(Rae, Paul, Steve and Neale)

I was wrong, we had another lesson on Nav today. Hopefully our self/group-study session on Sunday will be more productive than the two hours spent this morning!

Just before lunch, we met with Frik Schoomby - director of marketing and 43 board member, who had confirmed that the extra five hours were catered for and that he would try to get us permission from the CAA to begin taking exams without being officially granted SPLs yet. Great news indeed. He also promised to try and increase our flights per day. At an eight-hour-a-week target, we should be on about sixteen hours. Yet me and Ben are on about six, while Paul is on a diabolical two, and Steve is somewhere in between. Again, all of the instructors are under pressure, so it is wrong to blame them, rather than whoever got them into the situation of having too many students in the first place.

Between lunch and my flight at 15:00, we saw about five or seven PC-7 air force training aircraft do a formation flyby, didn't manage to get a shot unfortunately. I was sat in my room chilling out with music and the Cherokee-140 handbook, when Neale came back from his exam with bad news. He failed again, even though scoring 10% more than last time, but still just 10% away from passing. Again, it put the rest of us in doubt about our chances. We vowed to drown all sorrows later on

Andrew was away today, but luckily he had arranged a flight with another instructor for me. Unfortunately his name escapes me, but he gave an excellent lesson, which completely perked up my day.

I taxied for the most part and took off into a calm and gorgeous sky. We then headed for our sector and I demonstrated climbing, levelling off, descending and turning. Then I practiced stalling and recovery, before my instructor did a few wing-overs and set me on a track along the coast. I then flew a unmanned joining procedure (for airfields with no ATC) at Port Alfred before turning on finals and guiding the aircraft down to land. I particularly enjoyed being allowed to land the aircraft myself, at the last moment I did need some help in pulling back on the yoke, but hopefully that is something that I can develop a technique for and master in time. All in all I felt much more comfortable in my flying ability and control, and this was maybe my best flight so far.

We heard on the radio a helicopter call sign report technical problems while airborne, and therefore a scrubbed flight. I somehow knew it was Neale, he was most definitely having a bad day! After landing I confirmed this with him, and soon after we ditched dinner at 43 for some pizza in town with Paul and Waldo. Then we headed to our now favourite, Oddfellows where we sunk a few before returning to 43 and sinking a few more. We collared the barman of the evening; Pietre, and a passer-by; Peter into a few rounds of blackjack before finishing our drinks and hibernating for the evening. I managed to receive a call from Mum which was another bonus.

Today, for the most part, was a good day. By the "bathtub law", tomorrow is bound to be not as great. Hopefully it wont be too bad.

I must sleep now as I have a flight at 07:00 tomorrow, it should be much easier to nod off now the electricity/panel heater has been restored!

*By the way, thanks very much indeed to everyone who has followed, and left comments here. They do mean a lot and go a long way! I have changed the options to allow anyone to leave a comment, without having to register an account.*