Emosolo now in Training (Gone SOLO!!!!!)

[emosolo]

Morning all,

Reached 6 Hours this weekend. Saturday 7 Circuits, Sunday 8 Circuits, touch and go's, radio calls and checks. Finally don't have to think hard about the radio call any more as I learned the order and terminology. Saturday my round outs were a little late, Sunday, had it fully sorted. Its going pretty well. Marc needed some help de-rigging an old wing and rigging a repaired wing. That was pretty interesting, but more labor intensive then I had imagined. He had invited a few students to learn about it, but no one showed. Thought that students would be keen to know the ins and outs of what they're flying. Maybe not all of us I guess.

All good stuff and fantastic whether.

Regards,
J

[johnsa]

Enjoy, fly safe and hope you soon have your wings, What kind of arie are you flying/training on?

[emosolo]

I am training on a Raptor Trike.

[Andre]

Where are you based, which school

[emosolo]

Hi,

Did the Restricted Radio license yesterday. Passed that, but what a mission. It hardly had anything to do with radio's. I felt like it should have been more part of the Navigation lecture. All in the name of flying though...

Andre, I am at Panorama with Marc Gregson's school.

Regards,
J

[emosolo]

Morning All,

I flew Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon and have now reached 8 Hours total. The most interesting day must have been yesterday afternoon. Did Crosswind take offs and landing and there was a little turbulence too and to add to the mix, the cross runways at Panorama are a lot more narrow than the main runway and also are not level, they go up hill and down hill. Takes a lot more concentration than just regular into wind take offs and landings on the main runway. My first few landings were a little on the dodgy side, but ended up smoother as I got the hang of all that was happening. The really great news is that on Saturday morning, my next flying lesson, I will be going solo should the weather permit.

Regards,
J

[emosolo]

Morning,

Did 3 Circuits with Marc on Sunday to check the weather out. It looked terrible but ended up being very smooth. Marc then told me to land full stop, climbed out and sent me back down the taxi way for my first solo flight.

I taxied and held short runway 01. Did my radio call, and lined up. Took a deep breath, initiated my roll, transitioned to full power and before I knew it was airborne. The Raptor really climbed well with only one person on board. By the time I had started turning right crosswind I had already reached circuit altitude. Turned right downwind and ran through my checks early and performed my downwind radio call. I played a little to get a feeling for how light the wing was and then turned right on base and did my base checks. I let the power off and then turned right onto final. I noticed that I had misjudged my glide a little so added a little power for a shallower decent. I touched down gently on the runway and applied brake. Done, my first solo.

Returned to pick Marc up where I had left him on the Taxi way. Went to the club house and was congratulated. What a brilliant day and what a happy person I am!!!

Regards,
J

[extra300s]

Excellente Emosolo!!! Now I get the emo part of Emosolo - (EMO) EEN Moerse Okkasie (solo).
Well done on the solo

[Stephan van Tonder]

Good stuff. Hope you had a bit of a party..

[Wart]

WELL DONE!!!

Congratulations Emosolo, now the real learning starts. You will remember that first solo flight for the rest of your life, especially how well the trike climbs without that talking baggage in the back seat.

[Marc G]

Talking baggage hey... Just remember who's marking your exams, before you decide to listen to Wart, Emo! When are we flying again... I need a challenge again!

[emosolo]

Morning,

I flew again yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks. Not too much to mention, but this is how it went. Took off from 19 with Marc and then did a tear drop to fall in behind another trike. Did a touch and go on runway 01. Flew right hand circuit for 01 again, but with full stop. Marc jumped out and told me to do 2 solo circuits and 1 full stop landing. Though thinking about it now, I believe the full stop landing is mandatory, lol.

I then radio called that I was back tracking runway 01 and, yes, back tracked runway 01. Radio call, Lineup, deep breath, another deep breath, an oh crap here we go again, another deep breath, lol, and initiated roll, transitioned full throttle and wallah, in the air again. Not the pretiest of take offs, I think I got a little crosswind. The raptor climbed as if it were attached to a saturn rocket and before I knew it, I was at circuit altitude. Things were a little different from my first solo, it was pretty bumpy this time. Turned right downwind, downwind checks, radio call, but decided to do a single circuit with full stop, the reason was a combination of lack of sunlight and the bumps, after I had landed and was thinking back, I know I made the right choice. Anyway, before I knew it, it was time for base, turned base and did base checks, right turn for finals and melted the raptor onto the runway, full stop and taxied back to the hanger.

Even though there were plenty of bumps, I wasnt concerned and knew that I was perfectly safe and have really come a long way from the first time I had ever experienced bumps. The first time I felt the bumps I was sure the aircraft was going to implode, lol, feel a little silly about that now.

I really love this flying business and have booked a whole pile of lessons to make up for the 2 week break.

Thanks for all the support and comments re: my first solo, I really appriciate it! Thanks for reading,
J

[emosolo]

Morning,

It has been some time since I posted last, well thats because its been quite some time since I have flown. From the last time I flew, the weather has been really poor on the weekends. Low cloud, rain, thunderstorms, overly bumpy etc. That wasnt the case this weekend. Thankfully the weather was great if not perfect on saturday and sunday morning.

Saturday, did preflight and waited for another triker to get in the air to let Marc my instructor know how the conditions were. Radio call, smooth but slightly more bumpy over 500ft. Since I had not been up in three weeks, myself and Marc had decided that he should go up with me just to check that I had not forgotten anything or for some weird reason lost the knack. We lined up, eased forward, transitioned to full throttle and in no time I was in the air again. What a wonderful feeling to finally be back in the air. I did 1 Touch and Go with Marc and then landed to drop him off. I took off again and completed 3 more touch and go's and 1 full stop landing. When I was on my own, I balooned once and I ended up over compensating, but realized what I was doing and fixed the problem straight away. There was a lot of traffic in the air and I admitly had a problem knowing exacly where everyone was. I ended up right behind Marcs trike and got a fright since I was way closer to him then I had expected. I was tracking him and he called for an extention on downwind, but he disapeared into the white buildings one the horison and I lost visual. Needless to say, I am thankful that he had spotted me and he instructed me to fly over the runway instead of landing whilst he made some space again. We had a discussion about it back in the hanger and I understood where I had gone wrong. I should have widened my circuit and made the adjustments required to deal with the fact that there was so much traffic in circuit. Lesson learnt.

Sunday, did preflight, waited for Marc to get in the air with another student. He gave me the thumbs up and I lined up on 01. There was a reasonable crosswind, but Marc had checked it out and said that I am more than able to deal with it. I throttled up, nose lifted and weather cocked into the wind. It was the first time that I had took off in a crosswind on my own and I was surprised at how much the microlight had weather cocked with only one person in the trike. I climbed up to altitude with the nose in the wind and moving in a not so straight direction which I had done in the past to keep myself lined up with the runway until turning ontosswind. My landings again were pretty good. No funny business like on Saturday. Pleanty of space between me, two other triked and a helicopter! I weather cocked into the wind after turning onto final and came sideways lined up for the runway. Again I was surprised at how much the trike had to straighten up once the wheels had touched the ground. It almost gives you the impression that you might fall over, however in a previous lesson I had asked Marc to show me how stable the trike was on the runway. The answer was, do not fear of tipping, you should stear to stay on the runway. Anyway, I did 4 Touch and Go's and one full stop. I even remembered to turn the radio off before killing the engine at the hanger... Brilliant weekend of flying and I feel much better for it.

Regards,
Solo.

[emosolo]

Morning,

Flew again Sunday afternoon. New lesson learn t. I was flying solo circuits at Panorama and my instructor Marc had taken up someone else in the second trike.

Marc flew off to the west with his passenger and was about 2 miles away. There was a storm cell on the east side and Marc had warned me to keep an eye out for it, which I thought I was doing. After my 4th take off I had decided to do one more touch and go and then head off towards the South. I called Right downwind for runway 01 touch and go. When I was on base Marc instructed me to make it a full stop as the weather was starting to change. Honestly, I didn't even notice the change myself. I correct my radio call and landed immediately. By the time I had taxied to the hanger, the wind had already picked up so much that I had to put in substantial effort to keep the wing level.

By the time the Trike was in the hanger, the wind had picked up so much that we were running around helping people put there trikes in their hangers. I thought we were actually going to loose one. It took 2 people to close the hanger doors, the rain started pouring and there was plenty of lightning.

Anyway the lesson learn t was, the weather can change without warning, watch out for it. It only took 10 minutes from the smoothest weather I have ever flown in, to one of the most awesome wind and rain storms I have seen in a very long time. I could have been in serious trouble if Marc hadn't picked it up when he did. Thank you Marc!

Be cautious and fly safe.

Regards,
Solo.