The Flying Reporter often shares the mistakes he makes when flying. Can you spot what went wrong on this departure from Elstree?
About me: I'm a private pilot who shares flying adventures on YouTube. A feature of my channel is that I'm honest about my mistakes and share my shortcomings. I think there's some value to others in doing this, and it also allows me to be self-critical and become a better pilot.
Some common comments:
Why did I use flaps at all?
The runway is 651m, and has a 1.4% upslope.
On calculating the take off distance required on this day, bearing in mind my weight and the density altitude - and adding the CAA safety factor of x1.33 and accounting for the slope (x1.07) the take off distance without flap in nil-wind would have come to around 605-650m. (I don't have the actual day's figures to hand).
Did you start your take off roll from the taxiway?
Yes, this was another mistake. I thought this was a displaced threshold. My (really) bad.
Why didn't you use a checklist?
I follow paper checklists on the ground for pre-flight actions, vital checks prior to lining up etc. I was trained to use a memorised checklist for after take-off/top of climb checks. This might be because the airspace where I fly is busy, and mostly uncontrolled, and eyes need to be out of the cockpit. I got distracted during this departure with an unfamiliar and unusual visual departure route, in busy airspace. That's why this mistake occured.
Didn't you notice your airspeed was low?
I'd just levelled off in the climb, and was noticing a number of things, the most obvious issue was being unable to trim enough to stop the aircraft from climbing. The airspeed was only about 5-10 knots off normal cruise speed, so not overly unusual.
Did you overspeed the flaps?
No. My speed with the flaps down was 95 KIAS. The max speed for the flaps is 103 KIAS.
Why did you put in right aileron when the wind was from the left?
Good question. I can't remember. Force of habit (my home airport runway is 21, or maybe a windsock was telling me something different.
This should be reported to the authorities?
I don't believe this is a mandatory occurrence in my category of non-complex, non commercial flying according to the EASA regulations.
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