It's been a while, I can't believe it was in October last year when I last blogged about my pilot training!

A lot has happened since my first solo. After a break in November, went for two more circuit solo sessions and I distinctly noticed my landings were becoming a lot softer as I was judging my flares much better and having my eyes on the other end of the runway I was able to "feel" the plane as it kissed  the tarmac.

 Clocking up the 3 hours in no time, it was time to work towards the area solo. Checking the boundaries of the Moorabbin training area on the VTC and checking those visually while in flight (I believe these are the first steps towards navigation (can't wait for those exercises!). Prior to the flight my instructor briefed me on forced landings, there was a lot to take in. Pitch up to wash off cruise speed, gain a little more altitude as we aim for best glide speed (in a Warrior, it's 73 knots), set attitude and trim for 73 knots. Initial safety checks:

CMFS (Carby heat on, Mixture full rich, Fuel pump on, change tanks (call out), check magneto Switches), now look out for possible landing strips taking into account wind direction (want to be aiming to land into the wind), look out for smoke in the area, ripples in the lake pretty hard in the training area as there are hardly any of these clues, best bet is to use the wind direction from the airport. Check airspeed 73 knots, fly a downwind leg to your intended landing site,

FMOST check (Fuel pump check, fuel pressure check, Mixture lever linkage check (call out), Oil temperature and pressure check, Throttle lever linkage check). Check glide speed 73 knots.

Mayday call: Mayday Mayday Mayday, callsign, callsign, callsign, nature of problem (engine failure), actions performed (forced landing), number of pax on board, position. 

ELT on and brief pax, check 73 knots and position and altitude to landing area. Assure PAX this has been done before, to remove all sharp objects from the pockets, glasses off, do not touch the controls and when asked open the hatch and check the seatbelts.

Fly base then finals, if certain the plane will make the landing area, set flaps accordingly. If time permits BUSH checks (Brakes, Undercarriage, Switches off, Hatch open), if there is no time, then say so and just fly the plane to land safely.

 A lot to do and take in, needless to say it took me a while to go through these checks for the first time. What was surprising to me was that the plane glided, and glided pretty well with no engine power and didn't just fall out of the sky.

On our return to Moorabbin we went through a join upwind GAAP procedure from Carrum, it felt quite strange to overfly 35L at 1500ft to join upwind circuit and we landed nicely for another completed exercise.

The next session was steep turns and that was cool to pull some G's as the angle of bank was greater than 45 degrees and we had to maintain altitude, very cool, and to feel the propeller wash as we turned 720 degrees was also a cool sensation. After a left and right steep turn, my instructor pulled the throttle on me. I looked at him thinking WTF!!??? and he just said, you just suffered an engine failure, what do you do? Everything went into action all the checks but I didn't have time for the BUSH checks at 500ft we initiated a go around, after clearing the flaps and climbing, my instructor grabbed at the throttle again, and again I was thinking WTF!!?? Engine failure on take off what do you do? Lower the nose 73 knots, choose a field to land on.

 passed it. On our way home via Carrum I was checked for area solo, my instructor enjoyed the flight back. Instructed to join downwind on 17R I flew the circuit and it was a very strange feeling to be flying on the eastern side, after so much time on circuits on the western side. There were a few hiccups with the configuration for landing as I was more occupied with the new sensation of flying an unfamiliar circuit. All is well and I was checked off for area solo.

 I performed two area solos and practiced all I have learnt so far (I was specifically instructed not to go on a scenic flight and should practice my drills). On the first time back from the training area apparently a jet landed on 17L as I entered via GMH I was given a very unfamiliar tower instruction, maintain 1500ft to Sandown, wake turbulence exists because the jet landed. I did this and realised there was a 152 ahead and told to orbit around Sandown at 1000ft, as I heard the traffic advisory from the Tower I saw the 152 heading straight for me but 500 ft below. It looked so close! I landed with no issues.

On my second area solo flight I decided to mix it up a little with a couple of drills in the training area and then return via GMH for some circuits if available. They were but it was busy! after my second touch and go and on late downwind turning to base, I hear the tower ask a pilot which plane he was following, he confirmed and tower asked again to be sure, pilot confirmed he was following the right plane, then the Tower agitated asked then who is that plane you are about to overtake on your right? Pilot acknowledged again, understandable a stressful situation, Tower then went onto tell the pilot off and told him that he won't be a pilot much longer if he carried on like that. Tower then gave instructions for him to orbit and follow the correct plane. Calmly I was given the clearance for a touch and go, needless to say with everything that happened with traffic that was behind me, my next downwind call was a full stop!

Having clocked up 2.6 hours of area solo time, it was time for a dual check and my instructor told me to think about sitting my BAK. I performed my dual check last weekend and worked towards GFPT with a short field take off and landing and a couple of glide approaches from final, it was too busy for a glide approach from mid-late downwind. We then set off to the training area for some sideslips which was a cool exercise, to cross the controls for a quick descent. Pick a reference point on the ground, gently roll to the left and depress the right rudder, what a crazy feeling, it's like going sideways in a rear wheel drive car in a top gear-esque power slide. We came back via GMH and performed a short field landing. All good, and we are mixing a whole lot of things up. Sadly, that was the last flight with my instructor has he has decided to move on and found a charter job overseas. It's great to hear from him, I am pretty close to GFPT and hopes to see me get that and the PPL when he comes back in a year's time. It's a promise.

Today, I was one step closer to GFPT, I sat the BAK. Having read the Tait BAK book and going through some practice exam questions, I felt I was ready for it, I couldn't go through the loading calculations and balance charts as I didn't have the appropriate texts. Those questions were quite important and I notice that some questions in the exam were not covered in much detail if any in the Tait book. It was a relief to find out I passed the test and aced all the calculations and loading charts section (even though I couldn't practice them much), There was a loading system, I think it's bravo where there were these slide rules and segments from the top of the page all the way down to ensure the plane is balanced appropriately, I have never seen such a chart but it was straightforward to work out.

Now I would like to clock up some more solo hours before I go for my GFPT, final tips from my outgoing instructor for the GFPT test was, don't be nervous! Does anyone have any other tips they would like to share with their flight tests?

Now my school is organising a new instructor for me, hopefully we are just as compatible as the one I have been with for so long.