The author of this page is still a student, and hopes to get his first licence by the beginning of July 1999.

Another students diary can be found at Diary 2

Preparation for my first flight.

Since I was about 8 years old, I wanted to fly. Initially this was fast jets, particularly the Harrier, because of its ability. As this became further out of reach, I decided I want to fly helicopters. Eventually, my wife bought me an hour trial lesson for my birthday.

About a week before I decided to use the lesson, I went to the school. I met one of the instructors, who was very friendly. He told me a lot about the forthcoming lesson, and did everything to put the minds of my family at ease. After this, I couldn't wait until my first lesson. This would be the first time I'd ever been in a helicopter.

9th May 1998
My flight is today. I have the time slot between 3pm and 5pm for 1 hour. A little was explained about the machine and its controls. The bit that makes you go up and down is the collective. The joystick bit is called a cyclic, and the rudder pedals are .. pedals. The pilot then started preparing the machine to fly. He ensured I was strapped in correctly, and the door was closed properly, ensuring I know where the exit of the aircraft is. He then climbed into his side, then started the machine. He checked the ATIS (the weather and flying conditions around the local airfield), then spoke to the air traffic control.
We then lifted off the ground and started to taxi. We then started flying northwards away from the airport, and I was given control of the cyclic. I was then in control of the aircraft, I was flying it. We had a bit of flying around, then we turned back towards the airfield and had permission to land. We went onto a Helipad area where we could practice hovering and landing. While the pilot was in charge of the cyclic, I had the collective, and we were lifting off from the ground, and touching it again, we practiced this for a short while, then it was onto the pedals.
At the end of the session, I was asked if I had ever flown a helicopter before, because I seemed to handle the machine quite well. I explained I had learnt to fly a glider in 3.5 days, but never flown in a helicopter.

24th May 1998
The school thought it might be a good idea that I attend a seminar to think about the options of becoming a commercial pilot. It was explained about costings, how long it takes, the various routes to achieving commercial success, preparing a business plan, preparing a cashflow forecast and how to get funding. After the seminar, we had a half our lesson in the aircraft, we flew around the local countryside, then came back and practiced hovering. It started with using the collective and the pedals, then I was given control of the cyclic, then the cyclic and pedals. This I seemed to handle quite well, and again, the instructor was impressed by how fast I seemed to be mastering the aircraft.

3rd June 1998
The day started off quite nice, but by mid morning the weather started closing in. My instructor had tried to contact me to cancel the lesson, but was unsuccesful. My lesson was due to be in the afternoon. When I did speak to my instructor, he told me the weather conditions were less than perfect, and that the aircraft would run out of its hours during my flight, and was to go in for a service. I was very disappointed as I was really looking forward to flying again.Never mind though, there are more flying days to come.

16th June 1998
The morning was very dull, in fact driving up to work, it was raining quite heavily. (I work only a couple of miles from the airfield). I kept thinking, 'I hope the weather clears up, I don't want to lose any more days.' By lunchtime, the weather had really cleared up, and by mid afternoon, the sun was out and getting quite warm again.
I turned up at the airfield just after 5pm, but the helicopter was out. It arrived back about 5:45, where we did a hot swap with the current pilot. It was off to do more hover practice. We asked for permission to go to the North-West practice area. Once there, I was using collective and pedals again.This time, we were just pointing into wind, and trying to keep the machine hovering at a stable height, whilst pointing in the same direction. We then moved onto rotating the machine through 360 degrees, once I had done 180, the machine seemed to race around the rest. Once I got used to this effect, I was able to control the aircraft better once I had got past the 180.We then pointed with the wind. The machine was a lot more difficult to control, but I soon got the hang of it.
After this practicing, I was again given the cyclic, and was just trying to hover. It was more awkward than last time. There was a slight wind, and the machine was being rotated to the right. My natural instinct was to move left on the cyclic to counteract. (this operation is actually done with the pedals, which the instructor was in control of.) We then went for fuel, then returned to hover practice. When the machine was being started, the instructor was explaining some of the controls and indicators. My next part of the lesson was to do hover taxiing, moving the aircraft slowly forward, and sideways if needed, then to hover over one of the taxiways.
As I am fairly new to flying, I was very tense on the controls. After a short while, my muscles started to ache, and as the machine was in hovering flight, the canopy was acting as a greenhouse, and it became very warm. Because of this combination, I was perspiring quite heavily. Even though I enjoy flying, it was a relief for the lesson to end. I have another lesson tomorrow.

17th June 1998
I am really starting to think there is a god, and he doesn't want me to get close to him. The day started off with decent weather, but through the day, the weather slowly started to get worse. Around two o'clock, it started raining quite heavily. At around three o'clock my instructor called to call off the lesson due to bad weather. This is the second call off due to bad weather, I keep thinking that i'll never become a pilot. I was really looking forward to flying today as well, as yesterday, my instructor said I should be hovering with all three controls by the end of my lesson today. I was also going to ask the instructor if I could prep the machine for take off, i.e learn to use all the knobs, switches, read the controls and lights. Oh well, I now have another lesson booked for Saturday afternoon. This happens to be an airday though, so I probably will not be doing any hovering.

20th June 1998
The day started off nice today, but there was the occasional shower. I arrived at the airport at about 4:30pm, but the helicopter was already out on a flight.When the pilot came back, we went to the office and had some refreshment before flying again. Whilst in the office, I was asked what I would like to do. I said more hover practice, plus i would like to start the machine and shut it down. I was given a checksheet so that I could follow through with operating the machine.
We went to a reasonably sheltered point on the airfield to do hover practice. I started off with the pedals and collective, and then was asked to follow through on the cyclic. The pilot then gradually relinquished conrol to me so I had all three controls. Yes!! I was now in full control of the helicopter in a hover. It was actually quite difficult trying to keep all controls coordinated. I think I was doing allright, but sometimes, I nearly ended in orbit. Coordinatng three controls together (whilst still in learning) is pretty difficult. I actually got myself into a few scrapes, but I was able to recover myself most of the time, there was once though that I nearly **** myself, and the instructor took control.
In all, it was actually a pleasurable lesson, even though it was incredibly stressful. I expect the stress levels to reduce as my skill of the machine develops.

26th June 1998
I was travelling to work this morning and I thought "Another typical Glastonbury weekend" i.e. windy and raining. In fact, at one stage, I could barely see 50 metres in front of me. I thought "not another cancellation". The weather was on and off all day and I was expecting that when I turned my mobile phone back on, I would get a message saying "sorry, cancelled due to bad weather".
As I did not get a message, I went to the school when my lesson was due to start. The aircraft was out so I thought that was a good sign.
I was to be tought by a new instructor. He did not know my current skill level, so I gave him a quick brief of what I covered in the past. He said "OK, we'll do more hovering, then I'll give you full control of the aircraft. It is actually a bit windy, but if you can cope with that, then you'll be quite proficient on a calm day."
I was actually doing quite well, certainly a lot better than my last attempt and especially as the conditions was quite windy. I actually felt a lot more relaxed this time around as well.
Tomorrow, we'll be trying some take off and landings, weather permitting.

27th June 1998
Not another Glastonbury day. The weather had been on and off all morning. In fact, when I left home, it had just stopped raining. I was now travelling up to the airfield and I went under a very heavy cloud, and the rain was being emptied all over the place. In fact, at one stage, the visibility was less than yesterday.
I got to the airfield, and the weather was a little overcast, with a break showing through. The wind was actually stronger than yesterday, but that did not put me off. I had to get some experience in some of the poorer weather conditions.
More hover practice, and then move onto landings. I was a little nervous of doing a landing, I was still having a little trouble staying in the same place on my hover. I knew that more work is needed in landing as I was coming close to ground, I have to keep the machine in the same place whilst lowering myself but looking forward, not to the ground.
I managed to touch down, but it was quite hard. I kept trying, but as soon as I got close, I would veer, so I ended up lifting the collective to get off the ground again. Once, I was doing incredibly well, keeping a stable position and lowering myself down. I was right down, within millimetres off the ground, and I lifted the collective. The instructor commented that I was so close, I responded "I know, I could hear the static sparks on the grass"
By now, the temperature was getting warm inside the machine, so to relax again, we went off to fly around and get some air into the machine. We had to come back and refuel, and whilst we were waiting at the pumps, the heavens opened. Oh, well, looks like another rained off lesson. By the time we had fuelled up, the sun was back out again. I had enough practice for one day, so we would head back to the office. The instructor lifted off, then once clear of the pumps, handed control back to me to fly around to our landing site, where I was to land the aircraft for the last time today.
More flying for me (weather permitting) on Wednesday.

1st July 1998
The weather was certainly better today. I arrived at the airport just after 5pm. It was a little windy, but not near as much as the past two flights.
Today, I was to do hovering, take off and landing, and hover taxiing. I was still having a little trouble landing. As I was coming to the ground, I kept feeling the cushion of air beneath us, and it kept causing me to drift, which in turn, I lifted the collective to get away from the ground again. The problem I was having was that I was nervous of hitting the ground too fast or hitting the ground on the rear of a skid, or on one of its corners. I did eventually start landing, but it was quite heavy. I think the landings are what will slow my progress.
For the take offs, the instructor said I needed to lift the collective, with a little left rudder and slightly back on the cyclic, and what to check for on the instrument panel and around the helicopter. I found that I needed to increase the collective quite a lot before actually getting a feeling of being light on the skids. As I was lifting the collective, I found that I was slowly increasing the rear pressure on the cyclic, so I readjusted before I actually lifted off. I thought I did a good lift off, but my instructor said I was slightly to far back on the cyclic. My following lift offs I think were much better.
The end of todays lesson came quickly, so I hover taxied back to our parking place. I hope the weather now holds out for the rest of my lessons. I have three more next week.

6th July 1998
It looks like I am giving weather reports all the way through this diary, however, weather does have to be considered when flying.
Today's weather was overcast most of the day, but the wind stayed calm. I arrived at the school about 5:15. He explained to me that the helicopter we would be flying in today is brand new, in fact, it has less than 20 hours on its clock, and that if it was to start raining, the lesson today would have to be missed, as the rain will damage the paint on the rotors (A bit like running in a new car).
Today was more landing and take off practice, and a bit more hover taxiing. My landings were a lot better than the other day -- initially, but they gradually got worse. In fact at one stage, I was spinning on the ground. I can see the landings are what will slow my progress right down. My takeoffs however are much better. My landings are actually starting to depress me a little. I think it is something that I will have to work on over a period of time, whilst still progressing with the rest of my course.
I now have some homework to do. Before I am allowed to go solo, I have to learn about air law, so I have purchased two books from the school. One is about air law and meteorology, the other is a Q&A book, about the whole course up to PPL.
I have more lessons on Wednesday and Friday this week.

8th July 1998
Not much actually happened today. The weather seemed OK most of the day, in fact it was quite bright at times. However, that was deceiving, as when I arrived at the airfield, the wind was fairly strong. The instructor said it was quite strong, and that I probably would not learn much today because of it. I decided to go ahead and fly.
I was doing some more landing and takeoff practice to start with, then move onto something else. I thought my landings were getting better, until I found out the instructor had taken control of the collective to ensure I was commited to landing. I practiced a few landings and takeoffs and then moved onto moving around in the hover.
For this, we moved over to the grass helipad, and I was asked to keep facing into the wind and go all the way around the pad whilst facing in the same direction. I think I was doing alright considering the weather. When it came to reversing the aircraft, I was finding the wind was lifting me like a kite.
The weather had cut short another lesson for me. I am having the worst luck with the British weather. I hope it is fine for Friday.

15th July 1998
I was supposed to be flying last Friday and Monday, but the wind was too high. The Sun was out and it appeared to be a beautiful day, both days, but the windsock on the airfield was blown horizontal, and it was whistling through the doors in the office.
The wind was still heavy today, but only about half as strong, so I could get on with some more flying. I was now to start preparing the aircraft, doing all the checks of the airframe, engine and controls. I did one side today, and i'll be doing the other side on my next flight. I am now to do this every time. This is actually taking quite a long time to do. It took nearly 3/4 hour to check the aircraft.
Once I was in the air, I was also to start using the radio. I requested permission to hover, and hover taxi over to heli north west, and permission was granted. we flew over to the helipad, then requested permission to use one of the runways. I was to do more takeoffs and landings. Once I was comfortable with that, I could progress onto the grass area and do takeoffs and landings here. The grass has a cushioning effect, so my landings seemed softer. When landing on grass, you need to be sure of landing correctly, as it is a lot easier to roll the aircraft.
I have been told the next time I come flying, I should be progressing onto transitions from hover to flight. About time as well I think, as I have been doing a lot of landing practice.
I should be flying on Friday, if the weather is OK, then I have a weeks rest.

27th July 1998
I have now had quite a long break from flying, and I can't wait to get back into it. Looking at the weather, it looks like the summer is finally starting to show face. To start off with, I did a couple off landings and take offs, then progressed onto transition to flight. It was first shown to me, then it was my turn. For a beginner, I don't think I did too badly. Whilst I was practicing this, my instructor would take control to quickly bring us back around again for me to practice again.
I was actually progressing quite fast again. The instructor expected me to take all lesson at last to master this, but as I quickly learnt how to do it, he moved me onto going around the circuit and coming in to land.
In all, it was actually a very pleasurable lesson, and it was nice to get away from the ground and see the scenery. All too soon, the lesson came to an end. Just in time actually as the wind really started to pick up. More flying on Wednesday.

29th July 1998
The wind was starting to pick up today. The exercises I would be doing were perfectly fine in the wind, in fact, the wind could help. Before I started, I was breifed on what I would be doing. I would be doing transitions to flight, circuits, and transition back to landing. I was shown a diagram of what I should be doing, then we went out to fly. I was to do the first couple of take offs, then come round the circuit to land. As I mastered the take offs, the instructor then did the take offs, to get me around quicker for the landings. The landings are a lot more work. You have the downwind checks to do, speed to watch, height to watch, and so much concentration, that it would be easy to miss something important like putting the carb heat back off again.
I was given a go all by myself i.e with no instructor input. I was doing all right, doing all the right things, just when I came to the helipad, I was still too high. I think the wind had something to do with it.

31st July 1998
The weather was slightly windy, and slightly damp. My exercise today was to be cruising, changing altitude, doing turns, and doing turns whilst changing altitude.
I checked the helicopter, and started it up, all unsupervised, then waited for my instructor. We listened to the ATIS for the weather and traffic information, then I radioed for clearance to depart. We were going to fly south, and into airspace that we could do some height manouvers. I lifted off the ground, and proceeded to transition for take off then turn left to travel south. Our cruising speed was about 70 knots, and we would slow down to 60 knots to do the manouvering.
Up ahead, we could see rain. It was actually light rain as we could see through it, and my instructor wanted me to experience flying into it. It wasn't actually too bad, we obviously had reduced visibility, but nothing else out of the ordinary.
We practiced more manouvers, including ascending and descending whilst turning, then were on our way back. I was to call approach at four miles. I actually made a mistake on the radio, not being able to remember everything I was to say. I then needed to call approach at two miles, and change to another frequency for tower.When we changed frequency, the radio was incredibly busy, and I had a job being able to cut in. We were granted permission to land, and I was to do the transition to land. I was actually coming in to land across the wind, so that when I got to hover height, the machine was actually twitching. I turned into wind and was to do more landing and take off practice, before putting the machine to bed.

5th August 1998
The weather was quite nice today. It was a little windy, but had little cloud to spoil the sunshine.
I was going to be practicing more circuits, and end today with an autorotation. I have found the transition to flight quite easy, but coming in to land, there is so much work to do and things to remember that this is quite hard. During the course of the lesson, the direction of the wind changed, and so we had to use a different runway. This naturally caused the circuit pattern to change, just to add more confusion.
We practiced a few more circuits, then it was on to progress onto an autorotation. I did not know what was about to come. My instructor said we'll go around another circuit, but not come in to land, we'll fly over the airfield at 500 ft. He radioed for clearance to do autorotation practice, then I took off. He spoke to me to let me know it was imminent, then he dropped the collective. I think my stomach is still over at the airfield. We appeared to drop like a stone, then at 30-40 feet above ground, he flared out to come for a nice hover. What a white knuckle ride, I recommend it to anyone. Next week, i've got to try one. I'm a bit nervous as I think about it.

For the past few weeks, I've been studying for my air law. I'm a bit nervous of this, especially as I only have three chances in my life to pass this exam. I'm probably worrying a bit too much about it though. I have to do this exam before I am allowed to go solo. On top of that, I have to study the manual for the helicopter, ready for an oral exam as well.

10th August 1998
I think todays weather is the best I've had this year. I feel that I am just about ready to sit my air law exam, but I can't sit it today. I'm now to do more autorotations, so we fly away from the airfield, and into unclassified airspace so that we can get the height. We climbed to about 1500 ft, and would flare out at 500 ft. My instructor gave me a warning "practice autorotation, go". At this point, I put my right hand on the door frame to suppress me jumping with surprise. It still caught me out, even though I knew it was coming. I was given the control back after the flare out to rise again to about 1500 ft. This time it was my turn, well almost. I was to follow the instuctor on the controls. He had explained the airspeed I needed to maintain, and how I keep the rotor spinning at around 100%. We flared out again at around 500 ft then I took the machine back up to around 1500 ft again. Now it was my turn, with the instructor following. Believe me, it is not something (yet) that I would have pleasure in doing. I practiced it once more, before heading back to the airport. At the airport, I asked for permission to come over at 500 ft to practice autorotation, almost down to the ground. I was to fly the aircraft down, then flare out and come down for a hover. End of lesson. I was to ask permission to hover taxi to the pumps so the helicopter could be refuelled.
I hope Wednesday is as nice a day as today.

12th August 1998
I was listening to radio one broadcasting from the roof this morning, and they kept saying that summer is over, and that showers were on the way. It seemed alright to me, however, at about 11 o'clock, it did start raining. I was beginning to believe the radio. It actually cleared up by the afternoon, but remained fairly windy.
I was to do more circuits today, and a couple of autorotations from 500 ft down to the airfield. The instructor said I must have had something else on my mind, because I was not up to my usual standard. I thought I was doing quite well until he said that, I was remembering just about everything I should do. My reply however was that there is just so much information to take in, and getting the time for it all is almost impossible. He said he understands, as he was also in that position at one time. Even though the course is putting an incredible stress on me, I think it is still worth it. I should be sitting my air law exam on Friday, so I must crack on and study.

14th August 1998
No flying today. It was a little windy, and alternative exercises meant we would have been in cloud. However, I am extremely happy. The reason for this is I sat my air law exam today, an exam that I have been worrying unduly about. I think that must have paid off actually, because it made me study that bit more.
I had 25 questions, each having 4 marks. There were 4 that I was not sure about, so I came back to them and made logical deductions to get the right answers, well almost.
I got 96%, which meant I got one wrong. The annoying thing about it though is that I knew what the answer was, but I could not work out if it was correct or not. I plumped not to go for it, because another answer seemed much closer to the truth. Oh well, I only got one wrong, which makes me very a very happy badger. Probably just as well actually, otherwise my head would have got so big, that I wouldn't fit into the aircraft anymore.
Now I have to concentrate on my Robinson R22 manual for an oral exam, then meteorology, but tonight, I think I will relax.
More flying on Monday.

17th August 1998
Normally, I have the last flight of the day. Today was different, slightly, in that I had the first, Last - only flight of the day. The weather was so poor all day, that when it came to my lesson, my instructor was ready to call it off. Luckily, the weather turned for the better, and I got a flight.
I was to do more emergency stuff today. I actually covered quite a lot. I had to respond to a Tach failure, then a governor failure, then low RPM (in the air, and on finals), Low rpm whilst hovering, and an engine out whislt hovering. Actually, the engine out was demonstrated to me, but the low RPM whilst hovering felt unnatural, especially dropping the collective slightly, before bringing the RPM back up, before bringing the collective back up. I hope it is something I will never have to do for real.
We went to fuel up, then hover from the pumps to the hanger. This was the first time I was to lift from the pumps. I was now very nervous, because I was close to obstacles on my left, with the wind coming from my right (trying to push me to the pumps). I was finding this quite hard. I then hover taxied to the hanger, and I was to land on the concrete area in front. I tried this last week, but had a tail wind, and after a long lesson, my arms were tiring, and I had to give the instructor control because I started veering off all over the place. Today, the weather was still windyand behind me and my arms were aching again. I was able to keep the machine a lot more stable than last week, but I was still getting worried about being close to the hanger. The machine was becoming twitchy, as my arms were really starting to hurt. I asked my instructor to take control to bring the machine to land.
All being well, more flying on Wednesday.

19th August 1998
Oh what a beautiful day I thought to myself this morning. The wind was calm, hardly a cloud in site. I thought to myself, all that will undoubtably change by the time my lesson comes.
The wind had picked up, but not too much. It was too fast to do my engine failure in hover, so I did turning on the spot, and flying sideways and backwards. The wind was making me work though. The turning on the spot exercise was quite hard work, especially with that wind. I was eventually able to do it, but nt without trying. As you go round, you need to move the cyclic towards the wind, so the cyclic is in effect going the opposite direction to the way you turn. I eventually got the hang of it, though it was quite tough.
The travelling left, right and backwards though was pretty straightforward (no pun intended).
I had another go at landing the machine on the concrete in front of the hanger again. Again, it was with a tail wind and I was finding it difficult. My instructor took it off me again and landed. I was determined that this would not beat me, so I lifted off, moved sideways, then practiced it. My first landing was a bit hard, my second was smoother. That tail wind gave me a lot of hard work.
More flying on Friday.

24th August 1998
Friday was off due to high winds. I am not getting the best of the British weather at all. Today started off fine, but by about 11 o'clock, the sky turned a dark grey, and started raining. Luckily by my lesson, all this had blown away, and left a nice calm lightly clouded sky. In fact the wind was so calm, I commented about the windsock being straight down, joking about downdrafts. However, when I was ready to fly, the wind had picked quite up quite a lot.
Today, I was going to be practicing more circuits, and do an engine off in a hover, and at the end of my lesson, a demonstration of tail rotor failure.
My circuits today were on a different runway again, so I had to learn a third circuit.These weren't too bad I think, I kept forgetting somethings though, like I would forget the freda check, the carb heat control, T's & P's in the climb out, just the little things. My last circuit, which I remembered everything, I was too high for my initial landing spot. I was about to go around, but my instuctor told me aim for a new position. I then hover taxied back to the helipad where I should have landed.
I was now to do an engine off in hover. My instructor demonstrated one first, then I was to follow through on the controls. Then it was my turn to look after the controls whilst my instructor followed me through.The job sounds easier in theory than in practice, but I think I was able to pick it up quite well by the end of the lesson.
I then had a demo of a tail rotor failure. My instructor said just treat it almost like an engine off. Obviously we can't have a real failure during training, but we can almost simulate it. The reaction is to do the same as an engine off practice.
At the end of my lesson, I requested clearance to hover taxi back to the hanger, where I actually made a landing on the concrete at the front, the first time.
All being well, more flying on Wednesday.

26th August 1998
It was quite a calm day today. It was quite a low cloud base, but that wouldn't affect the exercise I was to do today.
My exercise today was to practice out of ground effect (OGE) hover. It was demonstrated to me first, then it was my go. I did quite well, and thought it was pretty straightforward. However, when I came back down again, I was about 12 metres from my starting point. The next time I did it, it was a lot better, I was only a couple of metres from my starting point. I am now at the point of going solo, but I need a check ride with a QFI, who is currently on honeymoon. Besides that, the school won't let me do solo before 20 hours, and as of end of lesson today I am at 19.2.
I then was to start on some of the more advanced exercises. I was to land on a pillar box, but not until I had been shown. This was a little more difficult, because I had to ensure both skids were completely over the top before I touched down. Landings are not my strongest part of flying, and this caused me some difficulty. I was however able to do it. I was then taken into a confined area, with trees around the front and sides of the machine, and a hill behind us. It was quite tight, and a bit unnerving, because one false input could cause serious problems for the machine.
At the end of the lesson was a demonstration of a sliding landing, and a sliding take off, then I hover taxied back to the hanger, and landed just in front.
My next lesson is a week away, as the instructor wants a long weekend, with it being a bank holiday on Monday.

2nd September 1998
It was quite foggy when I left home this morning, but by the time I came past the airfield, the sky was clear,except for sporadic cloud which had quite a high base and there was no wind. By the time of my lesson though, the cloud had come right down, and even started raining. There was still zero wind, so I was to do more practice for my first hover solo.
I am at the point of going solo, but as I mentioned before, my QFI is unavailable to sign me off for solo.
Today, I did takeoff and landing practice, turn on the spot, engine fail in hover, and hovering. I then progressed onto some of the advanced stuff like last week, where I was to land on the two pillboxes. I also got introduced to figure of eight, affectionately known as dipsy-do. This actually looks quite easy, but I had fun practicing it. I will be able to do it better with more practice. At the end of my lesson, I was doing more turning on the spot, but with the tail over the spot. This was easier said than done, but for a first time, I don't think I did too badly.
I am now at 20.3 hours, and ready to go solo. I have another lesson before my QFI gets back to send me solo next week. I can't wait.

4th September 1998
Another foggy day today, moreso than yesterday. By the time I got to the airfield, the sun was shining, but as I looked on the runway, I saw the first hundred yards, then completely white. It was almost surreal. I was expecting it to rain this afternoon, the weather report said it would, but it held off.
When I got to my lesson, the cloudbase was at about 3000ft, and completely overcast. The wind was about medium strength, so I was going flying. Today I would be covering vortex ring. I half expected this to be like the autorotation where your stomach was left behind. We were to practice this from about 2500 ft so that we had plenty of height in case something went wrong.
the conditions of getting into vortex ring are: less than 30 knots airspeed, a rate of descent in excess of 300 ft/min, and power on. We slowed down our airspeed to below 30, and the aircraft started to shake. Our rate of descent increased, until we were about 500ft/min. It was actually surprising, in that at this height, the feeling of losing height was not present, unlike autorotation.
It was then my go, I was to do it twice more. It actually felt like stalling an aeroplane, with the juddering, and the rate of descent. After this practice, we returned back to airport, and on the way back, I was to practice more autorotations. I am getting used to the feeling of leaving my stomach behind, and started to enjoy these. The first autorotaion, we practiced from 2000 ft, and the subsequent ones, we did from 1000 ft. I think I did better this time, where I was more in control of the machine. At about 4 miles from the airport, I radioed approach, and again at 2 miles. I was to come in for landing on one of the runways, and was to do a sight picture approach onto the runway numbers. I was doing quite well, but my instructor said I should be approaching the circle at the start of the runway, which I couldn't even see. I think I made a good landing, which I was just over what I was aiming for.
I can't wait until next week, when the qfi gets back, so that I can do my solo hover.

7th September 1998
Another poor rotten day. It started off wet, but the sun came out. However, despite the sun, no flying today due to high winds. Hopefully now, I will get my solo on Wednesday.
I did an oral test today on the Robinson R22 Beta II Helicopter. Some schools practice this, some don't. I still have to do the oral test as well for my GFT. After a bad test last Wednesday, today I passed with flying colours (or should that be helicopters). If the weather on Wednesday is still poor, I may have to do some more of the advanced work before I get my solo.

11th September 1998
Yeehaa!!, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes.
I've done it. I got my first hover solo. I am writing this on 12th September, and have still got an incredible smile and such a high about doing it. I am now so happy to have got my solo.
I have been waiting all week for this. The weather has been really poor all week. Whilst I was at work earlier, I looked outside and thought "today's the day". The afternoon turned incredibly miserable, the sky went dark, the heavens opened. It put me on a downer. The weather was going to call it off again.
By the time of my lesson, the air was damp, but no rain, a high cloud base, and no wind. My nervousness was starting to begin as I started getting the butterflies in my stomach. All I had to do now was prove it to my QFI.
I had taken my camera to record the occasion. I will put a photo up once the film has been developed. I obviously passed my check flight, because he allowed me to go up. I had a total flood of a mixture of emotions. It was incredible. Anyone that has soloed will tell you this.
The actual event, I hovered for a few minutes on the spot. This included a perfect takeoff and landing. My instructor returned and said to now hover around the helipad area. This was an irregular shape, but I could take it in my stride. On my second time around, I did a minor fluff, but quickly recovered.
I owe my instructors a drink. My Instructor said that is one of the best first hover solos he has seen. I bet he says that to all his students.
It is such a buzz. Now I know I am well on my way to achieving my dream.

Look mum, I'm flying, nothing underneath me. Yeehaa!! Click here or on the photo for more pictures of this solo

14th September 1998
Today, I was practicing my circuits. I would have been doing more hover solo, but the wind was too heavy. We did about five circuits, the first two I went around as I felt I was too high. My problem now was worrying about getting into vortex ring now that I have had experience of it. The third circuit I think I did alright, butwas having trouble keeping my speed constant. I think some of the problem was the wind. My fourth and fifth circuit, my instructor wanted me to use visual references so he covered up my airspeed indicator after we had transitioned away.
This had a pronounced effect, in that my approach was now much better.
I think the circuits are much harder to do in a helicopter as they are in a glider. I find the transition fairly straightforward, and following the pattern. It is the approach that I am nervous of. I know I can do it, but now knowing about vortex ring, and concentrating on hitting the spot is becoming increasingly hard work. My instructor made the comment that he is making me work hard at this, and commenting on every small error, just to improve my awareness and make me confident for my circuit solo.
I hope the weather is better on Wednesday, my circuits should be just about perfect. Who knows, I may even get my circuit solo as well.

17th September 1998
Wo, more solo today. The wind was slightly more than before, and was making me work hard. I got 0.6 hours today, taking my solo time to 0.9.
I did some takeoff and landings, spot turns, hovering, hover taxiing, and I loved it. I was being put to work harder than before because of the wind. At one point, I was being blown about as there was a Hughes flying around me. The weather otherwise though was beeeaaauuutiful.
I have just had the above picture developed, and I've scanned it in for all to see. A copy of this picture is now destined for my computer desktop at work. I will be posting more pictures of the event when I have had time to scan them in.

18th September 1998
Quite windy today. Too much for another solo. Today though, as it is windy, I'll practice some more of the advance stuff. Todays lesson was precision transitions. This is about controlling the height and speed close to the ground rather than transitioning to flight.
My first transition almost took me into orbit, I hadn't appreciated how much less collective I needed do to the lift effect at forward speed. I picked this up quite quickly though, then was doing very low level circuits. This I really enjoyed, the feeling of speed as I am quite close to the ground, doing fairly tight turns, and spooking the rooks. I was sorry when I had to stop.
Towards the end of the lesson, I was going to practice more circuits, ready for my circuit solo. I did so much better than last time. At the start of my last circuit, I felt I was too high, In fact, about half way, I still felt I was too high, and considered going around. I travelled a little further, and knew I could land correctly, so I took the decision to land. This has to be one of my best approaches I've done, apart from being too high at the start.
Shouldn't be too long now before I get my circuit solo.

21st September 1998
Nice still air today. Studying my meteorology, that is what you can get with a high pressure area (I think). What else the high pressure brought with it was very hazy conditions. According to the report, visibility was in excess of 10KM, but when we got up in the air, it got quite difficult to see, especially facing the sun.
Today, I would be doing the final preparation for my circuit solo. Before I go, I have to do an autorotation from 600ft, whilst also doing a 180degree turn into wind. I was briefed on what we would be doing, then we went ahead and did it. My instructor showed me one first, then I did them. I did two, one to the left and one to the right. I actually found them pretty straightforward, though I still get the left behind stomach at the start.
After this, I would have been practicing more circuits and possibly even doing my circuit solo. I think the visual conditions though were too poor, so my instructor asked me to drop him off at the hanger, then I would go and do a hover solo on the other side of the airfield. I must say though that the excitement of the hover solo is wearing off now. I can't wait until my circuit solo, which all being well, should be on Wednesday.

23rd September 1998
Yeehaa!!
I've just done my first circuit solo, and I lived to tell the tale.
I lifted off, and asked for permission to circuit left. I transitioned, reach my 45 knots, then launched into circuit. I was about 100ft, and the machine started twitching, so did my sphi**ter, I thought, sh*t, what have I done. It was the difference in weight that caused me the problem. I had to think to myself "calm down, stop trying to compensate, let the machine find its own natural balance." and so it did.
I quickly reached my height without having the weight, so I had to level off sooner. Oh I am loving this. I nearly forgot my freda checks. I turned onto finals, and took control of my speed. My instructor said before I went up "if you are unsure, go around again." However, I did not need to. I think my coming in to land this time was spot on, probably the best approach I've done.
I am now again well on my way.

25th September 1998
I have just had my first totally solo lesson today. I was hoping for circuit solo, but the visibility conditions were poor. Todays wind started about 7 knots, but increased to about 12 knots whilst I was flying. It was actually quite refreshing just being on my own the while time. It now means that I have an entry in my log book that doesn't have my instructor as captain on the line. I feel that now I am flying with the best of them. Not much to report today, I took off from the hanger, did a few spot turns, a few takeoff and landings, and went around the helipad a few times, and returned to the hanger. I think doing circuits may have added some excitement, but the haze was just too much.
Here's hoping for better weather next week.

28th September 1998
My Second solo lesson today. I am now on solo circuits from starting up the helicopter to shutting it down again.
The weather today started off really dull, in fact for most of the day I thought that I won't even get a flight, never mind a solo. However, the weather got better, and by about 3pm, the sun was shining, even though there was plenty of haze.
My instructor at first was undecided at what to let me do, as the wind seemed fairly fast. I had to do a full pre-flight of the helicopter, and whilst I was doing this, the wind totally dropped.
I asked for permission to cross to the heli area, and did a bit of hover practice. I then asked for permission to circuit. I checked my Ts&Ps and checked behind, then I transitioned. My transition was a lot better than my first solo circuit transition, but could I land? 'Fraid not. I ended up doing two go arounds because I felt I was too high. I even thought to myself on the second go around that I am never going to get down again. The third time though I did come in to land, and I thought that was beautiful. I transitioned again though this one was a bit wobbly, and was able to land first time.
Altogether though, I felt I was more confident in myself and the machine. I have now done just over three hours solo, which is just above 10% of my total time in the air.

30th September 1998
Poor weather this morning, but by this evening, it had cleared up beautifully. This is due to the low pressure coming in from the south.
I would be doing advanced autorotations and steep turns today. My instructor explained them to me, and also mentioned that I probably would not be able to see any difference in distance travelled. We departed from the airfield and travelled south out of the zone so that we could get some decent height.
I am now getting used to autorotations, and was able to keep the aircraft flying mostly correctly. My next lesson I will be doing a 360 degree autorotation, weather being well.
On our way back to the airport, I was to do some 360 degree steep turns. I think I handled this quite well. The machine is becoming easier to control as I get more used to it. The problem I was having was the turbulence. On our way back, we were encountering mild turbulence, but not being used to it, we were getting thrown around all over the place. This was putting me off the task in hand. The natural reaction is to fight the turbulence, but as there was not a lot I could do about it anyway, I just went with the flow. I was being thrown into so many different situations which was making me work hard. My instructor even pulled the rotor tachs circuit breakers, just to throw me off the ball.
It was a tough lesson coming back, but we got back on the ground in one piece.

2nd October 1998
It has been dull all day, completely overcast. There was a decent level of cloud though and quite good visibility, so we were going flying. We had clearance to the south, so we took off and flew south out of the zone so that we could get some height.
I would be practicing the rest of my advanced autorotations, which were constant attitude and 360 degrees. I did the constant attitude one first and slowed to around 35 knots for the descent. At the end of the auto, we climbed off again, and then onto the practice 360 degree autos. The constant attitude one seemed OK, and the descent appeared almost vertical.
My first 360 was to the right, and the second one to the left. The one to the left felt uneasy. The attitude of the aircraft appeared to be in more of a dive than the right hand one. Because there was so much to do, my mind was lapsing slightly, and I was not concentrating on the RPM of the rotor as much as I should have done.
On our way back, we had a couple more autos, this time to get me used to forced landings, even though we did not land. One of the autos was to a very narrow strip of land, If it was for real, I'm sure I'd have fone into the hedge.
I also took my Met exam today. This was getting me down, as it is such a hard subject. I am glad to say that I passed. I didn't get the mark I would have liked, but at least it is not an exam I have to do again.

5th October 1998
The weather was poor to start with today, but picked up by this evening.
Today I was to do forced landings. I was briefed beforehand about looking out for suitable places to land, mayday procedures and engine shutoff procedures.
We departed south and out of the zone. The forced landings were not too bad an exercise. The only thing though that I remembered from the briefing was suitable landing. The mayday and engine off procedures went completely out of the window. It is something though that I will remember next time though. On the whole, I did not do too badly, I was mis-estimating the glide ratio and expected to land sooner than I actually would have done. This would come with practice anyway.

7th October 1998
It got quite foggy on my way to work this morning. The rest of the day was murky and damp, in fact during mid afternoon the sky went really dark.
The cloud had lifted by this evening so out we went again. Today I was to be doing quick stops. I was briefed and shown beforehand about them, then we went out to practice.
First, I was to go through my normal slow stops from a fast speed. These went quite well, so a quick stop was demonstrated to me. It was now my turn.
Whoops, I nearly went into orbit. As I was doing the transition and to do the quick stop, I pulled back on the cyclic, and lifted the collective, when I should have put it down. My second quick stop though was almost textbook. It was near perfect, and my instructor said that all my others had to follow like that. From here, they did not get any better, though some were worse. I then moved onto something that I would be doing in later lessons to have a break form uick stops. These were limited power takoffs and sliding landings. I was giving a max manifold pressure of 20" and told to lift off. I struggled with this as I was dropped in at the deep end. I couldn't even get the aircraft to move. My instructor then demonstrated one to me, then I had a go. This time, I did get the machine moving, but to keep out of the rough grass, I was given more manifold pressure. I then was to do a slide on landing, after it had been demoed. My landing was actually quite good for a first attempt. I kept it quite straight and slowed down at about the correct rate.
Afterwards, I was to do three more good quick stops, before putting the helicopter away.

12th October 1998
What a nice day today for mid October. The evening was reasonably calm, about 10kt wind, a nice high cloud base and good visibility. My instructor was out on a flight when I arrived, so it didn't leave me much time before darkness came in.
I was to go solo again. It was a while since I have done this, and it was great to get into the machine and go for a ride on my own. I got permission to go over to heli north east where I did a few hover manouvers, including takeoff and landing, spot turn, taxiing, then asked for clearance to go into circuit. I transitioned, pretty good I thought, and went into circuit. My speed was correct all the way around, I did my Ts & Ps, my freda checks, and came in to land. This wasn't my worst approach, but neither was it my best. I felt my airspeed was too slow, and I forgot to put the carb heat back in. I got the machine back down in one piece, but that was all that mattered.
I was going to transition for take off again, but I heard the police helicopter on the radio wanting to come to the other helipad. I waited for him, but once he arrived, I decided I did not have enough fuel in case I had to do a go around, so I asked for permission to cross the runway back to the hanger.

17th October 1998
This was the part of the course I was dreading. I couldn't understand how you could possibly know where you were going, even looking at the map. On the road, you have road signs, but in the air at 2000 ft, you obviously can't see these.
I should have been flying today, but the wind was incredibly strong. On the ground, it was forecast between 15-20 knots, but at 2000, it was 40kt. I was not to go flying. However, It did not stop the ground school work. We planned a trip, and calculated all the headings, groundspeed, and timings. I started to think that this was easy. I still think that, let's see what it is like in the air, when we eventually get there.

18th October 1998
What a beautiful day today, Such a contrast from yesterday, virtually no wind, and only about 10 kt at 2000 ft.
I replanned the trip using the new wind direction and velocity. The wind change took 10 planned minutes off the journey, it was quite a difference. I preflighted the machine, then started up. We took off to the west. It was a different machine to the one I normally fly, and I kept getting the callsign mixed up.
After about 8 minutes, my instructor asked "Where are we?". My first mistake, (apart from the callsigns), I hadn't kept track. It took me a short while to realise where I was, based on the time and my heading, I realised we were coming to a village, which was exactly halfway along the first leg of my route. I thought to myself I'd better keep better track. I actually did quite well, I managed to fly the whole route without instructor intervention. I did have a problem though keeping to my planned altitude of 2000 feet, this was because of trying to do too many jobs at once. I will obviously build this experience over time.
I don't actually believe that I made the airport again. Next navex should take me into a military air traffic zone which could be fun.

21st October 1998
This morning was quite poor. High wind, a little rain, not really the weather to fly in. I called the school to see if the flying was on and mentioned the weather. They called me back about lunchtime and said the flight was on, and they also gave me the wind and velocity so that I could calculate the journey times and vectors.
I left work early, and we left the airfield at about 3:30pm. I got our heading and went off. We had to navigate around some of the obstacles, like the hills, then get back on track. My instructor asked if I was happy to do the radio calls en route, I said that he could do them on the way out, I would do them on the way back. I was having trouble keeping the machine straight and level, never mind navigating. The windspeed was about 25kt, much faster than I flew on Sunday, this was causing me problems just flying. I wanted to navigate more than I was actually doing, but the route I was flying was sparse of features to navigate to.
The radio calls were another matter altogether. My instructor set up the radio en route and did all the calls. There was just so much information coming from the control areas that I had trouble picking most of it up. I did however pick some of it up, but it was hard work.
It was even harder coming back. One of the MATZs we came through on the way down, we had to vector around. Not knowing the area, then being put off my track caused me problems trying to find myself again, meanwhile trying to keep my speed and altitude stable. We also had a race against time. The wind was against us, which was making our journey longer. We had to have the aircraft back on the ground by 6:33pm latest (being sunset + 30 minutes). We actually made it with about 8 minutes to spare.
I feel I did not get anything from the lesson apart from hearing the radio traffic whilst flying through the zones. I learnt that it is so easy to get lost, and that the calculated speed is quite important to get the machine back on the ground in legal conditions.

26th October 1998
I have got a week off work, first time in more than 6 months. As the nights are drawing in, it means that all my evening flights (after 5pm) are cancelled. I can now only fly at weekends, or whilst I am off work. I was supposed to have flown yesterday, the the weather was poor, so I rescheduled for today. It is such a lovely day.
We got the aircraft out, and move it over to the pumps for fuel. My instructor said I will most doubt be going solo as the weather was nice. I preflighted the aircraft, then went to sort out the paperwork. It then started raining, so we waited inside for a while, as we could see the rain would not last.
When the rain stopped, I went solo. The runway had changed from one circuit I could not remember a lot about, to another circuit I knew quite well. I did quite well today, I did 5 circuits with only one go around (my fourth circuit). I was actually going to stop on the fourth circuit, but I ended up going around, which took me beyond the time I wanted to do today.
I decided I was ready to do my paper based navigation exam today. I had a practice paper first, and all seemed well, so I decided to go for the proper paper. I had another high scoring round again. I got one question wrong, the last one. Now I need to prepare for my human performance and limitations.

22nd November 1998
I have not flown for nearly a month. I have been getting withdrawal symptoms, shaking body, nervous twitches, sleepless nights. Well not quite, but I thought I would have trouble getting back into the pilots seat after such a long absence.
The day was quite nice. Calm weather at ground level, but the wind speeding up a bit at 2000 feet. Today, I would be doing a navigation exercise, my route would take me into South Wales, Down to the Severn Bridge, then back to the airfield. I was doing fairly well. I was keeping my speed constant, and my altitude fairly constant. The wind was causing some problems for me, and I was constantly heading about 10 degrees out. Eventually, I did get my bearing, and I was about a mile off track. I soon picked up, and I was looking for an airfield which was my waypoint. That was a tough call. It is not easy trying to find a grass strip in the middle of loads of fields. I spent quite a while looking for it before my instructor pointed it out. I then went onto my new heading. This was a lot easier to follow, as I was flying almost into wind. I got to my waypoint and moved onto my new heading. I had sight of something I believed to be a point along the route. I didn't realise that there were two almost identical points, and I went for the wrong one. My instructor let me get almost all the way to the wrong point before letting me know. I got to my next waypoint, then turned onto my new heading. I had to make a detour a couple of times, first time because of a bird sanctuary, second time because of flying over a densely populated area. I wasn't sure about my approach to the airfield because the wind was behind us. I wanted to come onto the airfield heading into wind, which is eventually what I did.

I had a second flight today. The first time I have done it with intention. It was only about 35 minutes, and I was doing a solo circuit. This happened in the late afternoon, so the runway had changed from 22 to the lit runway, 09. I had planned on doing the circuit for 22, especially as the wind favoured this direction. I got clearance to go to Heli south west, which was when I was told the active runway. Everything now went to pot. I had not prepared for this. I got over to heli south west, then put the helicopter down until I gathered my senses, and realised what I had to do. I called for permission to cross the active to heli north west. I then requested clearance to lift into circuit. I only wanted to do one circuit, especially as I had an almost perpendicular cross wind component. Once I was airborne, it didn't take long to realise the pattern. I followed the pattern, and came back in for landing. I got my approach, but the wind was generating too much lift for me, and I could not get down. I made a go-around decision and went off again. I came back, and the same was happening again, even though I made a lower approach. I did not want a go around this time. I decided to change my landing spot from heli north west to heli north east. I was actually still a little too high for this as well, so I went around the pad to get into the wind, then made a normal landing. I put the helicopter back on the ground, until I got myself together, then went back to the hanger. I was on the ground just five minutes before sunset + 30. I am glad I didn't do the go around again, I could have been in very serious trouble if I had.

I did my Human performance and limitations exam today. Another exam bites the dust.

5th December 1998
A very cold start to the day. This was probably the result of the clear blue sky. I arrived at the airport at 11am, the weather was beautiful for flying in. One of the instructors was out flying in a McDonnell Douglas 500, my instructor was in the office, and he greeted me with what I would be doing today. My task for today would be slope landings, and possibly my navigation solo.
The phone went in the office, it was the other instructor. He had to put the MD500 down in a field because a engine chip light came on, and he wanted my instructor to go out and take a mechanic with him to check this other machine over so that it could come back to base.
Meanwhile, a freelance instructor came into the office to introduce himself. He was visiting the airfield with a client, and he was talking to us, whilst his client (flying an Agusta 109) went around the airfiled doing circuit solos. He had been flying on the oil rigs for Bristows, and is also a fixed wing pilot, flying 737's for EasyJet, but is a qualified instructor for the 109's (lucky sod).
By the time my instructor came back, the weather was starting to close in. The cloud came in, and snowstorms were on the way to us. I thought all my flying would be off. We didn't actually get the snow, but it actually disappeared quite quickly. It then started raining. Eventually, it all cleared up, and I could go flying. I wasn't to get my navigation solo though, the wind was a little too high, the visibility wasn't too good, and we were getting too late in the day for the solo.
I was to be doing slope landings. We went to the south west side of the airfield where there is some good slopes. My first was to slope land facing up the slope. My instructor showed me first, then I did it. It didn't seem too bad. It was an awkward feeling, because of the attitude of the aircraft. I then did right skid up the slope. It took me a time to land, but taking off produced a challenge. This was because the slope was giving me a false horizon. I quickly realised and did good takeoffs and landings. I then did left skid up. The left skid on an R22 sits lower than the right skid, so the effect is to drop further down when landing. This time though, I could see further ahead and had a better horizon reference.
The face up slope landings seem much more gentler than sideways slope landings.
I was then to do a confined area. My instructor said to move in as far as I dare, He then asked me to hold my position for 30 seconds. after the 30 seconds, he said, you have done very well at that, now hold it for another 30. After that, I had to hold it for another 30. This was starting to cause me stress on my muscles, because one wrong move, I could have ended up trimming the bark off the trees, and the emergency services trimming me off the wreckage. After this, I went back to the slope landings to do one of each, then went back to the hanger.
I'm a bit upset that I didn't get my navigation solo, but there will be another time. My next lesson is on the 19th, so if the weather is good, then I will probably do it then.

3rd January 1999
A happy new year to my readers.
I should have been flying yesterday, but the weather was too poor. It was windy, and plenty of rain. It started off like that today, but the wind calmed down towards the afternoon.
It was good to get back into the pilots seat again after such a long time away from the machine. Because I have not been flying for a while, I have had to re aquaint myself. My first take off was very poor, the wind got me as soon as I lifted, and it spun me. It really caught me off guard.
Today I would be doing limited power manouvers, i.e running takeoffs and landings, cushion creep take off and zero speed landings. I was hoping for my solo navex, but the weather is being very unkind to me.
My instructor demonstrated the running takeoff and landings. I then had to do them. They are quite awkward to get used to, as skids were not really designed like rolling undercarraige. The tendency on take off is to bring the cyclic back to try to get into the air, but it actually slows you down. On landing, when you come to the ground, you want to also bring the cyclic back, like flaring. It does take some getting used to.
The cushion creep is only slightly easier. The tendency is to pitch the nose forward to gain the speed like a normal transition, but you forget that you have no extra power to lift you up as you move forward. What you should do is to creep slowly, then as your speed increases, you get translational lift. This lift can be converted into speed if you keep the aircraft close to the ground, until you get enough forward airspeed to actually lift.
The zero speed landing is quite awkward to do. The idea is to strike the ground at zero airspeed (which is usually also the max power available to you) so that you stop on the ground within a couple of feet to which you touched. It sounds easy, and when you get used to it, I imagine it would be easy. I didn't do too badly. In fact, I think I did quite well considering I have been away for a month.
I hope to do my solo navex this week, but I have to go through some autorotations again as I have been away so long.

4th January 1999
Oh my gawd, I had a very pressure lesson today. I needed to do some of my safety drills as I have been out of the air for a while. I was also doing some of the out of wind exercises. As I was the first flight of the day, I had to do an A check, (well it gets me into practice) then book out.
I did the out of wind stuff which consisted of hovering into wind, turn left 90 degrees, hover, then land, turn left 90, hover and land (tailwind), turn 90 degrees again, hover and land, then again back into wind. I had to repeat this going the other way around as well.
I was then shown some of the more advanced takeoffs, i.e towering takeoff and 40 knot takeoff. Actually I did them with my instructor talking me through them. As I had taken off, we might as well do some of the landing exercises. I did a slide on landing, then did an auto from 500 feet with power recovery, then we asked for permission to auto onto the airfield from 2500 feet. We climbed to 2500 and I was to do a 360 degree turn to the right. I was a bit rusty at this, and wasn't keeping my speed and rotor rpm in touch. I was then to do it again. This time, it was much better. I was also a lot closer to my aiming point. Both these autos were to a power recovery, but the second was into hover for landing.
It is all starting to come back to me now. I have to start getting more solo time from now to build up for my actual license.

14th January 1999
With my luck with the British weather, I thought I would end up having another day called off. The forecast for today would be fairly high winds, so my nav solo would get called off.
I had a briefing last week about restricted areas, and we were ready to fly, however, just as I was about to get into the helicopter, the cloudbase dropped and the heavens opened. Today, I would be doing that exercise.
My school has a local contact whos land they can use. (Obviously, we can't land, but we can use the area). On the way, we came across two low flying Tornadoes. These were very fast aircraft, and the closest I have flown to military jets.
My instructor demonstrated what we were going to do, then I had to do it. I was to do a right hand circuit at about 500 feet above ground level with a speed of about 45-50 Kts. During this, I was looking at the 5 s' (Size, Shape, Surround, Surface, Slope), entry route, exit route and emergency landing areas. The downwind checks were next as the ground seemed OK. The first part was a power check. Then FREDAT. Some of them didn't apply really, i.e. radio (we were on private land away from a control area) altimeter (because we didn't know the elevation of the land), but despite that, I still did them. I had to decide a commital height, and I reached this on the approach. I thought I was still too high, but I believed that I could still make it, so I commited to continue. I came to the hover just about perfectly, which was not easy with the current wind conditions.
I turned the helicopter around to go back up the field to do my take off. My instructor said "go into that line of trees in the corner. The trees basically were in the form of a cave, and I had to hover taxi into the opening. With the wind conditions, I was not too happy about doing this, as there was not much clearance on the blades. I was happy when the instructor said I could come out. The problem I now had was that there was not enough room to turn to look behind, and branches were overhead so I could not climb very high.
I reversed enough so that I could spin the tail round into a clear area, although, as I was reversing, I got extremely close to the trees on my right. I really did not enjoy this experience at all, and was thankful I got out without any damage.
I then taxied to where I was to lift off from, then did a 40 knot attitude lift.
I was then taken to another area where I was to do everything for myself. This again was another succesful restricted area approach to hover. This area however had slopes upward on either side of my landing point, so I could not turn around to check behind. My instructor checked behind, so I was able to reverse. I did another 40 knot takeoff but I had to change direction as ahead were power lines. After this, I did a spot of low flying, (my instructor said I do this if the weather closes in). That was quite enjoyable, then it was back to the airfield.
In all, I enjoyed the day. It made me work hard, but it was enjoyable.

23rd May 1999
Whoohoo, it has now been 5 months since I last flew, and it feels great to get back into the seat.
I thought I would have quite a tough time. The wind was quite strong and I wanted to get around 2 hours flying in. I think all the training I did in the past (which was high winds) has helped. It didn't take me long to get used to the machine again, but I did have a problem trying to remember the acronyms, like FREDA, HASEL and the 5 s' (Size, Shape, Surround, Surface and I said Sh*t I can't remember the last one, just so happened that had an S in it as well. (Slope is the last)).
My first part of the lesson was getting used to the airfield again. I did hover taxy, precision transistions, quick stop, spot turns, side and backwards hover, circuits, 40 knot attitude, limited power, autorotations, tach fail, governor fail and low rotor RPM. (I think I mentioned everything). We then had to refuel, (coffee for us, and 100LL for the helicopter).
My second lesson, we went away from the airfield to do some of the airwork. This was forced landings, steep turns, vortex ring, and something else, but I can't remember what.
After such a long time away, I thought it would be tougher than it actually was. I now have my GFT booked for late June. I am very nervous of that, but my instructor believes I shouldn't have a problem.

29th May 1999
Yes, yes, yes.
What a beautiful day. As I arrived, I commented this to my instructor, and I said it is ideal to go solo. He said "Do you want to go solo?", so off I went, solo.
I did some hover stuff, like spot turns, sideways and backwards flight, then went into circuit. Oh dear, I thought, I haven't done this circuit before. I thought, I'll make it, and keep to it. When I spoke to my instructor later, he said the circuit was spot on.
I went around the circuit, and tried coming in for landing. Oh sh*t, i was forgetting something, because I wasn't getting down. I decided to do a go-around. I then did a circuit again, but whilst I was trying to come in, I was too fast. I thought to myself "I'm never going to get this down" so I went around again. As I went back up, I thought to myself, "What am I forgetting?".
This time, I remembered everything I needed to, and I think I made a beautiful circuit, terminating in a beautiful soft landing. I thought, "I've had enough excitement for a while, I'll go and refuel.
My instructor asked me if I think I did well. I was totally honest with him and said I was cr*pping myself. He asked if I would do it again, I said I want a good break first.
Later, I did a refresher on my navigation. He gave me a route, which I had to plan. I planned it and calculated it quite well, so we went out again.
Oh dear, I had written 22 down as the first direction, but I was turning to 22 on the DI. (22 on the DI is 220 degrees) I thought, this is wrong, and put us back on course. I got the rest of the route correct. After we landed, I refuelled then the heavens opened. We had quite a thunderstorm. Damn the weather, I would have got my navigation solo today as well if it wasn't for that.
Whilst the weather was poor, I did my Helicopter tech exam. Passed with flying colours. 100%.
If the weather is good next week, I will probably get my Nav solo, and even do a land away. I am now back on course to get my PPL.

5th June 1999
Oh yes, another beautiful day. I was hoping to get my full navigation solo today, but the weather closed in. However, I did get some solo experience away from the field.
My first flight involved a circuit solo. This time, I remembered most things, and made a good landing first time. I then went to refuel. 0.5 hours in my log book.
My second flight was to take me up to Tewkesbury and back. As I was starting the helicopter, it started to rain. Before I set off, I asked for advice as to what to do if I couldn't get back to the airfield. I hover taxied out to the helipad, then asked for clearance to depart to the north. The response was less than pleasing. My club had asked the tower that I return. Doh!!!
The weather brightened up, so I went out again. This time I got out of the airfield. Yes, Yes, Yes, Big Grin time. Almost better than sex. (the wife would kill me if I said it was better than sex so I am playing it safe, wink wink) I flew to Tewkesbury, right around Tewkesbury, then headed back. Made another reasonable landing first time. I think I was a little slow coming in, but the flying is quite different when you haven't got any weight in the left seat.
Next week, I hope to get my nav solo, and a cross country to Shobdon. I have my GFT booked for 3rd July. I hope all goes well.

12th June 1999
Sh*t, Sh*t, Sh*t, Sh*t, all with a capital I.
I did a solo navigation exercise today. The original route I had planned was skipped because of the haze, so I planned another shorter route.
I asked for permission to depart and was told to stick south of runway 27. I tried to do this, as my intended route would be 255, however, I forgot that this would take me over built up area, so I tried going around the area to stay south of the runway. Oh dear, now I had only just departed and already I was off track. I tried getting back on, but it would take me over built up area or I would end up crossing 27 again. I got into trouble early.
I was heading in the direction I had planned though I was parallel to where I should have been, but not sure how far away from my planned track. It took a while to realize where I was, and relate it to the map. I did eventually find myself, so I caried on flying to the point where my current route would turn left to get back onto my planned track.
Once I reached this point, I flew OK and followed my planned route (except where I had to avoid built up areas).
I have a GPS in the aircraft, but I tend not to use it. The map is a better tool as it is easier to relate to objects on the ground. On my way back, I had the GPS pointing to the airfield, and it said 2 miles, so I radioed for rejoin. As I got closer to the airfield, it said 3.5 miles. The GPS has now done that twice to me.
I was flying up the M5 and I was looking for the airport and I couldn't see it. At one point, I thought I have flown past it, but then I realised it was hidden behind a hill.
I made a good landing this time and first time. I even remembered to do the FREDA check.
Hopefully, I should get my full solo navigation next week. I may even get both my Shobdon trips in.

19th June 1999
I have had a depressing day. The weather to start off with was very hazy. I am really having the worst luck with the British weather, and it is starting to get me down. I can see my CAA AFI slipping through my fingers. Many more delays and I won't have a cat in hells chance of completing.
I got another Navex solo today, racked up another hour. I flew it beautifully. I was hoping for at least one of my cross country trips today. I had it all planned and phoned the remote airfield for PPR. The airfield license on Saturdays finishes at 17:30 so that was my dual out. That now means I have got a lot of work to do between now and my GFT. I may even have to put that off.
I had my RT oral test at Biggin Hill earlier this week and I am pleased to say I passed. I found it a very difficult test and did not enjoy it at all. At least that is another test out of the way.

25th June 1999
I am having the worst luck in the world. Absolutely nothing has gone my way since I started my flying. I am really getting depressed and almost to the point of saying to hell with it. I am beginning to lose the motivation because the weather always seems to stop me. At this rate, I won't even get close to getting my 200 hours P1 before the end of the year. It is very disheartening, especially when everyone around me can see that I am a natural at flying.
The weather was hazy, a very nice day apart from the haze. I got the weather from the remote airfield, again nice, apart from the haze. We thought the haze would lift by this afternoon, so we went out for some revision. I was to do confined areas. It was a while since I did them and I hadn't a clue. I tried a couple but they went to pot very early. My insructor then did one, he mentioned ingoing route, outcoming route, Size, Shape, Surround, Slope, Surface. I then realised what I was missing. By now though, we were due to return to the airfield, so we did some low level flying though the hills and between the trees (all on private land, a friend of the club).
For this afternoon, I got the weather for the remote airfield. Whilst I was on the phone to them, a signal came in forcasting thunderstorms for late afternoon. Another skipped flight.
Instead, I did limited power, and another confined area. My limited power takeoffs and landings were excellent. We departed the zone, and went to do a confined area. This was so much better than this morning. Remembering the 5s's helped.
Another downer to my day was that my GFT has been postponed to the 10th July.

3rd July 1999
Today has been a lot better than the past few weeks. I actually got my Dual and Solo cross country. I now have the required number of hours of everything to get my PPL(H).
I was told to arrive at the airfield as early as I could so that we could try and get both cross country's done. I got the weather from the tower, and started to plan the route. I got the Prior Permission Required and the weather at the destination. We prepared the helicopter then off we went. On the way, we practiced a few emergency procedures (probably to try and throw me off course). I had all the radio work to do, but I forgot the procedure for calling a remote airfield. I had to be "nudged" to get it right.
I managed to see the field from a few miles away, which surprised me. Airfields are not the easiest of features to spot. I called for joining instructions, then did everything just about right. I needed to land on the north side of the runway (I was approaching from the south) so had to cross the active. Naturally, I had to keep a good lookout. Nothing coming, I turned onto finals and did the radio call, and made a beautiful landing. The approach was so much different to what I was used to. It didn't seem quite as steep. After landing, I shut the machine down then went to pay my landing fees.
I started back up, and departed for my return journey. On the way back, I had some more emergency practices, plus I had to do a training fix on 121.5 Mhz. This was my first time on the emergency frequency, and I am happy to report no emergencies were in progress. The training fix confirmed our position and our heading to our destination.
Now it was my turn to do the trip on my own. Naturally, I was a bit nervous, but also excited at this being the last qualifying flight for me to get my PPL(H). I got the local weather and the destination weather, replanned the route then went for it.
The track is pretty uneventful, and not very many navigation features at all. I was now on my way into oblivion. I made it. I arrived where I should have, and not in bad time. I got my paperwork signed (to say I had done a solo land away) then departed. YEEHAA. I have done it. I am now able to do my test. I will actually be a PPL(H) soon. <BIG GRIN>. All I need to do now is to pass my test next week, then cheaper flying hours, here I come.

17th July 1999
Today is my GFT. I can't wait to have it completed so that I can get on with some proper flying.
Not much I can say really, it started off with the theory questions, and with all the preparation I had done, this shouldn't be a problem, though in practice, it is a bit harder.
I then checked over the aircraft. This was a R22 Beta, whereas I am used to flying R22 Beta 2s. Most things were the same, though the radio was different, there was no DI, (in its place was a VOR) and no governor off light. The max power chart was quite different as well.
I started the aircraft, then we started the test.
I won't say all the things that happened, as so many parts that I couldn't remember them all. I got caught out a few times, but the examiner did really like some aspects of my flying, like the limited power landings and take offs and the slope landings. I had a bad autorotation experience that I don't want to talk about, but other than that the test went OK.
I PASSED. Yyeess. Now with some proper flying. I've now just got to wait for the CAA to sort my license application out now.

As this is now the end of my training, this diary is now closed. any comments, suggestions, spelling mistakes etc. you are welcome to email me at david.colliver@drivingseat.com

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