I dropped a clanger today. Woke up and didn't fancy getting out of my pit at 06:00... So gave it until 06:30 before biting the bullet. The wind was howling. I got my gear on and stepped outside to a very peculiar warm wind, so much so that I ended up undoing my coat, which then acted as a sail - hampering any forward movement! Anyway, I finally got to ops and checked again that my flight was at 07:00 with Andrew in Echo-Echo-Golf.

Walked outside to the aircraft, and found someone else "pre-flighting" (internal/external checks) it! Went back to ops and again saw my name on the board. Spoke with the guy and he checked the ops board with me. It was only then that I realised that I had stupidly assumed that today's board was on the left like normal and not the right! With my tail firmly between my legs, I went back towards the barracks and found Neale, who's flight was cancelled. We chatted away the time with Steve, Ben, Waldo and Rae before heading to ground school.

GS was pretty hectic today, but I for one did enjoy it. We all planned a route with every navigational variable worked out - heights, airspeeds, groundspeeds, true and magnetic bearings and headings, distances, timescales and climb/descent distances - tough going, but far more satisfying when the right results are achieved. I struggled, don't get me wrong, but it is just a case of working through it. One guy in particular just consistently sits there with his thumb up his arse, and he's supposedly going on to complete a commercial pilots licence!


Anyway after all that, Ben, Paul and I went to the canteen and grabbed a coffee/tea. Steve soon met us, and said that he has suggested to his flight instructor that he do more flying and less ground school. Steve, and Paul in particular have resigned themselves to failure in Nav. We all chewed it over for a bit. I think I managed to bring Steve around to thinking that aviation is just as about navigation as flying. Paul seems like a lost cause right now. He cannot bring himself to say possible rather than impossible. To be selfishly honest, apathy like that is contagious, and needs crushing with enthusiasm. I feel kind of rotten for challenging and going on at Paul but really, it is too easy for me to argue the point for just putting 100% effort in and seeing what happens.

I'm no more studious or able than the rest of them. In fact, I do far less book reading than Paul, and maybe too much drinking, which is maybe why he has painted himself into this corner, with too much information all at once without any moderation.

Saying "I won't pass" is just letting yourself off of the hook and allowing you to relax - when later on you'll regret it and wonder "what if?". It's been suggested to me a few times, by various people, that I change my goal of getting a PPL. Yes, things are stacked against me, and yes I may not get it, but I say bollocks to them! No point in setting a target if you are certain of success.

Apologies for venting on here like this, but if anything today's antics have just increased my stubbornness!


Anyway, after a cold lunch I sat down and wrote up to the preceding paragraph of this post and chilled out with some music. At 15:00 I toddled across to ops to find that the a/c allocated to me was Echo-Bravo-Lima - at the far end of the flight line. Paul and Steve had their flights cancelled due to the bad weather, so I managed to change to Echo-Oscar-Yankee which Paul was due to be flying, and was parked right outside.

After pre-flighting it as best I could, Andrew appeared and we jumped inside. I've gotten better with remembering "flow patterns" and/for checklists. I taxied to the runway and took off into a very bumpy and very hot/humid sky. I continued practicing turning, climbing, descending and levelling off. Unfortunately I couldn't do it as well as in the perfect weather of yesterday, and somewhat muddled the order in which things should be done. It was difficult trying to cater for all of the turbulence, on top of sweating buckets due to the humidity. Still, it was an enjoyable flight and one which hopefully has helped me.

I am flying with Andrew tomorrow, again fine-tuning my control accuracy, which will hopefully set me up for an assessment of my skills. This comes just before moving onto circuit-bashing (flying around/landing/taking off an airfield in pattern with other traffic) and all of the various pressures involved.

A luke-warm dinner preceded bar time in which I shared a few beers with Neale and Waldo before Steve, Ben, Uzo (Nigerian Bristow dude) and his mate Kobi joined us in drinking and cards. Rob, my flight manager was in the bar and told me the name of my new instructor, and that Andrew should arrange an introduction. Me and Ben were left playing cards, when Peter appeared and took part in one round. We finished our drinks and watching "Law and Order" before retiring. After the unnecessarily early start, I really am ready for bed.