The first task was a short field take off with an obstacle clearance climb. For the most part, this was carried out quite well with most adhering to the flight manual figures. We use ten degrees of flap; hold on the brakes, providing the surface is OK; rotate at 51 knots and climb at 56 knots until the obstacle is cleared. Once clear of the obstruction, lower the nose, take up flap and resume the normal climb. Some did not use the exact speeds, but the general technique was correct.

One word on the downwind checks as these were quite varied and, in most cases, not complete. The C172 is a very simple aircraft, but I believe we should always run through a complete downwind check irrespective of the aircraft we are flying. The acronym most instructors use these days is the word BUMFISH. The B stands for brakes (pressure in the system and park brake off); U stands for undercarriage down and locked; M stands for mixture fully rich; F stands for fuel on the fullest tank and plenty for a go around if required; I stands for instruments all in the green; S stands for switches in the appropriate positions; and H stands for hatches and harness. Turning onto final, we should also use the analogy fine and green. The pitch is in the fine position and green lights to indicate that the undercarriage is down and locked.

The short field landing could have been better with most not getting the aircraft set up early and adhering to the approach speed of 61 knots. It’s most important to obtain the nose attitude that gives 61 knots and use the power to regulate the rate of descent to arrive at the touch down point selected: in this case the piano keys.

Instrument flying was OK, but once again, please use the heading bug.

The emergency landing was successful in all cases, but once again, not all remembered to clear the engine.

The load and balance exercise was a bit disappointing with only two getting it 100% correct. The amount of fuel that can be carried is 67 litres (106.3 lbs). Quite a few did not take into account the 8 lbs of fuel allowance for engine start up, taxi and run up. This gave another 5 litres of fuel. Most got the correct answer to the balance question, and it is in balance for both zero fuel weight and MTOW, but a lot did not show the workings of the problem and it was not obvious how the answer was arrived at. The final question was relating to flight time available, not the total endurance, and subsequently many did not allow for the 45 minutes reserve. The 67 litres carried (using a rate of 36 litres per hour) gave a flight time available of only 1 hour and 6 minutes, when you allow the 45 minute reserve.

Peter Ticehurst was the winner on 63.5 points from Kingsley Picker on 62.5 and Ed Collins on 59 points.