Jessica Watson - The Last Slog to Sydney

Well Jesse again came through the rotten weather of the last few days with flying colours. She's now somewhere off the eastern mouth of Bass Strait it appears from her website. Unfortunately the weather isn't going to be too kind. Here's this morning's MSL analysis chart from the BOM:

Those headwinds that Jessica has talked about in her blog will go around to a nice beam or broad reach for the next day or so but then the inevitable will happen - another front. I guess the only question is whether it forges straight through like the one that's currently east of Tasmania or whether it gets pushed away south by those two highs as they move across the country. Either way probably some more headwinds in 36 to 48 hours.

Jessica's support team is predicting that she won't be in Sydney until Saturday 15 May. That's a slow trip by any standards as she only has about 500 nm or less to go. Jessica sounded pretty laid back in her blog so she doesn't think it's a race either.

In fact I'd be guessing that she'll get a little frustrated over the next few days, jilling around at sea when she could be at home...

iPhone for Pilots - Pocket Weather

Yes I know that you can get the weather through NAIPS, but there are a few other things you can't get there - like the BOM weather radar. That's where Pocket Weather (AU) comes in. It's from Shifty Jelly and costs $2.49 or free for the lite version. Pay the money!

This is the main screen - a weekly forecast for the location of your choice. The "Locations" button at the top left takes you to a view that allows you to choose an existing location or to set up a new location from any of the sites that the BOM has data for. You can choose which sites you want the forecast, observations and radar from and then save the choice - it appears on the Locations page as a choice.

In the main page the little icon with a green "i" in it gives you a pop up with the detailed forecast for that day and if there are any warnings then a red icon with a "!" in it appears - clicking the icon again gives the details. The radar icon on the centre right gives access to the animated BOM weather radar that you chose in the Locations set up for this location.

Clicking the "Radars" button on this screen allows you to choose the range of the radar and if there is doppler wind radar at that site you can choose that as well.

Back on the Locations screen you also have buttons for National Radars that gives you access to a composite national radar, an animated synoptic chart and an animated satellite view. You also have a tides button that allows you to choose a location for which you want the tides - the view is a very nice tide graph that includes sunrise and sunset as well as tide height. Landing on the beach anyone?

I think Pocket Weather is the bees knees, there's lots more in there than I've discussed including a choice of four skins - shake the iPhone to change them. The thing for me is that it's a great situational awareness tool. Often when you are flying VFR you want to know things like "how fast is that crap moving in from the west?" or "what's behind this current belt of showers?". Pocket Weather is ideal for that sort of question. Have a look at it - you'll probably like it!

iPhone for Pilots - NAIPS for iPhone

This post will be one of several on this theme, and it's unashamedly focused on Aussie pilots. Others may find it useful but the applications I talk about will be Australian. There's plenty of info on US applications elsewhere.

The first application I want to talk about is of the "you can't leave home without it" variety. In fact I think that's literally true if you have an iPhone. It's called NAIPS and its written by Rowan Williamson. Search for it on the App Store.

This application gives you access to most of the functionality of NAIPS on your iPhone. The interface is nice and clean and the application is fast and simple to use.

This is the main screen for a location briefing. All of the elements from this screen will be familiar to people who use the web version of NAIPS - except for the button labelled "Common". This is one of the great things about the app - it remembers where you've been and you can just click and load past locations. In just the same way as you can with NAIPS you can type in a location (YMML for instance) or a forecast area (30, 21 whatever) in each cell. When the briefing comes up you can choose to save it. Again a really nice piece of functionality that allows you to quickly access often used briefings. You will need your own username and password for NAIPS. This is free and simple from Airservices Australia.

When you retrieve the saved briefing you have the option of clicking the update button to get a current version of the saved briefing. The application does support sideways viewing so you can get the full width and bigger text. (What do they call that sideways viewing on the iPhone?)

There's lots more including an alternates briefing. But simply do yourself a favour and go and spend the $7.99 AUD. It will be the best money you've ever spent.

Rowan is working on the capability to submit flightplans from NAIPS. That will be absolutely the icing on the cake!

Rowan's website.

Footnote: I see from visiting Rowan's site that the first part of the flightplan submission functionality should be available any day and that there's some exciting new stuff with charts coming.

The way a day should be!

Tuesday was a dodgy sort of day in Melbourne. As I headed for the airport at 0700 it was raining and looking generally crap. Check in was easy and Sherry - the captain on the flight - did a good job of getting us to Sydney, smoothly and on time.

During our descent we popped out of the cloud at around 8,800' and serendipitously just about over the little airstrip I was eventually heading for. That made me feel positive about our chances of flying. The ARFOR was for a trough to approach from the west with showers, rain, low cloud ahead of it. Maybe some TSRA.

When we got on the ground in Sydney it was raining and the vis progressively worsened. Maybe this wasn't going to work. The weather radar (search on the Apple App Store for Pocket Weather AU if you are in Aussie) showed a great band of rain across the Southern Highlands but it was clearing to the east and appeared to have nothing following it.

An hour later and we were at the Mittagong airstrip (YMIG). Its 06/24 1200 metres of sealed strip at an elevation around 1,840 feet with a row of hangars. It was a WWII training strip and is now run by the Berrima district aero club.

The surrounds are a little tricky - the strip is in a hollow with higher ground in several directions. The wind favoured 06 but with a left cross wind. Final approach to 06 has some high ground so you sort of follow the terrain down as you approach. I tended to aim well into the strip as there was a little curl over going on final with some sink.

I love flying the Storm Century 5XL - it's a wonderful aircraft, a LSA with a cruise in excess of 120 knots TAS. It handles so smoothly and responsively, a great roll rate and very light control forces.

First flight we headed off for some upper air work, stalls, steep turns and a general fly about. There was scattered cloud at about 5,000' so we stayed just under that and had a barrel of fun!!

Returning to the strip was a little different. Some mechanical turbulence, a little sink and some xwind. Nothing major but enough to make you fly the aircraft.

The next flight was in a way even more fun. My passenger just loved the aircraft, after we had been flying around for a bit we headed back and then he said "can we just keep doing this for a while longer?". A man after my own heart - there's nothing better than just flying around (except perhaps, as Rattie said, messing about it boats).

Finally however we had to pack it in and get into the car to head back to Sydney airport. I managed to change my flight so that I left almost as soon as we got to the airport. 80 minutes later I was back in Melbourne. So from YMML in the morning and back to YMML in the evening all within 12 hours with some great flying at Mittagong in the meantime.

Isn't that how every day is supposed to be?

Tailwheel Travails - Lesson Two

We've been put off a number of times by the rubbish weather - wind, rain, more wind.
It looked as though this was going to be another miss. The forecast was 18G32 with a front coming through from the west. When I first arrived it wasn't flyable - a nasty squall line from the NW and the wind just as forecast. We waited a while and there, miraculously was a clear spot.
I started up, taxied to the run-up bay and then down to the end of the runway. "You're taxiing pretty well" from the back seat. Well thanks for that, all of a sudden I feel like I can taxi this demon! Two things contribute to the sudden improvement: first I always look over the nose and don't let anything continue that I haven't specifically instigated and approved. Second I work on the basis that this aircraft will keep doing whatever it's doing and probably do more of it unless I stop it. So when I start a taxi turn I don't use much rudder and then I give it some counter rudder to keep things seemly. All of a sudden my taxiing appears half professional.
Lined up on the runway, open the throttle, tail up and we're airborne. The problem is that out of apparently nowhere there's a squall line obscuring the far end of the runway. We turn immediate left and by the time we are at 500 feet the strip has disappeared behind us. There'll be no circuits today and we may miss our lunch!! Away to the west we can see for miles but to the NW it is completely closed in with a big ugly squall line.
We climb and do a couple of practice forced landings. With the wind at 1,500' blowing about 35 knots all the action takes place right above the intended paddock. The Classic instills absolute confidence in these situations. This is proper flying, the best fun you can have sitting in an aircraft. You know when you are sitting in an aircraft and it is so responsive and predictable that you can set all thoughts of flying and deciding aside and just do it? You don't have to think, you don't have to second guess the aircraft you just execute the plan. That's what forced landings are like in the Classic - the thought is the deed and everything goes how you intended it to.
Meanwhile the squall line is getting thicker and heavier. We are in no danger - in fact we are in clear, smooth air, with the sun shining and able to see for miles to the west. We've got a handful of alternative places to roost - local strips, other airports - so we don't even feel anxious except that our lunch will be getting cold!
We decide to explore the flank and the back of the squall line just to see how thick it is. Wherever we go we stay away from the cloud and make sure our back door is firmly propped open. We wander around the back and side of the line, looking for a way forward. At one point it looks like we can run straight home, but as we proceed it becomes clear that the cloud and rain have completely blanked off the ground where we want to go. We roll around in a lazy turn and head for the sunshine again. Our tanks have plenty of fuel and the flying is such good fun anyway. There is no hurry, no anxiety...except that we hope someone has put our lunch in the oven!
As we loiter on the flank we see another hole appearing. We can get in but leave our back door wide open. We slow down and drift downwind staying in the clear area. A couple of turns to slow us down and then there ahead of us the hangars and airstrip. The downwind end of the strip is still wreathed in rain and cloud but it's clearing by the second. We join and set off downwind. As we do the last of the squall line moves away and we make a flapless approach. This strip is notorious for a bit of a curl over on final in this kind of wind. Apart from a couple of little gusts it's all pretty placid, into the flare, and as I touch down a crosswind gust gets under one wing. I counter with some aileron, a little bounce and we're down. I concentrate for the taxi and realise I can still do even that.
This has got to be the best flying I can remember for a long time. Pure flying for the sake of flying, in an aircraft that makes me grin widely just thinking about it.
The best bit: two plates of lunch, covered with foil sitting nicely in the oven keeping warm!! I'll be back for more - flying the Classic that is.
Part 1 of Tailwheel Travails and a brief review of the Classic.