Sometimes, there's nothing like going for a fly to give one focus.
Today, I really needed to go for a fly. It's been a busy week at work and it's been a couple of weeks since I have flown. Some friends of mine invited me to tag along on a day trip to Swan Hill. Although I'd love to go with them, I didn't want to stretch the budget too much. My other concern was the forecast fog and low cloud, so I opted to take a rain check on the trip. I could wait out the fog and go for a local flight or even do a couple of circuits.
That's exactly what I did. When the AWIS was reporting the cloud had risen to 1500 feet AGL, I headed over to the airport. I caught up with Ian, the maintenance guy. He was in the hangar, working on a Super Petrel that had been through a wheels-up landing. Not pretty!
I took my time preparing the aircraft, made sure there was plenty of fuel and headed over to the runup bay. After the slow start to the day because of the fog, there were plenty of aircraft either warming up or heading over to the runway. They all seemed to be heading to places like Ararat and Bendigo.
I didn't have to wait at the intersection this time, so without delay I lined up and pushed the throttle to full noise. A combination of high air density, only a few kilograms of fuel and only one person on board meant the Jabiru practically leapt into the air! It climbed out effortlessly. After retracting the flaps and trimming for the climb I looked over to the right and saw a gymkhana at the light car club. Lots of cars were hooning around their track.
Turning downwind, I was surprised by how smooth the air was. It was absolutely perfect. I did some touch and goes - each touchdown more smooth than the last (and the first one was a greaser!). There were a few people coming and going while I was doing my thing. One Seminole was practising a circling approach, and asked if I minded. I said no, and offered to extend my downwind so we don't get in each others' way. They replied with "You're a gentleman and a scholar!" That made me giggle!
After a couple of touch-and-goes, I decided to head over to Learmonth for a quick burl. I cruised at 1000 feet. It was brilliant, as the sun had just come out. The green paddocks and full lakes looked great.
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| Approaching Learmonth. |
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| Learmonth township. Ballarat and Mount Buninyong in the background. |
I returned to Ballarat and joined downwind from 45 degrees. I called full stop and landed. Each landing was a greaser today, and I really focussed on being smooth with minimal throttle changes during approach. I'm getting closer to Manny's "pull it to 2000 revs at then pull it to idle over the threshold" kind of landings. Today's weather conditions did make it slightly easier.
There's nothing like flying to clear your mind. From the moment you begin the pre-flight check to the moment you shut off the engine you are totally focussed on the machine and the job at hand. Everything else seems to melt into insignificance. That's the power of piloting an aircraft. When you are setting up for an approach, the only thing that matters is the aspect of that runway and getting the aircraft safely (and smoothly if possible!) on the ground.
I feel very fortunate to be a pilot. Not many people get to know the joy of being in control of these wonderful birds.
