Cross Country Tour in Charlie-Alpha

[rictus]

Beautiful images again and that soup around the Humber bridge looks horrible! ,....though normal

cheers,
Lewis

this volumetric fog in P3D really really impresses. It's nice to see some of these subtle improvements coming through - although the weather is starting to get tough to continue this tour! Might have to revert to taking the 'bus to Innsbruck until skiing season is over!!

[Lewis - A2A]

Yer it appears that the Starks where correct, winter is coming

cheers,
Lewis

[rictus]

Apologies for not updating the trip for a while, had to replace my graphics card and do a fresh install which I finally finished last night...

Haven't continued the tour yet, but as there was a tower exam on EGCC manchester last night I decided to fly in from Wolverhampton EGBO. Not part of the tour, but I thought I'd share it as part of a learning experience.

I consider myself reasonably au fait with VFR flying nowadays, so this was a timely reminder of some key points, and why flying is always a learning experience!

Had LON_C_CTR until I reached Stoke on Trent, then was handed to Radar. They asked me to remain outside controlled airspace, then called me back at a given time. I was then asked to enter controlled airspace via a different VRP to the one I had planned/expected. I then had to recalculate time and direction to reach the new VRP. I called overhead what I thought was the correct location only to be told by the radar controller that I was about 9nm south of the correct location! This caught me off guard, but no worries, continued to this spot. I was asked to hold there, circling for about 5-7 minutes waiting for further instruction. By now, the light is starting to decrease too. Finally I was asked to proceed further into the control zone and hold at another VRP. I couldn't quite locate an obvious landmark for this VRP so I turned on the GPS and held at what appeared to be the correct distance and bearing from the airfield. I reported overhead and holding, only to be told that once again I was not in the correct place again! I then realised why my assumptions were off. On the GPS and in my scenery the old Woodford Airport was still showing, with runway lights etc, while Skydemon Light which I was using for navigation marked it as disused. Having to fly below 2000ft it was hard to see much further away and I could not see Manchester itself until I realised what I was looking at. The controller then offered me directions to the airfield and the flight completed with a slightly bumpy tailwind landing on 05R.

Lessons/Experience learned:

1. I do feel confident flying VFR, but I am used to flying in and around Wycombe/Biggin Hill/Shoreham and Gloucester/Bristol/Kemble, all areas I know well. Manchester I was not so familiar with. I had originally planned to fly from Biggin to Shoreham that evening, but there was no ATC on (even at Gatwick which I would transit!) So I had changed last minute. I had checked the standard routing chart for EGCC and prepared the route on Skydemon Light, but I was not massively familiar with the Manchester area. This coupled with the request from ATC to use a different VRP to the one planned, plus the long time holding (over half an hour extra flight time to that planned), failing light and the fact Woodford Airfield still showed up on my GPS and on the scenery, really threw me. It was only when I zoomed out a bit on the GPS that I realised that I spotted Manchester and realised that the airfield was not the one I thought it was.
Thus rushing to prepare to fly for the benefit of ATC meant I wasn't as well prepped to fly in this new unknown area as I should have been.

2. I have to hand it to EGCC_APP yesterday evening. He had a massive workload of mixed traffic and handled it all really well, especially with me messing around on the edge of controlled airspace. The lessons here were - a) when offered a new routing by ATC, out of respect to cooperate with instructions I immediately agreed, then set about planning a course. As I was unfamiliar with the area, I should have called ATC back to explain this and request the original routing if possible. ATC are generally happy to help, and I shouldn't have been so quick to comply. Even if I did have to accept his routing, him knowing that I would find this trickier would have helped him be prepared to assist. b) I should have called up quicker on realising I was not in the right place and requested assistance.

3. Unexpected extension flight time and the lack of situational awareness does cause stress/fatigue You have to do a lot of extra thinking while still flying the aircraft, and as it was a little bumpy that night, I had to keep a tight rein on it. Plus a lot of orbiting which is tiring in itself. I felt that this time I coped better with the situation, but there were steps I could have taken to make it even simpler and thus safer. By the time I was heading for the airport to land I was somewhat strung out and this could have affected my safety. A reminder that rather than going with the flow, you need to be actively involved in what's happening.

4. Poor preparation... having planned a route (including MSA, wind, etc), checked weather at departure and destination for minima and setting the time back enough that it would be daylight long enough for the flight and checked the standard routing chart for EGCC, I felt that I was reasonably well-prepared. However the flight proved otherwise. I had not considered what unexpected events could happen, such as being asked to enter via a different route. Also, I found myself pulling up the ground chart for EGCC once I was already heading for right base. I should have had this up and ready in a browser tab on my iPad for quick reference before leaving the ground, and an expected exit planned. I could even have sorted this while orbiting, waiting for a slot, but didn't. I'm not sure I could have planned for Wooford showing up in the sim as an airfield, I wasn't expecting it because on Skydemon Light it's marked as disused. However, that's one to try and resolve. Hopefully there's a little proggy somewhere that will hunt down now-disused airfields in P3D/FSX and turn off their lights!
Because I was in the air longer than expected, I also began to lose daylight. Fortunately I landed in twilight at a well-lit airfield, but it was very close to losing visual conditions... If I had been flying for real, it would have been good to allow twice as long as expected before sunset just in case of delays.

5. Could I have diverted? With the re-routing, two holds over VRPs that I struggled to find while trying to get in to a busy international, should I have given up and diverted? This would have helped the radar controller, and allowed me to take control of the situation rather than pressing on...

So definitely some learning points for me last night - I hope these thoughts might help others think on and improve their airmanship

[Lewis - A2A]

Interesting reading and great post analysis with lessons learnt

cheers,
Lewis