Date: 19/09/2012
Time: 18:05 - 18:35 (17:05 - 17:35 GMT) and 18:40
- 19:25 (17:40 - 18:25 GMT)
Aircraft: Ikarus C42 - G-CDVI
Brook and Dom
This evening, I'm taking our two apprentices up
for a quick flight. Brook has been interested in coming for quite a while but
is extremely nervous about the idea. He has so far managed to find reasons not
to come. When Dom expressed an interest, I decided the best idea was to take
them both for a quick evening flight and they can bolster each others confidence.
The nights are drawing in now and we are running out of year for evening flights,
but the weather seems ideal for tonight, so here we go!
We leave work at 5pm and head to the airfield. Fortunately,
the plane is still outside the clubhouse, so I check it over and fuel it. 
I
plan to take Brook up first to give him less time to blouse-out. I install him
in the passenger seat and start warming the engine. Once we reach the magic
50 degrees C oil temperature we are off to line-up on runway 26. We take off
and during climb-out the weather proves to be ideal with reasonable visibility
and nice calm air. We head to the north past Overton and I demonstrate how the
joystick controls work. I invite him to have a go - he takes the stick for a
couple of seconds, but is very uncomfortable with the idea and relinquishes
control to me. We go and have a look at Highclere Castle and then head up towards
Newbury. Then we head back to Popham for a gentle landing back on 26. Once safely
back on the ground, I ask him how long did he think it had taken - he suggests
10 minutes, when really it has been half an hour - couldn't have been that bad
then!
We
then swap over and put Dominic in and soon we're back in the air. We head north
in the same sort of route - Dom is a lot more confident and soon has the control.
He asks if he should put the nose down a bit - yes I say. In a while, the plane
pitches slowly up again and he asks the same question. This means that already
he is able to detect the attitude of the plane and just needs the confidence
to deal with it. Soon I just have to mention things like "left wing dropping
a bit" and then I just tell him to head towards a landmark such as a smoke
plume - impressive! Obviously I'm keeping a close watch but it is quite relaxed.
Again we go past Highclere and up to Greenham Common, before heading back and
I also demonstrate some medium banked turns - great fun. After landing, we go
for another quick circuit too.
It interesting how everyone seems to react differently.
Dom managed to control the plane quite well. Brooks achievement was getting
in the damn thing at all. Is a brave man the one who has no fear, or the one
who overcomes them? Probably both.
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I
plan to take Brook up first to give him less time to blouse-out. I install him
in the passenger seat and start warming the engine. Once we reach the magic
50 degrees C oil temperature we are off to line-up on runway 26. We take off
and during climb-out the weather proves to be ideal with reasonable visibility
and nice calm air. We head to the north past Overton and I demonstrate how the
joystick controls work. I invite him to have a go - he takes the stick for a
couple of seconds, but is very uncomfortable with the idea and relinquishes
control to me. We go and have a look at Highclere Castle and then head up towards
Newbury. Then we head back to Popham for a gentle landing back on 26. Once safely
back on the ground, I ask him how long did he think it had taken - he suggests
10 minutes, when really it has been half an hour - couldn't have been that bad
then!
