It's true. I hadn't flown in months. November last year was the last time I was in the air. There was an abortive attempt to go night flying in December but circumstances canned that idea. So weather, work, more work, and then the annual appearing just as the weather improved all combined to keep me from flying. Well, that is my excuse, but the real answer is I also got a little lazy, finding excuses to not get my flight bag out and plan a flight. It was easier to start up Netflix than start up SkyDemon. The aerodrome was still there. KK was still there. I just kept finding reasons not to be there.
Stop finding Excuses
Eventually I pulled my finger out and booked a session with Connor. Jack was pretending to be an airline captain as he's doing more exams for his CPL. It was planned as a refresher flight, just me back into the left seat and finding out exactly how much rust had accumulated. The answer, as it turned out, was a lot. Rusty, even corroded in parts. The kind of out-of-practice that makes you re-read a checklist you've held in your head for three years just to be sure, and still forgetting what BUMFLITCH meant.
After some light faffing, including reminding the tower we have a new shiny parking space, I managed to get it all started. Pointed the whirly bit in the right direction and then off we go. I can fly. I didn't break anything. Then the fun began.
The engine kept failing. Funny that.
Up in the sky and Connor is happy so far. Then the engine failed. Or rather, Connor decided it was time to find out what I'd do if it did. Welcome to PFLs. Practice Forced Landings. Or what to do if the whirly thing in the front stops whirling. Answer: Step 1: SHIT. Step 2: deal with it. We have training for a reason. I should be clear about what that means for anyone reading who isn't a pilot. The engine didn't actually fail. Connor pulled the throttle. The engine doesn't stop, but it feels close enough, and KK soon turns into an expensive glider.
The first one caught me out. I knew it was coming, knew it was an exercise, and I still managed to find myself behind the aeroplane. Best glide, field selection, pattern, mayday call, restart drills, brief the passenger. By the time I had a usable field picked I was lower than I'd have liked. And I had missed half the checks. We would have probably got down, but the recovery would have been on the back of a flatbed. Lesson one: rust isn't a feeling, it's a measurable thing, and it shows up in the seconds you don't have.
The next one I was ready for. NOT. I'd love to say I nailed it. I didn't. The field I picked was the obvious one, but not the best one. Connor pointed out the better option after the fact. Instructors do that. The hedgerow I was aiming over would have been touch and go on a real engine-out. Lesson two: the obvious field is not always the right field, and being readier than last time doesn't mean ready.
Flap Harder
The novelty of learning to fly by flapping your arms was wearing off and things were starting to gel in my head, at least. Sometimes the engine didn't fail completely. That has a name too. Partial Power Failure. It means the engine goes to sleep just enough to wake me up. Not enough to stay in the air for long, but a little longer than a full engine loss. You would think this makes it easier (can you limp to an airfield?) but all it does is make the choices more complex. Did I make the right choices? Armchair pilots already have their keyboards of rage ready. All I can say is: YOU WEREN'T THERE MAN. (1000-yard stare. Nam vet voice.)
Landing Fails
Anyway. Back to Elstree on my favourite 08. Did I mention the 450,000V pylons on the approach? Nice. All set up and then the damn engine failed again. Glide approach, here we go. Managed to get that one down, but what a surprise, it happened again. I think there's a pattern here.
A stonking (means good!) refresher of getting back in the air, with a bonus of a new video for the channel. There are more videos to come, as I'm now doing what I keep telling myself to do. Do more flying. So why not join me? The full vlog of this flight is up on the YouTube channel now. Now you can discover why the engine-fails-only-when-Connor's-around.
