Four weeks ago...

Four weeks ago I took the PPL skills test. The big day. Forty-five hours in the book preparing for this event. This can be described as two and a half hours of getting ragged about by an examiner, covering all the topics covered on the course. The weather was acceptable. The winds were not too strong, but it was a bit hazy with some light cloud at lower altitudes.

                After a quick brief in the clubhouse we set off, got airborne and got straight on with the navigation phase. I had a route planned heading south to the Isle of Wight, then a left turn towards Brighton. Pretty quickly we were above the cloud base, but it was thin enough to see through - see through clouds don’t count! Track keeping was going pretty well at this point. No dramas transiting the Shoreham ATZ, although quite a lot of mid-week traffic going on. At Brighton the “unplanned diversion” phase kicked in and I routed ad-hoc from Lewes to Petworth – a bit of long ‘un. To add to the atmosphere the vis dropped right off at this point, probably less than 5k but sometimes you just have to fly by the seat of your pants. The leg was not as precise as I would’ve preferred but the theory was sound.

Heading back west the weather cleared up in time for the skills section. I demonstrated some slow flight, stalls and steep turns, then a simulated engine failure. A couple of the manoeuvres I had not encountered but I just winged it. No dramas on any of those. After that lot we bombed back at a rate of knots and got stuck in with my favourite bit – some circuits. I bashed out a decent enough standard approach.  Then we did low level circuit at 650’, buzzing all the locals. Next on the list was a flapless. Now this instructor was keen to do it totally different to what I had been taught. Normally I would zoom in at 80kts, but this chap insisted that 60kts was plenty in the clean configuration. Stall horn a-twitchin’, we banged on the deck bouncy style. I think the tower counted it as one landing. Finally, we finished off with an elegant glide approach. Power off at 1000’ and swooping in silently and gracefully, like a soaring…. erm…. plane.

So why have I waited four and a half weeks to post this? Because I haven’t received my shagging licence back from the CAA, that’s why!!! That is until today when the FedEx man delivered me a package containing one shiny new EASA PPL. It thought it would never arrive. It comes clad in an oh so nice blue vinyl sleeve. What will they say down at the club?

A lot of excitement over a piece of paper

So there you have it blog fans. I have the liberty to fly pilot-in-command of single engine piston powered light aircraft. As long as it weighs less than 5,700kg. And I don’t receive financial reward for duration of the flight. And it is not rainy. Or too cloudy, or windy or if there is snow or killer bees. Or if the plane goes technical. Other than that I am free as a bird. I’d like to thank my Instructor Rich, for taking time out of his schedule and putting up with me for many hours in a confined space, and all the other people who have supported me.

King of the skies! Licensed to thrill! Sign up below for scenic flights.