IMC Practise C172SP G1000

It’s been a while since I have had any serious practise flying on instruments in real I.M.C. There have been the odd few minutes here and there, but insufficient to feel “up to speed”. I felt a refresher session was needed and due to the high cost of twin engine flying, decided to do a dual session in the Cessna 172SP. This is a glass cockpit equipped aircraft and is great to practise on, as the G1000 it uses is also fitted to the Twinstar I like to fly. So training on the cheaper aircraft makes sense, to practise the skills and procedures that can be used in the Cessna and Twinstar.


The weather on the day of the planned flight did not look good. Heavy rain and snow showers were forecast and a freezing level prediction of 3000 feet. The strong surface wind of recent days had gone now, although it was still blowing above 30 knots at 3000 feet in the vicinity of Blackpool. The flight I planned was to leave Barton tracking to the North, climbing initially to 1800 feet and intercepting the Pole Hill VOR 240 degree radial, and tracking to the beacon on a track of 060 degrees. With my instructor, Keith, in the right hand seat, we took off and arrived at Pole Hill as planned, level at just under 3000 feet.

I was flying on instruments and occasionally looked up to find us in cloud or between clouds. The outside air temperature was -1C,  lower than the forecast predicted. We were picking up a small amount of ice on the wing leading edges as we were in and out of the clouds. Keith kept a wary eye on the build up of the ice as I tracked to the North West using the GPS. The Cessna does not have any anti-ice or de-icing equipment. This was just standard instrument flying and I was getting plenty of practice. My heading and height control were mostly good, although on a couple of occasions I exceeded 100 feet divergence on altitude. I quickly corrected these errors and felt well in control of the flight.

We turned towards Blackpool and put the autopilot on while I briefed Keith on the approach I would use on arrival. I had chosen the most difficult aid to use, the NBD/DME approach to runway 28, following the published procedure with no radar assistance. This involves arriving over the Blackpool NDB at 3000 feet and positioning the aircraft to follow the procedure. As we were approaching from the East, we would be facing the wrong way to follow the approach plate instructions. To position the aircraft we were going to enter the holding pattern, going around it once, before carrying out the approach as published. It was not strictly necessary to go around the hold but was good practise.

To enter the hold I decided to do a parallel entry which involved flying parallel to the inbound track to the beacon though going the “wrong” way. Ninety seconds after passing the beacon, we completed a left turn to return to the NDB now heading in the correct direction. This sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. The hold is right hand and so we turned onto the outbound leg of 274 degrees and flew for a further ninety seconds before turning left to return to the NDB on a track of 094 degrees. From overhead the beacon we had to make good a track of 101 degrees and fly it until the D.M.E. (distance measuring equipment) reached 8 nautical miles, descending from 3000 to 2000 feet. The procedure then called for a left turn to track 056 degrees for one minute before turning to intercept the inbound course to the runway of 281 degrees.

The theory is pretty simple. Doing it is altogether more difficult. Having said that, all was going well until the turn inbound when the indicator in the cockpit started wandering all over the dial. The NDB is notoriously unreliable and prone to many errors and today it became totally unusable. However, Keith quickly gave me a heading to intercept the ILS as we abandoned the NBD approach and used the much more reliable VHF landing aid. This was only possible as Keith was my lookout and could see where we were. If this had been a real IFR approach we would have had to go around and start again.

The localiser came in along with the glide slope and we were now flying the I.L.S. Talk about hectic! This approach then went very well as I tracked all the way down to 200 feet with the indicators dead on where they should be. I was very pleased with that, as my decision height would normally be not below 500 feet. I looked up at 200 feet and there was the runway. No time to relax though, as I applied full power and climbed away on runway heading towards 2000 feet. ATC then cancelled the full missed approach procedure and allowed us to head off towards Barton, VFR.

The flight back was uneventful and we landed on runway 27R twenty minutes later. It was a good session of training and practice and one I hope to do again soon.

Diamond Twinstar NG at Gamston (Part 2)

Eight days after my first attempt to fly a Twinstar at Gamston, a second opportunity arose. I rebooked mine and Steve’s flights for Saturday November 26th, but also placed a booking on Friday the 18th. If the Friday had to be cancelled then I would still have the Saturday as a fall back, and if it went ahead, I would fly an extra sortie.

The weather was looking O.K. on the Thursday afternoon and I was expecting conditions to be fine for the flight the following day. Friday morning, I drove over to Gamston from the Manchester area, taking around ninety minutes to get there via the Woodhead Pass, the M1, the A57 and the A1. The airfield was clearly visible from the A1 along with aircraft and hangers.

I parked up and went into Gamston Flying School’s premises where I was met by Sharon, who offered me a drink and told me that Steve, my instructor, was flying but would be back soon. I have been very impressed with the way Sharon kept me informed on all aspects of my booking, returning calls and sending emails. Good customer service is very welcome. I declined a drink but walked down to The Apron and ordered a very nice breakfast of scrambled eggs on a muffin with smoked Salmon. It was very nice washed down with a coffee.

Just after 11am I met my instructor, Steve Ramsden, and felt right at home. Steve is one of those guys you feel you’ve known for ages: very relaxed and very professional. I went out to pre-flight G-PETS, a Diamond DA42NG Twinstar, and wait for Steve to join me. This aircraft is a re-engined DA42 with the more powerful Austro diesel engines. It does not have the Perspective G1000 or the latest integrated autopilot, but the new power plants give increased climb rates and cruise speeds on the old Thielert 1.7 or 2.0 litre engines.

We taxied to the hold for runway 21 and following a back track climbed away on runway heading. At full power the rate of climb was an impressive 2000ft per minute with the two of us onboard and 40 gallons of fuel. I levelled at 1800 feet to remain below the Doncaster Class D airspace which starts here at 2000 feet. Soon after I took the aircraft up to 3500 feet and did some gentle turns to get the feel for the DA42 once again. It had been three months since my last flight in a Twinstar, but it was very easy to slip back into the groove. Steep turns left and right followed which went well, followed by a power off stall. Again, there was no drama. Next Steve simulated an engine failure in the cruise and I went through the checks to his satisfaction. We then configured for a simulated engine failure after takeoff with the undercarriage down, full power selected and 85 kts on the dial. The yaw was easily contained and the vertical speed indicator showed a climb rate of over 500 feet per minute.

We were flying above a scattered layer of clouds, with tops around 2500 feet, when we decided to head back to Gamston for some circuits. I descended through the gaps and into a downwind right hand circuit for runway 21. A normal powered approach followed as we landed gently and I raised the flaps and again positioned downwind. Once again we landed without drama, so Steve asked me to fly a flapless approach, and, to make it more interesting, I was to land on the right hand side of the runway. This approach was flown at 95 kts on final and was straightforward. Steve kept raising the pressure; because next he wanted a single engine go around. The DA42 manual advises that a go around below 800 feet is not recommended, but Steve said do it from 300 feet. I wouldn’t fancy that in the Thielert DA42 but this NG took it in its stride. Happy with the go around, we positioned onto runway 14 for a crosswind landing to finish the training. That was fine too, although there wasn’t much of a crosswind really.

We taxied in and closed down the engines. My shirt was wet from the effort and concentration but I had enjoyed it all and been given a good workout.

The second booking I had for later in November had to be cancelled due to high winds. Still, it was good to fly a Twinstar once again after a long lay off and I hope the Seneca V will soon come on line so I can sample that too.

G-PETS in a Gamston Hanger