Aviation Archives - Page 2 of 6

Learning to Fly: Lesson 17

Posted on May 14, 2023July 11, 2023 by rich

This trip to the airfield was challenging, enlightening, embarrassing and involved an unexpected encounter with a YouTube star. I walked into the clubhouse and met with the Chief Flight Instructor at the school who, like Jiminny Cricket to Pinnochio, would be doing his best to turn me into a real pilot. We quickly briefed that […]

Learning to Fly: Lesson 16

Posted on May 13, 2023July 11, 2023 by rich

Clouds covered the sky and grey cotton wool balls hung lower than the overcast here and there. As I steered the car north I thought it might end up being a ground school day. My instructor was stuck in the Caribbean. He flies heavy long-haul jets for a large airline and his A330-300 had a […]

Learning to Fly: Lesson 15

Posted on April 9, 2023July 11, 2023 by rich

So, in case you didn’t see it, this isn’t actually lesson 15, lesson 15 happened a couple of weekends ago but the weather was so bad my instructor and I abandoned the lesson after only 10 minutes in the air, so I’m not counting it… My instructor also dropped a bombshell, he was leaving imminently […]

Learning to Fly: Lesson 14 1/2

Posted on March 26, 2023April 9, 2023 by rich

I’ve spoken a bunch of times about the weather looking grim on my drive north to the airfield only for its little micro-climate to win out and blue skies to be waiting for me on arrival. But not this time. Checking the weather at local RAF Boulmer’s weather station, it showed the cloud base (the […]

Learning to Fly: Lesson 14

Posted on March 4, 2023July 11, 2023 by rich

An overcast day but that shouldn’t be a problem. Winds quite light but variable. Will I finally get to solo today?

Learning to Fly: Lesson Lucky 13?

Posted on February 26, 2023July 11, 2023 by rich

Checking the weather in the days before this lesson I was 50/50 whether I would be taking off at all. Wind was showing as 14 knots (16mph) gusting to 26 knots (30mph) all week. When I got to airfield the cloudbases were at 2,500ft and the wind was a steady 12 knots but heading straight […]

Learning to Fly: Lesson 12

Posted on February 19, 2023July 11, 2023 by rich

This was the lesson I’ve been waiting for ever since I decided to learn to fly: Circuits. The lesson the day before had completed the first page of my Pooleys flying log book and I took a moment to reminisce about the aircraft I’d already had the pleasure of flying. I’d started my flight training […]

Learning to Fly: Lesson 11

Posted on February 19, 2023July 11, 2023 by rich

After my ego (and nerves!) had taken a comprehensive battering at the previous lesson my mindset had shifted from “I’m here to show the instructor I already know what I’m doing” to “I’m here to learn”. For any students out there, as soon as you stop learning you’re in trouble. We briefed quickly at the […]