Hi All,
In the tradition of mentioning milestones on the way to a pilot's license, I
thought I'd mention that I passed my final test for my microlight license on
Saturday - the General Skills Test. I think this is the equivalent of the U.S.
check-ride - an examination of your flying skills you have to pass before you
can get your license.
Since going solo at the beginning of March, I had been very lucky with the
weather and managed to get lots of flying in - up to 5 hours per week. Having
my own aircraft helped a lot, as I could do some solo flight anytime, as long
as an instructor was at the airfield.
As well as lots of circuit training, I also had to complete two solo
cross-countries, which I did on two consecutive days. Both flights were to
small private grass strips which really brought home the advantage of flying a
microlight. I can land and take-off on a 300m strip no problem, and less than
smooth surfaces are merely inconvenient rather than out-right dangerous. While
I'm certain that GA aircraft can and do use such strips I think the required
skill level is much higher.
So, by early May I was just about ready for my test. The airstrip I fly from is
quite small, and while some GA aircraft visit, in general it is microlight
only. In contrast, my test took place at Perth airport, a much larger airport
with much more GA traffic and requiring radio. To add to the challenge, I was
to take it in a much larger microlight (if that isn't a contradiction in terms)
that I hadn't flown before.
Unfortunately, the good weather I had enjoyed didn't last. My original test
date was cancelled due to the weather, and when I finally I came to do my test
I had only had one revision lesson - two weeks before!
The examiner (also an instructor) took me up for a 30 minute familiarization
flight, to get used to the aircraft, airport and get rid of some of my nerves.
This was great and really helped my calm down and treat the following flight
like any other. We then had a break while he examined my friend (who also
passed) and before long I was once again strapping in and going through the
pre-startup checks.
My normal instructor is quite talkative, so there was quite a contrast with the
examiner who naturally is not going to be leading you by the hand through the
various maneuvers. Conditions were quite thermally - at one point we were
keeping a constant altitude with the engine at idle - which meant that judging
level flight was quite challenging. This at least meant the some of my minor
altitude deviations were lost in the general "noise".
The upper airwork went pretty well, steep turns, unusuall attitudes, emergency
landings. The only tricky part was a stall, as this particular model simply
wouldn't do so without some fairly high nose-up pitch. At one point I had the
bar right up against the front strut and all that was happening was we were
slowly descending - not even a mush. However, this was a known trait of this
particular model (my own aircraft stalls more easily), and once I got the nose
up high enough, down it went and I recovered no problem.
Airwork completel, I was given instructions to head back to the airport. What
airport? I couldn't see it anywhere. The examiner realized almost immediately
that I hadn't found it and queried if I knew where I was going. Declaring
oneself lost is an immediate failure, so I said I knew where it was, but hadn't
spotted it yet... I double-checked the map, and spent a very anxious 5 minutes
heading (hopefully) towards it, before finally spotting it. As is often the
case, I was looking in the right direction, but not the right distance - it was
further away than I expected, due to the tailwind we had and the higher
airspeed of the aircraft (65mph vs 48mph).
Once back in the circuit, we had some fun and games with engine failures all
over the place, all of which went smoothly, culminating in an immediate engine
failure takeoff which I put back on the runway with plenty of room to spare. As
we taxied back to the hangar those wonderful words - "Your flying good - I'm
going to pass you."
I still have 25 minutes of flying to do to meet the minimum requirements before
I can send away for my license, but for the first time I'll be flying without
an objective in mind, or some specific airwork to practise. I think I'll take a
flight along the coast and look at the Bass Rock and Tantallon Casle. Both
modeled in the global scenery database BTW - take off from Edinburgh Airport
(EGPH) or East Fortune (EG32) and head East along the coast.
For those who might be interested in getting their microlight license, I'd
highly recommend it. For those of us daunted by the cost of learning to fly a
Cessna and then being able to afford to fly afterwards, it's a very good way to
get into the air. While it might not be quite what you imagine as you fly a
Cessna in FG, a modern microlight has pretty similar performance to a 152 and
is cheaper to own.
Finally - Ralf - good luck with your test!
-Stuart
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