---
title: Touch and Go Logbook - Whiskey Alpha Pilot
description: Honest flying journal from a PPL pilot who started learning in his 50s. Real experiences, real mistakes, real progress. Based at Elstree Aerodrome flying a Cess
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date: 2026-04-30T14:33:04Z
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## A Pilots logbook

### Or a list of all the mistakes I have made.

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, 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](https://flyer.co.uk/)'!!), 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 one still makes me a little uncomfortable to watch.

A near miss on final is exactly what it sounds like. Another aircraft where it shouldn't be. A moment where the margin gets smaller than you'd like. And the slightly sick feeling afterwards when you realise what just happened. Looking back it doesnt seem to be as bad as it felt at the time. but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I've posted a lot of content about mistakes and things going wrong. That's kind of the point of my channel. But this one is different. Most mistakes are about technique or judgement calls in the cockpit. This one is a reminder that the sky isn't just yours.

Elstree is a busy airfield. Circuit discipline matters. Radio calls matter. Awareness matters. And even when you're doing everything right, you're sharing the airspace with other people who may not be.

What I'd say to any student pilot watching this is simple. Keep your head out of the cockpit as much as possible, especially in the circuit. The instruments will wait. The aircraft that just turned final without a radio call won't.

I'm not an instructor and this isn't instruction. It's just a moment I caught on camera that serves as a reminder of why we don't switch off until the aircraft is parked and the engine is stopped.