Editing the blog a little...

All right, my training's going well and now I've managed to make this blog a bit nicer. I've changed the layout a bit and I'm going to make some slight changes as soon as I figure something out. I've also finally started adding pictures to my posts and I'm going to add more to all the old writings too when I find suitable ones :)

CPL classroom studies over!

Now I have sat through all the lessons included in the CPL theory course and ahead is a two-week break intended for self-studying before the examinations. They're supposed to be held on the 10th and 11th day of this month after which flying finally continues on monday the 15th. I'm very eager to get back on the saddle of a Cessna!

Today was our last school's theoretical exam in the morning and tomorrow I am going to Joensuu (some 450km away from Helsinki) to spend easter with my girlfirend and her parents. However, it seems my laptop is going with me since I have to do some question bank rehearsals there also. The commercial pilot theory course lasted 17 weeks, of which the two last ones mainly included exams and random lessons related to general things and the beginning of the next flight period.

I now have quite a good feeling about the ATPL theories. After all, we'll have the same books as material, some new subjects and stuff to learn but not too much, over twice the number of hours in classroom and the same question banks. In addition, now I know what to do differently when the ATPL theories start. ATPL's the real deal and I want to get good grades to put in my future CV.

Cloud flying theories at Kotka

Once upon a time my friend from Nummela airfield called and asked if I wanted to take part in a sailplane-related cloud flying theory course that would be held in the city of Kotka. I of course answered yes, since the subject is very interesting, and over 200 hours of CPL-theories surely can't be enough, can it?

Some material. I also got to rehearse some basic gliding theories in addition to new subjects.

The organising party of the course was the Karhula Aviation Club and our teacher was one of the core members of the club and maybe Finland's most diverse aviator guru, Jyrki Laukkanen. He has flight experience from basic wooden open-cockpit Harakka-gliders to Hornet fighter jets and everything in between including more than 170 types flown and from the thousands of total hours over 800 just flying inside clouds in a glider. Whoa!

So, as an addition to a glider pilot's licence, you can get a cloud flying rating, which enables you to fly legally in developing cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds in a glider. The idea is that, when normally you gain altitude rising below a cloud circling in thermals this rating enables you to continue that circling inside the cloud, where the thermal strenghtens and can be over twenty meters per second (yes, we don't use feets per minute in gliders here in Finland). Cloud flying is a very special and wonderful part of gliding being kind of like instrument flying... ...only without the instruments!

There's no artificial horizon and you are supposed to control the plane based on only five instruments, which are the airspeed indicator, altimeter, vertical speed indicator and a combined turn co-ordinator / slip indicator. In addition, since anti and de-icing is nonexistent, each of the instuments become gradually inoperative while flying inside a total void without any visual reference. Naturally, the philosophy of flying here is something totally different than say, in conventional instrument flying with airplanes that have engines. Very incredible and adventurous and totally legal!

So we headed to Kotka to complete the theory course. The theories included eight hours of classroom instruction and four subjects, which were glider instruments in cloud flying, meteorology, human performance and limitations in cloud flying and operational procedures. Alas, there were also four examinations which were not that easy. Many kinds of different aviators were present from 15-year old juniors to airline pilots.

In the free time we hanged out in our hotel at Kotka, went eating at Amarillo restaurant and spend the evening drinking a few pints of beer. In addition, the local young pilots introduced the facilities and gliders at Kymi airfield and we also got access to the wonderful museum situated at the field. Inside were old fighter jets, experimental aircraft and vintage gliders.

All in all a very memorable and nice trip and I sure learned something new! Gotta complete that flying part also. The theories are valid for five years so there's no hurry!

Flying with the Zephyr!

A very nice anticyclone has decided to rest and stay over Finland and for a long time now I have enjoyed beautiful early spring weathers. Every day there's a clear beautiful sky with cirrus clouds, and the weather is mild and very calm. So with a sports licence in my pocket why wait for the beginning of the flying period in my flight school?

So I've now been flying with the ultralights in my aviation club..

Mäntsälä Aviation Club's Atec 122 Zephyr, OH-U645 at Utti military airport. With this, you can almost land on the runway... ...sideways!

So I've been flying the Atec 122 Zephyr ultralight, which is a quite fast two-seater airplane with a low-wing configuration. This is the same type of plane I flew when training for my licence so it's quite familiar to me. I've logged about 70 to 80 hours with the Zephyr.

At Lahti-Vesivehmaa EFLA, this time flying the U635.

Since my last flight with this type was over three months ago, according to my clubs regulations I had to book a review flight with an instructor. So we took off and did some basic stuff like stalls and coordinated turns in the training area near Helsinki-Malmi after which I embarked on a solo flight circling the city of Helsinki. A few days after that I went cross-country flying for the first time this year. I planned a flight to Hyvinkää airfield and from there to Utti military airport and back to Malmi. I've also now flown again to Hyvinkää to train landings on a slippery runway.

My most recent flight was to Lahti-Vesivehmaa. There I came across a little incident when brakes on the left wheel of the main undergarriage decided to freeze and I had to call the maintenance people form our club to help since there was no suitable tools onboard the airplane. The Result: three hours of waiting in very cold and windy conditions at the airfield. Fortunately I came across some flight instructor of the local flight school and I got access to the airfields "tower" where there was warm.