VFR Club
| Briefing | Tuesday 21st October 2008 |
| Start Time and Place | From 8pm local, at the Cix Hangar at Gloucester Staverton airport. Staggered start times are preferred, so that everyone does not arrive back in the circuit at the same time |
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| Departure and Duration | We will depart and fly individually or in small groups. The distance is approximately 80 nm. Anticipate spending between 1 and 1½ hours, depending on the length of time you spend on each exercise. | ||||||||||||
| Weather ...or not | Before starting
we will check the weather. If it is unsuitable for our trip as planned,
then we will fix it. Something we can do in the simulator - wouldn't it
be nice if we could do it in real life! For the general handling we
need a cloud base that is at least 3000ft AGL. FSInn has a "CAVOK" button. Click this and you get calm clear weather. Those using SB will need to turn off the on-line weather updates, and select calm in the FS weather options. |
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| Overview | Our event takes
us to the Cix General Handling Area, which is located North West of the
airfield, between the towns of Hereford and Great Malvern. We will
practice the general handling exercises as described. Once these are
completed to our satisfaction, we will proceed on a brief navigation
exercise to the South West, before returning to the airfield for a
selection of circuits. The intention is not to perform every exercise listed in the handling sections, but rather to perform a few and repeat until you are happy with them (for example, a couple of steep turns, right and left, and a couple of stalls in different configurations). More may be performed as time allows, and the event scenario can be rerun on different occasions should you want more practice. refer to the FS Learning Centre and other training resources for detailed background and tuition on the exercises. Club members will find more information in the Events forum. |
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| Flight Plan |
Your flight plan should show: departure = EGBJ, destination = EGBJ,
alternate = EGBW, route = GENERAL HANDLING AND NAVEX BETWEEN GT MALVERN
HEREFORD AND NEWPORT, and comments = /V/ DAYLIGHT / CIX VFR CLUB All bearings and headings given in the briefing below are magnetic, and no allowance has been made for any cross wind. Airfield charts and information for UK are available from the AIS web site. |
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Charts and Scenery |
For preference,
use photographic scenery covering the area. Part of the exercise will
involve identifying your position using ground features. A variety of
products are available for FS9 and FSX from Horizon Simulations and
JustFlight. An aeronautical chart that shows navigational aids (VORs/NDBs etc) in either 1:500000 or 1:250000 scale will be an advantage, or a reasonably detailed topolocical map. |
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GPS |
Use of GPS for this event is NOT PERMITTED (this includes external tools such as GMap, FSNavigator, FSCommander etc) | ||||||||||||
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Travel to the General Handling Area |
We will depart
from the Overhead at Gloucester (See Exercise 18 if you are unsure how
to make an overhead departure). A heading of approximately 300º for
approximately 15 miles should get you to the training area (blue shaded
triangle on the map below). The training area is the area bounded by the
roads between the towns of Hereford, Great Malvern and Ledbury. There
is also a railway line that runs Hereford - Ledbury - Great Malvern. After departing the circuit, climb enroute to a minimum of 3200ft. Perform FREDA checks as required.
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Upper Air Work Airmanship: |
The upper air
work exercises can be completed in any order. Before beginning the
flight exercises, you should carry out a HASELL check:
Between exercises, an abbreviated HELL check should be carried out: Height Engine Location Lookout Throughout these exercises, remember the maxim: Power + Attitude = Performance |
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| Slow Flight | To control the aircraft at a
critically slow airspeed. "Slow" is defined as 5kts above
the stall speed (VS0 or VS1, depending on flap settings) * Reduce power to slow flight setting. Use the ball to maintain balanced flight. * Pitch up to achieve desired speed. * Trim to eliminate control forces. Remember: Power - Attitude - Trim. At slow airspeeds, controls are less effective, and bigger inputs may be required. Caution is required in manoeuvring, since any loss of airspeed could cause a stall, and so is unacceptable. Turns should be no more than 15* angle of bank, and some additional power may be required. We will exit the slow flight exercise into a normal climb: * Steadily increase power to full. Use the ball to maintain balanced flight. * Maintain attitude until climb speed is reached, then pitch up to normal climb attitude. * Trim for climb airspeed. Remember: Power - Attitude - Trim. Don't forget your HASELL and HELL checks. |
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| Stalls | To
learn the symptoms of the approach to the stall and the full stall. To
recover from a fully developed stall, and recover from an incipient
stall in various configurations. Perform two or
more of the following: Standard Stall Recovery: * Move the control column forward / release back pressure * Apply full power * SIMULTANEOUSLY use rudder to prevent further yaw and roll * When the wings are unstalled and airspeed increases, level the wings with aileron, centralise the rudder, and gently recover to a climb. Target height loss: < 200ft 1. Stall & recovery without power * Fully close the throttle * Gradually raise the nose to prevent descent. Maintain balanced flight * At the stall, the aircraft pitches forward * Release back pressure/push stick forward. Do NOT apply power until the stall is recovered * Recover to the climb 2. Stall & recovery with power * As above, but perform Standard Stall Recovery. Note that significantly less height is lost Further stalls may be performed in the following configurations. Use the Standard Stall Recovery. Recover at the incipient stall (ie when the first symptom of the stall is detected). * Stall with partial power set * Stall with flap set * Stall with power and flap (approach configuration) Don't forget your HASELL and HELL checks. |
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| Steep Turns | To turn the aircraft at steeper
than normal angles of bank in both level flight and descent. Maintain 45º angle of bank within +/- 5º,
airspeed within +/- 10kts and altitude within +/- 100ft Steep turns to the left. Select a heading and turn through 360º to return to the same heading. * Use ailerons to roll in the desired direction. Apply rudder in the same sense and back pressure as required for balanced flight * As angle of bank passes 30º, increase power and increase back pressure to maintain altitude. * During the turn maintain angle of bank, altitude and balanced flight * Anticipate rolling out onto the desired heading by 30º * Gradually reduce elevator back pressure as you roll level. Reduce power as you roll back through 30º Steep turns to the right, Select a heading and turn through 360º to return to the same heading * Repeat the left turn procedure, but turning to the right Steep turns using 60º angle of bank * As above, but maintain a 60º bank angle Steep Descending turn (45º bank angle) * Establish a gliding descent at your aircraft's normal glide speed * Roll into the turn with aileron * Pitch down to maintain glide airspeed. Note increased rate of descent and nose low attitude * When rolling out, pitch up to maintain glide airspeed Collision Avoidance turn * The collision avoidance turn is a practical application of steep turns. It comprises an immediate steep RIGHT turn through 90º. There is no emphasis on accurate flying for this manoeuvre. Caution: As angle of bank in a turn increases, so does the load factor ('g') and the stalling speed (by the square root of the load factor). At 60º of bank, load factor = 2, and stall speed is √2 = 1.41 x wings level stall speed. Consequently it is very important to be aware of your speed and not to let it decay. Don't forget your HASELL and HELL checks. |
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| Navigation Exercise | Establish your position After performing a number of handling manoeuvres, you should re-establish your exact position. Use landmarks and the map to verify your position. A landmark should have at least THREE unique features to assure correct identification. For example: Great Malvern (town) - High ground running N-S immediately to the west, with the town at the N end, and a peak 1394ft - Large town (Worcester) 4nm to the NE - Railway line runs to the NE to the other town - Disused railway line leaves the town to the S You may also use radio navaids to establish your position. See the Instrument Flight document if you are unsure how to do this. Plot a course from your current position to the town of NEWPORT. Estimate heading, distance and ETA. Don't forget to take account of wind and magnetic variation in estimating your heading. Map read to confirm you are following the correct track. Tune the BCN VOR (117.45) and ident, if you don't already have it tuned. Intercept the BCN 080º radial * Turn the OBS selector so that it shows 080º * Verify CDI deflection, and check that the FROM flag is shown. * Once the CDI indicator centres, turn onto 080º, and maintain the 080º radial. When you are level with the bends in the river, call Gloucester ATC for rejoin. |
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| Circuits | ATC will advise
current conditions, and the runway in use, as well as the preferred
join procedure. Some of the following circuit types may be inadvisable if the circuit is busy. You can always come back and practice them another time. Try to perform three of the following: Normal circuits Perform a touch and go with the aircraft in the normal landing configuration Flapless circuits * Perform a touch and go with reduced or no flaps set. * Advise ATC when you call downwind that the approach will be with reduced or no flap. * Your approach will be faster and shallower than with a normal landing, so you will need to extend your downwind leg slightly * Landing speed is slightly higher (due to higher stalling speed), and landing roll will be longer Glide Approach * Perform a landing without power * Advise ATC when you call downwind that you wish to make a glide approach. If the circuit is busy, ATC may decline the request. * Turn base earlier than you would for a powered circuit. * Reduce power to idle. Set carb heat to hot (if fitted). Trim for best glide speed * Do not lower flap until you are assured of overshooting your aiming point * Do not attempt to 'stretch the glide' by pitching the nose up if you are undershooting - GO AROUND! * Do not hesitate to go around. Bad Weather circuit * Request permission from ATC to perform a bad weather circuit BEFORE commencing this procedure * Fly overhead the runway in the landing direction at a height of 600ft AGL. * Once overhead the upwind threshold, start a continuous level 15º (max) banked turn until downwind. * You will fly the downwind leg lower and closer than usual, so be aware of visual perspective changes * As you pass the runway threshold, start a timer for 20-30 seconds (depending on wind speed) * After 20-30 seconds, start a continuous level 15º (max) banked turn until on final * Do not start your final descent until you have a good view of the runway Precautionary Landing A precautionary landing involves a number of low passes of the landing area down to a height of 100ft AGL in order to inspect the area for obstacles and obstructions. The purpose is to facilitate landing in a field or other area when a medical, weather etc. emergency precludes landing at an airfield. * Request permission from ATC to perform a precautionary landing procedure BEFORE commencing this procedure * Establish the aircraft in 'slow safe cruise' configuration (e.g. 75 kts with one stage of flap) at 600ft agl. * Approach the runway in the landing direction, descending to approximately 300ft AGL * Fly the runway length at 300ft AGL, TO THE RIGHT of the runway. Visually inspect the runway for obstacles * At the end of the runway, go around at bad weather circuit height (600ft AGL) * Once satisfied that it is safe, make a second approach to 100ft AGL. Go around again at 600ft * If satisfied that the area is suitable, make an approach and landing as per the bad weather circuit. Forced Landing without power * Request permission from ATC BEFORE commencing the procedure * Climb to 2500ft overhead the airfield * Reduce power to idle. Apply carb heat if fitted. Trim the aircraft for best glide * Commence a glide descent to the runway, using either standard pattern, or constant aspect methods * Make appropriate circuit calls * Do not hesitate to go around if necessary |
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VOR Tracking |
The Instrument Flight
document in the Training section of the club web site contains a
section on VORs and how to use them. If you are unsure how to track a
VOR radial, download and have a look at this. The document covers the use of NDB and DME for direction and distance measurements as well. |
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Radio Discipline |
Take care not
to let our Teamspeak chat cut across ATC. Stop any conversation
immediately the R/T comes alive, then continue if "he wasn't talking to
us". This is difficult because when transmitting on Teamspeak you can't
hear the R/T. So be brief on Teamspeak, and be aware that ATC might be
trying to get through. If anyone hears an R/T message which seems to be
being ignored, just say "ATC is calling G-CIXN" if you have identified
the callsign, or "ATC is calling us" which is a cue for everyone to be
quiet on Teamspeak until ATC call again (which they will). Remember too
that if asked to "Stand By" by ATC, you do not reply - not even
"Roger", but simply wait until you are called again. Remember also that there are several different ATC frequencies in use, and you may not be able to hear when communications are taking place. Make sure you have set and know how to use a Teamspeak mute switch. |
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| Map | 
Click on the image for a full-size version. This map is only approximate, and should not be relied on for navigation. FOR SIMULATOR USE ONLY |
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Version 1.0 - 08:20 ZULU 13/10/08 |