Flights since getting my license
Flight 71 24/06/06 in G-BSTO C152 EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
First flight as a PPL holder, it also happened to be the day I got my licence as well, my godparents were planning on coming down for the evening anyway and when my PPL arrived in the post, I decided that I would phone the airport to find out if the plane would be free, luckily it was so at about 6pm I went up to the airport and got ready to go flying, taking my godfather as the 1st passenger to up with me, we needed some fuel so I taxied us to the pumps, and had the aircraft filled to full, we then taxied for departure from the pumps, took off and headed down to looe in near perfect conditions, (it was a little hazy though and the sun was getting lower in the sky all the time) once we got to looe, I set heading for holsworthy, we got there about a min early, and then we carried on a bit to take some pictures of a house, then came back over the top of holsworthy and then flew back down to Plymouth, and landed quite nicely even though I could hardly see the runway on the approach because the sun was right in my face 
taxied back in and shut down, the flight was almost exactly an hour.
Flight 72 25/06/06 in G-BTSJ PA28 EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
This was the 1st of a few flights to get me familiar with the warrior (so I can take 3 passengers instead of just 1) I had my instructor with me to teach me all the things I wasn't sure on, after doing the preflight check which is similar to the Cessna but has some big differences, I put my dad in the back and then jumped in myself, the last person in was my instructor who then closed the door, started to do the pre start checks but got stuck a few times as everything was in a different place and there were extra's which you don't have to do in the Cessna, like changing fuel tanks etc, once I got the engine started we taxied to holding point C for rwy 13 and then did all the pre takeoff checks and then backtracked for takeoff rwy 13, very nice takeoff and then we turned right, flew over my house and then past the Tamar bridges and on to the SW coast, we then did some general handling starting with steep turns, then a few stalls, and then 
PFL, don't like pfl's very much 1st wasn't too good mainly because I found it harder to judge for some reason, so we did another which wasn't too bad, and then when climbing away I was given an engine failure after takeoff, which wasn't too bad, (nice field straight ahead 
) then we headed back to Plymouth, on the way back I looked out and saw another aircraft, (looked like another warrior) flying at similar altitude just out to our left very close 
he clearly was not in contact with Plymouth as we would have been told about him, so we advised Plymouth about the a/c and continued over Saltash and joined right base for rwy 13, the approach was . .. . .. interesting as I had to get used to putting flaps down with a lever instead of an electrical switch, and then the speed on approach seemed high to me but my instructor said it was fine, then during the flare the a/c floated for ages and then landed about a third of the way down the runway with a reasonable bump on the left gear, not too bad for a 1st go in a strange a/c, and it was completely unassisted, then taxied back in and parked quite nicely
Flight 73 16/7/06 in G-BSTO C152 EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
I took my Dad up in the Cessna and although he flew with me the last time in the warrior this was the first time I had taken him up on my own, we took off from runway 13 and then flew down towards Torcross, once we got there we flew around Kingsbridge and Salcombe for a little while and then followed the southeast coast back to burgh island, then rejoined the circuit left downwind for rwy 13 and then landed quite nicely,
well you can judge the landing for yourself because this flight was filmed from takeoff to engine shutdown 
Flight 74 19/7/06 in G-BTSJ PA28 EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
This was flight number 2 to become familiar with the warrior, I went up with my instructor and did 3 circuits, one normal, one flapless, and one glide, they all went pretty well so I then went and did
Flight 75 19/7/06 in G-BTSJ PA28 EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
I took the warrior up and did three solo circuits in it, all were just about ok, perhaps a little bump sometimes after holding off for too long, or not holding off enough, but the landings were not too bad and I�m now allowed to take the warrior up whenever I want to
Flight 76 22/9/06 in G-BTSJ PA28 EGHD to EGHD
after a very annoying day where I booked the Cessna out, I found that I had gone over the 35days which I have to fly in, so was not allowed to take the Cessna, or the warrior up until I had had a check flight with an instructor, so after waiting for the weather to turn nice again, I decided to take the warrior up for the check flight, so I could get a little more experience in it, my dad went in the back again and we went up and did 4 ordinary circuits, they were not too bad considering I haven't been for 2 months, bounced a few times, but that did not matter because, for the first time I was flying off runway 24 and so we needed to get the aircraft on the ground rather than trying to do it smoothly, and I was then signed off and allowed to fly the warrior again, however while waiting for the weather to improve, my two months ran out on the Cessna 152 so I have to do a check flight in that one as well 
, it seems a little crazy that I have over 60hrs in the Cessna, only about 5 in the warrior, but I�m allowed to fly the warrior and not the Cessna, (ah well hopefully after next Tuesday I will be current in both aircraft again 
)
Flight 77 26/9/06 in G-BSTO C152 EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
I went up in the Cessna to be able to fly that one as well, this time we didn't just do circuits, we had to go off to do some upper air work, so we took off and went down to the SE coast and then did a few stalls & steep turns, then we climbed to 4000ft above the clouds and cruised back towards Plymouth, we then flew overhead the airport and did a PFL onto the field (which turned out quite nicely ) good flight and I�m allowed to fly both aircraft again, (definitely make sure I don't go over the 35days again 
)
Flight 78 24/10/06 in G-BHZH C152 EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Only a few days before I would have had to go with an instructor again, there was a break in the weather and I managed to go up in the Cessna for a few circuits, I just did 3 and the landings on each were pretty good, didn't feel the 2nd one, the next flight will be in the PA28 (so I can keep that one current as well) and it will also be my first flight to get my night rating, so a late one 6PM - 8PM should be good!
Flight 79 03/11/06 in G-BHZH C152 EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
The third day of absolutely perfect flying conditions, and I couldn't resist going up for a flight, so I phoned up to see if the aircraft was free and it was so, I managed to get my mum up as well we took off and then flew down to the SE (like with my dad) got to Torcross and then followed the coast round back to Plymouth, I did an overhead join to rwy 13, and narrowly slotted in behind a solo student onto downwind, orbited at the end for separation, as he was still pretty close, then came into land quite smoothly.
My dad filmed the takeoff, missed the landing (because he was zoomed in to far) and the taxi back in which is below
Flight 80 19/12/06 in G-BSTO C152, from EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth) [Night Flight]
After about 2 months of not being able to go flying, due to me getting ill & then the weather playing up 
I managed to go up on my first ever night flight, it was very strange having to I�ve the aircraft a check over using a torch we got in, lit up the panel & taxied out to rwy 13, takeoff was ok, everything looked a little strange as, instead of the usual fields, there was black, with the odd patches of light for towns and the odd car headlight moving on its own in the middle of nowhere
we were doing circuits, & once I got to the point where I was going to turn downwind, I checked out the window to see the runway (like normal) and all I could see was just the lights of Plymouth, couldn't see the airport at all even though we were less than a mile from it, turned downwind, called the tower, then followed the circuit roughly as normal, but flying headings instead of vis ref points on the horizon, as we turned crosswind I still didn't see the runway until we were nearly level with it, & we were very high, I got it turned onto final and sidesliped a little bit to get down to a more reasonable height, & then did a steep approach to 13, which worked quite well until it came to actually landing, basically, didn't flare much at all 
and hit the ground reasonably hard, all wheels together, not enough to bounce the aircraft, but a bit of a bump, got the flaps up & then lifted off again,
The next circuit was not as bad as the first one, seemed to remember everything again (all the checks & how to fly ) the approach was a lot better, still went out to the right a bit far before seeing the runway, but it was ok & then the landing was a lot nicer than the 1st, next time around the landing was very good, (like the normal ones) wheels touching down gently on the next circuit, we did a landing with no landing light it was a little bump because it was hard to tell how high off the ground we were but not too bad as my instructor was guiding me a bit on that one, we then did another one, & did the landing completely myself this time & it was smooth, we than did a flapless approach which was a little strange as when we leveled out onto final we were way out to the right, but my instructor was not worried and told me to continue as normal I was surprised how it turned out, we actually ended up almost straight down the centre line without seeming to do much even though we were at quite an angle to the runway, that landing was very good (flapless always seem to be ) the next two circuits were normal ones and both were quite good, landed on the second one, & then taxied in through B and shut down. Very good flight but I was surprised that night flying was done almost completely on instruments rather than by what I�m used to, looking out the window, as I don�t have any kind of instrument rating, & still won�t even after actually getting the night rating
Flight 81 09/03/07 in G-BHZH C152, from EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
After not going flying for about 2 and a half months
I went up to do a check flight in the Cessna, took off from runway 31 and flew down to the SW, did a steep turn to the left, one to the right, then a PFL followed by an engine failure after takeoff (on the go around from PFL) climbed back up to 2500ft and did an overhead join onto runway 31, then a normal circuit followed by a flapless & then a glide, not too bad considering I hadn't flown in daylight for over 4 months!!
Flight 82 23/03/07 in G-BSTO, From EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my dad up again for a quick fly round the circuit, we did 2 touch and go's and then landed onto runway 13, I was planning to get at least 1 full circuit on film but unfortunately, I didn't check how much tape I had left, and it ran out just after takeoff, but I�ve put the video below anyway
Flight 83 08/04/07 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my Best friend Adam up, for his first ever flight, just a quick one down to Start point and back, & the landing was pretty good
Flight 84 03/05/07 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my friend Se�n up as an 18th birthday present, went down to the south west & then did a few steep turns & stalls with him.
Flight 85 04/06/07 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my friend Mike up for a very very quick flight, just up to Tavistock and back, we ended up having to orbit at Tavistock for about 5-10 mins waiting for another aircraft to takeoff before we could rejoin the circuit.
Flight 86 07/07/07 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my dad up for a quick flight down to looe and back.
Flight 87 08/08/07 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my dad up, again, for a few circuits because I hadn't done them for a while. Got one of them filmed :D
Flight 88 06/09/07 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Went up solo for the first time in a while and did a few circuits in a break in the weather.
Flight 89 07/10/07 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my neighbour up for a quick flight down to Torcross and back, the clouds stopped us actually getting down to Torcross, but they were quite impressive as we were up above/ weaving around, them at about 2500', had a 5 min scary moment on the way back where I thought the radio had gone out on me, but it came back on again & the landing was pretty good!
Flight 90 06/11/07 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Went up solo for two quick circuits, the sun was setting while I was up there, but it was low enough that it wasn't blinding, and was lighting up the clouds so nicely, I can�t explain what it looked like, it was one of those, 'you had to have been there' moments because even a camera wouldn�t be able to have shown it,
The air was dead calm so it was nice and smooth, & there was no other aircraft up, + they lit the runway up for me, so it was a really nice flight!
Flight 91 10/12/07 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Went up solo for four quick circuits, very nice, the first one was appalling... lol, second one was considerably better & by the third one I was flying them nice & tightly again, all the landings were pretty good, fourth one especially
Flight 92 07/04/08 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Went up for a check flight after not going for about 3� months! flew out to the west of Plymouth and then did a few different turns, 2 practiced forced landings and then came back into Plymouth for an overhead rejoin to runway 31, then did 4 circuits, where all the landings were not my best... although they could have been a lot worse!
Apart from the landings, the rest of my flying was pretty spot on which I didn't think was too bad after all that time!
Flight 93 27/10/08 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
In the gap between the last flight my SEP rating expired, the annoying thing was I had enough hours to have just had it signed off again, but as I missed the date it means I now have to have a revalidation test..
So I went up with my instructor after not flying for months, to do a session in the circuit to get me back flying, I did 6 of them.
Flight 94 21/11/08 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Another flight to get me back into the swing of flying. I went up with my instructor to to a slightly challenging nav ex, Newquay was still RAF StMawan at this point with its MATZ, so we did a route down to Perranporth airport, which cut directly through it so i'd have to be cleared through. It all went ok from what I remember, very low cloud but it was fine. We turned overhead at Perranporth (didn't land) and then went back to Plymouth.
Flight 95 27/04/09 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
After another gap in flying, this time a combo of not having any money & Uni work, I began re-developing the flying school's website. This was a flight with a bit of everything, PFL, steep turns etc & circuits.
Flight 96 10/06/09 G-BTSJ EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
I'd nearly finished the flying school's website, & for doing it I was given lots of nice discount on flying, so made it my mission to get my SEP back. Because there'd been yet another gap in flying, this flight was very similar to the last one - bit of everything, except I took a PA28 up rather than a Cessna.
Flight 97 19/06/09 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
I'd arranged with the flying school to get a photographer in to take some pics of the school & aircraft. G-BSTO had been doing circuits & couple of nice shots of it had been taken of it as it was climbing away, ZH was sat there doing nothing, so I took it up with an instructor for 2 circuits to get some practice in & so a similar shot could be taken of it. (The result of this is on the flying school's website, I am flying G-BHZH in it's picture on the 'our Aircraft' page, as is the one of it flying on this site, which was taken seconds after. )
Flight 98 21/06/09 G-BJCA EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Fathers day. I went up in a PA28 for a little navex with my instructor & took my dad & my Grandad who's in his 80's up with me! The route was Looe, Liskeard, Launceston, Plym
Flight 99 01/07/09 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
I went up with my instructor & did a full SEP exam mock, a simple route, with a bit of general handling & then 2 circuits.
Flight 100 04/07/09 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Worked out quite nicely that my real SEP revalidation was actually my 100th flight! It was almost identical to the mock. Perfect flight, so I passed!! & the examiner (who was also my 1st ever instructor!) told me I was a very good pilot & asked if i'm considering commercial flying, adding "we need more pilots like you in the sky"
Flight 101 25/07/09 G-BTSJ EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Having got my SEP back now, I took my best friend Adam, his brother & another friend up for a flight in the Warrior. It was quite a local flight out to the West. It was Adam's brother's first ever flight & he loved every second, we did a couple of steep turns & landed on runway 24. This (although I didn't know it at the time) was the last time i'd ever use 24/06 as it was sold off/closed not long after.
Flight 102 06/09/09 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my dad up for a quick flight... can't really rember what we did but it was only about 30 mins with just 1 takeoff/landing in my logbook meaning it wasn't circuits, but we can't have gone too far.
Flight 103 17/09/09 G-BJCA EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
It was a perfect day & my Nan was round my house, so I decided to take her up for her first ever flight, Dad decided to leave work early & come too, so we went up for a short local flight. The Flying school printed off a certificate for her which they usually give to people who've had trial lessons, & it's now hanging up on her wall. This was also the first time i'd flown G-BJCA without an instructor with me, so that means i've now flown all 4 of the flying school aircraft 'solo'. It was also video'd so you can watch it all below!
Flight 104 02/10/09 G-BTSJ EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
One of my friends from school who'd moved over to America & got his FAA PPL over there came back over to the UK for a few weeks so I took him up for a quick local flight as he wanted to see the differences between flying in the US & UK. I had the Warrior booked, so his Dad came up as well & sat in the back. We did a couple of circuits too & the entire flight was just soo smooth, no turbulence at all for the entire flight, & all the landings were pretty perfect. After landing we also nipped up into the tower to have a nose up there (first time i'd actually been up there as well!!)
Flight 105 09/11/09 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
I took one of my best friends Richard, up for his first ever flight - I didn't realise it was his first until we'd landed! We went down to the South East coast & then up towards Ashburton so he could see his house, then we flew over to Tavistock, & joined overhead for runway 31, did one circuit & landed.
Flight 106 11/12/09 G-BJCA EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
I took a friend up for a quick flight out to the West of plymouth, we then came back into the circuit & did one touch & go before landing. The aircraft hadn't flown for over a month, & had got a bit damp, so we had to take a roll of paper towels with us to de-mist the windows 3 or 4 times, before we got airborne and could put the heaters on.
Flight 107 24/01/10 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my Uncle up for a flight down to Torcross & back along the coast. It was a really great day for flying, very smooth, great visibility & the landing was absolutely perfect!
Flights 108 & 109 30/01/10
G-BJCA EGHD to EGTE then G-BSTO EGTE to EGHD (Plymouth to Exeter & back)
Yep, 2 flights today, the flying school phoned me up & asked if i'd be available to do a ferry flight, taking G-BJCA up to Exeter for maintenance, & picking up G-BSTO which was already at Exeter, to bring it home.
It had been very cold overnight & had snowed! I got up to the airport for about 11 & by then most of it had melted, but G-CA was parked in the shade, so was absolutely covered in ice. The door was pretty much frozen shut, but managed to get it open & then moved it out into the sun. It took nearly an hour for the ice to melt completely, but the aircraft was a little damp, and so the inside misted up pretty badly. My Dad came with me for the trip (to film it!) & so we jumped in with lots of paper towels to wipe the windows & flew up. It was a pretty straightforward flight, perfect weather - you could see for miles, just a little bumpy underneath the clouds. It was an okish landing at Exeter.
Then we turned off the runway & had what seemed like a very long taxi to the Iscavia maintenance hangar on the north side of the airfield. Parked up, shut down, filled in the tech log & left it in the aircraft. Then walked over to TO, gave it an A check, filled out it's tech log, phoned Exeter's tower & booked out for the flight back to Plymouth. Then we jumped in & started up, dodged the BAE146 & other aircraft which were in bits, as well as the cones & cars & taxied out to holding point F1, did the engine checks & then the tower told us to line up & wait on the runway. Once we had lined up we were given a squawk code, before being cleared for takeoff which I thought was a bit weird, as we must have been holding there on the runway for around a minute in total! Took off & flew back to Plymouth no problems. Cheated a little as I just followed the A38 to Ivybrigde.
The landing was definitely not one of my best, but it was ok - it was a very very bumpy approach, right down to crossing the threshold & i'm putting it down to a combo of that & it being the 1st time i'd jumped from flying one type to another on the same day. But it was a great flight, & was nice to have finally been to a different airport for a change. The last time i'd done it was my solo cross country over 3 ½ years ago!
Flight 110 06/03/10 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took a friend up for a quick flight in a Cessna down to Torcross and back and then did two circuits.
Flight 111 27/03/10 G-BHZH EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
Took my friend Sean up for a flight, we went down over cornwall & did some stalls & steep turns before returning to plymouth for a few circuits.
Flights 112 and 113 01/04/10
G-BUIJ EGHD to EGTE then EGTE to EGHD (Plymouth to Exeter and back)
Took a PA28 up to Exeter as a currency check, and also to drop the instructor up there so she could bring another aircraft back to plymouth, my friend Sean came along for the flight & filmed the ride back.
Flights 114 and 115 17/09/10
G-BUIJ EGJJ to EGJA then EGJA to EGHD (Jersey to Alderney then Alderney to Plymouth)
This was part of a flyout to the Channel Islands, there was 6 people in total split between two aircraft, me, an instructor, and another person in one aircraft, and an instructor and 2 others in the other plane. I was a passenger for the first flight down to Jersey, and then flew from Jersey to alderney as a check flight on the PA28, having not flown for 5 months! it was a great little half hour flight as we were only cleared to 1000' so it felt like we were skimming the water flying very low. Great landing at alderney despite the length of time since my last flight, and the flight back to Plymouth went very smoothly as well. It was an incredibly clear day & I could see the runway at plymouth from about 40 miles out.
(pics & more vids coming soon - 1st flight with a new camera, all the vids from now on will be avaiable in HD on youtube )
Flight 116 18/09/10 G-BTSJ EGHD to EGHD (Plymouth to Plymouth)
As the two flights i'd done on the flyout were actually relativley straight forward, I had another check flight in the PA28, where we did all of the extra bits such as steep turns PFL's and a couple of circuits.
Flight 117 13/10/10 G-BSTO EGHD to EGHD (Plmyouth to Plymouth)
Just went up for a quick flight in the Cessna to be current on it as well as the PA28, did some general handling, and then a couple of circuits. I felt right at home jumping back into the Cessna & the flight, and landings went very well, even though I hadnt flown one for around 7 months!
Flights 118, 119 & 120 15/10/10
G-BJCA EGHD to EGHE to EGTP to EGHD (Plymouth to St Marys to Perranporth to Plymouth)
Scillies flyout. There was supposed to be 2 aircraft, with two instructors going just like the Channel Islands, however the weather on the day wasnt completely perfect, but still flyable, the other person decided not to fly, but i was quite keen to go & so was my dad (who was going to sit in the back) so we decided to go for it. We flew directly down towards the Lands End VOR but as we got near Turo the cloud base seems to get considerably lower, so we had to head out to the north coast where it looked a bit better, we then picked up a track again towards the VOR. Flew right past Lands End airport & saw one of the Islanders taking off, and then followed a Radial from the VOR out towards St Marys. We were given a choice of runway as the wind was roughly in the middle of both, so I opted for the slightly more interesting runways which has a considerable up-slope on it. the landing was a bit of a bump as i should have flared a little more than I did, even though I knew the runway had a slope on it, the angle was alot more than I was expecting it, however, apart from a slight bump it wasnt really too bad. once we'd parked up, we went into town for some lunch & had a bit of walk round the island, before jumping back in & taxiing back down to the bottom of the slopey runway. It seemed very slow accelerating up the 'hill' but we'd just about reached flying speed as we reached the top of it, so maintained a little back pressure & it pretty much kept going up. the flight to Perranporth was very smooth, I just tracked the Lands End VOR again until we were on top of it, and the followed another raidal which took us directly to the airport, and then we flew straight in onto runway 05 i flared a little too much here, & it stalled just above the runway and kind of dropped onto it, probably overcompensating for not flaring enough at St Marys i think! We were pretty much the only aircraft at perranporth & there was almost complete silence once we'd shut the engine down. We went into the clubhouse & had a drink, and then jumped back in for the flight back to plymouth. Taking off over the cliff edge at the end of the runway was amazing, just seeing it drop away beneath you. Very smooth flight back to Plymouth, once i'd set heading, I was almost hands off most of the way back, joined left downwind for 31 and this time landed very smoothly!!