoff and initial climb-out was uneventful - I even remembered to dip the nose to check for other aircraft on climb-out. Switched to Approach, levelled out at the join height of 2300ft, and approached our turning point of Upper Heyford, where we’d do a 180 and fly back to Oxford about seven miles south of us for an overhead join.
At this point, things started going wrong. To cut a long story short, here’s a selection of the things I did wrong:
- Overhead Upper Heyford, straightened-out from the U-turn heading due south (about 150 degree turn) rather than a full 180 - taking me on a course straight into Weston-on-the-Green’s parachute danger zone.
- Failed to spot the airfield from about five miles out, because the aircraft was pointing about twenty degrees right of where it should have been.
- In the overhead, preparing to descend on the right-hand join, I was too close-in to the runway to see it to my right, so I couldn’t judge when to make the turn to descend.
- Failed to apply carb heat when throttling back to descend.
- Turned far too sharply when I did start descending, not giving enough time to descend.
- Failed to accurately control speed during the descent to circuit height.
- Realising I was too high towards the end of the initial descent, I gave it some flap to increase the angle of descent. But on applying throttle to level out, I immediately retracted flap, without first getting positive rate of climb. Not a desperate problem with 1200 ft of air beneath me, but not good practice.
- Failed to remove carb heat when levelling at circuit height.
- Failed to correctly note and acknowledge the reporting point after calling downwind. I just said “Wilco”, but I think ATC might have asked me to do something unusual like report turning base, instead of the usual “report final”. Whatever it was, I didn’t do it, and just called final.
- Got too close in to the airfield downwind, so infringed the noise abatement area of Yarnton. I think there was an unexpected easterly, and I was disorientated throughout downwind.
- Turning base, I put flaps down first, then hesitantly cut throttle, then after prompting applied carb heat, while the aircraft rapidly wobbled towards the runway centreline, far too high. Should be carb heat, throttle back, then flaps, as I have done dozens of times before.
- Much too high on final. I just didn’t see it. If I’d put in full-flap half-way down final, maybe I’d have made it. But we went around at about 500ft.
So, we departed to the north to do it all over again. Rather better this time. Here’s a selection of errors:
- Forgot to dip the nose for lookout on climb-out.
- Still a bit tight on the dead-side descent.
- Too high on the final approach, but since ATC were asking for an expedited vacation of the runway, landing further down it was fine.
- Landing was a little wobbly, but not too bad. At the hold-off, the instructor requested that I give it a little throttle and fly along the runway. I applied throttle too quickly, and too much, which destabilised the aircraft, but got it back under control. Need to be gentle with the throttle here!
All in all, not too bad. I was tired and a bit stressed after my extremely poor show on the first attempt - the result of a month out of the cockpit, and 2-3 months since I last did circuits or an overhead join. The main point I need to remember about the overhead join is to make the turns very gentle, wide and progressive - to give the aircraft enough time to descend in an unhurried manner, and to give time to thoroughly eyeball the airfield.
The instructor reckoned that I was ready to do it solo. My initial reaction was that I was too tired, but she said I should think about it as we taxyed back down the grass runway, past the taxyway construction works. It was a beautiful day, a phenomenon to be taken advantage of in December. I’d identified all my mistakes, and corrected most of them on the second attempt. None of the mistakes were particularly dangerous.
Ah, why not?
So the instructor got out, and I set out to do it again. There wasn’t any sense of trepidation: just a careful thoroughness and focus on the task. Consequently, there wasn’t much of an emotional impression either, this being my first time solo away from the airfield, and first solo in nearly four months. Things went pretty smoothly. I needed to make some intricate manouevering on the grass run-up area, as three other aircraft converged on the little semicircle at the same time as I. Fortunately, the Seneca in front of me idled their engines when I called to request taxy to the runway, so I could safely pass behind. The departure was uneventful, with just a brief tingle that I’d left the ground and was now all by myself, as the views opened up around me.
I said goodbye to Tower, went to flip the radio to Approach, when I noticed that the standby frequency was still set to Oxford Ground. Quick glance at the kneeboard, dial in 125.25, and there’s plenty of stuff going on. A pause comes my way…
“Oxford Approach, Golf Bravo Charlie Golf Juliet is listening to the north, request Flight Information Service”
There’s a silence for a few seconds, then someone else makes an unrelated call. The controller responds to them, and then someone else calls. Why are they ignoring me?
Look at the kneeboard again… 125.325! No wonder they’re not talking to me (I’d actually called on Farnborough Radar)! Dial in the correct frequency, and try again with more success.
Upper Heyford now looms. The aircraft is nicely trimmed and in-balance, just above 2300ft. Quick FREDA check, and a 180, and call Approach to request the overhead join - they request I report airfield in sight. So, time to look for the airfield…
Hmm. It’s not there.
OK, the heading is correct. The frozen fields are very pretty but not helping. Check the chart… on this heading, having just turned over Upper Heyford, the airfield has to be dead in front of me. But I just can’t see it. The DME is steadily counting down the miles to the airfield, so I’m going the right way. Didcot power station and the JR hospital are in about the right place. There’s a large open area with no visible runways… and some buildings on the eastern edge of it, with what looks like Kidlington to the south-east. That’s got to be it… ah yes, there is the faint impression of a runway too! I was really surprised that with the ground covered in thick frost, the runways were almost invisible from the air from a few miles away.
So I put the call in, switched to Tower, who asked me to report downwind. Flew a pretty respectable join, still a little tight but well-controlled with a modest rate of descent, and satisfyingly precise once at circuit height. Reporting downwind, I was asked to report turning right base because other traffic was established on a tight left base - this time, I had enough brainpower available to respond correctly! If it wasn’t for Brize Zone, I’d have considered extending downwind to ensure the other aircraft had time, but that wasn’t an option. So I turned base, started the descent, reported and acknowledged visual contact with the Seneca turning short final. I was worried that I’d be too close behind the Seneca and have to go-around (as is mandatory for solo students at Oxford if not cleared to land by 500ft AGL), so I decided to overshoot the extended centreline and extend base into a gentle S-bend, and keep it a little higher the usual to compensate. This strategy worked pretty well - at 600ft AGL and about a mile and a half from the threshold, I was cleared to land. I was a still a bit too high, though - my judgement of the approach profile has definitely lapsed. Full flap got things back under control, but I was still heading for a point 200m beyond the threshold, so if it wasn’t for the huge runway I’d have gone around.
Eventually, the runway loomed large, and I made a slightly-late flare. The landing was a bit of a mess - I think I pulled-back slightly too far, floated slightly and made the cardinal sin of slightly releasing the back-pressure, instead of giving it a touch of throttle to catch it. But I got away with it - the touchdown that followed shortly afterwards was a bit bumpy, but at least it was positively on the mains and nowhere near the nosewheel. 5/10.