Part 2: A pilot’s experience
Although the whole mountain flying course sounded like a rather daunting process to begin with, it turned out that it lasted for only a total for five flights for me. This was because I already had enough low flying hours, three hours for PPL and three more for CPL, to make up the 10 total hours required.
The PPL part of the mountain flying comprised an introduction to terrain awareness, simulating the confines of a valley between two parallel roads and completing turns between them at varying speeds and configurations to see how speed and drag affect turn radius. We also ducked down to below a visible horizon and executed a few 360deg turns so I could learn how to superimpose a line where I expected the horizon to be sitting.
This was tricky at first as it was something I’d nearly always taken for granted up at 3000ft on a regular training sortie.
From then it was “into the valley”, attempting some contour flying around the hillside spurs and valley curves of the Hunua Ranges, really highlighting how the pilot must be thinking ahead of the aircraft. It took me a while to grasp the concept of how much I needed to anticipate all the momentum the little Cessna 172 carries and not jerk the yoke around at the last minute.
I also found keeping constant horizontal spacing between myself and the bush clad hillside hard to judge without a clear and constant reference point, particularly on flight lesson number 2.
Winds of 15 or so knots that would be classified as easily manageable to most student pilots on a typical day changed the game completely with updraughts, downdraughts and leeside turbulence close to the mountains. Combined with the stress of being in close proximity to unfamiliar terrain, it made height and airspeed holding much more difficult, especially without a clear horizon.
In the ground course we’d been shown a few crash reports which had resulted from the pilot pulling up as he turned away from terrain, thus reducing airspeed to below VS with a high angle of bank and resulting in CFIT (controlled flight into terrain, although the “controlled” part is debatable).
The principles of flight mistake is understandable, yet when faced with a windscreen full of ponga trees dead ahead, the last thing my brain wanted to do was stay level as I rolled away from them. It was purely human nature to want to pull back on the yoke and climb up away from the scary looking hillside that could cause my aeroplane damage, the exact mentality this course is designed to rectify.
Fortunately my instructor beside me verbalised my mistake and, if nothing else, the terrain awareness flying really gave me an appreciation for the level of skill the pilots must have who routinely operate in these conditions.
Saddle crossings were introduced in the third lesson, with the SHEEP mnemonic taught as a way to remember how to order the approach. This stands for: Speed — in reserve (not climbing); Height — sufficient clearance; Expect — up/downdraughts, depending on wind direction and the valley shape on the far side; Escape — to the left/right/up/down; and Position — from left to right to conform with valley traffic, or right to left to maintain obstacle clearance.
To start with, I ran through each of the points out loud, as I would a HASELL check, before I lined up for the saddle. A few times my instructor said, “OK, there’s poor weather all around us, you can’t climb higher than 2000ft, cross that saddle over there now,” and I had to compose myself by making an orbit before setting myself up to cross in the right direction with my wings level.
However, this was repeated each lesson with the aim of being able to just snapshot a saddle crossing scenario, run through the crossing points quickly in your head and then cross first time without having to abort or buy time.
Simulated forced landing scenarios were also brought in with the CPL level lessons. There are obviously very limited options available for putting an aircraft down with only a single winding road and an occasional rough clearing breaking the thick carpet of treetops covering a steep sided valley.
Any wind through the valley systems acts like water being channelled through from wherever its walls open up to a side facing the upper wind. This has to be mentally noted, instead of following the standard procedure of planning a pattern into the forecast headwind direction on a wide-open plain. The height of the valley floor above mean sea level also needs to be thought about, then spacing points for a FLWOP or precautionary landing to be adjusted to suit. Anything running uphill is the best option in these circumstances to aid deceleration.
My instructor was adamant about two rules:
Something else I learned was the sheer abundance of ag strips littered around the foothills of the Hunua Ranges that I hadn’t noticed before. A rectangular uphill stripe accompanied by a little metal fertiliser bin indicates the presence of a suitable touchdown area after panicking and not being able to see any flat paddocks at first glance. I was really surprised at just how many there actually were around the back side of the Hunuas near the coast — not exactly major farming country like the grassy expanse of the Waikato, for example.
After thinking about this, it does make sense for ag operators to have lots of strips dotted around the place rather than one central runway, as it means fewer trips for each topdressing run, less time in the air, less fuel and less money, even if it is only for one operation a season!
I also remember Carlton Campbell (CAA training standards development officer) during an Av Kiwi safety seminar on emergency landings, advising us all to play a “try and spot the most ag strips” game with our passengers during cross-country flights, since the strips are so abundant throughout New Zealand.
On my last lesson the flight included all the elements I had learned throughout the course. We vacated Ardmore via the base leg, climbed up to only 1700ft and then tracked the quarry road through Red Hill to Hunua township, then through the gorge into Cosseys Reservoir. I tried my best to hug the right side of the hill crests, which really required a lot of rudder work, something I found a little difficult in quick succession even after 200-plus hours of “regular” flying in the C172.
We made a right-to-left crossing of a saddle at the east side of the valley, then continued contour flying along the Upper Mangatawhiri Reservoir basin. A full valley turn was carried out, starting off steep, then adjusting the angle of bank until we rolled out level with the opposite side of the valley. Round to the left is preferred as it allows greater pilot visibility and puts him or her closer to the middle.
After this we climbed up to around 2000ft, crossed another saddle and tried a precautionary landing at an uphill ag site we’d visited in a previous lesson. I attempted to fly a similar pattern that I’d completed the first time, but my instructor took control and showed me an alternative approach, immediately dumping all our flap while on a very high downwind, then banking left for a straight-in final approach.
After re-crossing the saddle we’d arrived from, we continued across another one sitting right opposite it and then descended into a valley system I’d not yet visited, at the northern head of the Mangatangi Reservoir. This was where I had my close encounter with the pongas and got some real experience at close-proximity narrow valley turns — the most challenging, nerve-wracking and enjoyable part of the entire course, in my opinion.
Finally, while in the poor visibility configuration, I was told to navigate home without climbing any higher than I already was. Map reading under this amount of pressure was also intensive, having to fold the large VNC chart so that it fitted my hand, align it with my current direction, search for a saddle leading out towards familiar terrain — and then of course actually fly the aeroplane.
These few extra flights have given me a greater understanding of flying in general. The lessons I’ve completed will no doubt help me out during my future flights, with many of the general handling tips I’ve learned down near the trees just as applicable up near the clouds. I hope others who have completed the course feel as though they have benefited similarly.
- Report by Andrew Underwood