27/7/13: Basic Circuit Training #1

Upwind leg of circuit in Jabiru J170

Today was the first of what will be a number of "basic circuit training" lessons.  This stage of my training introduces me to the circuit patterns at an aerodrome.  I'm no longer flying in the Eastern Training Area, as per previous flight lessons, but instead will be remaining within the circuit at Archerfield aerodrome.

Basic circuit training lessons are competency based, so the number of lessons I need do depends on when my flight school is assured I can at least fly circuits safely and consistently.

Rather than repeat it here, checkout the last blog post for my explanation of a traffic circuit and the various legs of the circuit... hope I got it right!  :-)

Unlike earlier flight lessons, there isn't a pre-flight theory briefing for each flight lesson.  Instead, there is one pre-flight theory lesson that covers basic circuit training.

I arrived to Archerfield about an hour early today as I wanted to sit the Air Legislation exam before my flight.  So far, I've sat and passed my Pre-solo Air Legislation exam and Radio exam.

Matt Hall

Guess who I bumped into in the main terminal building?  Matt Hall!  :-)  Matt used to be an RAAF fighter combat instructor but is now an international aerobatic competitor and has competed in the Red Bull Air Race.  Matt had his MXS-R aircraft (aerobatic taildragger) parked next to my training aircraft!  Just a slight difference in performance  :-)  Matt was doing some low-level aerobatic flying for the V8 supercar racing out at Willowbank today so was flying back to Archerfield after each fly-by.  I had a quick chat with him and he said it took him less than 5 minutes to fly there.  Checkout - http://matthallracing.com/

Matt Hall in action

Matt Hall has well over 4000 flight hours and I've got about 9 hours I think?  Anyways better later than never eh?  :-)

As mentioned before wherever possible I'd like to get the various theory exams out of the way earlier than required so I can focus on developing my practical flying skills.  I guess what I learn in books, is what I apply up there so it makes sense to get the theory under my belt. 

As per the course outline (checkout "Pilot Training Course Outline" tab above), I don't really need to do the Air Legislation exam until I'm about to start the "Basic Advanced Training" part of the course.

So I sat the Air Legislation exam today, which is a bit more in depth than the Pre-solo Air Legislation exam, and passed getting 85%  :-)  Another exam done  yay!

So onto the flight lesson for today...  I had a pre-flight theory briefing on circuits from my instructor for today, David and then I went out onto the apron and did a pre-flight inspection of my aircraft for today, old faithful, Jabiru J170 24-7984.

Did the taxi, runup and take-off with associated radio calls.  Prior to this lesson, I've been trying to remember the numbers (ie RPM, speed, flap setting, altitude & attitude) for each leg of the circuit, so I don't need to refer to notes in the cockpit (not that I'd have time to anyways).

A circuit can happen pretty quickly.  The time between take-off and landing is about 5 minutes and a lot happens in that time. The aim of the circuit is do get the configurations done when required so I'm not having to rush anything when coming into land.  On late base leg and final leg, the cockpit should be clear of distractions and the aircraft all configured to land, so really the main focus on final leg is speed, descent rate and horizontal positioning relative to the runway centreline.

I did a few assisted circuits with landings and immediate take-offs (call a "touch-and-go").  On the first circuit, turning base leg onto final leg, I had yet to get the "cleared touch-and-go runway 10L" radio call from the tower and I was descending past 500ft.  As I descended further to 300ft moving closer to the runway threshold, David said we'll "go-around" as we hadn't got the cleared to land call.  Full power and climbing maintaining runway heading, we flew another circuit.  As we did this, the Tower called giving the clearance to land but we advised we're going round.  "Roger"  :-)

A pilot can "go-around", meaning not complete the landing if the pilot is not comfortable, for any reason with progress of the landing.  I reckon its far better to make the decision to go-around, fly another circuit and land safely than struggle to rescue a faulty landing.

I'm starting to learn some ground references for where I should be at mid-crosswind, mid-base and start on the final leg.  For example, turning onto final leg for runway 10L, I should be flying over the Oxley Harvey Norman store next to the motorway.  This gives me a touch under 1 nautical mile final leg.

So that was the lesson for today...  nothing too scenic as just doing touch-and-go after touch-and-go but I'm really enjoying it.

Next lesson on the coming Saturday... Basic Circuit Training #2...  :-)