My Holiday

Im Back! Some of you may of thought i had given up on my blog and pilot adventures. Well theres one thing for sure, I will never do that. So the last couple of weeks i have been enjoying a long awaited holiday at Stafford Moor Fishery in Devon, England. I had a very relaxing time, im not so much a fisherman so i did spend most of the time studying in the log cabin i was staying in.

I will bring you an update of what i have learnt within the next 24 hours, because there is alot of information.

Metars & Tafs

This weekend i have been refreshing my knowlegde on Metars & Tafs. Whilst in America in 2008 i had been taught how to decode Metars & Tafs, but i needed to refresh my knowledge and it has all slipped back into place.

Here is a Metar of Renton and a TAF of Bristol from earlier on today.

Metar: KRNT  051853Z  18006KT  9SM  BKN039  OVC065  16/08  A3016  RMK AO2  SLP219  T01610083

TAF EGGD 051658Z 0518/0618 11013KT 9999 SCT045
      TEMPO 0518/0609 8000 PROB30
      TEMPO 0518/0607 11015G25KT
      TEMPO 0607/0618 11018G28KT
      BECMG 0609/0612 7000 RA
      TEMPO 0613/0617 4000 +RA PROB30
      TEMPO 0614/0618 BKN010

It may seem like a lot of jumbled up letters and numbers, but its actually a vital resource for pilots. I can fully understand Metars, but i am still needing more study on TAFS.

P-Factor And Stalls

So yesterday i was informed that would have to take an endorsement test in order to take my written test in December. I will require a pass rate of 80% for the flying school to endorse me as a student pilot. Once i have passed the endorsement test, i can then move on to my written test, a challenge i am willing to undertake. So today i have been learning about Stalls and the P-factor. The P-Factor is a subject i will need to go over again because i am struggling to get my head around the Decending blade and Ascending blade, but i did not struggle to understand the left turning tendency on most aircraft. Stalls however are a very good subject. I learnt that you can stall at any altitude, any power setting and any airspeed. Also the higher the load factor = the higher the stall speed. I managed to score a pass rate of 87% on my Sporty’s what you should know DVD’s, But lets not get to confident because there is still alot to learn.

FS Training

So today i have been juggling the day about, having worked 8 – 4 i have struggled to find time to get some study in. I did manage to fit it in though and i decided to test my knowledge on my Flight Simulator. The plan of action was to practice some stalls on my FS but that soon ended in dismay.  I have a typical joystick. It’s ok for gaming sims of fast planes, but for accurate simming of a real plane like the C172, it sucks. For smooth precision maneuvers the scene would shake around violently. I was really disappointed, because it would really be nice to practice everything I’m learning at home on my desktop.

Then i figured that the best way to learn is to get out in the real thing. For now i will continue to study with my DVD’s and useful textbooks. Tommorows plan is to study all different types of weather and atmospheric pressure because i feel these are the topics i will need to study over and over again untill it actually sinks in.