One circuit - July 19

Saturday I had an 8-10am lesson. I was hoping for a bright sunny morning and minimal winds so we could do some practice area review, and then a few circuits.

When I was pre-flighting the airplane we had about 60% cloud cover. The cloud base was lowish, and had very soft, poorly formed, bottoms.

Another aircraft left just before we started the engine - as I was taxiing down Alpha I radioed him and asked what the trending on the clouds was like - he responded that the wind was at 290 and he was in the clear over Almonte (just west of the Carp airport).

I chose to backtrack down to Bravo and use the run-up area down there - it would give the oil more time to warm up, and more time to think about the cloud base. By the time the backtrack and run-up were complete there was 80% cloud cover, and while they still looked low, it was possible they were OK for circuits.

Here's the criteria:

• For fixed-wing VFR flight below 1000' AGL, Transport Canada requires 2 miles visibility and clear of cloud.
• The flying school requires a cloud base 1200' AGL, plus TC minimums.

So we backtracked from Bravo to the threshold and announced we were rolling. I mucked up the directional control a bit as we started to accelerate down the runway, as the wind was from slightly to the right of the nose, and minimal/no rudder was required. The take-off was smooth (I vowed that I would no longer yank aircraft into the air).

As we got higher on the climb-out we were saying hmmmmm - might not be a high enough cloud base. A glance up to the practice area confirmed that would not be doing any upper air work this morning.

I turned crosswind and then downwind, flying at 1100' (700' AGL). I chose this altitude so we would be comfortable clear of cloud, the base of which was varying 200+ feet above us.

I announced downwind, and remembered to announce our altitude since we were not at the expected 1400' (1000' AGL). Full stop, since we didn't meet minimums for the flight school.

Altitude management on the final was good, especially since I started at a lower altitude. Speed management as well. Lateral and directional control were not too bad.

Rotate and flare were nice, the landing was OK (a tiny bit of yaw at touchdown). I remembered the post-landing checklist. And announced to the Unicom that were home, along with a report of actual cloud base.

Time: 0.4 hours
Landings: 1 (sigh)

What went well:

• Decision making. While it was iffy that we had a high-enough cloud base, there was a good chance for it. We gathered the one available data point (the departing aircraft) which indicated things would be OK. We planned to stay in the circuit, so we were not going to get in trouble if it was lower than reported. We stayed legal, as far as TC was concerned.
• We also pulled the plug on the morning's flying, once we knew what the actual cloud base was. Facts trump plans.
• Checklists - I formally did the pre- and post-landing. Even at the lower circuit altitude.
• Adjusting for the non-standard circuit altitude, in setting up for final.
• The landing.
• My wife was happy, since I got home earlier than planned and could work on the gardens.

What needs to be better.

• Lateral control for the final is getting better, but continues to need improvement.