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“Contact” Happy 2015! Let’s hope that the new year gives us settled weather and interesting flights to do. 2014 was a good year overall, we started with one of the wettest winters in recorded history, where we spent every day mopping up leaks from our 70 year old nissin hut and giving thanks that we were not based at a grass strip (One examiner from Andrewsfield described it as looking like a scene from the battle of the Somme!). Spring finally came round with welcome longer days, but fairly average weather and as we moved into June and July it was settled but not particularly warm. With August being a bit of a cold damp squib, it looked like the summer would be a disappointment, but then September and October turned into a lovely settled and mild Indian summer, culminating in the warmest Halloween on record at 24°C measured in Gravesend Kent. November and December were a dramatic change returning to cold, unsettled weather with plenty of rain and more frosts than recent years and as I sit here in January watching the rain lash down once more, I am thinking that we might be getting the same pattern as last year. Despite the weather the club has had a busier year than previously with many successful course passes and an increase in both students and the hiring of the aircraft. We hope this trend will continue well into this year.
completed the IMC and night ratings in quick succession. During his fairly short flying career Terry became a real explorer and flew to nearly 100 different airfields, including the Channel Islands and the Isles of Scilly to name a few. As with all adventurers he had a few upsets along to way, being interviewed under caution by the police for infringing Stansted and accidentally landing at a military base instead of Shuttleworth are two that spring to mind, but with his good sense of humour and great way of dealing with people nothing more was done about either event! I’ll miss seeing Terry around the Club.
Congratulations Since the last newsletter congratulations go to: Charlie Carlton 1st solo Jonathon Cook QXC James England PPL Raj Vora PPL Paul Lyrick Night rating
Security Finally: The airfield are stepping up security across the whole area, so if you are airside you must be carrying photo ID and they do have security patrols stopping an asking people. As photo ID is required to be carried to validate an EASA licence, this should not be something that causes too much inconvenience. We are also issuing Southend Flying Club membership cards again this year, so please keep that with your licence.
It is with sadness I have to report the death of one of our members; Terry White. Terry passed away Christmas day after a struggle against Leukaemia and our thoughts go out to his family. Initially Terry began learning to fly in an Auster in the 1960’s, but family and work commitments meant that he had to give it up after going solo. Clearly the idea didn’t fade as he started flying again in 2007 and completed his PPL in 2008. He also 1
The Arrow is back! After 2 months in Sturgate, near Sheffield and then a further 2 weeks in the hanger at Southend GAZOG is back in action with the club.
The refurb has been 99% finished and the aircraft looks great. She has had a bare metal strip and re-spray, tinted windscreens, leather interior, new carpets and headlining, dashboard painted and new radios and a Mode S transponder. Even the autopilot now works, following headings, tracking VOR’s or just keeping the wings level for you whilst you have a break. Everyone is welcome to fly her even during your PPL training, but formal differences training are required with an instructor to go solo if you haven’t already had it. This should only be a few hours but depends on your experience.
A few things to note, which apply to all the aircraft really: To avoid damaging the paint please don’t place bags on the wings, or stand off of the non-slip walk way. To avoid scratches to the windscreens, don’t place headsets or items on the dashboard and please don’t stand on the seats. Even the cover is new, which cost £1,000, so don’t drag it across the grass! 2
Practical Airmanship - Performance At Southend we are really lucky to be able to operate from such a nice airfield. With a runway as long as ours the aircraft are capable of taking off and landing with ample margin to spare even when fully loaded. But what about operating into shorter airfields or onto different surfaces such as grass?
so the aircraft can climb more quickly away from the runway to clear obstructions. Most airfields in the UK are at relatively low altitudes, so this doesn’t affect density much. However the temperature range in the UK means that between a spring day of 15°C and a summers day of 30°C, GBOTF would have a 28% increase in the distance to take off and clear a 50’ obstacle.
As various factors stack up the available distance may become less than that required, which is known as being performance limited. You would then have to change some of the variables that affect performance or have reduced safety margins, or in the worst case end up as one of the many accidents featured in the AAIB bulletins. It is a very common cause of accidents, some minor, some major and it is entirely avoidable with proper planning. If you damage an aircraft by going off the end of a runway that clearly was not long enough you would also run the risk of the insurance company coming to you to recover the costs.
Weight Increasing weight reduces acceleration and climb rate, meaning the take-off distance increases. Extra weight also means more kinetic energy. This kinetic energy needs to be converted into heat by the brakes, so the heavier the aircraft the greater the landing distance.
“The kinetic energy formula is 0.5 x mass x speed squared.” Weight is one of the easiest factors to control on the aircraft – leave people, bags or fuel (not too much!) behind if you will be performance limited. For example in GBOTF two adults extra in the back would increase take off distance by 39% and landing distance by 15%
“What factors affect take off and landing performance” In short it is air density, weight, wind, slope, surface and aircraft configuration and handling. I’ll try and explain each one in slightly more detail so that they can be accounted for correctly when operating into runways which may be performance limiting.
Air Density Air density is a combination of the altitude of the runway and the air temperature. In denser conditions i.e. at lower altitudes or colder temperatures, the engine is able to draw more air in on each cycle and produce more power, aiding take off acceleration. Also as the lift formula includes 0.5 x air density x speed squared, it can be seen that denser air allows more lift to be produced and
This is a bad idea. Consider leaving someone behind…
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Practical Airmanship - Performance Wind
Surface
A headwind works in our favour for both takeoff and landing, as it reduces groundspeed without reducing airspeed (groundspeed dictates kinetic energy to be dissipated by the brakes, but airspeed is crucial for creating the lift for flight as mentioned above). So if there is a distinct wind then we elect to land into it. The day to be careful would be a day where there are light and variable breezes, because you may choose a runway where the wind shifts round on approach and you land with a tail wind. In the C152, the difference between a 5 knot headwind and tailwind would give a change in ground speed of 10 knots, which in turn increases kinetic energy 36% and hence the landing roll.
Surface in some ways is the most unpredictable variable, it seems fairly obvious that grass, mud or snow will increase friction on the tyres reducing acceleration and increasing the take-off roll. Likewise the lack of grip on these surfaces will increase the landing roll, but by how much? The CAA recommend applying safety factors of an extra 20% & 15% for take-off and landing on grass respectively, but caution that short wet grass may cause an increase on landing of 60%. Also a strip may not be a uniform surface as the grass can vary in length or the surface may have boggy areas, this could have a distinct effect on performance. Case study - 19th January 2014, a Robin attempted to get airborne from Stow Maries but after a slow take off run of 450m on a runway of 650m stalled and crashed into a fence. This is a typical scenario as the aircraft is dragged off the ground at a really low airspeed, flies in ground effect and then stalls as the pilot tries to climb out over an obstacle. Luckily no one was hurt.
Slope Up slopes are bad for take-off as you need to accelerate uphill against gravity, but good for landing and downslopes vice versa. Luckily most runways are fairly flat around here, but if there is slope it must be accounted for and in nil wind conditions may lead to you selecting a runway based on slope in your favour.
Configuration & handling The use of flap for take-off and landing is different between aircraft and the correct technique is needed to ensure the aircraft can actually achieve the performance figures the makers managed in testing. The largest error is normally the pilot using a too high approach speed or delaying rotation on take-off, leading to an increased distance. Also failing to land correctly and having excessive float can use a lot of runway up. Again the amount is very hard to quantify
If you plan to land at Courchevel, you’d better land uphill if you want to stop. The exception to that are some of the extreme strips (Nayland) where the slope is so steep, that you land uphill regardless. 4
Practical Airmanship - Performance Summary A large number of factors can lead to you being performance limited, some are easy to quantify and the performance tables in the aircraft manual allow you calculate the result. Other factors such as surface and handling are much harder to know for certain, which is why after all factors have been considered there should be an additional general safety factor added. The CAA suggests 33% on take-off and 43% on landing. This can seem very restrictive and with practice you can safely reduce the allowances a little but you must always have something in reserve and nominate a point to go around from a landing or abort a take-off before you are committed. If you haven’t completed a take-off or landing calculation for a while, why not do one next time you are in the Club? One of the instructors will always show you through it, if you need help.
In the absence of performance data in the manual of the aircraft for these variables, use the CAA recommended factors above.
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Recommended Trips Le Touquet in France is a great venue for a day out. Being only just over an hours flying time from Southend it is quite rightly a popular destination and as an added bonus the Government allows you to reclaim the tax on the fuel that was exported meaning a cheque from HMRC of about £80 comes back to you. Many of the PPL holders have already been but for those of you who haven’t here is the information you need.
Paperwork As you are crossing an international boundary there are a few extra bits of paperwork to carry out before you go:
“Flight plan out and back” Flight plan out and back. These are really simple to complete and can be done online via a system called Afpex for free or using sky demon for a very small charge. You are expected to give 30 mins advance notice before taxiing and if you miss your taxi time by more than 60mins your flight plan will expire and you have to file another. You can choose to file both from Southend, or do the return one when you know what time you are leaving in the Le Touquet terminal. If you are stuck call the club and we will file it for you from here.
Flying In Le Touquet has a tarmac runway which is 1850m long and orientated 31/13. The airfield has no major obstacles or obstructions in the area and a runway similar to Southend so the approach and landing won’t present any problems. The airfield has full ATC normally using Approach and Tower, but sometimes in the winter 1 day a week will be Air Ground radio only. Either way the voices on the radio are friendly and all speak excellent English. The route to Le Touquet couldn’t be easier, fly to the Dover VOR and out on the 155° radial until you reach the French coast, turn right along the coast and give them a call just before Boulogne harbour. The airfield is alongside a small river estuary.
This is the link to Afpex: https://ts3.flightplanningonline.co.uk/index.h tml
GAR Customs Form must be done via Excel General aviation report (GAR Customs form): This used to be done on paper and dropped in a letter box or faxed off, but now must be done on an excel spreadsheet and emailed to both the central customs address and Southend airports customs office. It is a simple form asking for names and addresses of passengers and passport numbers. Alternatively Skydemon can do it for a small charge. Some French airfields want their customs office to have advance notice, but not Le Touquet; most of the times the customs desk isn’t even manned.
The airfield is just to the right of this river as you head inland.
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Recommended Trips cont. make a whole day of it. The town host lots of events through the year so you can plan your trip to coincide with something like the annual beach motorbike race, where 1,000 bikes and 250,000 spectators crowd the beach for a real spectacle.
This is the link to the GAR: https://www.gov.uk/government/publication s/general-aviation-operators-and-pilotsnotification-of-flights We also suggest you take the liferaft & lifejackets, which are free to borrow from the club. You must carry an emergency personal locator beacon (PLB), you can borrow my one, but like the lifejackets if you use it you have to replace it (mind you if you have just been pulled out of the English Channel, I’m sure it will be the least of your worries!)
You can even stay in a hotel and make a weekend of it if you want. Some of our members reported the golf courses are good and the nightlife fairly lively. Just take it easy if you are flying out 1st thing in the morning.
Whilst there Go into town, it is a half hour stroll through wooded streets, a short taxi ride, or you can hire pedal bikes at the airport. Le Touquet is known as the Paris of the north and is a glamorous weekend destination for Parisians. This means there are lots of really nice cafes and restaurants, where you can sit on the street and soak up the French atmosphere.
Substantially more chic than Southend High St
Summary Difficulty: 2 out of 5 (a bit of paperwork) Appeal: 5 out of 5 Distance: 75nm Sundays can be a bit quieter, but there are always places to choose from. The beach is lovely and worth a wander down to for an ice cream or even some sunbathing if you plan to
Landing fee: Approx £25 (€30) when last checked
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Safety Corner We haven’t had any safety issues since the last newsletter, which is a good thing, but don’t forget that if you do see anything that you think could be unsafe (tie downs left on the parking area, mags left live etc), then please report it using the SMS form. You can do it anonymously if you prefer. Remember that ice and frost in the morning is common at the moment. Makes sure you deice the aircraft fully before flight, but bear in mind the de-icing fluid is not very effective against thick frost or frozen globules of water. Use the broom or hot water to remove these, squeegee dry and then a quick spray of de-icer if needed. Oh and the fluid is flammable and stings your eyes like mad, so be careful (I know as of sprayed it in my face!)
Emergency of the month On the base leg you slow down, select two stages of flaps and the aircraft rapidly lurches to the left, almost full aileron stops the roll progressing any further. Looking back at the flaps, one is retracted and the other is partly extended. The flap selector is no longer working. How will you make the approach and land?
Content needed If anyone has a story I can tell in here about a flight you have done or some nice flying related pictures please send them in to me and I will post them here and on Facebook. We need lots of fresh content for Facebook and a new website that James is currently building in his spare time.
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