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.
Flying near a major international airport like Heathrow in a little Cessna C172 is one of those things that sounds more terrifying than it is. And also exactly as terrifying as it sounds. Both things are true at the same time.
Read more: RESTRICTED AIRSPACE :: Real Pilot POV Near Heathrow
It has been 3 years to the day assuming you are reading this on December 22nd 2024, of my passing my PPL. Since then it has been a journey with ups and downs. Was it worth it? You will have to possibly watch the video to find out
I quit. There. Not something I find easy to say.
I started my IR(R) with the best of intentions. The Instrument Rating (Restricted) IRR, felt like the logical next step. Be able to fly in worse weather. Be a safer pilot. All the reasons we all give. And then life, work, costs and if I'm honest a growing sense of being overwhelmed got in the way and I stopped.
My most popular long-form video. And it's about getting a landing badly wrong.
That tells you everything you need to know about my viewers.
People don't watch aviation content to see perfect landings. They watch it to see what happens when things go wrong and how the pilot deals with it. Or in this case, doesn't deal with it particularly well. And they they jump in the comments and scream about my lack of skills. From their armchair, with their 10 hours of Microsoft FlightSim.
I'll be honest. The landing in this video is not my finest hour. And instead of doing the sensible thing and going around, I kept going. That's the mistake. Right there. The go-around is always the right call when things aren't right on final. Always. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to really get that into my bones.
This video is the blueprint for what I want to do with a future series. Watch the footage back. Be honest about what happened. Explain what should have happened. No excuses, no blaming the wind, no pretending the aircraft did something unexpected. Just an honest look at what went wrong and why. I do it time and time again. How many times do you think I watched the video during the edit?
The comments were mostly kind which I really appreciated. A few weren't. That's YouTube. The people who found it useful are the reason it's worth making.
This was our second attempt to fly KK to Le Touquet. The first didn't go well either. You'd think that would have been a sign.
Read more: Do you wish to Declare an Emergency? Our flight to Le Touquet has issues
We flew our 1977 Cessna to the Alps. And the French military got involved.
That sentence pretty much sums up the trip out to Aero Friedrichshafen 2023 and I'm still not entirely sure how it happened. What started as a straightforward cross-country to one of the world's biggest GA airshows turned into one of those flights where you're constantly wondering what's going to happen next.
Aero Friedrichshafen is worth the effort. If you're a GA pilot and you've never been, put it on the list. 860 exhibitors. Aircraft you'll never see at a UK airshow. The kind of flying culture that makes you realise how hard UK GA has it by comparison. Oh, and a Zeppelin. An actual Zeppelin flying overhead. That alone is worth the fuel.
The show floor video is the calmer of the two. Less French military, more wandering around trying not to spend money on things I don't need. Mostly unsuccessful on that front.
Two videos, one trip, and a reminder that GA flying doesn't have to stop at the English Channel. KK is perfectly capable of getting you somewhere interesting if you're willing to plan properly and accept that nothing will go entirely to plan.
Worth it. Every bit of it.
Mystery, Mayhem and short runways in a flight to Beccles Airfield in my C172. As well as landing on my shortest runway, I had to contend with the possibility of Exploding boats, Mystery UFOs and tongue tied flight instructors on the way, all in a day trip to Beccles Airfield
Not a whole one. Let's be clear about that before the wife reads this.
I bought a one fifth share in a 1977 Cessna 172N. G-DCKK. Based at Elstree. And honestly I think one of the better decisions I've made in aviation, which given some of my decisions in aviation is admittedly a low bar.
The share model makes sense for most GA pilots at my level. You can get cheap access to an aircraft without the eye-watering cost of owning one outright. The idea is you split the costs of the annuals, the insurance, and hopefully the unexpected bills.
And you get to share the joy and the pain in roughly equal measure.
What the video doesn't fully capture is the emotional side of it. Walking out to an aircraft and knowing it's partly yours. That it has your name on the paperwork. That the people who fly it share your slightly irrational love of a 47 year old Cessna that could generously be described as characterful.
It is the start of a journey. Why not come along for the ride?
Some things in aviation are worth the cost. KK is one of them.
