Post Solo Training - Late 2004

Well after my first solo, it was on to the exciting bit of training that all pilots love ... circuit bashing!
Looking back at my logbook, the next 13 flights after my solo were all in the circuit, basically just practising takeoff and landings with the odd engine failure after takeoff thrown in by the instructors. Each flight would consist of a few circuits with an instructor, then about 5 circuits solo to practise. Luckily Hastings aerodrome has left hand circuits for runway 01 and right hand circuits for runway 19, so I got to turn in different directions sometimes!

Finally after those 13 flights, I was allowed back out of the circuit to begin my Force Landing With Out Power (FLWOP) training.

The first of these flights was so overwhelming, there are so many checks and steps involved in a FLWOP, I thought I was never going to get the hang of it. On the first few attempts, you are given fair warning by the instructors that your engine is about to 'fail', but after a little while they stop warning and you'll find all sorts of strange things 'happening' to your aircraft.

During a FLWOP, basically you have to convert all your excess speed to additional height (not much in a tomahawk!), as more height = more time.
Then, you establish the best glide speed, pick a paddock that you want to land in, plan your approach to the landing area (pick your points), make a mayday call, brief your paniccing passengers, and then make a perfect glide approach and landing! Several times throughout all this you also try to get your engine going again (unless whatever the instructor made happen is hard to fix i.e. your prop has fallen off).
All this happens very quickly in a tomahawk, as they are really not very good at gliding.