SOUTHEND
“
FLYING
CLUB
CONTACT”
Jan 2014
WHY
CONTACT: Emailed newsletter for Southend Flying Club Last printed version sent out in Dec 1994 Quarterly or so publication Contributions welcomed
INSIDE ISSUE:
THIS
New Year—New
2
Plans Flying the Arrow
3
Variable Pitch
4
Props EASA update
Practical airmanship
“Issue 1”
CONTACT?
The Southend Flying Club newsletter’s name has a double meaning. Firstly I thought it would be nice to stay in regular touch with you, our members, and so decided to start an emailed newsletter to let you know what is happening at the club. “Contact” sounds appropriate enough and has aviation connotations. Most of us have been spared the pain of hand swinging aircraft propellers to start, but those who have had the pleasure should have heard the person at the controls shout “contact” as the mags are switched to live and the swinger has their first stab at getting it to go. Secondly those of you with memories long enough will remember
SKYDEMON—A
that the previous Southend Flying Club newsletter was also called “Contact” and was a printed leaflet (long before the days of email and the internet) produced quarterly. I intend to produce “Contact” quarterly but if I can get enough interest and enough material I will try to publish it more frequently. If anyone wants to send me ideas or pictures to add in, then please email them to the club address. Some sad news from 2013 was the death of both Mike Hatt and Dick Fox. Both were instructors at Southend Flying Club in the past and our thoughts go out to their families.
2014
MUST
On a brighter note, don’t let winter put you off, some of the best flying days are to be had in the early part of the year. If we get some snow you’d be amazed at the way it transforms even familiar landscapes. Lastly 2014 membership is due from the 1st of January and it is a requirement for you to be members in order to fly. Happy flying in 2014 Peter Shorter
The River Roach off of runway 06 last February
HAVE
5
6
Pre flight planning has never been more important. Last year there was an airspace infringement every 11 hours and the CAA don’t take kindly to it if you can’t show adequate planning.
A superb new tool is available to help with flight planning and NOTAMS. www.skydemonlight.com
This is a free to use system which helps with creating plogs and obtaining NOTAMS in a
user friendly way. It is definitely worth taking a look at. There is also a paid for version, which combined with an Ipad or tablet creates a formidable in aircraft GPS navigation, weather and NOTAM system.
Page 2
“CONTACT”
NEW
YEAR—NEW
PLANS
This is the time of the year where everyone is busy making resolutions. The gyms will be packed to the rafters with people trying to work off the Christmas excess and get in shape for summer. But who wants to spend hours in the gym getting all sweaty? Why not make yourself some flying resolutions for 2014 instead? I’ve got some suggestions below to improve your flying, maybe build your confidence or get you a new qualification In 2014:
IMC rating could get you out of trouble
“Make some flying resolutions for 2014”
Get a new rating: Night flying is great, extends your flying on short winter days and is only a 5 hour course. Try the Multi Engine if you have ever been curious to see what it is like to fly with one engine failed. You don’t even need to complete the course, why not have a taster session in the twin? Aerobatics - If you want to see the world from upside down then try some loops with Peter in the Aerobat. The IMC is probably the best additional rating to have, it is challenging but interesting and could be used to allow you more flexibility to go touring or simply just to get you out of trouble if you get caught out en-route. It is 15 hours plus a test. Try a short strip or two: Grass strips can be a real fun challenge and some of the nicest airfields are short grass ones. An instructor can help you revise calculating take off and landing distances. Then you can practice short field take offs and landings (and go arounds in case you float too far!) at Southend before heading off to one of the nearby grass strips. Revise low level nav: Get out in some minimal VFR weather with an instructor and see how to cope if you get caught out and gain confidence to go when the weather has “prob 30”’s and “tempo”’s in it. Check your paperwork: It is so easy to let ratings and medicals lapse. When is your medical due and are you sure you have had your English Language proficiency assessed and informed the CAA? Remember it is easier to revalidate a current SEP rating than renew a lapsed one. Go somewhere new: Pledge to make a trip to at least one airfield you’ve not been to before. Some members have been to nearly 100 different airfields, you don’t even need to go far, there are at least 7 airfields within 15 minutes of Southend.
Great Massingham—A great destination for a challenge
Have a target:: One of our members has an unbroken record of flying at least once every month for the last 203 months. Start your own tally or how about aim to complete 500nm in a day? Last year John and Terry flew a single trip of over 600nm, whilst you don’t have to beat the number it is nice to stretch yourself. Just go flying: If nothing else then just get out there and go flying more often. It will keep you current and build your experience up, both important factors in keeping the enthusiasm alive which lead to you committing all the time and money to flying you have so far.
Page 3
FLYING
“CONTACT”
THE
ARROW
Some of you may have noticed, GAZOG in the corner under her brown cover. This is our PA28R, Arrow 2. OG is a lovely aircraft and probably the nicest of all our aircraft in terms of ride and handling and yet hardly anyone takes her out. Due to almost all of our aircraft needing their annual checks in November we decided to lay her up until February 2014, no one will miss her over winter and this helps spread our periods or down time throughout the year. When she comes out of hibernation we need you all to fly her. Flying the Arrow really is very easy. She is fast and smooth, the interior is the newest of the fleet and the avionics fit is comprehensive, works perfectly and is simple to use. The fuel injected the engine is smooth, easy to start and there is no carb icing to worry about. Being of a slab wing design OG is really easy to land, just like a more stable GATPN, without the float you get from a tapered wing like GBOTF.
PERFORMANCE
GAINS
Best of all though, is the performance gain you get from a 200hp engine driving a variable pitch propeller with a retractable undercarriage. OG can realistically carry 4 adults and fuel for nearly 5 hours, takes off from shorter strips and gets everywhere 25% faster than the PA28s (125kts cruise). All of this for an extra 8% in price and some additional training. As she is the least used we are more than happy to let you take her away for overnight stays or longer periods subject to minimum usage, which really is not constrictive at all.
WHAT’S
With the undercarriage retracted OG makes a sleek looking aircraft, but put it back down and it is as docile as a Cherokee
“25% faster for 8% more money”
INVOLVED
GAZOG is deemed a complex aircraft because it has a variable pitch (VP) propeller and retractable undercarriage. This means you are required to undertake differences training before being allowed to fly it. The amount of training is at the discretion of the club and there is no test at the end. The training will then allow you to fly other single engine aircraft that are VP and retractable, it is not just limited to GAZOG. You don’t need to submit anything to the CAA and there are no extra fees to pay. We normally expect most people with around 100 hours to be able to manage OG with 5 hours of training. With lower hours you might need a further 1-2 hours to be confident, but this is at the discretion of you and your instructor. Single engine differences training never lapses, so there is no further training required, however being realistic if you haven’t flown her for over 1 year, we would want you to do some brush up with an instructor. The training will cover familiarisation, handling skills and use of the propeller and undercarriage in normal and emergency situations. Most people find the undercarriage very simple when they remember to put it down! Luckily OG has built in warnings in case your checks are a bit lax.
There is only one extra lever for the propeller and one for the undercarriage—nothing to it!
Page 4
“CONTACT”
GETTING STARTED PROPELLERS
WITH
It isn’t difficult but it is different. My first flight in the Arrow consisted of being told “power down – left to right, power up right to left”. On take-off a blur of things being called out and levers everywhere meant I was still catching up at 1000ft, but the reality is simply; Once the runway is behind you, touch the brakes and retract the undercarriage. Reduce the throttle to climb power of 24 inches of vacuum. Reduce the engine RPM to 2400. Lean the mixture to 12 gallons per hour on the fuel flow gauge. The thing is now to mentally separate the RPM of the engine from the amount of power it is trying to make. In a car the accelerator dictates power (but offers no indication) and the gears dictate the RPM. In OG you can tell how much power you are asking for from a manifold pressure gauge and the engine RPM is now controlled by the blue RPM lever.
EXAMPLE
VARIABLE
PITCH
As the aircraft has a fuel flow gauge we can accurately lean the mixture to save fuel as well. The beauty of the system is that the propeller contains a constant speed unit (CSU), which will try and maintain the RPM regardless of what you do (within limits of course). So if you want to lose 100’ reduce the power as per normal and the aircraft will lose height with no change in noise The insides of a CSU. We have a cut away one at the Club, come and have or RPM. a look at it. Just as in a car you wouldn’t try an pull away in 5th gear at full power, so in the aircraft we have to match the RPM setting to the power we are asking the engine to produce. On take-off everything is max, then to climb, power comes back first, RPM second and fuel 3rd. Levelling off only power needs to be reduced further. If you want to climb put the power back up to “POWER DOWN – climb power. LEFT TO RIGHT If you want max performance then put the levers back to full in the rePOWER UP verse of reducing power i.e. mixture RIGHT TO LEFT” full, prop full, power full. Perhaps Bob, my instructor, was right and “power down – left to right, power up right to left” is the best way of thinking about it!
FLIGHT
As an example a flight to Le Touquet will normally take: In GBOTF 48 minutes airborne 10 minutes taxiing Cost £208 In GAZOG 38 minutes airborne 10 minutes taxiing Cost £185
Lovely Le Touquet beach SAVING £23 each way
Why not make a weekend of it? Take your golf clubs or your dancing shoes and enjoy a weekend in the Paris of the North.
Page 5
EASA
HAS
ARRIVED
You have probably heard about the introduction of EASA. This is the European Aviation Safety Agency and like most things from Europe it means a whole new set of rules. Under previous regimes the UK CAA made the rules and then later the European JAA suggested rules, which the UK CAA selected to implement or not via an act of parliament. That has now all changed and the rules EASA decreed are now legally binding (what a wonderful thing democracy is!). This has a direct impact on all pilots and you will be walking into trouble if you don’t start soon. Without becoming too complex all aircraft are now deemed EASA or Annex 2 aircraft. All Southend Flying Club aircraft are EASA and so you MUST have an EASA licence to fly them. The timescale for changing your licence does vary slightly depending on the licence you have but for most PPL holders something must be done by April 2015 at the latest. The only exception is a holder of current JAA licence, this is valid as an EASA licence until it’s expiry date, then the conversion is required. It can, however, be done earlier.
PAPERWORK
As the CAA get busier expect their turn around to get worse. It isn’t unheard of for them to lose your entire application adding weeks of delays
CAP804 is available from www.caa.co.uk
“Something must be done by April 2015 at the latest”
EXERCISE
It should be solely a paperwork exercise but the following items are important to note: If your licence is the old style CAA licence conversion must be done by April 2015 it is not valid for life. If you want to fly an aircraft with more the 4 people on board, you must convert by April 2014 If you use an FAA or other ICAO licence to fly our aircraft the situation is volatile but in the worst case you will need to obtain licence validation from EASA by April 2014, so you must stay up to date on the CAA website. New ratings have been introduced for instance aerobatics now need a specific rating. If you have previous experience you should be granted it by default but you need to show log book evidence and other supporting evidence. You need a current medical to convert but not necessarily any current ratings. Your logbook must show evidence of undertaking radio navigation training (Ex18C) or you will have to have a flight with an instructor and you must have that flight certified with our CFI As we get closer to the deadlines the CAA turnaround time will increase, especially if you are trying to do anything out of the ordinary such as obtain an aerobatic rating, if the deadline passes you will not be able to fly until it is resolved.
STAY UP TO DATE It is your responsibility to keep your licence in order and you cannot rely on the CAA writing to you to remind you—they are notorious for changing the rules without telling us. CAP804 is a free to download document from the CAA website covering the latest licence rules. The CAA website also has lots of useful info on it.
Page 6
“CONTACT”
SAFETY
CORNER
SOUTHEND FLYING CLUB South Road Southend Airport Southend on Sea Essex SS2 6YU Phone:01702 545198
If you see any safety related incidents, please let me know so I can include them here. In the meantime something relevant to the time of year is ICE. No ice should be on the aircraft prior to departure. We have brooms for sweeping off loose snow and frost and deicer for the final layer.
E-mail: southendflyingclub@btclick.com www.southendflyingclub.co.uk
Please be practical with the deicer; it is nearly £10 per litre and it will not work on anything more than the thinnest layer of frost
PRACTICAL
AIRMANSHIP
Have you ever had a mag drop and would you know what to do if you did?
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Lead fouling arrowed
When carrying out the power checks we switch each magneto off in turn to see how the engine runs with just 1 spark plug in each cylinder working. In normal operation with both mags a spark plug that was not working would be masked by the operational one, but on just one mag that whole cylinder will lose power and the engine will run very rough, there will be vibration, back firing and a large drop in RPM (hence mag drop). If you can’t clear the problem then you shouldn’t depart , which is a bit of a problem if you are in Calais on a Sunday and there is no one about. Two things typically cause spark plug foul-
ing and create a mag drop. Oil can build up on the plugs, or lead from the AVGAS can bridge the electrode causing a short . Both are most likely after a long period of slow running, such as a prolonged taxi. We need to get the fouling off the plug if at all possible. The basic idea is to get the engine hot enough to raise the temperature in the cylinder to the point the fouling melts off and goes out the exhaust. The simplest method is to take the aircraft to full power for up to 2 minutes and then return to the power check RPM and try
again. Alternatively you can leave the RPM at the power check setting and slowly lean the mixture until the RPM drops by about 50rpm. Leave the engine lean for a minute or two and then return it to rich and try again. Last ditch effort is to taxi back, shut down, let it cool and restart. Sometimes the change in temperature clears the plug. If all that fails you’d better go and find an engineer to change the plugs or just take off and hope it will clear as you roll down the runway…..