Flight #12 - Shoreham - Instrument appreciation

It has been 5 weeks since I last flew, having had 2 lessons cancelled due to inclement winter weather.

Finally the forecast looked good on a day when I could fly.

I am keen to get some circuits in after my less than elegant landing at the end of my last lesson. However Shoreham airfield are only really happy for circuits to be done during the week given the disruption they cause to the typically busy weekend pattern.

Instead my Flying Instruction (FI) told me that I would be doing Instrument Appreciation - preparation for being caught in bad weather, clouds, etc. This is actually a lot of fun, and sounds easy... keeping your eyes firmly inside the cockpit, following instructions about heading and altitude purely by watching the instruments. It was a lot harder than it sounds, especially doing neat and accurate changes in altitude, and most especially while doing a FREDA check and changing fuel tanks!

To make the videos more interesting I invested in the cables and open GoPro case so I can connect GoPro audio source to the aircraft radio/intercom. There's a bit of distortion, so I've no ordered an attenuator from Abeam in Belgium and when this arrives the audio should be crisper.

Here's me doing the Power Check and Before Take-off Check with the new audio feed so you can hear how it is done...

We took off and flew to the West, but to be honest after that I was not too sure where we were as I was only looking at the controls and instruments, and not allowed to look outside. The FI kept full look-out, as required by Air Law when this exercise is underway. Essentially he called out a series of headings and altitudes that I had to track.

The main instruments used are:
- Attitude Indicator (AI) showing attitude of aircraft pitched up/down, and banked left/right
- Altimiter (ALT) showing Altitude (and indirectly Pitch)
- Airspeed Indicator (ASI) showing Airspeed (and indirectly Pitch)
- Vertical Speed Indicator (VSI) showing Rate of Climb / Rate of Descent (and indirectly Pitch)
- Direction Indicator (DI) showing Heading (and indirectly Bank)
- Turn Coordinator (TC) showing Yaw/Roll slip/ Roll skid (and indirectly Bank)

Here's an image of these instruments in the Piper Warrior...

Flying straight and level once the aircraft is in trim should be pretty easy, but it is harder than you think. There are two standard scans that you do of the instruments - alternating the primary with one of the secondaries:
- Primary Scan: AI > DI > AI > ALT > AI
- Secondary Scan #1: AI > TC > AI
- Secondary Scan #2: AI > ASI > AI
- Secondary Scan #3: AI > VSI > AI

Here's me failing to notice speed is too high and needs fixing until spotted by FI. I should have picked this up in Secondary Scan #2...

During a turn the scans change...
- Primary Scan: AI > TC > AI > ALT > AI > Ball (balance ball on TC) > AI
- Secondary Scan: AI > DI > AI

A my first instrument turn - needed better rudder control. Thankfully I got better later...

To make the aircraft climb using only instruments you apply full power, let the nose pitch up, apply a little bit of forward pressure to maintain airspeed. To level off bring power back to cruise and let the nose drop back to level.

To make the aircraft descend you put carb heat on, reduce power to 2000 RPM, let the nose drop, pitch for cruise speed, and let the aircraft descend.

While climbing and descending the scans change again...
- Primary Scan: AI > ASI > AI > Ball > AI > DI > AI
- Secondary Scan #1: AI > ALT > AI
- Secondary Scan #2: AI > VSI > AI

Here's me putting it all together doing an instrument approach back to Shoreham - still not allowed to look out of the windows. Due to the wind conditions and the fact that I had been focussing on instruments for the best part of an hour the FI did the landing (beautifully as usual - he is a great pilot)...

There's no map in this blog entry as I wasn't looking outside so had no idea where I was because I couldn't look out of the window!

Weather...
- EGKA 141450Z 23014KT 9999 -SHRA FEW009 SCT015 BKN030 09/07 Q1012
- At 14:50 GMT on 14th (December) wind 230 degrees at 14 kts, visibility 10+ km, recent light showers, few clouds at 900 ft, scattered clouds at 1,500 ft, broken clouds at 3,000 ft. Temeperature 9 degrees, dew point 7 degrees. Barometric pressure 1012 hPa.

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 8.9
< 30 mins before flight: 10.5
Before landing: 9.3 (taken after landing as I knew I wouldn't be landing today)

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h
Accumulated: 13h 10m

Flight #11 - Shoreham - Steep turns

After a blowy and wet week we were blessed with a beautiful still and clear Sunday morning.

I woke up and checked by blood sugar at 7.50am - it was 10.3 which is annoyingly high. The CAA say Diabetics should have a blood sugar between 5 and 15 mmol/l so I was bang between those limits. However, as other Diabetics would know, we generally aim for blood sugars between 5 and 10 to avoid long-term health problems.

I knew I wanted a couple of white coffees this morning which generally raise my blood sugar a bit due to the lactose in the milk. I also knew I wanted a short run this morning, just a 3k squeezed between church and heading to the aerodrome, so I needed to be careful because exercise massively metabolises insulin making it more potent. Finally I didn't want to have breakfast before flying as I didn't want large doses of insulin before getting in a aircraft. I elected to take 3 units of fast insulin with my first coffee just to start pulling my blood sugar down, and headed to church.

After church I bought a white coffee on my way home with the Sunday papers, which I quickly read and headed for my run. I got home, had a quick shower and headed to Shoreham. When I got there I tested my blood sugars and found them to be 9.3 which is okay. I wish I could have had the strength to just leave it there but I bottled it - worried that my run on 3 insulin and no food could continue the decrease in blood sugars too far. Although I carry my tester and sugar when flying I just didn't want the risk of any kind of hypo so ate a cereal bar. I wonder what my sugars would have been at the end of the flight if I hadn't had the cereal bar? I would bet around 6 or 7. In the event they were 10.9 due to the carb in the cereal bar.

Non-diabetics may have been bored by the last two paragraphs but the balance of blood sugar, insulin, things that change insulin metabolism like exercise (or illness), carbs like cereal bars, the CAA limits of 5 and 15, and my preferred flying range of 7 - 10 are all things I have to balance that non-diabetic pilots do not have to worry about. I hope that some reading find this interesting.

I met my Flying Instructor - the same one who I flew with last week (FI2), and he explained that today we would be doing steep turns of 45 degrees and 60 degrees. We went through the theory in the classroom then I headed out to do a pre-flight check of the plane. He had already flown her this morning so only a transit check was needed. I did the transit check and added a check of the stall-warning switch on the left wing to the usual checklist.

After FI2 joined me I did the Before Engine Start checklist, the Starting Engine checklist, and the After Engine Start checklist. I taxied us out to the holding area for Runway 20 and did the Power Check checklist and Before Take Off checklist. I opened up the throttle and we were soon airborne heading towards the training area over the coast at Littlehampton.

We started with some Medium Level Turns to get us in the swing of things then moved onto 45 degree turns and 60 degree turns. These are a bit like patting your head while rubbing your tummy - demanding from a coordination point of view. After you pass 30 degrees you need to open up the engine and use elevator to maintain height whilst using ailerons to set the right bank angle, all the while tracking a neat circle over the ground.

Here's a video of a 45 degree bank turn to the left...

Here's a video of a 60 degree bank turn to the right. This feels like a very steep turn indeed, and as you pull 2G in this turn you can feel the blood heading from brain to feet and feel light at the end of it when you straighten out! You know when you are doing it right because to fly through your own wake turbulence and the plane tips +/- 20 degrees suddenly which is a horrible feeling at first but you soon get used to it. Not correction for wake turbulence at time 1 min 35 secs...

I then flew us back to Shoreham for a crosswind join (not done that before), followed by a standard left hand circuit flying over Shoreham harbour and the South Downs for a landing on Runway 20. My join and approach were okay but I did a poor landing, over-flaring so I ballooned and then did a bounce. Pants. I won't make that mistake again. The flare should just stop the descent so you fly straight and level, then as the plane slows and settles pull back to raise the nose. Pants again. Here it is - don't mind showing my poor things as well as the good/fun stuff...

Here's the route we took...

Weather...
- EGKA 091020Z 16002KT 9999 FEW035 10/08 Q1004
- At 10:20 GMT on 9th (November) wind 160 degrees at 2 kts, visibility 10+ km, few clouds at 3,500 ft. Temperature 10 degrees, dew point 8 degrees. Barometric pressure 1004 (a new low for me!)

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 10.3
< 30 mins before flight: 9.3
Before landing: 10.9

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 5m
Accumulated: 12h 10m

Flight #10 - Shoreham - Stall training

After a taster of stall training in Flight #8 it was time to do a full lesson of stall training

I had a flight booked for Sunday 2nd November but when the weather looked better the day before I made a last-minute change to fly on Saturday instead. When I arrived at Shoreham airfield I found that I had been allocated a different Flying Instructor (FI) than normal due to my last-minute change. I didn't mind - on balance I felt it would now be a good thing to fly with someone different and get used to having different people with me in the aircraft. Plus I was sure that the different FI would have some differences to point out to me.

I checked out the aircraft and the FI joined me. I went through the checks, started the engine, and taxied us to the tarmac runway 20. While I was doing my Power Check another Piper Warrior slipped past behind me and jumped the take-off queue. Without doing a power check they took off - I think with just permission to line up not take off! No power check seems reckless to me, and a take-off without permission (especially on a busy Saturday at the airfield) seemed double reckless. I hope I never get that sloppy.

I noticed a couple of gyrocopters behind us in the take-off queue. I did a smooth takeoff and we headed out towards Littlehampton. Here's a video of the take-off and climb. I'm afraid there is no more video of this lesson (great shame as stalling is fun and would have looked good on video) because as you can see my GoPro fell off the window during the climb! We took off at 14.50 and you can see that the sun was already low...

As we were climbing we heard over the radio that one of the gyrocopters had crashed on takeoff and the runway was now closed. The pilot was declared safe. The FI said we would continue the lesson and either land on another runway at Shoreham or divert to Goodwood.

The lesson was a mix of stall recover in different configurations such as stalling in base leg configuration (two stages of flap at 1,500 RPM), stalling in final configuration (full flap and idle), and stalling while turning to force a wing drop. It really is a great shame the video was not working as it would have looked really good. Before each stall we did a HASELL check to make sure we were safe to do the maneuver.

While we were doing the exercises we heard that the runway had now re-opened. I flew us back to the circuit in a lovely descent. During the descent we heard that active runway was now the grass strip 25. I took us through base and onto final but I could not see the runway due to glare from the sun that was very low and directly ahead. The FI could not see it either so it was not just my eyes. As we approached all we could make out was the white runway numbering and arrow, but there was no definition of the grass runway itself.

As this looked quite tricky the FI took over at about 250 ft and we continued our decent. He flew us over the runway threshold and landed - and all the while neither of us could make out the ground properly due to sun glare. He said after landing that he literally floated the aircraft down, he did not land on anything he could see. As he lands there many times a day I guess he could use his judgement.

I wondered what I would have done if I had been solo. I would not have landed without being able to clearly see the ground. I think I would have declared a go-around and discussed options with Shoreham Tower. As winds were quite light I think I would have asked for an approach on Runway 20 which is tarmac and seen if that had better definition in the sun glare. If I had gone around on that too then I think I would have flown south over the sea for 15 minutes and then tried again as the sun position changed.

Here's a route of our flight...

Weather...

- EGKA 011320Z 23013KT 9999 FEW016 16/13 Q1016

- At 13:20 GMT on 1st (November) wind 230 degrees at 13 kts, visibility 10+ km, few clouds at 1,600 ft. Temperature 16 degrees, dew point 13 degrees. Barometric pressure 1016 hPa

Blood sugar readings...

> 2 hours before flight: 8.8

< 30 mins before flight: 6.5

Before landing: 8.7

Flying hours...

This flight: 1h 10m

Accumulated: 11h 5m

Flight #9 - Shoreham - Birthday flight around the Isle of Wight

For my 45th birthday I had taken the day off work and while my girls were at school I booked 2 hours with my flying instructor (FI) so I could fly my wife for the first time. Looking ahead to getting my Pilot's License I need to know if my family will want to fly with me or if this will be a solo hobby.

We went for a birthday breakfast at a local hotel, and I went carb free so didn't inject insulin. We then headed down to Brighton to do some shopping. From there it was a quick drive to Shoreham to meet the FI. I had discussed with him the route I was hoping to take to show my wife what flying in a light aircraft is like. I wanted us to do a loop around the Isle of Wight to the west of Shoreham, then fly back to the east for a bit so we could circle around our house in Plumpton, then back for landing.

Here's the route...

My wife strapped into the back seat and commented on how roomy and comfortable the Piper Warrior felt. That was a good start. The FI had done the external checks so I did the Before Engine Start, Starting Engine, and After Engine Start checks and taxied us to the start of runway 25 which is grass. I did a smooth take off and soon we were climbing to around 2,000ft heading west. There was quite a lot of cloud at 2,200 ft so we stayed below that. 

The flight along the solent was just lovely - great views of Chichester then Portsmouth. We listened in to Solent radio to hear the Southampton Airport approaches, and after Cowes I brought us down to 1,000ft for even clearer views. As we approached The Needles the FI took control and brought us lower and lower until as he flew us around the needles we were at around 250 ft which is below cliff height.

Here's a video of that low pass around The Needles...

After that we flew at around 1,000 ft along the south coast of the Isle of Wight until we got to Bembridge and then the FI took us in a climbing turn up through a hole in the clouds. We flew east for a few minutes and then he brought us down through a hole in the clouds again. It was very interesting to see how he did this and learn about the techniques of precision climbs and descents like this.

I then flew us back to Shoreham as we needed to cross to the east for a quick loop around our house. As we got close the FI asked Shoreham Approach for permission for a "low level transit", which was approved. I wasn't too sure what this meant but in this case it meant diving towards the airfield and a very fast 150 kt flight at 30 ft (!) altitude over runway 07 then a "Spitfire" pull up and to the right - wow!

Wew then headed over the South Downs and circled our house in the beautiful village of Plumpton for photos...

Finally I flew us back to Shoreham for a bit of a blustery landing that was harder than I would have liked. I still need lots of practice to get my landing smooth. Here's a video of the approach and landing...

And here is a photo of my wife and I after the flight. She loved it, said it was calm and relaxing, and I have a green light to take my girls up sometime, which is fantastic!

Weather...
- METAR EGKA 201020Z 26010KT 9999 FEW017 SCT022 16/12 Q1018
- At 10:20 GMT on 20th (October) wind 260 degrees at 10 kt, visibility 10+ km with a few clouds at 1,700 ft and scattered clouds at 2,200 ft. Temperature 16 deghrees, dew point 12 degrees. Barometric pressure 1018 hPa

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 10.1
< 30 mins before flight: 9.7
After 1 hour of flight: 9.1
Before landing: 8.8

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 40m
Accumulated: 9h 55m

Flight #8 - Shoreham - Slow flight and stall recovery

Autumn has arrived! After a week of wind and rain I woke up this morning to find the sky grey and the wind still quite blustery.

I checked my blood sugars at about 7.30am and was disappointed to find them up at 11.6 which is high. I blame a birthday chilli meal last night where I probably had more rice and tortilla's than I intended. I didn't want to have blood sugar's that high when I flew. I also wanted a couple of coffees plus Holy Communion first and each week I have flown my blood sugars have risen as the morning went on - even without breakfast. I decided to have a 2 unit (tiny) dose of fast insulin to see if it would bring my blood sugar down a bit, and my pre-church coffee was black to avoid the lactose sugar in milk.

After church I drove to Shoreham Airport arriving around 9.30 and tested again. My blood sugar reading was now 9.5 and to avoid it dropping further I had a white coffee from the fantastic restaurant at the airfield and went for my lesson.

Today we would be practicing slow flight, holding level and doing gently turns just before the stall point. We would then be starting to do some stall recovery.

After I had completed checking out the aircraft my instructor joined me and I started the engine and taxied to the active runway - tarmac runway 20. The wind was from 220 degrees at 13 kts, so just a slight sideways component to a pure headwind, but quite buffety in nature. Due to the cooler, wetter weather the inside of the plane had some condensation which disappeared after a few minutes of flight. After the power check I turned the aircraft around, headed out onto the runway, and did a reasonable takeoff - my second ever. I climbed us up to the west, turning through holes in the cloud, leveling out and trimming the aircraft at 3,500ft. Here's a video of that sequence from end of Power Check to level off...

It was then time to slow the plane down and hold it in clean configuration and then with two stages of flap close to the stall point, with the stall warning intermittently going off. This was at about 60 kts (clean) and about 50 kts (with flaps). Here's a video of gentle slow turns - listen out for the stall warning horn...

With those done okay it was time to start learning recovery from stalls. We started with glide recovery where you leave the engine at idle, and then moved on to normal recovery where you apply full speed as part of the recovery procedure. We did this a few times but I didn't come close to recovering within 150ft of the stall - I was nearer 250 ft - so lots more practice needed. Here's a video of me doing normal recovery...

Finally it was time for us to head back. My flight instructor took control and side-slipped us down through a hole in the cloud while I tested my blood sugars quickly. Now that I knew I would generally be doing the landing I wanted to follow the CAA guidelines about testing blood sugars within 30 mins of landing. My blood sugars were 10.2 which is quite a good level for flying and is certainly within CAA guidelines of 5 to 15.

Once through the hole in the cloud I took control and flew us just about the 1000 ft min altitude limit, but just under the clouds, for an unusual right-hand circuit in to Grass runway 25. Here's a video of the landing, which was okay but quite bumpy due to the blustery wind...

Here's the chart of our flight...

Weather...
- EGKA 190820Z 22013KT 9999 -RA FEW011 BKN015 16/15 Q1014
- At 08.20 GMT on 19th (October) wind 220 degrees at 13 kts, visibility 10km or more, light rain, few clouds at 1,100ft broken clouds at 1,500 ft. Temp 16 degrees, dew point 15 degrees. Barometric pressure 1014 hPa.

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 11.6 (so I had 2 units of NovoRapid)
< 30 mins before flight: 9.5
Landing: 10.2

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 0m
Accumulated: 8h 15m

Flight #7 - Shoreham - First take-off and landing

The wonderful weather from September continued into October and I woke up this Sunday morning to blue skies and barely any wind.

I did my usual routine Sunday - up around 8am with blood sugars 6.9 which is quite good for a flying day. Had a white coffee. Went to church at 8.30 for communion, grabbed a white coffee at the local shop and drove to Shoreham airfield. On arriving there tested blood sugars at 09.45 and found they were 10.0! It can't be the communion wafer - it must be the lactose in the two white coffees that's lifting my blood sugar. Next time I will go for a black coffee and see if that makes a difference.

I went out and did the pre-flight checks on the aircraft, just feeling overjoyed at the beautiful morning weather. This lesson would be about doing Medium turns, which are a very controlled level turn at 30 degrees bank with good use of rudder and keeping the aircraft at the same altitude. We would be doing this over the coastline above Bognor Regis so total distance on route chart below looks small, but there were plenty of orbits.

I taxied down Alpha and Bravo towards start of Runway 02. Here's a picture of me checking clearance behind the aircraft as part of the power check...

Unexpectedly my Flying Instructor (FI) asked me to taxi the aircraft on the runway and then pilot the aircraft through the take-off for the first time. What an amazing feeling. The take-off and climb were okay but I tracked to the right of the centre line which is not good so next time need to do a much better job of taking off and climbing in a straight line. Here's a video, and remember I didn't know I was going to get to do this...

We took off to the East on runway 02, and after turning to the West and climbing to 3,100 ft we started the Medium turns to the left and right. Then we moved onto combination maneuvers over the Solent such as "turn left to a heading of 050 while descending to 2,700 ft". Here's a right hand orbit while maintaining height at 3,100 ft...

Finally I practiced my descent and approach to Shoreham passing over Worthing pier just above the 1,600 ft minimum clearance, then did Base config set-up (carb-heat on, 1,500 RPM, 75 kts airspeed, 2 stages of flap). As per last week my FI asked me to turn onto final and apply last stage of flap and pitch for 70 kts lining up onto the runway. Unlike last week he didn't then take control and land the aircraft - he talked me down as I did it for the first time!!! To teach me a lesson for letting go of the throttle during the maneuver he pushed it to full power during the descent (30 secs into video). I quickly brought it back to approach speed again. A fun game - but I must learn to keep hand on throttle when not in cruise. Amazing feeling. The touch-down was smooth but my short-final approach was twitchy - far too much control movement, but not a bad place to start. Here's the last few minutes...

I can't believe I got to take-off and land - both for the first time and on the same day! Both were not great, but they were safe, and I know I can get better from here.

Here's the chart of our flight...

Weather...
- EGKA 050820Z 01007KT CAVOK 08/06 Q1021
- At 08:20 GMT on 5th (October) wind 10 degrees at 7 kts, ceiling and visibility okay (visibility at least 10km, no clouds below 5000 ft). Temp 8 degrees, dew point 6 degrees. Barometric pressure 1021 hPa.

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 6.9
< 30 mins before flight: 10.0
Landing: I didn't know I would be landing so didn't measure blood before doing maneuver, but I did check after landing and blood sugar was 11.4

Note: Isn't it odd that all I had to eat/drink between first reading was two white coffees and communion wafer and blood sugar went up by so much?!

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 0m
Accumulated: 7h 15m

Flight #6 - Shoreham - Setting config for landing ("Base Leg" and "Final")

We are so blessed having lovely September days above 20 degrees Celsius in September.

I had booked my "usual" flying lesson time of Sunday 10am, which gives me time to go to church for 8.30 then drive to Shoreham Airfield for a 10am lesson. This is good for me as I skip breakfast, lift blood sugar slightly with white coffee, and have low risk of hypo from insulin during the flight as I haven't had any fast insulin since dinner the night before.

Today we would be practicing setting up aircraft config for the Base Leg and then Final as we head towards doing take-off and landing circuits part of training in a few weeks time (I hope). We headed off towards the Isle of Wight practicing last week's climbs, then I did a 180 degree turn to head back towards Shoreham and our Base and Final leg practices. Here's that 180 degree turn through my GoPro mounted on my shoulder...

Base leg config is carb heat on, set 1500 RPM, hold nose up until speed drops below 100 kts, add 2 stages of flap in quick succession whilst keeping pitch consistent, set pitch for 75 kts, then on Final (normally as you turn to line up with runway) add third stage of flap and trim for 70 kts. I then praticed "going around" - full power, remove 3rd stage of flap, carb heat off, check positive climb, remove next two stages of flap. Here I am practicing those maneuvers...

Then near Shoreham my Flying Instructor asked me to do the real turn onto Final for the first time and get in Final config (3rd stage of flap, pitch for 70 kts), before he took over, lost a lot of height as I was high, and made a great cross-wind landing...

This was a really enjoyable flight, and I feel like the aircraft is doing what I want more than me "riding it".

Here's a chart of our flight...

Weather...
- EGKA 280820Z 02005KT 9000 0700E BCFG FEW001 14/14 Q1021
- At 08:20 GMT on 28th (September) wind 20 degrees at 5 kts, visibility 9000 but just 700 to East, Patches of fog, a few clouds at 100 ft. Temp 14 degrees, dew point 14 degrees. Barometric pressure 1021 hPa.

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 5.8
< 30 mins before flight: 7.0
Landing: I didn't test before landing as I wasn't doing the flying for this part of the flight
(I did check check back in terminal after landing and blood sugar was 6.2)

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 5m
Accumulated: 6h 15m

Flight #5 - Shoreham - Climbing and descending

I was blessed with a beautiful sunny Sunday morning for my 5th flight. I got up around 6.30am to watch a great webcast of a SpaceX launch to the International Space Station (geek!), swotted up on my lesson notes for today's flight, went to my local church for 08.30 Communion service, then straight off to Shoreham to fly at 10am.

Morning flights work well for me as it's easy to miss breakfast and therefore avoid injecting insulin and the dangers that brings. My blood sugars on waking were 6.3 which is fine for first thing. By the time I got to the airfield I had drunk a large tea, and two coffees - all with milk - and the lactose in the milk plus the carbohydrate in the Eucharist wafer had lifted my blood sugar to 9.1 which is quite high. However the CAA like blood sugars to be a little high as it's safer for flying so I was happy with that.

It's interesting - for best health I would target blood sugars of between 5 and 6. But to fly you need blood sugars between 5 and 15. As hypos are dangerous I aim to fly with blood sugars between 7 and 9 so I guess flying isn't going to be "good" for me. To be honest I think it's blood sugars above 10 for long periods of time that cause real complications so I don't think I need to worry about having slightly higher blood sugars while flying than I would otherwise target.

My Flying Instruction (FI) met me in the terminal and while he checked out another plane for a later flight, I did the Cockpit Preparation and External Inspection checks on the Piper Warrior that I would be flying. I will make a video of this for you soon as it's quite interesting.

Winds were from the East so we would be using hard runway 02. This is quite a long taxi away from the standing area, and my FI let me do pretty much the lot. Taxiing is quite fun but steering using toe-brakes takes some getting used to. Here's a video of that taxi...

With the FI at the controls we took off towards the East, turned left, and climbed to 2,000 ft heading towards the Isle of Wight. Today I would be learning about climbing and descending. That's not as simple as it sounds - especially if you want to do it safely and smoothly. We went up in stages of 1,000 ft eventually reaching 10,300 ft over the Isle of Whight. We turned around then did gliding and powered descents back towards Worthing Pier where the FI took over for the landing.

To climb you follow the routine P-A-T... Power, Attitude, Trim. So from straight and level with engine at 2,300 RPM you do a good scan of the sky especially above the aircraft, check mixture is rich, increase to full power while countering the resulting yaw with rudder, and the nose naturally comes up. Pull back on the stick until the speed drops back and stabilises at 75 kts. When all is settled you trim the aircraft using the trim wheel between the seats so you are not having to pull back on the stick any more. Every 500 ft we need to check that the way ahead is clear as the aircraft nose is blocking the view. We alternated the two commonly-used ways to do this - drop the nose and have a good scan, and turning left then right then back to centre. Dropping the nose gave the best visibility in my view.

To level out from the climb you follow the routine A-P-T... Attitude, Power, Trim. You push the stick forward so the nose comes down, and watch the speed start to increase back towards cruise speed of around 95 kts. You then drop the throttle back to 2,300 RPM using the rudder to counter the resulting yaw, and stabilise the aircraft using the trim wheel.

Here's a video of me trying to do that smoothly while turning to avoid clouds as we pass through 3,000 ft...

We were very blessed with the weather, and for the first time while flying I saw airliners high above me at between 20,000ft and 30,000ft shining brightly in the clear blue sky. We got up to 10,300 ft which is twice as high as I have flown before. The climb was getting harder and harder as we got higher and the air got thinner - in other words at max power while holding the same airspeed of 75 kts our vertical climb rate was getting smaller the higher we got.

High above Bembridge on the Isle of Wight we turned around, and I managed to get some nice pics out of the window including Bembridge Harbour (bottom-right corner of first picture) where as a child I slept on my parent's boat many times...

Next I learned about gliding descents which is a descent with the engine at idle. It's not quite that simple. Once again the routine is P-A-T. You make sure mixture is rich and put Carb Heat on to protect the engine from over-cooling in the cold air and low load, then reduce engine power to idle while controlling resulting yaw with rudder. Let speed drop to target speed, then lower the nose and maintain speed. Every 500 ft you need to ensure the engine is remaining hot by going to full power and then back to idle while neutralising the resulting yaw. To level out it's P-A-T again... turn Carb Heat off and apply cruise power of 2,300 RPM whilst controlling the resulting yaw with rudder, then lift the nose to neutral and trim for level flight.

Here's a video of me trying to do that smoothly - listen out for the surge back to full power then back to idle half way through the maneuver to keep the engine warm...

Finally I worked my way down to 1,600 ft over Worthing Pier by practicing the Powered Descent. This is similar to the Glide Descent except the engine is at 1,900 RPM so doesn't get too cold. This means the surges up to full power and back to warm the engine are not needed.

After the FI landed on runway 02 he let me practice taxiing using not-in-use grass runway 07 back to the parking area. On grass you taxi a slower, and keep stick back to keep weight off the nose wheel. Once again steering and stopping is by using toe-brakes. Here's a quick video of that...

This was a really fun lesson and I feel I have much better control of the aircraft now. I'm also looking out of the window much more, flying less by the instruments, and handling the aircraft on the ground now too. It was wonderful to be so high and see airliners for the first time. Our southern coastline really is a beautiful place to fly.

Here's a chart of our flight...

Weather...
- EGKA 210820Z 01012KT 9999 SCT028 17/10 Q1023
- At 08:20 GMT on 21st (September) wind 10 degrees at 12 kt, visibility 10km or greater, scattered clouds at 2,800 ft. Temp 17 degrees, dew point 10 degrees. Barometric pressure 1023 hPa.

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 6.3
< 30 mins before flight: 9.1
Landing: I didn't test before landing as I wasn't doing the flying for this part of the flight

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 10m
Accumulated: 5h 10m

The conflicting medical position on flying and Type 1 Diabetes

The CAA guidance on the medical safety and therefore licensing of pilots with Diabetes is confusing and in some places contradictory. This puts my Medical Examiner in a difficult position! Consider the following…

1. No: The basic CAA guidance to Medical Examiners says don’t give a medical certificate to someone with Type 1 Diabetes…

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=2499&pagetype=90&pageid=13829#DM

Statement C covers the rules if you have Type 1 Diabetes (the condition is known in the medical world as Diabetes Melitus):

• Part 1 below appears to say that Type 1 Diabetics cannot be given a medical certificate.
• Part 2 is odd because there is no other practical way to stay alive if you have Type 1 Diabetes other than to use insulin. I wondered if you could live entirely on Protein and Oils (think of a meat, hard cheese, salad, green veg, peanuts, olive oil diet – essentially zero carb/sugar) just did some research. The answer is this just won’t work as even when your body burns natural fats and oils your blood sugar rises.

A Class 1 medical is needed if you want to be a commercial pilot. I do not, I only need a Class 2 medical for a PPL.

Class 2 Statement G covers how compliance can be achieved, but the language is odd as the first sentence says that people with Type 1 may be assed as fit, and the second sentence says medications that will not make you go low may be acceptable. Um, there are no medications for Type 1 that I know of that cannot make you go low, as by definition they transfer blod sugar into cells thereby lowering blood sugar that can lead to hypoglycemia. Are the sentances linked? I guess so but it’s not entirely clear. In other words can the first sentence be taken on it’s own and give me hope – “Applicants with diabetes mellitus may be assessed as fit”?

2. Yes: The UK CAA Diabetes certification guidance gives testing and blood glucose targets for pilots with insulin-treated Diabetes (thought doesn’t specifically state Type 1 or Type 2)…

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/2499/20140410DiabetesCertificationGuidanceApr2014.pdf

Here it clearly states how to test blood sugar when treating Diabetes with insulin, and I have used this to make a flip-out extra page in my flying log-book so I record blood sugar at different stages before and during a flight.

3. Yes: The UK CAA provides a Briefing Sheet for pilots with Diabetes…

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/2499/20140127DiabetesBriefingSheetJan2014v3.pdf

This repeats the blood-testing routine that is needed for safe flying that maps to the tracking page in my flying log book.

4. Yes: The UK CAA provides a Specification for Diabetes Reports by Medical Examiners…

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/2499/025%20METABOLIC%20DIABETIC%20REPORTS.pdf

So there is a clear way that Medical Examiners can provide medical reports on Pilots with Diabetes.

5. Yes: The CAA held a European Panel on “Pilots and ATCO’s with Insulin-Treated Diabetes”

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/49/ITDM%20Final%20Panel%20Conclusions.pdf

This event was held at Gatwick in Feb 2014 which is clearly “friendly” towards Diabetics flying, and the Final Summary and Conclusions are here…

It looks from this like the UK is positive about supporting well controlled Diabetics fly whilst data is gathered on any risks based on actual issues found rather than fear.

Wish me luck.

Flight #4 - Shoreham - Flying at different speeds and attitudes

The morning after my third lesson I had my fourth. It was a Sunday early morning lesson at 9am, so I woke up at 7am so that I could check my blood sugar levels at least 2 hours before flight as required by the CAA. My blood sugar was 4.2 which is lowish but would normally be okay. However, as the CAA require a blood sugar of at least 5 I had a biscuit with my morning tea while I wrote up blog for Flight #3. I didn't want to inject insulin before flying so skipped breakfast until after the flight.

I got to the airfield at 8.30 and had a refreshing coffee in the lovely restaurant while I waited for the flying school to open. I checked my blood sugars again. The value was 8.7 showing the biscuit and even the milk in my drinks had topped up my blood sugar.

My Flying Instructor (FI) greeted me and gave me a copy of the Standard Checklist for a Piper PA28 Warrior III aircraft. This is an A5 sized, wire bound book with shiny cardboard pages that's easy to hold open on any given section - useful if it's balanced on your knee. Today we would do our first external pre-flight inspection of the aircraft, I would do my first Before Engine Start check, I would get to taxi the aircraft for the first time, and I would do the Power Check and Before Take Off checks.

Here's a video of me doing the Power Check and Before Take Off check...

With the FI doing the flying we took off on runway 07 and turned right to fly over the coast and out to sea. Turning left back into the wind we climbed to 4,600 ft and headed along the coast towards Eastbourne.

Today I was going to learn about flying straight and level at different speeds and attitudes. To be honest I wasn't great and adapting to a new speed and found myself relying too much on instruments and not enough on picking an attitude out of the window using clouds and horizon as reference and only momentarily glancing at instruments as I scanned and did my FREDA checks (see flight #3) so as a result did a bit of oscillation.

Here's a video of me going to full power, keeping the nose down, and getting the aircraft stable at 110 kts; then dropping the power, lifting the nose, and getting the aircraft stable at 75 kts; then a slow-speed turn 180 degrees to head back towards Beachy Head...

So a fun lesson but I'm frustrated that I relied too heavily on instruments. I won't make that mistake again, and need to be much more visual outside the aircraft and trust my ears sensing engine RPM etc much more.

Here's a chart of our flight...

Weather...
- EGKA 140750Z 05009KT 7000 FEW018 16/14 Q1022
- At 07:50 GMT on 14th (September) wind 50 degrees at 9 kt, visibility 7 km with a few clouds at 1,800 ft. Temp 16 degrees, dew point 14 degrees. Barometric pressure 1022 hPa.

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 4.2 (ate a biscuit to raise them above lower limit of 5.0 for flying)
< 30 mins before flight: 8.7
Landing: I didn't test before landing as I wasn't doing the flying for this part of the flight

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 0m
Accumulated: 4h 0m

Flight #3 - Shoreham - Straight and level

I'd been waiting for my next lesson for some time. A summer holiday abroad and then a weekend of hazy weather had prevented me getting airborne again. The haze was particularly frustrating as the weather had been generally good but the flying school reported no lessons were taking place because there was simply no horizon visible once aircraft were in the air.

To compensate I booked two lessons for the following weekend - one on Saturday afternoon and one on Sunday morning. This blog covers the Saturday afternoon one.

To keep as safe as possible I didn't have any carbohydrate before the lesson. A cheese and ham omelette for breakfast followed by some ribs for lunch (minus the sticky sauce, tomato soup, and garlic bread that my family had with them) kept me eating just protein with no insulin needed for either. For energy I knew the ribs were quite fatty plus I had a small packet of peanuts at the airfield before I flew. Blood sugars were 6.6 before my omelette, 8.3 an hour and a half before my lesson, and 7.5 half an hour before my lesson.

I received a good briefing from my Flight Instructor (FI) before going to the aircraft. Today was about learning how to fly straight and level whilst scanning the outside in a methodical way for other aircraft, known as "traffic". You scan in 30 degree sectors making sure you look above and below the aircraft, and at the end of the scan you check something according to the FREDA acronym. Also, you alternate scans with one looking close to the aircraft, and the next looking into the distance.

FREDA stands for Fuel, Radio, Engine, Direction indicator, and Altimeter.

• Fuel: Check level of selected tank and switch to alternate tank as required (approx every half hour).
• Radio: Check selected correct frequency and that you can hear others as expected.
• Engine: Check Temperatures and Pressures (T's & P's), occasionally select Carb Heat on and check for no material change in RPM that would indicate icing.
• Direction indicator: Ensure magnetic compass aligns with Directional Indicator and adjust DI as needed (it does drift over time).
• Altimeter: Check you are at the height you intended, that you are allowed to fly at that height, and that the barometric pressure is correctly set.

We took off on runway 07 which is a grass strip and turned right, over the coast, then right again to fly westerly. I took over once we got above pattern altitude and we climbed up to 5,300 ft while negotiating around clouds (fun!) until we were in clear air and had a clear horizon. I hadn't flown this high before and the view of the south coast and the Isle of White was just lovely.

My FI then set the aircraft into certain attitudes by inducing a climb or descent, different engine speeds, different trim, at one stage a gently descending turn, and each time I had to regain straight and level flight with the aircraft back fully trimmed. This was great fun and a challenging exercise. We did this flying in different directions over the Solent, so we could keep away from Goodwood Revival festival just north of us.

We headed back to Bognor  then turned right towards Worthing Pier and started our descent from 5,300 ft aiming to be at 1,600 ft over the Pier. During this descent I saw an aircraft beneath us below our right wing. I thought it was 1,000 ft or so below us and pretty much on our bearing. I called out the traffic to the FI and he took control wanting to have a look. He did quite a sharp bank to the left so he could see below the aircraft, followed by quite a sharp right bank to bring the aircraft into his visibility with us flying straight again towards the Pier. Due to the relatively close proximity of the other aircraft he remained in control, and by the time we passed the other aircraft at about 2,000 ft we had Shoreham in sight for a straight in landing on runway 07. He did a lovely landing as usual and we headed to the fuel area to get the aircraft fully fueled for the next day. The time was now about 6pm.

Here's a video of me scanning, spotting the other aircraft, and the FI taking control to bank left and right to get a good look at it...

And here's a chart of our flight...

Weather

- EGKA 131450Z 05011KT 9999 FEW014 SCT024 21/14 Q1024

- AT 14:50 GMT on 13th (September) wind 50 degrees at 11 kt, visibility 10+ km with a few clouds at 1,400 ft and scattered clouds at 2,400 ft. Temp 21 degrees, dew point 14 degrees. Barometric pressure 1024 hPa.

Blood sugar readings...

> 2 hours before flight: 6.6

(> 1 hour before flight: 8.3 - not needed to be logged by CAA rules)

< 30 mins before flight: 7.5

Landing: I didn't test before landing as I wasn't doing the flying for that part of the flight

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 0m
Accumulated: 3h 0m

Flight #2 - Piper Warrior Shoreham > Goodwood > Shoreham

My first flight in a Cessna 152 had been scary. My fear of heights got the better of me and whilst I loved the flying I found it to be unsettling. I knew if I wanted to continue to fly I needed to overcome my fear, and for me that meant flying again soon and trying a different aircraft - one where I hoped to feel less of a "hanging by a thread" feeling. I booked a second flight with the same flying school and Flying Instructor (FI for short) - as I had been impressed with both on the first flight.

This time I opted for a Piper PA28 Warrior III. It had a low wing which I hoped would give me less of the hanging feeling I disliked the first time. It also had more space in the front, plus a pair of seats in the back. If I was to go on to get my pilot's license and fly my family around then this was more like the plane that I would fly rather than the 2-seat Cessna. Here's how it looks from the outside and in the cockpit...

I flew on a Sunday morning in early August. As it was a morning flight I had a carb-free breakfast so I didn't have to inject insulin, thereby ensuring my flying would be fully safe from a blood-sugar point of view.

The day was quite windy with winds at 17 kts. There were a few clouds at 2,500 ft and some scattered clouds at 3,000 ft. As I parked my car and walked to the terminal I was pleased it was blowy. If I was to conquer my nerves I might as well do it in more challenging conditions.

While I was waiting in reception of the flying school I could hear my instructor on the phone. After greeting me he told me that he had just spoken to people at the Goodwood Airfield and as their fuel was especially cheap we would be flying there so he could tank up for the rest of the day. Sounded good to me!

We walked to the aircraft that was parked on the Apron and got in. Again I took the left hand seat. The aircraft cockpit felt great - more width than the Cessna 152, plus an extra row of two seats behind. While the FI did the start-up procedure and listened to the ATIS I attached my GoPro camera to the window behind me. The large background image for this blog is a frame grab of me setting up the camera that day. I wasn't going to make the same mistake as last time - using someone else's side-mount on the front windscreen! I wanted it behind me, with a good angle, and me in view.

With the camera rolling the FI taxied us via taxiway Kilo but stopped a long way short of the tarmac Runway 20 which we used last time. Instead he did the run-up test then turned left on top grass Runway 25. We bounced along (seemed very WWII to me) and soon we were airborne. The FI took us up to 2,000 ft and gave me control. I flew around a bit to get the feel of the aircraft. She felt beautiful. I didn't have wet clammy palms. My grip on the controls was very light this time - something the FI said he had noticed. Flying westerly the FI took me through some exercises so I could learn how to trim the aircraft.

We ended up over the coast near East Wittering. I told the FI that as a child I had spent many, many, many weekends around Chichester harbour as my parents had a boat on Hayling Island when I was young. I asked if I could fly us up past West Wittering and into Chichester harbour and he was very happy for me to do that. Here's a brief video - hopefully you can see how relaxed I am...

As we got to the top of Chichester harbour the FI took control and speaking to Goodwood got approval for us to circle around and land - which he did beautifully on Runway 24. Goodwood has quite a few grass runways and no tarmac runways. Here's a chart of the airfield if you are interested in seeing all the technical detail...

We taxied over to the fuel station, shut down the aircraft, and the FI showed me how to self-fuel after applying a grounding wire for electrical safety. After 10 mins on the ground we were starting up the aircraft again, taxiing back to Runway 24, and taking off. For noise abatement purposes we turned right very soon after take-off to keep away from a nearby housing development. My nerves were not frazzled at all by this low maneuver.

After climbing back to 2,000 ft I took control again and flew NE for a while. Then the FI then showed me how to apply and release flaps step-by-step and how to re-trim the aircraft between each flap change. The trick is to turn the trim wheel in the direction you are applying pressure to fly level. I then did a lovely turn towards the south again and headed for the coast. Here's a short video of me changing flap (reaches forward to flap lever), re-trimming (shuffling of right shoulder as I turn the wheel), and the turn to the south...

I then flew us down the coast before the FI took over, spoke to Shoreham Airport, and brought us in for a lovely landing on grass Runway 25.

This was an amazing flight. I had zero nerves and felt in control the whole time. There was no sensation of hanging by a thread as I had felt in the Cessna on my first flight.

Totally bitten by the flying bug I decided to pay for this lesson by booking two further flying lessons at the same time to benefit from a three-flight special offer. I also got a log book and with the FI's help filled in my flight records to date. I have subsequently added a further flap-out page to record my blood sugar readings at various stages of flight. I hope this will help me show CAA officials when they inevitably check me one day that I am serious about safe flying and have good blood sugar awareness and control. Here's a snap of my log-book with extra Diabetic record-keeping flap. The columns read ">2 hours", "<30 minutes", "F1", "F2, "F3, "F4" (meaning while flying once an hour for up to 4 hours), and "Landing". The row heights match Pooley's popular log-book. If anyone want's a copy of the file to print yourself then please get in touch...

My thoughts now are fully on my medical. All pilots need one. Will my Diabetes prevent me getting the Class 2 Medical Certificate I need to go solo one day - hopefully this autumn? The flying school gave me the details of a local Medical Examiner for pilots, and I have been in touch to book an appointment. I need a completed CAA Ophthalmology Examination Report completed by my optician and specifically confirming my regular retinopathy scans look good (Type 1 Diabetes can be "bad" for the small blood vessels in your eyes if your blood is thick and sugary), and a letter from my Doctor covering how my Diabetes is being treated and the state of my Diabetic control. As I write this blog I have the optician bit done, I'm just waiting for the Doctor's letter ahead of my medical which is scheduled for a week's time. I'm 6 ft tall, weigh 13 stone, and run a 10k most weekends. I'm an engineer by trade so value the closed-loop nature of 6-monthly blood tests and the opportunity that brings to tweak my diet and exercise. This may sound odd but I think I'm generally healthier for having Type 1 Diabetes. However, there is perhaps a bit of concern about letting people with Type 1 Diabetes fly, at least for those signing-off their health. That may be me being paranoid. Fingers crossed it all comes together.

Here's a chart of our flight...

Weather...
- METAR EGKA 091050Z 24017KT 9999 FEW025 SCT030 20/15 Q1010
- At 10:50 GMT on 9th (August) wind 240 degrees at 17 kt, visibility 10+ km with few clouds at 2,500 ft and scattered clouds at 3,000 ft. Temp 20 degrees, dew point 15 degrees. Barometric pressure 1010 hPa.

Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight 6.7
< 30 mins before flight: 6.5
Landing: I didn't test before landing as I wasn't doing the flying for that part of the flight

Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 0m
Accumulated: 2h 0m