Just a quick update! Apologies if this blog is moving a little slow…. I haven’t been updating it every time I fly, and I will try to start to do that so you get to share some of my adventures!
A quick Update
November 28th, 2011Harbour Scenic Flight
June 26th, 2011The plan was for my mate Andres to take his Dad for a scenic flight over Sydney Harbour. We had planned at 9am Departure but the FOG had a different idea…
Foggy Start to the Day
So we decided to have a coffee whilst we waited for the fog to lift. I had already preflighted KXW and according to the forecast, we only had to wait until 10am for the Fog to lift. It was 9:40am and the fog had just about gone, so we headed to the aircraft and got things going. It wasn’t long before we were enjoying the best harbour in the world from the best altitude!
Sydney Harbour from the air
From the Harbour we tracked north along the beaches and managed to spot a pod of Whales, so a quick orbit was in order, and we discovered several Pods of Whales, they were everywhere!
After some Whale Watching we headed accross to Brooklyn Bridge and back to Bankstown via the Lane Of Entry.
Another Great day for a fly!
Andres and his Dad with VH-KXW
Until next time
Cheers,
Ben
W is for Wollongong!
June 25th, 2011Slowly we are knocking off the alphabet…. today was a trip to Wollongong Airport. Myself and Peter flew down to Wollongong in VH-KXW. A Cessna 172s with Garmin G1000 Glass Cockpit.
Peter with VH-KXW
We arrived at Bankstown Airport nice and early, with a 830am Departure scheduled, the aircraft was preflighted, the engine warmed up and away we went. I wanted to do a touch and go at Camden, so this was our first stop. I always enjoy doing the hop from Bankstown to Camden as it is so close!
Before we knew it, I was departing Camden and pointing the nose of KXW to Wollongong. Hardly a cloud in the sky, and not a bump to be felt, I hit the AP button on the dash and let the Garmin do the hard work!
Coming into the circuit at Wollongong was fairly easy as it was unusually quiet in the circuit. Once landed we checked out the Connie, the HARS (Historical Aircraft Restoration Society) had it on the Tarmac for a wash.
The Connie at Ywol
Then it was time to get a cuppa at The Aviator Lounge.
Skinny Cap
Ben at Wollongong Airport
Once we had finshed our brew, we jumped back into KXW and cruised back to Bankstown!
Until Next Time… stay Safe!
Ben
A quick fly over the northern beaches…
June 19th, 2011Originally the plan was to do some circuits in VH-EOM, but during my preflight I learnt that the aircraft had NO brake fluid in the reservoir, apparently, a few days earlier the aircraft had an aborted takeoff and the fluid was filled, My guess is maybe the aborted takeoff has damaged the braking system (I am guessing the brakes would have been working hard to pull the aircraft up before the runway ended!) Either that, or they are very fortunate that a problem with the braking system didn’t contribute to their issues that day.
VH-EOM
So I had to take another aircraft and the only one I could get my hands on was VH-IJK, it is fitted with a new engine and can only be used for NAV use only, So I decided to head north considering the weather was so nice!
After getting the aircraft started I needed to wait until the engine warmed up so I could do my ‘run-ups’ (it seems to take for ever for the engine to warm up in the winter) I was waiting in the run up bay and thinking that soon I would be charged rent if I didn’t get going!
Once I had completed all my checks, I called ready at runway 29R and was instantly cleared for takeoff, I decided a short field takeoff was in order since I was on my own, so I selected 1 stage of flap and off I went! Wow, I had forgotten how well the little piper performs with only me on board, I was getting nearly 1000fpm climb rate… so it didnt take long to level off at 1000′ and turned crosswind to head to Parramatta
The air was nice and clear, we have had a lot of rain and wind in Sydney lately and this really clears the air.
After tracking to Parramatta, I then tracked to Hornsby up the Bankstown Lane Of Entry and then turned east to head to the coast, Once over Narrabeen lakes I turned left to track north along the coastline at 2500′. The conditions and the view were spectacular.
- Barrenjoey Head
It doesn’t matter how many times I fly over the northern Beaches of Sydney, I always enjoy the view!
After checking out the beaches I headed across to Brooklyn Bridge and headed south in the Bankstown Lane Of Entry, In this lane we have a maximum height of 2500′ and have to fly over specific landmarks to make sure we stay clear of Sydney and Richmond control zones. The southbound route takes me over Berowra, Dural and finally, the inbound reporting point for Bankstown, Prospect, I stay at 2500′ and 2 miles north of Prospect I decide to track westbound following the M4 motorway all the way to Penrith as I want to head out to the training area for a few steep turns (it has been a while since I practiced them)
Once well out in the Training area I climb to 4300′ and I am happy that there is no conflicting traffic nearby I give the 60 degree turns a go! Wow… on the first one I am very sloppy, I ended up descending at a rate of 500fpm… If i was in the circuit and had to do this to avoid a collision the ground would be approcahing FAST! I need more practice so I do a few more in both directions until I nail it!
Happy with my steep turns I look at my watch to realize I am running out of time and need to the aircraft back for the next hirer. So I head back to Bankstown airport. Another great flight! I am definitely addicted to this flying gig!
Until next time….
Ben
The Author of “The Art of Flying Crooked” Robin Liston found us!
June 12th, 2011One of the downsides of the internet and having a blog is the amount of spam comments I receive, so I had to make it so every comment had to be approved by me, and to be honest, had just about given up on even looking at the comments as I was tired of sifting through all the crap spam. However, today I decided to check and see if anyone had made a worthwhile contribution and to my delight the Author of “The Art of Flying Crooked”, Robin Liston has contacted me.
To answer some of your questions Robin, we fly whatever we can get our hands on, neither of us own an aircraft and rely on hiring aircraft to complete the A to Z challenge. We are both members of the Schofields Flying Club based at Bankstown Airport and hire their aircraft a majority of the time. Usually it will be a Piper Warrior or Archer. One of my favourite Archers, VH-NRF is now scrap metal, it was crash landed on a road when inbound to Bankstown Airport a few months ago, lucky for the pilot, he and his passengers walked away.
As for the progress we’re making, it is extremely slow! At the rate we are going, it will be 26 years before we complete the challenge!
Thanks for making contact with us Robin, and we looking forward to meeting with you next time you’re in Australia, and maybe even go punch some holes in the sky!
Scone was Cancelled.
June 12th, 2011unfortunately due to weather, the Scone navex was cancelled and the letter ‘S” is still not crossed off the list!
Good News! We are back on track!
February 3rd, 2011If the weather gods look after us, Myself and Peter will be adding the letter ‘S’ on the 13th February 2011. We are participating in a Navex from Bankstown, organised by Schofields Flying Club. We have booked VH-SFA, an Archer, and it sounds like it will be a fun day.
Here is a copy of the email from the club to give you an idea of what we’re up to…
We are arranging for Club members to fly up to Scone Aero Club for a BBQ on Sunday Feb 13th when they are holding an open day. Should be lots of interesting things to see up there, along with the opportunity to chat with fellow pilots from all over.To make it an enjoyable day out, we are planning to make this a navigation exercise with a few questions to answer along the way –sort of an air rally if you like. Some questions might relate to ground features, others to airspace, others to (say) GPS usage. Route detail will be given in advance to give you a chance to plan it all out, but it will not be too indirect. Flight time each way will be just over an hour in a Warrior, less if you are in an Archer, Arrow or Diamond. We will hold a pre-departure briefing mid morning to give you a chance to get organised and get underway in good time for lunch.
I will post pics and a blog of the day shortly after the 13th Feb… stay tuned
Use your checklist!
October 19th, 2010I decided to go for a fly last Sunday and was reminded why using a checklist was so important! Especially if you’re like 90% of private pilots and you rent a vast array of aircraft.
After returning from taking a couple of friends for a Harbour Scenic flight I was talking to someone at the club, and they were telling me that someone was struggling to start a piper arrow, in fact, he heard them holding the starter on for about 40 seconds… So the first issue, you should never crank an engine for more than 10 seconds without a start… Any longer than 10 seconds and you risk destroying the starter motor. It also should tell you that something is wrong…. Why won’t it start?
The second issue was the stream of Avgas flowing out of the exhaust! The engine was badly flooded because the pilot was trying to start a fuel injected arrow engine at mixture full rich! Now i can understand why this would happen, the pilot in question probably normally flew archers and warriors, and thought they would take the arrow for a spin… And obviously, did not follow a checklist for the startup procedure for the arrow… This error could have ended in tragedy, an engine fire… And who knows what else.
Please use your checklist… It will make sure you get away… And return home safely!
We need to go FLYING!
September 14th, 2010Hi all… it has been a while since I have updated the blog. Peter had to get some surgery done (he is as good as new now) and this prevented us from flying… I heard from Peter the other day and he is about to go and get current again and we’ll be able to get back into the air and start crossing some more letters off the list. Stay tuned!
Cross the Letter “C” off the list!
May 14th, 2010Hi… Ben here… Yesterday, we had planned to head to Moruya, after checking out the forecasts… MOD TURB BLW 8000′ E of YSCN and YCOM (for the non-pilots, this translates to MODERATE Turbulance below 8000′ east of a line from Camden to Cooma) and given the fact that this route would force us to fly below 2000′ for most of the way, the letter ‘M’ was going to get ditched for the day!
Peter in his wisdom and with the help of a few iPhone applications! (Peter loves his iPhone Pilot Apps!) found an alternative… he said “Let’s head west young man!” (okay… so he didn’t say it like that… ) but he did suggest we head out west where the wind was almost non existant and we would be west of Camden within 10 minutes of leaving Bankstown leaving us clear of the forcasted Turbulance.
The plan was – Bankstown to Cowra, we would fly over Mount Panorama on the way for a photo on the way.
So off we head, I was flying the first leg, and Peter would fly us home from Cowra. Nothing really exciting to report, we took off from Bankstown and we were getting thrown around as expected until we were west of Camden and we had gained some altitude. I climbed the aircraft to 8500′ as soon as possible and the flight was smooth and the view sensational!
I tracked via Katoomba, then to Bathurst to get a look at Mount Panorama…
Ben Flying over Mount Panorama
From Bathurst we tracked direct to Cowra.
Peter at Cowra Airport
Once we had taken a comfort break and stretched our legs it was time to head back. Peter had planned via the Wyangla Dam, then to track to the Bindook NDB/VOR, then Camden and then landing back at bankstown.
Once again, a fairly predictable flight until….. we reached the inbound reporting point for Bankstown and we heard the ATIS (an information service for Pilots) telling us that there was a 20kt crosswind at Bankstown… (this wasn’t in the forecast!!!) After an orbit and a quick chat with bankstown tower to get the exact winds on the ground (15 kts to 20 kts crosswind) it was decided we would head to Bankstown and attempt a landing, if we couldn’t land at Bankstown we would have to head back to Camden and land there… we would decide on short final…. I think the wind gods were nice to us as it was a strong but steady wind and Peter did an OUTSTANDING crosswind landing!
So we can officially cross the letter “C” off our list!
VH-SFR at Cowra Airport