AS a student pilot, you go through almost every emotion on regular occasions.
I’m literally only 10% of the way through the syllabus and during each training session, I experience nervousness, excitement, apprehension, satisfaction and sometimes, disappointment.
Readers who read last month’s edition may have seen I have begun training at Deanland Airfield, just west of Hailsham, for my National Private Pilot’s Licence (NPPL-M) and I’ve just completed my fourth hour in the air.
Although the training is extremely exhausting, it’s hugely rewarding when I complete each exercise with my instructor, Luke Christophides, who I’ve been working very closely with during my progress towards going solo at some point in the future.
In my last two training flights in July, I’ve been thrown in the deep end, which is fine with me as I like a challenge, and I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy ride.
It’s probably a good thing that Luke doesn’t really give me warning of what he may ask me to do on each flight although the syllabus is very clear about what I need to be doing, there are areas like radio calls, taxiing, checklists and of course the take-off which you can do at any time under the watchful eye of the instructor.
When climbing aboard the Ikarus C42 in early July, we prepared the aircraft for the flight and I was suddenly told it was my turn to taxi to the runway and make my first radio call. I seriously thought this would come later on in the training, but why wait?
In this lesson, I had to complete ‘Straight and Level Flight’, which sounds easy, but in a microlight, there are a lot of different forces to take into consideration to ensure you end up where you intended to fly. I successfully completed this level, even though the weather conditions were a bit against us in some places.
Learning from this, I was more than ready (I think) for Luke to continue to throw new challenges my way in my next lesson. I knew we’d be looking at ‘Basic climbing and descending’, but would he instruct me to take off? No, surely not, I was only in my fourth hour of flying.
So, after the normal aircraft checks, refuelling, start-up procedure, power checks and taxi, the moment came, that I was dreading. The words “You’re taking off!” came over the intercom from Luke — this was it!
It’s important to realise that an instructor would never ask you to do something they didn’t think you could safely do. Of course, Luke was able to take over the controls if something
wasn’t right immediately. Before we knew it, I was pushing the Ikarus to full power and we were soon in the air the C42 certainly doesn’t hang about and only takes seconds to get airborne.
Going back to the emotions experienced during training, there’s so much information to be learned when studying for a license, and sometimes, it’s easy to feel disappointed with myself when I don’t get it right in the air straight away. But, that’s the key to a great instructor.
Everything is explained and demonstrated so well, that the disappointment doesn’t last long and I finally crack the brief.
This particular lesson in late July will always stand out for me in one particular way. I spotted ‘traffic’ ahead (another aircraft), which was in fact a Spitfire, about 3,000ft above Eastbourne. We kept an eye on it to make sure we were well clear of it and was then treated to a stunning aerobatic show from the Spitfire! What a highlight to happen so soon into my training.
Next up for me is performance climbing & descending and turning in flight. Flying from Deanland can also be a great gift or even if you want to experience flight for yourself. My good friend Viv, who runs the Royal Indian restaurant in Hailsham, treated himself to a flight over the south downs and coastline recently. It was a great opportunity to show him the airfield and what happens there, and he fulfilled his dream of flying over the Sussex countryside.
It can also be a good team-building opportunity for businesses as Deanland has a very relaxed and informal feel and flying is an enormous buzz for most people.
To book, call Shellie at Flight Sport Aviation at Deanland on 07519 527597.
Quote ‘Newspaper Ad’ to get £10 off your first flight.
