Runway 06R

A quick check with my instructor and after listening to the weather I got my approval to fly out, a little amount of crosswind taking off from 24 Right but I was pretty confidant. Filled up with 20 liters of AVGAS totalling 80, 40 in each wing giving me roughly 3 hours of flight time with enough reserve to get me out of trouble.

I am really trying to build up hours here however I was looking at an hour trip as I started late and my rating requires that I be safely on the ground 10 min prior to sun down. After PPL I will do the Night VFR rating as its handy to have as if you misjudge and in a plane that is not equipped for night flight, without practice/training you might as well put on a blindfold and hope for the best.

Initial checks, run up checks then after obtaining take off clearance I was up in the sky heading for the training area. After entering the training area I took a quick low altitude fly over the prison, I then imagined a forced landing scenario and thinking the prison might not be a bad place to ditch in an emergency, however scene flashes of “Big Stan” put that idea out of my head real quick.

My instructor was going to be out in the training area with another student so he told me to listen out for his radio call. Sure enough over perth radar frequency (135.25) I heard “Alpha Oscar Hotel switch over to company frequency” then after a bit of chit chat, hows the weather, done your hasel checks etc etc we parted radio company and I switched back over to perth radar.

After conducting HASEL checks I then did a series of stall maneuvers, first non powered stall, carb heat hot, throttle idle and hold the nose steady increasing back pressure on the control column until the aircraft reached its stall angel, at the stall horn warning a slight bit more back pressure and felt the aircraft drop nose first. Carb heat cold, full throttle, rudder control to level the plane then back pressure to re-gain height, completed that with less then 100 feet of height loss.

After that did a powered stall @ 1500 RPM, then a 20 degree flap stall and a few others all with varying degrees of nose drop. I have done a few stalls where instead of looking out the front and seeing the horizon you look out the front and see the ground, its an adrenalin kick for sure.

After that I did some 45 degree steep turns while maintaining height which suprisingly is not an easy feet as you either pitch too far up and climb or worst case scenario you enter a spiral downward descent, not fun but easy enough to get out of, well lets just say getting out of a spin is fairly important.

Now the return was interesting, at the 6 South contolled area entry point I made my inbound radio call then noticed another radio call right after identical to mine. I looked behind and below looking for the other aircraft then over to my right and above I saw a cessna 172 on a converging heading to my own.

I knew from his radio call that him and I were going to meet up eventually at the same point and he was getting rather close. Now him being on my right I was required to give way, yet he was higher and me being the lower and slower aircraft he really should have given way.

I radioed tower “Alpha Oscar Hotel, Traffic sighted Cessna 172 at one o’clock high on converging approach above Forrestdale Lake” to which the tower replied “Alpha Oscar Hotel” which more or less means ” I hear you”. We were getting pretty close so I set carb heat to hot and reduced throttle to 1800 RPM, as the other aircraft was faster he quickly overtook me above which was strange as I was flying at max height allowed, he would have been at least 200 feet above me.

At that point the tower came on with “Alpha Oscar Hotel follow Cessna in front overfly at 1500 and join circuit late downwind” I then repeated the instruction and proceeded normally. Landing was typical crosswind, one wheel down then the other then the nose wheel. I kind of miss doing circuits, will do some of those shortly, other then that I had a really great time.