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:
