Finally some air under our wings

It has been a long while since my last update, sorry for that! Since we're now finally back in the sky, I'm sure there will be more frequent updates from now on.

For most of the time since the last update, we have been studying theory. We had our final exams on the very last day of February in the following subjects: Aircraft general knowledge (AGK) about airframes, engines, electronics etc., Principles of flight (aerodynamics) about the physics that allow airplanes to fly, and Performance. Performance is practical and contains much useful knowledge including about how, for a particular airplane, the required runway length for start and landing changes with temperature, air pressure, runway condition (wet, snow covered etc.), loss of some particular systems and of course the amount of passengers and luggage.

I struggled a lot especially studying AGK which contained a very large amount of facts to be memorized. However in the end, probably because I focused very much on AGK, I just barely passed the performance school test. As usual, the Transportation bureau tests were easier than the school tests. Since I passed all tests in one day, I had ten very nice days of mid-term vacation during which I was in Malmö, Stockholm, Uppsala and mostly in Falun.

After the exams, last week, we finally started flying again. The first flight lesson was a repetition of basic maneuvering. With an instructor, I did some turning climbs and descents, sharp turns, stall, emergency landing procedure training and a few landings. Since my landing technique was a bit rusty, we continued practicing landings, both with and without engine power, on the next day. After that I could return to my original study plan, which meant that the next lesson was a navigation flight via Halmstad to Jönköping, by far the most distant place I've flown to. This time it was with an instructor and another student, so while my classmate did all the flying on the way to Jönköping, I was responsible for the return flight.

Finally, on Friday last week, we had our first flight simulator lesson. From now on for at least a few months time, we will have quite a few lessons in the school's flight simulator. It's a model of a two-engine Beechcraft airplane, but it doesn't move, and for the initial period it actually flies like the one-engine Cirrus SR20 we're used to fly. Anway, it's quite fun to use the simulator as well, mainly because the cockpit is more complex and it feels like you're flying a larger airplane.

Photos:

It's actually possible to do skiing even this far south in Sweden! One day at Vallåsen ski park with the class.

 

TFHS10, the students who entered my school in 2010, graduated in January – congratulations to them! All of them got contract jobs at Norwegian, I'm not jealous at all!

 

Halmstad from above on our way to Jönköping!

 

 

 

Landing at runway 01 at Jönköping airport. I can recommend the café's ham sandwiches (frallor)!

 

 

When me and a classmate went and practiced crosswind landings at Ängelholm Airport, we parked at the general aviation parking to switch places. Bet we were amazed when the Swedish "Air Force One" Gulfstream IV (regeringsplanet) was parked at the same place. It even departed during downwind approach of one of our touch & go landings, but we've no idea if any government official actually was riding it.

I recorded some of the landings. Unfortunately there's not so much speech, but I did record the radio communication during this approach for runway 11L at Ljungbyhed after we've finished our crosswind training.