Former Bristol Ground School student Richard Gale continues his training
Pre-flighting KH, a beautiful calm dewy autumnal morning.
As a gentle introduction back to hour building I thought I’d take the trusty PA38 Tomahawk ‘KH up for a local area navigation flight from Goodwood to Goodwood via a lap around the Isle of Wight. I planned the route via the following waypoints; Goodwood-Southsea-St.Catherines Point -The Needles -Cowes-Southsea -Goodwood, the route taking around 51 minutes with the forecasted winds.
Cruising over towards the Solent, Portsmouth -Hilsea and Copnor can be seen from the starboard wing as pictured .
Overhead my turning point at St Catherine’s Point, turning onto a heading towards the Needles.
The flight went well, the timings and headings made during planning matched the actual plog which is always satisfying. As well as aiming to fly to CPL standards in preparation for the CPL, the pre-flight planning of the route is just as important and I take time to fill out a plog as its good for practice and vital for a successful flight! I obtained a basic service from Solent Radar which again
was beneficial to practice those RT skills!
Needles 1’o clock!
