Published at Friday April 28, 2006
in Flying.
Flying Time: Today: 1:06 Total: 4:24
Pretty good lesson today - made my first radio calls and did much of the “A” Check on my own. The main lessons learnt today were APT (Attitude-Power-Trim) and PAT (Power-Attitude-Trim). On the whole pretty good! Started doing FREDA checks too and going through the checklists on my own more, so getting busier!
Published at Tuesday April 25, 2006
in Flying.
Flying Time: Today: 0:00 Total: 3:18
So, today was a washout weatherwise. Scattered clouds at 900ft, broken clouds at 2000ft with visibility at 4km with 14kt winds, so that was pretty crap. But I managed to save some money, which I then went and spent (and more) at Ikea instead! We now have a nice new dining table and chairs, which is excellent.
Published at Saturday April 22, 2006
in Flying.
Flying Time: Today: 1:06 Total: 3:18
Had another lesson today. Gorgeous day - bit hazy, but otherwise very sunny and warm. Let’s hope the next few lessons are like this too!
Got off to a pretty simple start today - straight into briefings on straight and level, and straight and level at specific airspeeds. All seems pretty straightforward and Nick (my instructor) brings his own brand of humour to the briefings… I’ll leave it at that I think!
Continue reading ‘Straight and Level’
Published at Saturday April 8, 2006
in Flying.
Flying Time: Today: 1:06 Total: 2:12
I went flying again today for my first “proper” lesson - again, a fantastic experience. Weather was much better than before, although still pretty windy. Cloud and Visibility were such that we could see Canary Wharf from 3000ft (and we’re a considerable distance away).
Spent much more time “hands-on” today, going through checklists and my first (assisted) takeoff. After that it was pretty much going through the manoeuvres in Exercises 4.1 and 4.2 - primary and secondary control effects, flaps, and even a bit of straight and level. Was hugely satisfying to get the plane roughly into straight and level flight and reasonably well trimmed out.
After all that, flew us back into the circuit and took the plane down to within a few hundred feet of the runway, before the instructor took over for the flare and hold-off. My taxiing is still pretty OK, although switching back to steering with my feet is very odd after you’ve been flying for an hour or so.
Great fun - I’ve booked another 3 lessons for 2 weeks time and I’m really looking forward to them.
Published at Friday April 7, 2006
in Drama.
So BATS (the drama group I’m a member of) entered two plays in the Bedfordshire One-Act Drama Festival 2006. Both were penned by our chairman, Andrew Jordan - one youth entry (directed by Andrew and Pauline) and one adult entry (directed by Andrew).
The youth entry (”The Way Home”) kicked off the festival and was very well performed and received on Thursday night. All five cast members did a great job and peaked at just the right time. Didn’t have much to get involved with there other than producing a Powerpoint presentation of a mobile phone that was used to flash up messages as the characters received them on their phones.
Continue reading ‘Bedfordshire One-Act Drama Festival’
Published at Thursday April 6, 2006
in Travel.
I travel daily into London on the line that used to be owned by WAGN. The franchise changed (overnight!) to First CapitalConnect. Apart from being a bloody stupid and unwieldy name, and the fact that all the signs, uniforms, PA announcements, etc have changed - it’s still the same service. Same staff, same trains, same timetable.
So what’s the point then? It’s exactly the same thing as having a large corporate rebranding (with the added bonus that the top executives/management probably get the boot). I’m sure this doesn’t come cheap and I’m also sure the money comes out of our (bloody expensive) ticket fares.
Or maybe I’m just grumpy at getting my ticket checked on the train, on the DLR, and even on the tube - I think it’s the first time I’ve even seen a ticket inspector on the tube (especially in rush hour).
