Blog – Solo Circuits 19/12/2021
I decided to do some practice in the circuit plus a bonus lap around Kapiti Island with some medium and steep turns thrown in.
A rather challenging day today as there was a strong gusty Northerly at 20 – 25kts.
Alpha Taxiway was out of service so I had to pick my spot to taxi via the runway for line up on 34. After a straight out climb I headed just north of Kapiti Island and commenced some medium and steep turns. These were tough to do nicely as the gusty winds plus some turbulence made for tricky conditions.
I then flew down the seaward side of the Island and had a great view of the cliffs and out to sea. At the southern end of the Island I tried some more medium and steep turns then headed back up the landward side of the Island.
I then spent some more time doing the basics: straight and level, and level turns.
Once that was completed it was time to head towards Pekapeka and head down the coast to join the circuit.
I haven’t done circuits for a while and the wind was getting stronger as time went on.
My first landing was ok but I got a wicked shimmy on the front wheel on landing. I raised the nose and then climbed back out to do another circuit.
Second time there was no repeat and the landing was on centreline and straight so was rather chuffed considering I was battered about from around 50ft.
Third landing I tried landing with just 20 degrees of flap. This time mother nature gave me a bit of a hiding and I bounced twice on the mains. Second bounce pushed me forward. There was no way I was going to let this develop into a porpoise so powered up fully and climbed to about 10 feet and got the airspeed up before getting a nice positive climb going so I could retract flaps in stages. Phew! Amazing how the training kicks in.
Once I was recovered and back in the circuit I decided that that was enough for the day and this one would be a full stop.
The last landing landing was very nice indeed even though the wind was really gusty at about 25kts. I fast taxied back down the runway and into the Aeroclub to shutdown.
Overall I was really happy with this flight. A good challenge and made me work hard to fly nice.
Happy days!
Aircraft: ZK-KAZ (Cessna 172SP Skyhawk)
Total Time: 1.0
Landings: 4
Go-arounds: 1
Visual Approaches: 5
Instrument Time: 0.0
Until next time….
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Blog – Solo Circuits 19/12/2021