SOLO BATH!!!

Here are some photos from our solo bath. The solo bath has been accepted as a tradition in the aviation world to celebrate new aviators for completing their first solo flight. Here in APFT, apa kurangnya... Hehe.. Enjoy!

 

NOT A GOOD WEEK FOR NAVEX

Well, this week is the worst week for flying ever. Plus, we haven't finished our NavEx yet, and my PPL Test is scheduled on the 27th this month. Weather was poor during the whole week. Haze made it impossible to fly. Despite the rain, the haze just keep coming. According to Malaysia's Met Agency, the haze came from Indonesia's island of Sumatera and Riau.

Visibility sometime plummeted to 400 feet. This morning was very bad. I can only see the Firefly, Air Asia, and MAS coming in for landing only when they're abeam the threshold (actually it was a nice view). You imagine an airliner just suddenly pop in front of your eyes when they're only about 5o feet above the runway. Here are some pictures for you to get a rough idea of how the weather was like this morning!

The sun can barely shine.

Cannot even see Runway 28's threshold.

This kind of visibility shouldn't be a problem to them since they're equipped with ILS or Instrument Landing System which guides the pilot horizontally as well as vertically to the runway or should I say, to the exact center line of the runway.

ILS localizer.

ILS antennae and approach lighting system.

However, for us with small aircraft (which is not IFR rated or Instrument Flight Rules rated) are not allowed to fly in such conditions since the condition requires instrument flying, whereas we only fly VFR or Visual Flight Rules. Such poor weather conditions are refered to as Instrument Meteorological Conditions or IMC. For pilots which are not IFR rated or who flies aircraft which are not IFR rated, we are only allowed to fly in good weather conditions or refered to as Visual Meteorological Conditions or VMC.

Hotspots in Indonesia causing the haze.

Well, now you get the idea how hard it is to fly. Most likely the haze will be staying for quite some time. A week of frustration is a normal thing...

SOLO DONE.. GH DONE.. NEXT,NAVEX....

Well, it's been a while since I've last updated this blog. Sorry for the waiting. I've lack of internet connection while at the Crew Residence and it was kind of hectic for the past few weeks.

Now, let's talk about flying. Well, everything went pretty smoothly after I've last updated my blog. Me as well as all of my batchmates have done our first solo flight. Not only that, we've done 4 solos after the  first one. Thus, we have earned our own APAC callsigns. We obtained it according to the solo sequence from the first one to do it to the last one. Here's the list!

• Goh Hui Shi (APAC 5051)
• Sarabjiet Hans Sohan Singh (APAC 5052)
• Alan Kok Wee Peng (APAC 5053)
• Jenson Choo Chien Ning (APAC 5054)
• Keegan Francis Khoo (APAC 5055)
• Avan Ng (APAC 5056)
• Nik Hazman Azizy Nik Adnan (APAC 5057)
• Khushdeep Singh Dhillon (APAC 5058)
• Jessica Lee Suk Tin (APAC 5059)
• Hasbullah Anthony Hasbi (APAC 5060)
• Mohamad Zafran Mohamad Azmi (APAC 5061)
• Joseph Bryan Ong (APAC 5062)

The first two numbers represent out batch number which is 50 and the second consecutive numbers represent the sequence starting from 51.

Alan (APAC 5053) after first solo. Eventhough the weather was quite bad, he managed to fly.

 My first solo aircraft was 9M-NRR. Well, surprisingly, I got the Piper Warrior II instead of the newest Warrior III. The Warrior II was the old model and 9M-NRR was the 80's model. Talk about classic... Instruments were classic and the interior was quite bad. However, the maneuverability was better than the Warrior III since it was a very seasoned aircraft and the controls were light.

Everything went well during my first solo,except I did it on my second attempt since my first attempt was canceled due to weather and it ended up as a solo taxi to the runway. Haha.. Well, the first solo was nothing much. It was only a 15 minute flight. I flew one circuit, which means one take-off and one landing. Alhamdulillah it all went well...

We've done our General Handling (GH) sorties and currently doing our Navigation Exercises (NavEx). NavEx is very fun indeed. I've flew to Dabong, Manek Urai, Pulau Perhentian and also Penarek. The highest I've flown on NavEx so far is 7000 feet with Captain Maniselvan (APAC 12) while en-route to Manek Urai and Kampung Kubur Datu. Pretty high for a single-engined, 160hp, unpressurized, naturally-aspirated, four-seater aircraft.

Me flying above the clouds en-route to Dabong. Thanks Zafran (APAC 5061) for the picture.

Diverting back to Tanah Merah due to low clouds in Manek Urai.

Alan (APAC 5053) recalculating EET's for diversion to Perhentian.

Abeam Kuala Besut en-route to Perhentian.

Nice view of Pulau Perhentian Besar.

Captain Jackie (APAC 20) overseeing Pulau Perhentian Kecil.

Cruising through the clouds.

Dabong town.

So far, everything is cruising smoothly. Alhamdulillah...

FERRARI OR LIGHT AIRCRAFT???

I was just wondering, if you have enough money to afford a supercar which costs RM1 million +, would you choose to buy a supercar or a light aircraft like a Piper or a Cessna which also costs the same??? Hurmmm... Soalan cepu mas tu.....
 

Cessna 206 Stationair

Cessna 206 Stationair interior (basic)

Piper Arrow

Piper Arrow interior (basic)

Ferrari F430

Ferrari F430 interior

4 SORTIES TILL FIRST SOLO!

Well, our flying progress has been very well so far. If all go according to plan, we'll be flying our first solo flight after for more sorties! We're currently doing our circuit exercises. Here's some info about circuit flying.

Circuits are divided into five legs:

• Upwind/Take off leg
• Crosswind leg
• Downwind leg
• Base leg
• Final leg

There are four types of circuit that we practice:

• Normal circuit
• Flapless circuit
• Glide circuit
• Low level circuit

Circuit legs

View from crosswind leg

View from downwind leg

BAD LUCK INDEED.......

Well, the first day of flying didn't go quite well for me. Funny things happen.. LOL.. Malu betul.. First sortie was the Area Familiarization or Famil. We were shown around the training area and we had our own personal map which was laminated. Well, the Piper had a small storm window at the PIC's side for ventilation. The suction through the window was very strong in flight, similar to that of in a car when you're driving.

Well, nak dijadikan ceritanya, waktu aku tengah kat pilot seat tu, tetiba map tu kena sedut keluar tingkap yang kecik tu. Haha... Lawak betul. I don't know how in the hell that happened, but it was VERY fast. Tapi benda tu jadi macam slow motion. Haha... Well, my instructor at that time was Captain Jackie (APAC 20). Terkejut beruk dia tengok. Haha.. Lepas tu sempat lagi dia buat lawak. "Well, let's turn around and look for your map. Maybe kita boleh land ambik kejap." Haha... Kalau ada orang jumpa training area map kat Bachok area coastal tu, sure aku punya lah tu.. Haha...

 Well, my second sortie on the day was Effect of Controls or EOC, also with Captain Jackie. That was when the second 'thing' happened on that day. Captain Jackie was flying the aircraft at the time and he was demonstrating the effects of power on the controls, and he was very focused on doing it. While I was observing his flying, suddenly a red warning light on the annunciator panel lit up. It shows "ALTERNATOR INOP" which means Alternator Inoperative. I was shocked with the warning and immediately told Captain Jackie who was unaware of it. He immediately assessed the situation and immediately do the alternator failure procedures. He notified ATC immediately and they gave us priority landing for straight in Runway 28 instead of the usual Runway 10.

Captain Jackie handling alternator failure

Note the red warning light on the annunciator panel

Well, luckily all went well. Apparently, it was no big deal for Captain Jackie. He said that it was the 4th time it happened to him. Well, alternator failure kat Piper benda biasa jadi je according to Captain Mani. So, better BEWARE!

Piper Warrior III

Here's some info about the Piper Warrior III that our batch is currently flying for our PPL and CPL Single Engine Stage. The aircraft is relatively new compared to the Diamond DA40D. APFT bought the aircraft somewhere in 2009. The difference between the new Warrior III and the old Warrior II is the cockpit layout. The Warrior III features new avionics including the Garmin GNS430 GPS. Unfortunately, the GPS database is outdated. Tak hairan pun.. LOL..

Well, other than that, it's almost the same as the Warrior II. Here's some technical data about it...

• Lycoming 320-D3G 160HP @ 2700RPM
• 50 US Gallon fuel tank (25 US Gallon/wing)
• 6 hours endurance
• Cruising speed - 95 knots
• 4 seater



Garmin GNS430 GPS

Piper Warrior III Cockpit

So far, all I can say is that the aircraft is very stable in turbulence compared to the DA40D. Some cadets complained that the DA40D is quite tricky to handle since constant adjustment is needed. Besides that, Piper has the advantage of simplicity compared to the DA40D. Since the Warrior III is a conventional training aircraft and doesn't rely heavily on electrical system, an alternator failure doesn't present any fatal hazard since it's engine will continue to run even when the battery is drained. The worst you can expect is electrical failure. The Diamond DA40D's engine on the other hand, will die out as soon as the battery is drained since it relies on the ECU. The design simplicity makes the Piper Warrior the most popular training aircraft.

Piper Warrior III Instruments

So, in the end, PIPER ROCKS! :D

FLYING AT LAST

Well, it's been a while since I've last updated this blog. Sorry... It was very hectic lately. Well, we're done with our PPL and JAA 1 exam already. The results are out already. Well, I'm very proud to say that my batch managed to pass both tests in one go. Now that we're done with ground school for a while, it's time to move on to FLYING PHASE! The moment that we've been waiting for...

Well, it was bitter sweet to hear that we'll be flying the Piper Warrior in Kota Bharu. I was glad that we've been directed to stay in Kota Bharu instead of being sent to Terengganu or Ipoh detachment. How ever, I was kind of sad in the beginning when they announced that we'll be flying Piper instead of Diamond. For me I would prefer the Diamond since it has full glass cockpit and a joystick instead of a yoke. The Diamond is also sexier compared to the Piper. However, after flying the Piper for a while, I've started to fall in love with the Piper and I've learned that Diamond is not practical for Ab-Initio Cadets like us. So, in the end, I LOVE PIPER.

Well, so far I've logged 0715 hours on the Piper in 3 weeks. I only have 5 sorties left until my first solo flight, insyaAllah...

HANGAR AT LAST...

It's pretty ironic when you're studying at an airport but never went close to the school's aircraft. So, the time has finally came. Thank God Captain Jaafar who taught Batch A50 was very understanding despite we most of my batchmates slept in his class. LOLOL... He finally brought us to the hangar. After collecting our pass at the airport security, he headed straight to the hangar; all were eager as beavers. The weather was perfect that morning despite the heavy showers for the past week. As soon as we arrived at the hangar, our seniors who were waiting for their sortie greeted us and took us to the planes. We'd split to several groups - some going to the Piper Warrior III and some headed to the Diamond DA40.



I headed straight to the Diamond since that's the plane that we're going to fly throughout our single engine course. After having a close-up view, I thought to myself, "Pewiiitttt... What a sexy aircraft." Yes, indeed it was sexy. The closer you look, the sexier it gets. I fell in love with the aircraft since the first time I saw it flew over my house since it was first introduced into APFT's fleet. My senior, Hong, who was also a Kelantanese, asked me to sit in the cockpit while he explained about the Garmin G1000 display.



What an awesome cockpit it was... After that, he brought me to the brand new Piper Seminole - a twin engine trainer. Unlike the Diamonds which had full glass cockpit, the Seminole had a semi-glass cockpit. Another difference between Diamonds and Pipers is the Diamonds use joysticks instead of yoke - so it's quite similar to the A320 we'll be flying soon. After that, we had some demo about the pre-flight checks that had to be done. Alan was asked to suck the stall warning sensor at the leading edge of the wings to check the stall warning. LOLOL...



Then we were explained about the 4 cylinder piston engine by Captain Jaafar. Only now we had a better view of what's what instead of just staring at the whiteboard in class - well, at least some of us are still looking at the whiteboard. Hahaha... Well, all in all, it was an awesome experience. The trip had made us more eager to fly... Unfortunately, we heard some news saying that we have to finish our Phase 1 of ground school first before we start flying. That means ground school for the next 3 months........... $#@!