First thing I do is pick up my iPad.. Hop on to aeroweather and check the TAFs in bed. Not looking too bad and outside seems a bit 50/50.
I spend the morning being quite pessimistic, but plan my flight just I case and check the NOTAMs.. Nothing to effect.
We drove to the airfield and I settle down before my examiner has even arrived. Make some weight and balance calculations and eat a bacon sandwich in the cafe. The weather is looking decent! Decent enough for me to overheat in the cafe's conservatory anyway!
I can't help myself but to check and check again my route, who I'm going to contact and where, what I'm going to say, how I'm going to prepare.. Starting to get a bit worried now..
He arrives and I give him an brief of the route over a cup of tea. He seems pretty relaxed but we can't go anywhere as G-TALA is being used by someone on a qualifying cross country at the moment.
G-LA arrives and I do the walk-around and fuel her up. We hop in and off we go, except for theres a problem.. my examiner's intercom doesnt work. We both agree it'll be fine and continue.First we complete the circuit work - a normal circuit, followed by an EFATO, followed by a flapless. Next, to Blithfield Reservoir as the first point on our nav down to Ludlow near Shobdon airfield. I tune in to Shawbury zone and receive a sterling service from the controller working us. The route goes well and we overfly Ludlow right on time.
Our next route was to Bala - with a diversion. Heading north we fly past the Long Mynd. I complete the rate one turn with foggles on and then I get my diversion. Welshpool O/H - Sleap O/H - again, another nonevent and it goes well, albeit a bit bumpy. We transited above the Shawbury/Ternhill CMATZ to begin some airwork over the Eccleshall area. This included steep turns, stalls, spiral dive and the infamous PFL (Precautionary Forced Landing). All goes well, though some of the steep turns were rusty but my PFL made up for it.
This concluded it and we made our way back to Tatenhill, gave our thanks to Shawbury for being cooperative and switch to Tatenhill on 124.075.
Interestingly, we were greeted on frequency by someone constantly saying on the radio "Tatenhill radio...Tatenhill radio..." several times. This seemed to be annoying all others on the radio and by this point, both me and my examiner were in tears of laughter as my CFI came over the radio "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" - that shut him up for a while.
I make a standard overhead join over the 26 threshold, descend on the deadside to downwind. Examiner: "If you can land without the landing gear falling off, you've passed." - a challenge I welcomed! I turn the little Cessna on to final, a bit high but nothing that couldn't be fixed by bringing full stage of flaps and slide slipping the aircraft down on to the numbers. The aircraft touches the ground and we slow for a backtrack quick before we make another aircraft go-around.
Vacate the runway, landing light off and nicely slow to stop. Shutdown checks before the Hobbs runs over.. Just about saved it.
"Did I pass?" Examiner: "Of course you did! There's still wheels!!" He steps out of the aircraft and that moment of sheer relief filled the whole of my body. What an experience, enough so that I even admit I shed a tear. This is what 4 years of training, fighting against closing airports, several schools and several instructors, on top of the great British weather has come to. This is the culmination of all the effort, worry, frustration and endless amounts of money spent on chasing this dream and now it's here.
I get out and walk with the examiner in to the office to fill out the next several hours of paperwork..
Wow, what a day. I'm currently writing this, slumped over in a chair in my living room and I am cream crackered! I still can't get over it.
Maybe I'll believe it when I wake up.
Until the next time,
Michael
