Solo Bat

I fly alone fairly often. But its best when doing aerobatics. Experienced or novice passengers are equally distracting. Yesterday, alone in the bright voids above the beach. Turning and loopings, stalling and falling. Rolling and diving at the Sunday 4WD armadas on the sand. Only a radio to state your position to other pilots who remained invisible in the bright bllue day.

sloppy aeroboatics

The club president thought it'd be good to go flying again so I invited him for a ride while I caught up with some aero practice. Time gets away from you. It'd already been six months since I'd flown a sequence. So it was basic. Two loops, two rolls, two stall turns and a fast glide approach to shut down before it ticks over point five.

The cloud ceiling was just about where it would be a nuisance, 4000 feet. But it was scattered and less over the coast. 90 degree turns to check for silent air traffic. None so wing over dive 130 knots haul back the stick and look "up" for the horizon coming over. A bit slow, but S shouting "we fell off the top" I though was a bit of an exageration. Hey I', a bit rusty. We didnt really lose 500 ft. I just left it there. Haul the wing over and let the nose drop into a steep dive. 130 knots come up fast. Haul back harder until the stall warning squeeks. Over over "you did it again!". I did not do it the first time. (I reckon the 130 knots should really be 135). How you feeling? Ok. Alright a couple of rolls. Hard right, push forward. Ease back out of the dive. She really drops the nose eh? Yes. 108 knots, Hard left, push forward. That's better. A stall turn. 115 knots and the Robin is standing on its tail, but the ASI shows 60 knots dropping slowly, look left, almost vertical, hard left rudder, right stick. Slowly she pivots dropping a little onto its back, then sliding fast to a nost down face full of trees attitude. Draw baack the throttle and pull back on the stick till we're going up again and push the rpms back up. Again! Same deal until we're going straight up but this time I apply right stick at the same time as I go full left rudder. She stalls with a dramatic nose down flop. THat's it. First time I've cocked up a stall turn. Not that it matters. Just need more practice. How you feeling? ...err, yeah I think I've had enough. Ok lets go below!

Wet in the air

It's been dry for so long. We're lucky to be as close to the coast as we are, but the rain shadow starts at about our distance. It's been like a desert back west.

So it's nice when it rains. Not when you're flying though. Showers are ok. You can see the beginning and end of them. But good soaking rain just goes on and on.

I didnt have my flying gear with me when S called. I'd ridden my motorbike in to work. Even though rain was forecast. Heard that before. So help me pick up an aeroplane from the LAME at Cessnock? Oh ok. I could borrow a chart and there are spare headsets at the flying club.

The radar picture was peculiar. A fast moving band of blue (light rain) moving in from the west. Extensively. Oh well, the met forecast was ok. Windy in two hours. Light rain. Sweet.

Fuel up first? Half a tank. Rain. Yeah, better. Just in case.

The delay put us closer to the winds, especially flying west, into it. Climbing to 1500 feet, the picture was pretty darn grey.

Press on S? Looks iffy? Yeah.... Then Air Traffic hands us off into uncontrolled airspace, and oh what the heck. We can see Kurri, the highway below us. Greyness ahead. We're flying in full on rain.

Is that the cloud base? Going down to the ground?

No. Veils of rain.

More rain behind it. We'll be in it in a minute.

The cloud base is up there. Somewhere...

The GPS is in my flying bag. At home in the 4WD. Below me and behind. And of all days this is when I might actually need it.

There's Cessnock. The town. Cant make out the airport. That's the hangars isnt it?

Traffic Cessnock, Robin joining crosswind three five.

Put down ok after a way too high and hot approach – too close to the field (didnt want to lose sight of it). Though I really didnt want to go around either. Wonder if the runway's slippery because it's been teeming like it has been since Thornton. Nope, pull off at the first taxiway and park. Wait for S but he needs to refuel. The plane he's picking up is working ok, so go on ahead back to work. I'll come back if you need.

I give my calls and launch underneath a Cessna 152 that's overflying low for downwind. Wanting to get out of it. I'm going back into it. How's that cloudbase? I stay at 1000 feet as I turn east north of the field. Point the nose at the Auto Direction Finder set to Williamtown and keep it level. Work the radio frequency changes for airways clearance in the bouncy grey wetness.

Clearance Delivery, Centre, Tower, Surface Movement Control.

I am alone, me in my 120 knot rain lashed bubble canopy and the air traffic controller's instructions through my headset. I can make out the Kurri smelter. It's the only thing big enough to stand out from five miles in this murkiness. Almost at the boundary.

I am flying over the farm. I like this trip because it takes me over the top. Not seeing much now though. Rain streaming all the way down to the rapidly filling swamps nearby. Nice to see rain going down...far below.

I am sequenced in to land. Tower asks if I can see the field. Affirm. He mustnt be able to see me. But I am much smaller among all these rain drops than he is on the ground. The air trafficers shut down their controlled air space after I land. Leave it up to pilot discretion. The weather's not much good for any actual work. Well, I helped bring one of our planes back. That's work. One hour command time in the log book.

That's the worst VMC I've ever been in. And it was mad fun.

Birds in flight

Another ferry to Cessnock, picking up a club pilot. Perfect vis no clouds, winter midday. On the windy side with a few hard low bumps.

1500 feet just this side of the Kurri smelter I see two white objects that could only be birds tracking across my path. I wonder what sort of birds they are and realise I only have to turn right a little to intercept them. I am about 200 ft above their level. Twenty seconds later I am slightly aft and they are to my right flapping hard, arrow straight, in the approximate direction of Dungog. They are white (or light brown and white) pigeons (of course). The lead bird is on the left and his wingman is close in, one length back and one wingspan apart. Impressive.

You dont always see birds. Can be scary when they are right in your 12. They can be surprisingly high up. On the way back there was a wedge-tail eagle in our 12, but high; maybe 300 ft higher (1800 ft above ground level). I turn little left to ensure he doesnt do a dive onto us for some appalling reason, but he doesnt. Soaring serenely, unlike his pigeon prey.