I am back from another trip to Angeles City. This time for one day of flying instead of two: cut short because of the weather and an extra day of work.
I went to the Charlie One local area with an instructor in a C 172 for about an hour and a half of air work: Chandelles, Lazy Eights, Spiral Descents. The ATC at Clark (RPLC) is chaotic. The Clark Tower frequency (118.7) frequently blocks because of poor radio discipline. Give me one shift in the tower and I’d bark them all into shape! I lost at least 20 minutes waiting on the ground.
I aborted the first departure because the C172 that landed before our intended departure went off the end of runway 02 and onto the grass over run. It just sat there instead of vacating so we aborted our take off and went back to join the queue to depart again.
I achieved some half decent Chandelles. My Lazy Eights were however more like a cross between a Lazy Eight and a Wing Over. I did not expect too much because we were both new the the maneuvers. We did not get a fair crack at the Spiral Descents because of the low ceiling of Charlie One. My short field arrival was not that short but there again ATC instructed us to join for runway 02 with a by now 10 Kts tailwind without any warning about the wind. OMNI usually has to use the same runway direction as Clark and for no good aviation reason.
I met a friend who used to work for Omni on the Tuesday evening. This was our first opportunity to share a coffee and chat since first meeting almost a year ago. High five!