Flight training hour 6: Basic flying skills revision at Camden, NSW, Australia

Read the details about hour 6 of my flying training at https://techexplorations.com/flight-l...

This was my first flight since Flight Camp in January. Today is August 30; its been a while. How much can I remember? I'll find out in Hour 6.

Also, in this flight, I planned to test my new (and older) gadgets: Bose A30 headphones, GoPro Hero 10, Tascam audio recorder, cables and adapters

On a beautiful sunny Wednesday morning, I was back in the car and on the long drive to Camden Aerodrome for my first lessons since Flight Camp. According to Google Maps, it takes 1.5 hours to make this trip, so I added 30 minutes extra for emergencies (i.e. traffic) and perhaps a stop at the Maccas at Mount Annan.

I had scheduled two flights with Greg, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I had a call with Greg a few days earlier, so I had a rough idea of what to expect. I knew that revision was definitely happening in the morning. And perhaps more practice in the afternoon. But I would only know for sure during the pre-flight briefing.

Since this was my first day back, I decided to leave 2.5 hours early and get there with plenty of time. Altocap has a comfortable common area with tables and a couch where I can sit and review books and notes in preparation for the lesson. I also packed some food to save the trip to town between flights.

On this first day back, I also wanted to try out some new and older equipment. First and foremost, my top-of-the-line Bose A30 headset. Yes, they are expensive. But small planes are extremely loud, and pilots need the best active cancellation possible. The A30 only came out a few months ago as a better version of the A20 (which is also excellent). I plan to fly for a long time, so I felt justified to get the best headset I can afford.

I have little experience with other headphones. I (think) used the David Clark H10-30 Headset during the flight camp. They seemed OK to reduce noise without active noise isolation, but after about 30 minutes, the pressure on the lobes of my head and against my sunglasses frame gave me a headache. Based on this, I had an experience of what regular headphones feel like.

On my flight, the A30 felt comfortable for the entire hour. The audio was excellent. I could hear Greg easily, and ATC was clear once I increased the volume. The straight cable and the clips are well-designed to prevent the cable from getting tangled. I kept the control unit on my lap, but I will look for a better position and use the clip for better ergonomics. I prefer to keep my lap clear for checklists and a notepad. So, after a grand total of one hour using the A30, it was definitely worth the money.

Also in my flight bag were a GoPro Hero 10, a Tascam DR-22WL audio recorder, and cables connecting the Tascam to the aeroplane's intercom and radio. Part of my Flight Log series plan is to video-record all my flights. I want to keep a complete record of my lessons to share them with you and learn more about my mistakes.

I knew VH-AHH had a mounting point for the GoPro, but I needed to know where and what kind. Without this, it was hard to know what type of adapter to bring. So, I took a few candidate adapters to see if one would match. Unfortunately, none of my GoPro adapters matched the mounting point at the aeroplane. So, no video for this flight. I have the correct adapter for the next flight, to be confirmed.

But the audio recorder and cables worked, and I got an audio recording for the entire flight.

Read more about Hour 6 at https://techexplorations.com/flight-l...

00:00:00 Start
00:00:23 Start
00:00:52 Equipment
00:00:57 Bose A30
00:01:54 GoPro Hero 10 and Tascam DR-22WL
00:04:00 The flight
00:04:18 Flying Training Manual from Aviation Theory Center
00:04:29 Today's exercises
00:04:33 Exercise listing start
00:04:53 Exercise listing end
00:04:54 Checklists
00:04:57 Exercise listing start
00:05:05 The flight
00:05:23 Takeoff
00:08:44 The flight
00:08:47 Debrief
00:09:11 The flight
00:10:29 Subscribe and like!