nearlyheaven

Little Martyn's Blog part 3

Well, first just to put something straight, I am not so little, in fact I stand at just over six feet tall, but fair enough Big Martin is definitely bigger than me!

Hello again flying chums.

I have time to write this blog, why?
Because I have finished all of the ground examinations for the PPL! Hurrah
I cannot begin to tell you how good that makes me feel.

If you are a PPL student wannabe, as I was not long ago, then it will mean very little, but trust me, it is a huge milestone, easily equal to the first solo!

In part 2

I had safely completed my first solo and the controllers had been very nice and supportive about it.

Now Part 3:

The following day the controllers were back to full speed radio- talk. Armed with my pen and kneepad I was confident that all would be well.
The pen is mightier than the missile:
The second that you climb into a cockpit, and you can ask any pilot this question, those pens that you have with you become missiles.
Mine was particularly lively as it twirled through my fingers and shot off somewhere behind the rear seat –gone forever!
Too late, to bother looking for it as the instructions from the tower came thick and fast.
Nothing for it but to try and remember it all, as some of the instructions require a read back, after a few embarrassing repeat requests, I was on

my way for a few solo circuits.

 

Here Come the Air Force:

After a couple of circuits I was flying a downwind leg and listening to our controller speaking in French (to the French speaking pilots but English to the English speaking pilots) to someone about an exercice militaire “Oh that is something about a military exercise I thought as I turned final for another touch and Go.
The controller gave my call sign and said “make this a touch and go a full stop landing on the runway.”
Do what? I thought, as by now I was almost on the runway. I landed and rolled to a halt mid runway. The radio was silent but my mind was not.

This can’t be right, just stopping on the runway!
Sue always says” If in doubt ask”. That thought prompted me, I keyed up the mike, “Limoges Tower.... this is Foxtrot Delta Delta ... stopped on runway 03 in front of you, please confirm that this is correct”.
The reply came instantly “Delta Delta do not move”.
Relieved at such clear and concise orders, I relaxed back in my seat and reduced power whilst applying the brake.
WHOOSH! An Alpha Jet shot past the nose of my aircraft, swept past the tower and was gone.

Told you so:

The super cool controller came back again “Foxtrot Delta Delta the military exercise is now over and therefore you are cleared for takeoff.”
I was thinking “military exercise my foot”, but what a great experience!
Martin Payne (Big Martin) told me later he had had the same experience on the runway, however his “military exercise turned out to be a Mirage Jet!
If I ever get a “hold on the runway again I shall be diving for my camera and searching the sky!

Watch this space for the next installement.!

A ten hour round trip to revalidate the PPL

At Nearly heaven we have many intrepid pilots and they all have aviation running through their veins.

This week I must send a word of congratulations to George Sinclair, a pilot who now lives permanently in France in the Grenoble region.

George needed one hours flight with an instructor and his SEP validation signed off by an examiner, therefore he decided to come to me to obtain the revalidation.

George arrived at the club on Saturday afternoon after a five hour drive from his home.He was accompanied by his French wife who is also a pilot!

In fact he told me the romantic story of meeting his future bride at the Malta air rally after flying there from Scotland!

We set off for our  flight, as always I try to get any new pilot/student to relax and settle down before asking for more serious flying.

The hour's flight with an instructor is to ensure that the pilot has not lapsed into any bad habits etc. So I used this occasion to revise all the general handling manoeuvres,including the various landings.

George was familiar with the Robin DR 400 so he was soon relaxed and we moved on to the stalls, steep turns and the PFL's no problem there.

We returned to the Limoges and we practised a few landings -- landing at Limoges can be quite an experience when you see the size of the runway,after a few touch and go landings we returned to do the paperwork.

After a cup of tea and a chat it was time for George and his wife to say goodbye, and to promise to renew the acquaintance in two years time.I suggested that perhaps myself and a couple of pilots could fly to his airfield next time it would be a great experience for us.

Footnote:to re validate your SEP ( single engine piston) rating :

In the second year after gaining your PPL and subsequently every two years.

Fly a minimum of 12 hours of flight time in SEP aircraft

Of which 6 hours must be Pilot in Command

12 take offs and landings

A training flight of at least one hours duration with an instructor( this flight must be signed by an authorised  FI (A) who must countersign the appropriate log book entry.)

If re validating by flying experience the examiner may sign the revalidation page three months prior to the date of expiry of the rating.The expiry date of the rating will be calulated from the date of expiry of the previous rating.

Please note : if you do not complete the paperwork as mentioned above prior to the date of expiry your licence is void and to regain it you must complete a flight test with an examiner for renewal.

For further information on this subject log onto the CAA website http://www.caa.co.uk/ and look up the rules in Lasors section F4

 

 

BMP

Big Martin,

Congratulations, you're a pilot now and it seemed to go by so quickly. You obviously kept that ball in the middle on DD and did yourself and Sue proud. Well done!

Now the pressure is on to get your craft ready to come and visit us again soon. We enjoyed the meal very much thankyou, it was a super evening.

 A Bientot  

Congratulations Martin Payne !

I am delighted to inform you that Martin Payne passed his PPL skill test this week.

Well done,Martin, you have worked hard for your success.

 

Each time that you have returned to France for your training, I have watched you making continuous improvement You were initially lacking in confidence, however you have gone from strength to strength and turned into a really good pilot, you deserved your success last Thursday.

We have had some great times together, I shall never forget the day we flew downwind  in formation with the cranes on ir migratory trip south, sadly neither of us had a camera to record this wonderful flight.

I shall look forward to your next visit to Limoges, hopefully when you have built your new aircraft. As always your friends at Nearly heaven will be missing you and  your infectious laughter in the club room.

Well done!

Sue

My Diaries: Learning to Fly in France (part 2) Success!

My diaries: Learning to fly in France:
Part 2

Sunday 15 November

I was quietly sitting in my Lounge, waiting for the only decent programme of the week on TV (TOP GEAR).When I heard an email arrive (luckily I had my laptop on and sitting next to me).I opened up the email, It was from Sue, or rather Lucia.....It read “Sue says you’re coming over next Thursday and Friday for your Skills test, as she has booked an aircraft and the examiner and the weather is going to be nice”....... Bloody Hell, nothing like a decisive woman, I thought. I rang up Sue there and then and discussed it with her, it seems like my examiner was coming back to the UK after the weekend and not returning again this year. Well that told me, quick into action, better get on the Ryan-air website and sort out some flights, I arranged my flights and parking for Wednesday 18 November.

Wednesday 18 November:

I set off from home at some ungodly hour parked up and checked in through security .Only to be robbed of all my toiletries (not used to getting on big planes), I Can’t ever remember Sue frisking me before I got in “Delta, Delta”, oh there was one occasion.....no, sorry, I digress. Only kidding Sue....

Most of the flight the weather was beautiful, clear skies, I could make out all the beaches of Normandy, Ca-en, Le Mans, and Tours then we neared Limoges. Still looked like good weather, then we descended onto Final Approach, all I  could see was  thick fog.......Typical, It  hasn’t changed since I left 3 weeks ago.The flight only took an Hour and 20 minutes, so we landed at 10:AM. Lucia came to meet me at the airport, seemed strange not having my Impreza with me. Back to La Chataigneraie, by now the fog was starting to lift. I  had a bit of Lunch While Little Martyn was doing some revision for his Navigation exam Then off to Bellegarde airport and do some revision with Sue. After an hour of practising “General Handling”, I felt I was now ready for my test. Gwen and Martin then went to do some navigation to the north while I swotted some of the emergency procedures for tomorrow. Oh well If I don’t know it now, I never will. Finally it was back to the farm for an early night.

Thursday 19 November
:

I woke up early, thinking “I hope that fog has all gone. Looked out the window......... and......not a cloud in sight......oh crap, no excuses now. Great big dragons flying around my stomach.

 I still had room for some eggs on toast (with some of Sue’s farm eggs, beautiful!!), expertly fried by little Martyn while I was doing my planning and navigation plog.

Finally, off we go. At the aero club, I finished off all the planning, notams, meteo, etc. Next I had a briefing with Mike Grierson (examiner). Let’s go and do it.
Suffice to say, everything was going fine until the diversion bit came up.... Then came the question “can you show me on the map where we are?” Of course, we’re there!!!!“Are you sure? (Long pause)”. Errrrrr (bugger, may be we’re not there after all), “no...?” came my reply, so, Mike told me to work it out, did I panic or what?? Started losing height as I was concentrating on map, then I was changing course, checked it all, “Yes!!!! I’m sure now, we are here”. By this time, I thought well that’s that, I’ve blown it, wasted trip. I just carried on with the rest of the test nonchalantly, thinking I might get a partial pass, may be? I think that I did the best Glide approach landing ever in my life! I  landed within a metre of the  target point, given by the examiner. Next came  a few questions. “I am pleased to say you’ve passed”, said Mike, I thought “"Navigation, very good”,  now I assumed that he thought that I was lost!!! I shouldn’t have doubted myself.
Whoopee!!!!!! I’ve passed!!!!
We returned to the club, to let everyone know. I was still a bit shell shocked; I could have done with a long cold beer by that time. Two and a half hours of gruelling test  was longer than I thought it would be. A coffee will have to do.

Upon my arrival at La Chataigneraie, to my surprise I found the house decorated with Welcome Home New Pilot !balloons, that was certainly " icing on the cake,"  quite a day to remember!

Party Time:

We all celebrated that evening, Sue, Lucia, Gwen, Bernard, Little Martin and Myself, with an absolutely, exquisite meal at at the  restaurant Auberge des deux Ponts, situated beside the river at Aixe sur Vienne.
  Lucia had brought some chocolates for the chaps and beautiful flowers for Sue and Gwennie.  How thoughtful you are Lucia, you’re one in a million.

Friday 20 November:

Another lovely day dawned, but today I was going home, disappointed ( I am going to  leave very good friends and when  saying  my “Goodbyes” I start to get all emotional, especially leaving my dear France), but extremely  proud, next off to Limoges.
 I am hanging around not wishing to leave the atmosphere in the club. Finally, Sue says “Martin, you’ve got to go, your gate closes in 10 minutes!!!!!”. “ Wilco, Sue”.
In the words of the Terminator, “I’ll be back”.

Next time it will be in my own aeroplane,as I am building a CSA Sport cruiser, which should be finished by end of February 2010. Therefore stay logged into this Website, as it is about to become an “Aircraft builders blog” site as well!!!!

My Diaries: Learning to Fly in France part one.

My diaries: Learning to fly in France by Martin Payne:

The Prologue
:Last summer I was getting really bored with my life, getting a bit fed up with bikes (because I found one that suited me perfectly,  fat and furious.......Oi !!!!! CHEEKY, I meant the bike (Goldwing).  Cars were losing too much money. Decided to build a model Helicopter, did that and then decided I didn’t want to see it all smashed up so I didn’t fly that any more.......Now what shall I do,  I thought? Then the “fickle finger fate gave me a prod. My Friend Neil who had built my house with me, said he had a friend that was going to do the same thing and wondered if he could bring him around to see my house. “Yes, of course you can”, Says I. This person was Mike Tooze. He loved the house and wanted to see the garage, “Wonderful garage, is that your helicopter? Can you fly it?” He tells me that he built his own plane many years ago and is still flying it. My brain immediately engaged first gear and smoked my tyres!!!!! Screeeeech!!! I explained that I’ve always been fascinated by heli’s and ‘planes. “Why don’t you learn” said Mike, “Who me?” , Brain in second gear......There’s a thought. He finished off by explaining about the Mid Kent Strut, “We are meeting up tomorrow evening in Maidstone Golf Club, Why not come along”.
I did go along, talked to a few people, and met Gary Smith, Strut Chairman, “Why not come up to Farthing Corner and have a look around and meet some like minded people (now I know, its Skint minded people, as all their money goes in the hanger in one form or another).
I’ve since met some really, really nice, kind guy’s (and Gall’s), really polite, when I keep asking all these questions.

So, off I go to learn to fly......Where do I go to learn, who’s good, who isn’t? What’s it going to cost? All the special deals look about the same. So, I decide to learn at Biggin. Put down a lot of money after some two weeks, I get told that’s all gone....... I seem to think that was going to last for about 15 hours, I’ve only done about 8!!!!!!
“Oh no, Sir. You get 1 hour dual for £148, but on top of that, you’ve got £15 fuel surcharge, £25 landing, Blah, Blah, And Blah. Then my instructor went “Tech.” Medical not compatible with the tablets he was on, Etc.
Then I looked at going to the states to finish my training, very mixed reports about poor aircraft.....getting License, but still not being able to fly properly...... Then I found an advert for “Nearly Heaven” in Limoges. I phoned up and spoke to Sue Virr. She said, no problem come down and get some hours in, although the weather was a bit cold. I needed a bit of break from work as I hadn’t had a holiday last year. What a lovely atmosphere in the club, really relaxed way of life down there. Still quite strict as you are in an International Airport with “Class D” airspace, make no mistake. So, I ended up with 12 hours, including my Solo (done the obligatory “Oh my God!!” when you realise you’re up there on your own, it’s up to you to bring it down...) First solo greaser!!!!! Well Good!!!

Came home finished all my exams at Biggin. When the weather improved looked for another club in Kent with an all inclusive Rate. I decided on Manston with T G Aviation. I think that every lesson I had was with a different instructor (not my choice or decision), but never really gelled with any. Got a little bit disillusioned then. Sue emailed me to find out how I was getting on, when I told her, she said “do not do any more flying, save up, and come back in the early Autumn”. So here I am, back in Limoges. Here follows a diary of my stay in sunny South West France.
A Bientot.

Saturday 10 October:

Caught 07:45 Ferry, decided to take cross country route to Limoges, completed first stretch from Boulogne to Abbeville on Autoroute as there’s not much alternative at a cost of €8.00  this turned out to be the one and only toll I paid.
I picked a direct route which took me to the East of Rouen, started off really well on the RN roads, but then while descending into the Seine Valley, the GPS  said to turn right, I slowed down to look, then I see this tiny almost vertical, well, alley really, wasn’t big enough to get a car down...... It was at this point I realised that there was a hidden vehicle setting in my Garmin Sat Nav......................Not car/bike, not coach, not truck, but “Mountain Goat” mode. You’re having a laugh, I thought to myself as I giggled.
On the whole I had picked a cracking route, and all on deserted roads, it saved about 95 miles and ended up taking just 40 minutes more than the autoroutes, and saved myself about £30 in tolls and still averaged about 60mph, thought I’d caught up with Sebastian Loeb in his WRC Citroen on one muddy stretch of lanes, what a scream (good job I cleaned the side windows on the Scooby, at least I could see where I was going).
Sunday 11 October:
After a really good sleep last night, woke up to thick fog!!!! Bugger!! Hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. It took until about 11am for the fog to lift. Lucia (sue’s right hand girl) came knocking at my door to the Gite, “Sue said she will be ready in about 10 Minutes” she said. Brilliant, off  we go en route to Bellegarde Airport, “Oh God....I’d forgot about your driving” She said...Oops, better not upset my instructor, backed off to about 50mph. Get the ‘planes out the hanger, feels just like Farty Corner, I thought, at least I get to fly this time though. Spent an hour doing a bit general handling steep turns PFL’s, EFATO’s, Glide approaches, Flapless landings, with about 5 circuits, and greased every one of them. “Are you telling fibs about not flying since May?” Sue says. “No, Honest!! I replied” “Well you certainly haven’t forgotten anything, back to Solos tomorrow”. Yippee!

Monday 12 October:
Up bright and breezy and out at 9am as there was a little bit of mist, but that burnt off really quick, off to Bellegarde, planes out etc. Filled them all up.....Bloody hell glad I didn’t have to pay for all that 3 planes 320 litres @ $1.85 per litre. 
Half an hour back into the swing, “Right stop on this landing, I’m getting out, I need a coffee.......No, not you!!! You’re doing circuit bashing”. “Oh Cock!!!!” I thought, wasn’t expecting that, so quickly. OK, let’s get on with it. The wind changed and was really gusty, 17knots gusting 25, about 30° to the runway. I had one landing where the training just kicked in, coming all set up, nice..... flared, just touched down, wham....have a big gust, up we go.......firewalled the throttle, and around we go!!, quick call to tower to let them know, tower replied “Good Call” that gust just registered about 30 knots. Another particular event worth noting occurred just as I was about to touch down for a “touch and go”, the tower called “FOX, DELTA, DELTA.... FULL STOP LANDING, DO NOT TAKE OFF, REPEAT DO NOT TAKE OFF”, I thought oh shit what’s happened, has something fallen off the plane, requested permission to return to the apron, they refused and said to stay on the runway. Just then two Mirage Jets whistled over the top, about 200ft AGL at 400Kts, Christ Almighty, it frightened the living daylights out of me, the noise!!!!!
The tower came on the radio and apologised, and said sarcastically, “Many thanks for your brief visit, Fast jets!!” That was a bit close.
I carried on and recorded 2 hours 10 mins. After lunch I was told I would need to plan to do my first solo cross country, off down the river Vienne to L’ Isle Jourdain about 100 miles round trip. I was finally ready to go after all the planning was finished. Off we go, Lovely afternoon, wind has stopped gusting quite so much it was now much calmer.
I was surprised there were so  many little thermals, had to be careful not to go too high, I had chosen to fly the route at 2500ft as the max ceiling in this area is 3300ft (Limoges being at 1300ft). FANTASTIC!!!!!!! What a great experience, this is why I’m doing this....... My confidence was growing as I was able to fly the plane look out and spot landmarks, do the RT, and then enjoy.......then, panic!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m not doing anything....I must have forgotten something, checked everything, even decided to check “Checklist”.... no, got everything covered. Wow, enjoy!!
Doing mock QXC tomorrow, off to bed now, tune in for the next instalment.

Tuesday 13 October:
A nice crisp morning met us with a 2°C and ice on car windscreen.  Sat down in Aero club and did all the planning for the Cross Country as per QXC. Sue checked all my calcs. Finally, she said “Great, are we travelling at ground level?” I’d done all my working outs at 5kts ground wind velocity not for 3000ft, Bugger!!! Do it  all again. It took about two hours in total, touch and go at Angouleme (will be full stop tomorrow, difficult for signature with T&G), and on to Poitiers. Had a great seafood buffet and dessert for lunch at airport restaurant (thoroughly recommended). Then back to Limoges, all timings and headings were spot on, pass-overs to different FIR regions, Towers and FIS, I am really pleased with myself.
Right, tomorrow’s for real, Gulp!!!!!

Wednesday 14 October:
Well that’s that Milestone completed; now I have completed my Qualifying Cross-country. The nerves set in this morning; everything seemed to be going through my mind, what if this happens, what if that happens. “Just go and do it” said Sue “I wouldn’t let you go, if I thought you weren’t up to it”.
Oh I feel sick, tum's doing summersault ( they must have been big ones!!!), go to the loo......well I thought I wanted to go...Never mind.  Lets get going. Once I was airborne it all seem to come quite naturally, I was a little bit off track after about 10 minutes, but only about a mile too far south, so I gently eased over to the right  a bit, within a minute I was bang on track again. Angouleme appeared and set myself up for the landing, nice, go and park up. Paid landing fee and gained a signature, right next off to Poitiers. Landed at Poitiers, I was told to park on the Apron next to the other GA aircraft, Got out went pay my landing fee (by now, it was about 12:20), Couldn’t find anyone...... Oh, of course its lunchtime, France grinds to a halt for 2 hours, it’s a real wonder that restaurants don’t close for lunch over here!!!!!! Eventually found a person to stamp my paper and pay my €7 to. Then he remarks “next time, please come before Lunch”, ah bless, I thought, I must have caught him just before he ate his smelly cheese, Hahaha. Forgot to put landing light on before coming back into Limoges, I think that was the only mistake I made.
Next 2 ¼ hours more solo flight, half and half Circuits/XC and then mock test and the Real thing. Bloody Nora!!!!!!! As the Japanese might say....oh no, that was “Tora, Tora, Tora”. Well, nearly right.

Thursday 15 October:
Brrrr, cold this morning down to 1°C, up to the airport and sit and plan a cross country to the region the examiner likes to use. All planning done so off we go, up to a small airfield that is used for parachuting in the summer (Le Blanc) turn to the East and across to an old disused military airfield (St. Benoit) and back to Limoges, everything going fine until I got back to the CTR request joining instructions (bearing in mind I could see the runway and I was running parallel to, ready to join downwind for a left base), the controller says you are going to cross the axis of the runway......Continue to Echo Alpha (reporting point on other side of runway).  Now he was telling me to cross axis and turn right base.  Then he made another call, which explained all. “Fox, Delta, Delta, report Base, number 2 to a Boeing 737........Ah...He was obviously coming in behind me at a great rate of knots. Acknowledged and got on with it, well it’s all experience of getting the unexpected.

Friday 16 October:
Brrrrrrrrr   even more, -4°C this morning. Another XC in the north like yesterday, right where the examiner lives, to me, this is like playing with fire. By all accounts the examiner likes to see your preparing for the test......”C’’ est Bizarre”, alors! Everything went according to plan today, only point to mention I was told I hit windshear when I explained what did happen on the route, I did the whole route at 3000 feet. At one point the plane fell about 300-400 feet in about 3-4 seconds and left me hanging in the harness, well it only cost a clean pair of underwear!!!!!!!
Going to have the weekend off exploring and recommence à Lundi.
Salut!!

Monday 19 October:
This morning it looks like the weather is starting to turn for the worst. It’s getting very blustery. Today it was time to a mock test with Sue, so, sort out route, weather, and fill up Delta, Delta. Off we go to look at a “Danger area” the examiner tries to get you fly over, nav seems to be spot on, I can relate what I see to the chart. Decided to do 2 touch and go’s at a grass strip at Couhe, they were good, bit bumpy, reminded me of Farty Corner again. Then I get thrown a diversion, hadn’t planned for this, without being able to draw and measure angles while flying, roughly work it out and then go by landmarks, bang on again, happy with that. Next, on with the foggles while performing standard rate turns on instruments....all OK. Touch and go at Angoulême, fine with that. Off to St. Junien for short field approaches, coming down, into flare and then loads of sink, Sue took the stick and hit the throttle, off we went, just missed scraping the tail and landing with a BIG bump. “WHAT DID I DO WRONG!!!!!!!? It seems when I detected the sink, I pulled back instead of going for the throttle, and nearly stalled. Got reassured by Sue, I didn’t cause it, but I did get caught out by it...........

Tuesday 20th October:
It was very blustery today, gusting 27knots on Runway 21 directly from the South (30 degrees from the left). We flew from Limoges to Poitiers for lunch, good flight there bit bumpy coming into Poitiers had a very good meal “Choucroute” (Saukraut, and pieces of cooked pork). Back to Limoges with some PFL’s and engine failures and then landing at Limoges. The ATC at LFBL actually said “Attention, severe wind shear!” we had to cross the threshold with about 80knots on the ASI, and we were crabbing at about 45° and it just wouldn’t settle, we floated for a long way with gusts trying to pick up the port wing with all the controls crossed up. It finally descended with a “keep that left wing down” ringing in my ears. Straightened up and back to the apron..........That one had me sweating!!!!
Wednesday 21 October
No flying today, pouring with rain and has been all night, may be my test tomorrow if this low finally passes.

Thursday 22 October:
The day didn’t start off too promising as there was a lot of mist around. But by AM, this had all but burnt off. I went and did an hour with Sue doing incipient spins and stalls both with and without flaps, along with slow, steep turning stalls. This was all followed by a few short field landings at St. Junien. This would have been an ideal day to do my test, but, alas, the examiner is at Brive doing an exam with someone else.
 There is a bit of a tradition down here, to fly to Angoulême for lunch on Thursdays, as the little restaurant in the airport building is run by a lovely British lady, Ronni.

Her Chef does the most amazing “Fish and chips” lunch. The menu was a starter of two small sardine fillets with lemon vinaigrette followed by a really nice piece of fish in a beer tempura batter and chips and a dessert, Chocolate Fondante roulade. This price of this feast was only €7.00.
The day ended with a beautiful flight back to Limoges.

This evening we had a gourmet meal in the big Gîte, I was asked if I would like to prepare dinner with Bernard tonight, I said I would love to. Bernard is the husband of Gwen, who seems to be quite infamous on the “Nearly Heaven” Website blog. So there were 7 of us in total, Sue and her Mum, Lucia (pronounced “Luthia” as she is a beautiful Spanish Senorĩta who seems to run the farm, while Sue is flying), Gwen and Bernard, (little) Martyn and myself. I prepared the aperitif, starters and dessert. Meanwhile Bernard prepared and cooked the Main course. I produced a tomato and Mozzarella salad, preceded by Saucisse Sec, etc. Copious amounts of wine flowed freely. I did not allow myself very much as I would have a big day tomorrow.
Friday 23 October:

Up early, all ready and the thickest “pea soup”, you ever did see!!!!!!
T’ riffic, drove up to the Aeroclub de Limoges, met Georges (my examiner), he said in very good English “I don’t think it’s going to happen today”................he only lived about 5 minutes away and said if it does clear, give him a ring. He said “it will be great on Monday”, no good to me, as I’m off home tomorrow........Nuts!!!
At least there was some good news, I heard from Graham Smith to say that my Aeroplane was arriving tomorrow at Maypole, just got to get it home?????!!!
It looks like I will have to come back for a weekend when the weather is better, hopefully in November, most   probably via Ryanair.....

As a footnote, without prejudice, the 2 Gîtes make an ideal base for this part of France or just a passing Fly-in to Limoges or St. Junien. Why not come and give it a go!!!!

www.nearlyheaven.com

Martin Payne...

Little Martyn's Blog part 2

Little Martyn’s blog part 2

Hello flying chums,
Part one of my blog left us rolling down the taxiway ready for my first solo.
With all the holding checks done and cleared for takeoff, it was good to roll out onto the runway.
Nothing left to do but push open the throttle and keep the aircraft straight.

What a performance:
If you want to fly a plane solo, first you must become an air lawyer as explained in part one.
The next examination was Human Performance that turned out to be all medical stuff.
For example, did you know that the circulatory system works on a three part closed system? Of course not, unless you are a doctor!
Wow, I was going to become a doctor, hopefully a flying doctor.
Trust me I am a Doctor:

The human performance examination was quite a struggle ------ OK, I am not a real doctor, however I am fully qualified  to pass you a paper bag and direct you how to breathe into it should you ever start hyperventilating.

Back to the flying:
To be quite honest the first solo felt no different than being in the aircraft with Sue, in my head I could hear her prompting “keep the first turn shallow, make your downwind call, now second stage of flaps, trim nose down “etc
All under Control:
The controllers here at Limoges airport are brilliant, swapping from French to English with ease. They are especially understanding with people doing their first solo’s which is most reassuring to the student pilot.
“Cleared to land “I was now looking down at that huge runway which quickly gets bigger until it fills the windscreen. Flare, hold off,  hold, hold and the tyres squeak home onto the runway .I HAVE DONE IT!

Welcome Back:
Of course, a first solo can only ever happen once, and it is cause for celebration, so with my instructor and fellow students it was time to visit the airport restaurant to relax and let it sink in that I had successfully completed my first solo – wow! Flying finished early for me that day!

Martin Rangeley.

 

silvery moon

Martin, I hear you're on your way. I enjoyed reading your diary entry very much. However, have you seen the latest that's available at the flying school. We won't have time to go to a restaurant let alone eat.

Want to try Night flying?

Now that the clocks have changed, we can think about adding a Night Rating to our PPL licence.There is something extra special about flying at night  and those of you who have not previously participated in night flying  will be surprised and delighted with the experience.

The training for a night rating may be completed during the training for a JAR PPL, or at any time after the PPL has been obtained.

However the five hours of night training is additional to the JAR PPL flying training requirements.

Flight Training :

The night training syllabus consists of a minimum of 5 hours night training in aeroplanes.The five hours are broken down to 3 hours of dual training, which includes at least one hour of dual night navigation.The remaining hours may be flown dual or solo.

The student must perform 5 take-offs and landings at night as PIC. These landings must be full stop landings not touch and go landings.

There are no examinations involved in this rating however it is recommended that a minimum of 3 hours theoretical knowledge is given by the instructor prior to the flight training.

Throughout the course we shall cover a wide range of simulated emergencies including practise engine failure, it is important that the student can deal with the same sort of emergencies at night as we practise during daytime flight.

Prior to commencing the night flying course it is advisable to have a refresher course with your instructor covering climbing,descending, turns and straight and level flight on instruments. If the student has not revised this subject prior to the night instruction he will find the instruction very challenging as we use a combination of both visual and instrument flying techniques during the training.

We are extremely fortunate to have a superbly equipped runway for our night training  at Limoges,as the lights,could be compared to Blackpool! However we shall endeavour to go to a smaller airfield during our navigation flight to perform landings in a somewhat different environment where  perhaps there is  only the minimum  of lighting.

Congratulations Little Martin!

Congratulations Martin Rangeley for completing yor qualifying cross country today, despite very strong winds at Angouleme.

Another milestone in your training .

Not too long now before the skill test.

Well done

Sue

1008mb's silver lining

Yesterday we managed to fly for a while before the cumulus deposited it's humid cargo. Martyn, Steve and myself were lucky; with Armistice Day being a national holiday, it was quite busy at the airport. Sue had luckily already booked our aircraft. Our instructor seems to know the weather trends before the metars and tafs are available.  There were quite a few pilots leaving from the club ready to navigate their way through the grey skies, with great aunts and family in tow, ready to enjoy the Limousin countryside. After a few rainy days, which were much needed by the farmers, I was glad to be able to fly some circuits with Sue and Steve. Another erstwhile British pilot pleased to have found the lady instructor. Then on the way home I had the pleasant surprise of seeing the deer skipping across

   

the road in front of me. That doesn't happen very often with these shy creatures. This morning there was rain overhead, however the weather girl, AKA Sue phoned to say once again there was an envelope of some flying weather. Fortunately I was able to whizz up to the club, and after some circuits and a short navigation there was another treat in store. The runway lights had been switched on; a veritable christmas tree and what a pleasure it was to land with the aid of the twinkly bulbs. I should add that the wonders didn't end there. My cockles were well warmed as I arrived home to a  piping hot roast pork and prune creation from Berni and a call from my mother who started with the words, "Hello Kirsty"!   
 
 

1008mb

Yesterday we managed to fly for a while before the cumulus decided to deposit it's humid cargo. We were lucky with it being Remembrance Day it was quite busy. There were quite a few pilots at the airport dodging the clouds with great aunts and family in tow enjoying the Limousin countryside. 

Little Martyn's Blog part one by Martin Rangeley

Introduction: Learning to fly.

It seems strange that so many people are interested in flying who live in the U.K. Let's face it, the  Britsh weather does nothing to help flying.

I had followed this website and blog  www.nearlyheaven.com   for a while and decided to visit Limoges, France, to see for myself what it was like ----- that was a month ago!

I knew I would like to have Sue as my instructor as soon as I met her and I was glad that  she agreed to  take on yet another student.

The October weather  was superb and the training went well ,thankfully owing to having obtained a microlight licence  some years back things were not completely new to me.However I had not flown for many years.

Part one: 

"TRUST ME NOW  I'M AN AIR-LAWYER"

After each  days flying, I was busy learning Air-law, the first of seven exams and a pass was required before going solo.

Stuart Morton had kindly lent me his books after gaining his PPL and gave me the advise " just do it ten questions at a time", ( meaning just learn the questions).

Both my two Gite-mates Geoff Causer and Jim Batey ( already both qualified pilots) thought it was great fun to join in my study and leave me more confused than ever.

With only half the questions learned Geoff came in and announced that Sue had set my exam for 7:00 pm that evening.

I remember walking up to Sue's house thinking I'd need an absolute miracle to pass this exam, Sue met me with a huge grin and said " you didn't go believing Geoff Causer did you?", the relief was brilliant but was shortlived by Sue saying, " same time tomorrow night for the real exam", She meant it!

The following night I was amazed to pass and have the Air-Law exam finished, just 6 more to go!

Back to the flying:

Each day I made an improvement, mostly circuit training at this stage, but with back-seat trips out with other students to practise their cross-country flying skills,( sitting in the back seat helps so much with the training you learn so much without the added pressure of flying the plane) soon it would be my turn.

I listened on the intercom as Gwen repeated back message after message swapping frequencies as she flew us from one area to another. I began to doubt I'd ever reach that level ,but the circuits were coming along and that did involve some radio use. Sue must have read my mind and cut into the silence by explaining, " The radio  is a lot easier than you think, once you  begin to realize they will only ask you certain things at certain times".

After a while I realized what she meant, as I began to predict the calls and mentally rehearse the instructions and replies.

Goalposts always move. The little Robin DR400 is a great little plane that grows on you from your first flight, they are very popular here in France. It was in a little Robin that I had practised and practised circuits from the huge runway at Limoges.

One day after a few good landings,much to my surprise, Sue asked me to pull onto the taxiway so she could jump out and send me solo. This particular day the wind had changed direction and we were for the first time in ages, using runway 03, I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the taxi hold position for 03. I looked quickly across to where Sue had been sitting and before I could do or say anything she leaned beack into the cockpit and with that big grin of hers said, " Tell them you want to taxi  to Sierra hold for 03" and with that she was gone!

I keyed the mike, " Limoges tower, Foxtrot Delta Delta request taxi to Sierra hold for runway zero three first solo". The tower gave back clearance and off I went down the yellow centreline with a huge grin on my face thinking of Sue's last minute radio-rescue. That's all for now folks.

Disclaimer:

No responsability will be accepted for any decisions made based on anything I say or write and remember I passed my air law exam so now-------- I'm an Air-Lawyer-so there!

Cover Girls!

I am delighted to announce that the article written in the summer on our trip to Biscarrosse, has been included in this months BWPA newsletter.

The photograph of Stine and I in the a Robin aircraft is featured on the cover 

For those readers who did not previously read the Biscarrosse article I have republished the article  in a subsequent post.

" Biscarrosse Beach Excursion" see article entitled Cover Girls

" Biscarrose Beach Excursion"

Yesterday,I took two lady student pilots to the coast at Biscarrosse, which is situated on the South West Coast of France below Bordeaux and Arcachon.
This was a rather last minute decision as Patrick Moussy  ( CFI of the french students) had arranged to take two of his pupils to this destination.The previous afternoon while planning this trip, he invited us to join them for the flight followed by a swim and lunch.One of his students has a son living in the town of Biscarrosse, who had kindly offered to transport us from the airport to the beach and restaurant.
The day dawned sunny and cloudless with a high temperature of 25 degrees at 8am in the morning!
So we duly  arrived early at the club and prepared our chosen aircraft the Robin DR 440/140 F-GZYA for the flight to Biscarrosse.
My students were Stine Angen ( from Norway) and Gwen Jenner ( living in France).
We decided to use this as a Navigation practice for Stine and therefore we took a slightly longer route to enable her to perform touch and go landings at both Perigueux and Bergerac airfields.
From Bergerac we tracked the SAU VOR  and finally on the last leg of the journey we had to navigate through a minefield of restricted military areas as we were in the Cazeau military zone.
The  friendly military controller spoke excellent English and guided us through the zones, at below 1000 feet.
Stine was excited by the prospect of flying the base and final approach over water, this was a new experience for her and it certainly did not put her off her landing as she touched down on the numbers as light as a feather and  expertly exited the runway at the first exit without the need for backtracking.
Patrick and co had arrived a couple of minutes prior to us, they were the first to scramble into the car,looking forward to cooling off in the ocean.
With the temperature now at 34 degrees we settled down under the trees waiting for the driver to make a return trip to pick us up, sipping ice cool water and watching the aircraft practising in the circuit. 
When we arrived at the beach we were surprised to see that it was packed with holiday makers, we therefore declined the swim and made our way into the beachside restaurant to enjoy long cool drinks and to enjoy the hoiday atmosphere.
After a wait of about an half hour we were starting to feel hungry watching the huge dishes of mussels etc being brought to neighbouring tables.Thankfully Patrick arrived dripping wet and starving.
We enjoyed a huge lunch and some excellent cross table "Franglais"
With a definite need to check the weight and balance  prior to our return flight, we returned to the waiting cars ( two for the return journey) and back to the airport.
  On the return journey Gwen was in the left hand seat, we chose the slightly longer route up the coast to Royan and then we tracked east on the edge of the Cognac military zone overhead Jonzac and Angouleme.
Patrick who took the more direct route, and was in the faster Robin DR400/180 aircraft,arrived at Limoges about 25 minutes prior to us and his plane was in the hangar by the time we  arrived on the apron.

This day had been a great success and a lot of fun, combining  navigation training  to a fun destination with an informal atmosphere  showing the students what can be achieved when they have gained their PPL's.
     

 

After all " flying should be fun!"

Next week's flight will be to either Biarritz or Cannes