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Variety Wings Scholar | Student Pilot diary | Week 1

admin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 07:58:47 +0000

Shelbi Grist | Student diary | 17th July 2011 – After the First Visit

Today was absolutely amazing! Words cannot describe the emotions that I felt throughout the day. I like being busy, and having today to deal with and needing to drive home to drive to Hereford tomorrow for a camp was a good way to start my week!

I’d flown before, once. In a massive aircraft, y’know a virgin one, but to actually come to terms with “I could be flying a plane” was insane! Obviously I love a challenge, and I love to learn new things and gain experiences but flying a plane, has completely raised the bar for me. I never show my nerves, and I never know I’m nervous until I’m lost for words, because that’s rare. Mum and I arrived at the flying school at Cranfield Airport. We met everybody who are all very friendly and polite, however I was oozing to find out more, about what I’d be doing, when I’d be doing it, how I would do it etc. Goatie explained everything and I took it all in.

When it came to “oh Shelbi we’ll take you up in a plane when the weather clears up” was not what I wanted to hear, despite being really excited I was horrified. The only thing that really worries me is the plane falling randomly out of the sky, don’t know why!

So I’d looked and sat in the plane about an hour before to see what it was like and if I could get in and out of it, all of that was fine, the seats for comfy for my back which was a bonus and all the buttons and levers looked really cool! I was upset to see there were no windscreen wipers however i could manage without them!

The weather had cleared up and off me and Dan (Pilot) went. We started first by taxiing around the airfield with Dan explaining everything that was going to happen during the flight to me, then he’s like “and you can do the take off shelbi” well, at first I thought he was joking, until I saw his expression and he was full on serious, Dan went through the procedure like five times making sure I knew what I had to do, and then we were off blasting down the runway my hands were sweaty, I felt like I was going to be sick, all I could think about was Ben Affleck in Armageddon singing “I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again” even though I knew we’d touch down in 50 minutes.

Well I pulled back on the control column and we were off, all I could see was cruddy grey sky, held back in my seat like when a car goes fast. We were up in the air, and all was fine, we didn’t fall out and I managed to look out my side window whilst gripping my seat tightly, then got real brave and took some photos I even flew the plane for a bit. It was windy up there though, and the plane would like dip and make my tummy feel weird which was funny but I felt safe, the plane looked like it could handle a bit of wind! After we’d flown around for a little bit and I got shown what the plane can do etc, we came into land and got inside just before a massive rain shower hit.

After that we filled in my logbook, I was still like wow did I really just fly in an aeroplane? And then I drove all the way home, realising it would have been quicker to fly!

FITA press | Loop Magazine UK | Hand controls

admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:23:34 +0000

Loop Magazine review of our hand controls working in partnership with Cranfield University. Click on the image to read the pdf document.

Freedom TV:Martin learns to fly with the Union hand control

admin — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 11:51:11 +0000

Martin who has flown lots in South Africa using the Vision Air hand controls, now continueing to complete his PPL training. This is his first time flying in a C172 with the Union hand control. He did really well, much better then me when I had my first lesson in the same plane. He did take, general handling and as he put it, “his best landing”. Amazing.

Freedom TV : Learning from fly @ Freedom in Air

admin — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:47:15 +0000

Carlos from Portugal came to have an assessment at Freedom in the Air; he passed with flying colours and after only 3 hrs of flying got to land the plane 4 times. For various reasons he is unable to get a medical class 2 licence to commence flight training in Portugal. Having completed a week of training, he had a medical flight test. After the new year, he can come back and continue with his PPL training and get issued with a Joint Aviation Authority licence and go back to Portugal and fly..

NATS & Airbox: Aware GPS : flight test

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:59:21 +0000

A new device has come onto the market which fills a small niche area for Private Pilots in the UK.

This new device, quite unlike anything else currently available, provides a low cost moving map display using a 4.3″ backlit sunlight readable screen and contains the latest UK ICAO 1:500,000 chart.

In essence the devices primary function is to warn when the pilot is approaching, and then about to enter, restricted airspace. The user interface is incredibly easy and you are given information that is 5 mins ahead of you in the direction of your intended track. The Aware device comes with the ICAO 1:500,000 scale UK chart preloaded on the supplied SD card, with more charts available on Airbox web site. For those pilots who prefer them, the 1:250,000 scale charts are available to download for a fee. How cool is that!

We flew down to Goodwood recently and during the flight we tested the Aware system. It is so simple to use. Open box, then charge for 6 hours. Then when ready to use, we turned it on in the aeroplane, within a few minutes the system was booted and we could see that the plane was at Cranfield airport.

After departure, the first alert was for the Luton Zone. We flew under it, then given enough warning to tell us about Benson MATZ. Farnborough Rader (W) gave us MATZ penetration, but to stay clear of their ATZ. After this, we saw that Solent Control was on our right, but we were well clear of them, and the strong winds would not drift us anywhere near their airspace. In the past, I had burst Southampton Zone on the way to Old Sarum. I was able to call the Airport duty manager to tell them of the bust. A few days later, I spoke to NATS at London Heathrow who helped me learn from my error so that I did not make the mistake again. I was so impressed with the guys at NATS. They understood that I was a baby pilot and helped me. I wished I had this system back then.

Flight planning and situation awareness is naturally important. Having the aware system is no way any substitute for not flying as we are all taught to, under VFR, dead reckoning etc, however, having it really adds another dimension to safe flying. I would refer to the Aware, every now and then to check I was clear of the various controlled Zones I was flying close ot or when I saw a alert, it backed-up my own plan to call for Matz penetration as and when I planned to for both Benson and Odiham. It was nice to fly near Lasham, where I started my flight training.

I would give it 9.5 out of 10. I have added the extra battery pack to enhance the units own battery life. The price is also very attractive. If you can budget for it – I would suggest everyone has one. Happy landings people…and enjoy the summer flying season.

Alerts include:
Controlled Airspace (Control Zones, Control Areas and Airways)
Aerodrome Traffic Zones
Danger Areas and Prohibited Areas
Restricted Airspace (Temporary) – e.g. air shows and Red Arrows displays
Transponder Mandatory Zones
MATZ
ATZ
GVS
PSL
HIRTA
The Aware was conceived by NATS and Airbox to help pilots avoid unknowingly flying into controlled airspace. Airspace busts are an increasing problem worldwide and normally result either from the pilot not knowing where the aircraft is or from a lack of knowledge about changes to airspace restrictions.

IMC flight test: PASSED

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:18:41 +0000

With great joy I have passed my IMC flight test. It was a hard test and required 100% concentration. We did general handling, limited and partial panel work, spin recovery, holding patterns 3 times, several missed approach procedure, and expect the unexpected. What i mean by this, is that during one of the missed approach, instead of ATC giving the expected instructions, they told us to leave the circuit away from Cranfield, tracking 310 (I used the Daventry VOR to track this radial) then make our own navigation to CIT beacon – and then follow the right entry pattern to hold. After this we did 2 NBD approaches, followed by a few ILS approaches. Time keeping is crucial, so is mainting your headings, heights, minimum decision altitudes…

“The Answer my friend is blowing in the WIND” – always know where the wind is and make drift and head wind – tail wind corrections as necessary..

Learning to fly in IMC conditions has made me a much safer, better and more disciplined pilot.

A-MICE-ATM Checklist

A – AWOS/ATIS : Get the information.
M – Marker Beacons/Mag Compass (align).
I - Identify EVERYTHING that you may need (including GPS setup).
C – Course inbound on the final approach.
E – Entry (Straight-in, procedure turn, DME arc, vectors to final, etc).
A – Altitudes (as per the profile view).
T – Time (if applicable).
M – Missed Approach – at least the initial climb and turn(s).

At a meeting held at the CAA on 26 January 2010, the CAA Chief Executive Andrew Haines confirmed to Martin Robinson of AOPA that it is CAA policy to retain the UK IMCR. The CAA is to begin dialogue on how this could be achieved once the EASA licensing system is implemented. For those considering on embarking on more flight training, the IMCR would be a good course to do in my opinion having experienced it first hand.

NDB, ILS, DME, VOR Instrument approach procedure.

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:28:10 +0000

I have learnt so much this week that my head hurts. I have had a master of a tutor.

I took my ground exam and passed with 92%. I have flown through heavy rain, strong winds, heavy cross winds and feel so much better for the learnership. I know the training has helped to make me a much safer and better pilot. Here are some video i found on utube that help to explain some of the things i have had to master. Then put them all together to fly a standard instrument departure (SID), an enroute section in IMC conditions, through controlled airspace, do all the radio work, then descent from altitude, then go into a hold procedure, and then fly a Instrument arrival procedure (IAF) and land off it to minimums..wow….
IMC flying

IMC: holding patterns.

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:00:42 +0000

The last few hours having been flying ADF / NDB tracking and approaches around Westcot NDB. Making sure to stay clear of the Luton zone, but talking to their approach controllers letting them know what we were doing and to keep an eye on us, just so we did not burst their airspace. Although the concept of ADF tracking is not that complex, i have found it to be more difficult then i expected. However, it is starting to sink into to my brain. My instructor is very good at teaching me and slowly adding more and more to the mental work load. We have moved onto holding patterns and flying them differently to the tear drop landing approaches. The concept is yet again rather simple, but i have needed a couple of hours to fully master the concept and to be able to fly the hold making sure drift and timings are all accounted for properly. Holding can be for a number of reasons, for example, if you are approaching the airfield from a high flight level, you can circle in the hold until you get to the approach altitude. They can be used to keep you in the hold so the preceding traffic below can be given ATC instructions at busy airfields. The diagram is the brief i showed my instructor prior to departure. The exercise followed the exact procedure at Cranfield. All information for approaches, holding, ILS DME, NND DME, missed approach procedure are all available from the airfield charts. Once i was flying the hold in 4 minutes ( which is how long it should take), we flew the teardrop approach to land, but then did a missed approach, rejoined the hold for 1 circuit and joined he approach and so on. I was tired after 1 hr and 45 mins and decided fly back and end the lesson. Next lesson, i am going to do the briefing, and introduce the 3 different types of joins to enter the hold, depending on the direction you approach the airfield, Sector 1 -3.

Here you can see the charts:

BBC World Service: Outlook: A Life Full Circle

admin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:25:02 +0000

Imagine starting life with polio in a Calcutta orphanage but growing up to work amidst the glamour of the British music industry.

It seems unlikely, but Gautam Lewis is a man who did just that. After leaving Calcutta he built a new life and career managing high profile and controversial artists, including Keith Flint from the Prodigy, and the Libertines and Pete Doherty .

However he felt his talents could be put to better use and decided to leave the music industry and return to Calcutta to help in the fight against polio.

As part of India’s polio immunisation campaign, he has been using his own experiences to try to change attitudes by visiting parents reluctant to immunise their children.

Now he says his life has come “ full circle” – a name he has also given to his new exhibition in Calcutta of photographs of polio sufferers which he hopes will help raise awareness .

Matthew Bannister spoke to Gautam Lewis and asked him to describe his “ full circle” journey - from Calcutta to the UK and back again, and learning to fly along the way.

St. Mark’s Catholic School

Mr Shoe Wingtips — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:16:16 +0000

A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak to students of St. Mark’s Catholic School, Hounslow. Today, i went to meet them and talk about my flying achievements, work with Rotary International and to talk about poverty. Little did i know, the School is right under the final approach for Heathrow runway 27L and 27R.

The students had been learning about Mother Teresa, Poverty and the work of Humanitarian organizations.I shared with them my experience of my life in India during the first 7 years , then moved onto my teenage upbringing in the UK, followed by my career history, focused my talk then on all things flying and my passion for this. I concluded by speaking to them about polio eradication work and the roles of Rotary International, UNICEF, WHO in the campaign. There were 3 classes that i met and i was really energized by having the chance to speak to the current generation about subject matters which i thought they would not be interested in.

I was very surprised that they were extremely fascinated in what i had to say and each group asked a lot of very interesting questions about life in the developing world, what they can do to help, ideas they have for their gap year. The local press were also out in force and when i get copies of the articles, i shall put them online. I would have loved to have gone to this school as planes are flying past classroom windows very minute

The power of teaching heh, i got to take my hat off to teachers as it is bloody hard work, but i believe very rewarding