Jandakot to Leeuwin Estate and back...

I was thinking about flying up to Exmouth for the weekend, but after
seeing the temperature was 40'C+ and realising that I would be incurring
hundreds of dollars to call the Mobil fuel people out on the weekend in
Carnarvon I decided instead to fly down to Margaret river with Karl. We
flew into the private strip at the Leeuwin Estate (after I signed the
indemnity form) and despite the warning about it having a radical slope
and being a scary gravel strip it turned out to be just fine. We left
around midday and I did an orbit of the city so Karl could get some
shots of the Australia day preparations. Then we headed down the coast
to Leeuwin Estate via Bunbury. As we tracked from Bunbury to Leeuwin
estate I had a few moments of trepidation as the Margeret River strip
was easily visible but it took a while to spot the Leeuwin strip, but as
always dead reckoning worked and the GPS stayed switched off.
We landed on 34 and I did a textbook short field landing and was at
walking pace long before the drop off I was warned about.
It was only a short walk from where we parked the plane to the
restaurant where we were absolutely spoilt with the impeccable service
and amazing cuisine. I am uploading Karls photos to Flikr at the moment
and they should be online soon. Karl also got the Take Off at Leewin and
the Landing at Jandakot on film and that will be on You-Tube as soon as
I get a chance to upload it.

Track Log

Passing Bakewell

IMGP5698.JPG, originally uploaded by hangflyer.

I passed in between Northam (on the left) and Mt Bakewell and York on the right on the way to Wylie.

Leaving Perth

IMGP5696.JPG, originally uploaded by hangflyer.

Today I flew from Jandakot to Wyalkatchem and back, I was hoping to get my RAA 3 Axis Ultralight license sorted, I have to go back next week as we ran out of time today. It was a nice flight, dead reckoning all the way and gee it works well. I have a tracklog from the GPS I turned on just so I could see my ground speed.

PPL-A!

I passed my PPL-A flight test today! Now I am a fully qualified
unrestricted pilot with an aeroplane, a good feeling. I am studying for
my IREX exam at the moment, with the plan being to resume my commercial
pilot training in a month when I will have 250Hrs and have passed all my
commercial written exams and my Irex exam.

Update 2009

Happy New Year. 2009 has arrived and I saw it in with friends and had a
relaxing time over the holiday season. Finally I have my PPL flight test
booked for later this week and cannot wait to cross that one off the list.
Some moron smashed the passenger side window of my car last night and
stole my Sat Nav and whatever else he could carry away with him into the
night. I have seriously lost count, but that is at least the 10th time I
have had my car broken into in Perth, I guess that's why we rank No1 in
Australia for theft. I did not even bother to report it to the Police,
they seriously don't care, the last couple of times they talked me out
of making a report, I guess to make their figures look better.

A new favourite

I just saw the film "Den brysomme mannen" (The Bothersome Man) for the
first time and loved it.

imgp5655.jpg, originally uploaded by hangflyer.

I think this was Wongan Hills

imgp5654.jpg, originally uploaded by hangflyer.

imgp5651.jpg, originally uploaded by hangflyer.

Salt Lake

imgp5646.jpg, originally uploaded by hangflyer.

I did a 3.5Hr solo navigation exercise yesterday and practised using the VOR and NDB instruments. My flight took me over Armadale, Canning Dam, Mount Dale, Beverly, Cunderdun, Wyalkatchem, Ballidu, Northam, Clackline , The Lakes, Canning Dam, Byford, Forrestdale Lake before returning to JT. It was quite thermic and bumpy under the CUs, but at least the air was cool up there. Just past Wongan Hills I saw this salt lake and thought the cloud refection's looked worth a photo.

On Track

I passed Performance and Planning and Meteorology this week, just 2 more
CPL exams to go next week (Navigation and Aerodynamics) and the written
exams are complete! I'll start studying for my instrument rating
straight away, but don't plan to take the exam for a couple of months.
I've got a huge solo nav planned for tomorrow, about 4hrs all over the
wheat belt with my first chance to practice using VORs and NDBs for
position fixes in the real world, it seems easy enough in X-Plane ;-)

Looking Down

Looking up the Swan River towards Perth.
The Fremantle Docks.
Clear Right, Ahead, Left, turn Left. (Looking down on Lauch)
Approaching Cott from the South.

After a fun fly at Cott yesterday and with today being NW but with a swing to the west in the afternoon, I thought there might be some hang gliders down at Cott. On my way to Murray Field (ok, a slight detour) for some xwind practice I flew over Cott, but no one was there.
It was 90 degrees crossing RWY 23 and gusty and hard work, but I enjoyed every second of it and all the landings were soft and controlled on the centreline. I used the only 2 stages of flap and extra airspeed as recomended in the POH and it meant a little more float that usual, but no problemo.

Cott!

Jason flies his Fun 160

3/12/08 was a good Cott day. Many were there, all had fun.



Karl got some video of me, and here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gubcHyr5hso

MTW

I did another 2 hours in MTW today. It was hot. 36'C on the ground. I
was soaked in sweat before I got into the air, once clear of airspace I
enjoyed a little while at 4000ft where the outside air was a relatively
cool 18'C. I got the aircraft trimmed at 2500RPM and 4000ft indicated
and then got the gps to average the ground speed over a 2 minute run, I
spent 2 mins going first South, then West, then East, then North and at
the end had accurate average speeds for the 2 mins in each direction.
When I got home I worked out that the density altitude was over 5000ft
and 2500RPMs equates to approx 72.5% throttle. The result of the timed
runs was a 104knot average speed, this was actually pretty close to what
the ASI was showing me after I dialled in the height and outside air temp.
The book says I should be doing 108knots in this configuration, so I am
within 5% after 30 years, nothing to complain about there.
With the aircraft leaned correctly 2500RPM burns 28 litres per hour of
fuel, this equates to 14.6 litres per hundred kilometres at a ground
speed (assuming NIL wind) of 191km/h and gives a max range of 5 Hours 40
Mins plus a 45 Min reserve or 1073km or 580nm.

I spent another hour doing unusual circuits at Murray Field and then
30mins of PFL practice before returning to Jandakot.

On track.

MTW is behaving well, 15hrs and down just one quart of oil. Today I flew
down to Murray Field and spent over an hour doing circuits, there was
not much crosswind, but it was a bit bumpy and I did a few flap less and
glide approaches and all nice tight circuits. Then I flew around the
training area waiting for someone to say echo on the Perth Radar
frequency, when they did I closed the throttle and simulated an engine
failure. I got 3 in and they are getting smoother each time. Each day
this week will be a mix of study and flying as I have my PPL flight test
and the last of my commercial written exams to complete in the next 3
weeks. My next CPL exam is Performance and that's probably why I have
echo on the brain at the moment!

Testing times

I've completed all the required Navs for my PPL. I've also started my
CPL exams. The next month is going to be very busy for me as I try to
complete all my CPL exams. MTW is going great, I have done 12hrs on her
now and she is only down 1 Quart of oil, that could well have come out
of the breather so I am very happy with the engine condition. I'm
getting more comfortable in her, and yesterday I practised my flap less
crosswind landings and I'm pleased with everything.

Economy cruise is about 100knots when she is heavy and that equates to
about 28lt/hr or flat out she can manage about 115knots at 35lt/hr. So
far I have not been above 4500ft and I am keen to see how she performs
at her optimum height of around 8000ft.

She pulls up in around 100m for a properly executed short field landing,
but needs much more room to T/O (600m) and climb performance is never
impressive. Never any problem getting back down though ;-)

Long Nav

Did I mention it was a 3Hr 54 Minute Flight! The piper has about a 5
Hour Endurance at 2650RPM or 90% throttle. If I can live with 100knots
I should be able to get her down to 75% throttle and less fuel burn.

Perth

imgp5560.jpg, originally uploaded by hangflyer.

Here is the view back to Perth from over Cottesloe

Fremantle

imgp5562.jpg, originally uploaded by hangflyer.

Here I am tracing down the coast towards the PowerHouse in Fremantle.