Learning to fly, one mistake at a time
Flying is simple isn't it? Take off. Land. Repeat. And obviously try not to get the two confused.
I started learning to fly in my early 50s and have never quite stopped being a student. This is my attempt at explaining why I fly. To myself, to Wifey, to my neighbours, to my followrs, detractors and hopefully to you.
I hope you find my antics honest, humorous and possibly even inspiring? That last one is a bit of a stretch, I know. But I love flying, and I love seeing others understand why I fly. If that encourages one person into the air, then I've succeeded.
My goal is simple: keep the number of landings equal to the number of takeoffs. And of course, try not to crash. I'm not an instructor - listen to them not some internet influencer (I was once called an 'up and coming YouTuber - Thanks Flyer Magazine'!!), All you will find here is just me and my experiences. Hopefully you can learn from them before I run out of luck, skill or cash.
This started as a simple this is what I did today diary, but has mutated into more of a discorse on GA flying in the UK, and sometimes the rest of the world. as a GA pilot we have a responsibility to keep up with the goings on in avaition, and being an ex journalist I still have a interest in news reporting, so from time to time you might get something pop up I have noticed. The ideas and text are mine, and yes some of the cartoons are AI, I can take photographs but my cartoon skills are non existant.
I hope it helps, I hope you enjoy my small spot on the internet, and if there is anything you would like to see, just drop me an email.
I bounced a landing at Duxford. I admit it was more than once, and to prove it there is video of it, which is the price of pointing cameras at yourself and the posting the results on YouTube.
Here's what I assumed had happened: I got the flare wrong. Ballooned, dropped it in, made a mess of the last twenty feet. That's the usual story with a bounce and it's the one I told myself all the way home.
Then I watched it back several times and gues what? I was wrong.
There's an assumption that anyone with a YouTube channel is quietly making a fortune. I've got another YouTube channel that's actually monetised, been through the Partner Program properly, and it earns me about enough for a GoPro battery a month. Meanwhile the KK costs three figures an hour to fly before I've filmed a thing. YouTube has just doubled the watch hours you need to get monetised in the first place, so this seemed like a good moment to show you some numbers, and to answer something I got accused of a few weeks back.
Read more: What It Actually Costs To Make An Aviation YouTube Video
I had to pump up a tyre on KK recently. She was looking a bit flat. Somewhere around the twenty minute mark of faffing around I realised how much I really hate these spats.
I've flown plenty of times in commercial aircraft, and the flights rarely surprise me. A recent Delta from LAX to Orlando gave me more seatbelt announcements in one trip than I've had in every other flight combined. It wasn't even rough. And then it got me thinking about a habit of mine that a few of you keep pulling me up on.
The CAA has opened a consultation on making electronic conspicuity mandatory. Every aircraft below FL100 would have to transmit its position, and the owner pays for the privilege. KK's transponder can't do it, so I spent a happy hour working out what this was going to cost me.
If you've been following along, you'll know I've had plenty to say lately about pilot medicals. Health, honesty, the lot. You'll also know I quietly took the soft option and dropped to a Pilot Medical Declaration. Well. Turns out preaching is the easy bit and practising is the hard bit. So I stopped talking about it, bit the bullet, and booked a Class 2.
I love the smell of 100LL in the morning. Apologies to Colonel Kilgore. But my lot may be the last pilots who get to say it. Our KK runs on leaded fuel - 100LL and its soon going to be confined to the dustbin of history.
It was one of the hottest days of the year. Again. KK stayed tied down on her pad, because she's a flying greenhouse at the best of times and she would have been an oven. We all see these CAA driven webinars pop up on the forums from time to time, and being a sucker for punishment, I signed up for one. Was it going to be as boring as it first sounded, or a gold mine? Honest answer, yes to both.
Read more: Runways and Realities review: the boring webinar that became a gold mine
