False start No. 1
Excited to try out the new beast, I made a booking. I received a call the day before telling me that the aircraft paperwork had been bungled (not the Club's fault) and was actually un-registered for a few days until the extra things were received by headquarters and entered into the system. Bugger!
False start No. 2
I had planned a flight later in the year. The instructor (Anton) was available, the plane free and the cloud wasn't to be too bad. I invited Shane up to Ballarat to go for a quick flight after getting signed off with the instructor. I knew there was to be a windy front coming through, but that wasn't until late afternoon - plenty of time to play beforehand (or so I thought!)
We pulled the plane out and went through a pre-flight; while discussing the little differences between the two aircraft. I glanced over at the wind sock and it was showing in the order of 18 knots. I didn't want to disappoint Shane (who'd driven more than an hour), so I continued.
The start-up procedure is a little more complicated because of the way the avionics have been wired. In the Sierra, there is one 'Avionics Master' switch that brings everything to life once the engine is running. The Bravo has everything switched individually, which takes a bit more concentration to ensure nothing is missed. We began to taxi out to runway 36. As we passed the wind sock, I had another look; this time it was straight out. 20 knots+ This might be interesting!
After waiting for traffic to clear (watching closely at how much they were getting buffeted around), I entered and cautiously took off. Anton had advised me that this aircraft requires a far higher nose attitude on climb-out, so I was ready for that - or so I thought! I pulled the nose up to where I thought was enough, but my speed kept climbing and was threatening to exceed the flap extension range. I pulled back a little more, but it was right about then that we encountered the turbulence from the hills to the North of the runway. It was still controllable, but it certainly was off-putting when trying to get used to a new aircraft.
I managed to get to circuit height and turn downwind. Thankfully the large rudder has plenty of authority, so turning wasn't too difficult. With the wind now behind us, GPS had us doing a groundspeed of 123 knots on the downwind leg - so it was over in a flash. I had to somehow slow the aircraft down, get some flap out and turn base. This all happened a little later than I anticipated, so I ended up having a long final - which wasn't so bad because it took some time to get the speed/approach stabilised. I had a sneaky look at the GPS on final... The groundspeed was now 34 knots! Looking down (it later struck me how awesome the downward view from this aircraft is), it appeared almost as if we were hovering - not moving forward much at all!
I touched down a little further past the numbers than I usually would have in the Sierra, however the touchdown speed was so slow (thanks to the strong headwind), that we were almost at a walking pace by the time I raised the flaps. I continued to do a few more circuits like this. Each time I did another, the landing got a little better; however it was easy to get really slow during the hold-off and the ailerons would get wishy-washy.
The final circuit, Anton said, "Would you like to try a glide approach for the full stop?"
"Uh, ok. I'll give it a shot!", I said, not showing the inner look of fear I was feeling.
I kept the circuit tight, turned base and pulled the power. I was looking down at the runway and thinking "wow, we're really, really, really high!" and proceeded to lower some flap. I was pretty confident tuning final that we'd make it. This confidence was short-lived. As we continued down final in the strong headwind it dawned on me: We're not going to make this! I turned to Anton and said, "I'm sorry, I screwed the pooch on that one!"
"Haha, yeah... I was wondering when you were going to realise! I thought lowering flap so early was a bold move!" said Anton, smiling behind his microphone.
I cheated a little by adding some power and completed that landing in an ok manner. We taxied back, fighting the wind. I felt a little embarrassed and apologised to Anton. He told me that he can see that I'm competent at flying this aircraft - all the ingredients are there - but he would just like to have another go during more normal conditions.
As I went back inside the club house, Shane was sitting comfortably on a couch reading aviation magazines. I looked at him and said, "I'm really sorry Shane, it's not a pleasant day today; we'll have to fly another day."
"That's no worries. I didn't think we were able to go today." said Shane, putting away his magazine and smiling. "I've been listening to you guys on the radio and monitoring the AWIS. Just after you guys took off the wind got up to 25 knots, gusting 27!"
"Shit! That's why we were so slow on approach!" I replied, almost dropping the pen in my hand. To date, I'd never operated over about 22 knots - maybe 23 knots at most! No wonder the glide approach didn't work all that well.
Success. (Finally!)
The previous attempt was last year - I was keen to knock this one over, but the business of the silly season got in the way. The other day I saw once again that all elements were aligning - except for the heat. The day was expected to get to 34°c, but if I got in early, I could fly in comfort before the sun had too much time to heat the place up.
Once again, we pre-flighted, got in the plane and taxied to the runway. Conditions this time were almost perfect - the wind was hovering around 4 knots, with a slight right crosswind on runway 18. It seemed that every other pilot at the Ballarat Aerodrome had had the same idea as me, because the circuit was chock-full of aircraft! We waited for an opening, but it was becoming increasingly clear that if we were to safely join we'd have to commit to an intersection departure. Thankfully though, the runways at Ballarat are long.
Getting used to the Bravo again was certainly easier without the hassle of the strong turbulent wind, but it was still a challenge. For some reason, the Bravo is much heavier on the elevator than the Sierra - which means trimming the aircraft correctly is paramount. Slowing down the aircraft without losing height requires much more stick movement that I'd been used to, but I got my head around it eventually. After several circuits, I finally realised that it's a heavier-feeling aircraft overall and requires more input.
The landings were coming together, so once again Anton asked if I'd like to to a glide approach. I agreed and reported so to the others in the circuit. Just as I had turned and established the aircraft on downwind we heard a call from a firespotter Cessna Airvan. He was asking for a base join (not usually recommended by CASA, especially in a busy circuit), was four miles inbound and wondered if we had him visual. We didn't mind letting him in - fire aircraft do a wonderful job - but both of us looked out West where he reported to be and saw nothing. A few seconds (and much searching of the sky) later, we caught sight of him North of us, already entering a long base leg. We both agreed that he was much closer than four nautical miles when he made his initial call.
This extra aircraft in the circuit meant I had to give a little extra room, so I flew the rest of the slightly larger circuit maintaining the same height. When I got to a spot where I could then glide to the runway, I pulled the power. Unfortunately, with the complication of the new aircraft and fixated on not encroaching on him I completely forgot the first step in a glide approach. I completely forgot to convert speed to height, as Manny had taught me. I simply lowered the nose to head towards the runway. When I got to a point where I thought it was time to lower some flap, I looked at the airspeed indicator. Oh shit...We were doing over 80 knots and the runway is approaching fast. So, not wanting to pull any tricks or silly manoeuvres, I made the decision to go around and start again.
This time I executed a perfectly uneventful and safe glide approach. As I was taxiing back, Anton said "You feel like doing some solo in this now?"
"Yeah, may as well build on what we've done this morning", I replied. I dropped him back at the clubrooms and headed over to the runway, ready to taxi back to 18 which we'd been using all morning. Just as I was about to make my radio call, an inbound aircraft announced that they were planning an approach for runway 36. I craned my neck around to the windsock... Yep, between taxiing past it, letting Anton out and taxiing to the other runway (only a minute or so), the wind had turned around almost completely. Oh well, 36 it is!
I proceeded to fly three circuits, with each landing getting a little better than the one before. Even though Anton is a lean fellow (there isn't much fat on him, if at all), and by this stage I had a half-load of fuel; the lightly loaded aircraft started feeling a little more like the Sierra - but with an awesome view of the ground!
It was enjoyable to fly the new aircraft. Now I have two to choose from - if one is busy, I can take the other. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages, but both are nice aircraft to fly. I think for cross country and windy ops the Sierra will be great. The Bravo, with its cantelivered wing having no support strut in the way will be perfect for taking people sight-seeing!
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