Flying Solo..

By now, I have been flying for a short few weeks; not very long to say the least. Lots of stuff in the training areas, a few flights in the circuit to get my landings up to scratch and a good measure of groundschool to make sure I was familiar with the airspace in which we operate and the laws of the land. It is surprising how many things are different from the theory we had spent months learning for the sake of JAA groundschool exams.

Going solo is quite a big deal, for those of you that don't know what it is; it is when you are the only person in the aircraft, Pilot in Command, head honcho, there is no one to hold the umbrella over you. If things go wrong, they go wrong and you are the only thing determining how you reach the ground..!

Very scary stuff indeed..! We had spend enough time practicing engine fire drills and engine failure stuff so in that case we should have enough to get safely back to ground.

The day finally arrived, I was going to fly solo today..! The plan for the day was to spend an hour in the circuit with the instructor at which point he would send me up on my own to brave the skies for the first time.

The circuits went off without a hitch, some nice soft landings, stable, centreline maintained, glideslope maintained.

My Instructor, The Sport's Fan stepped out of the aircraft.

- "You're good to go"

He jumped out at the ramp, engine running. I waited for him to step clear of the vessel and signal me to leave. I cautiously taxied over to the staging area and then the hold short line.

- "Tower, Warrior 000XX is holding short of Runway 2-1, First solo student for full stop landing."

I addressed the tower, full of excitement and anticipation. I awaited the clearance to take off; my heart was racing.

- "Warrior 000XX, departure approved for runway 2-1, cleared for take off."

The circuit was empty, I taxied onto the runway and throttled forward, airspeed live, 65kts, rotate. I pulled back gently on the yoke, the nose pitched up and I was now aviating on my own. The cockpit was serene, a calm mood fell over the cabin as there was no pressure from the instructor's eyes. I climbed to altitude and levelled off, trimmed fine. Everything was going well, altitude maintained, trimmed level and I was heading downwind.

The sun was beginning to set, the weather was calm, life was perfect. I turned base and then final. I aligned with the centreline and glideslope. Before long, touchdown; a nice gentle landing.

I taxied back to parking, shut down the aircraft and stepped out to meet a wide smile and an extended hand. The Sport's Fan, shook my hand heartily.

- "Great job, have a beer tonight, you deserve it.."

A Quick Update..

Things have been very hectic lately, so I will be posting up some blogs from the previous week as they become available..

Responsible Pilots..

So, following the debaucheries of the Initiation, Monday arrived;

Ring Ring, ring ring..!

The phone rang without rest; the rest of my housemates were asleep, so I got up and answered the phone. I assumed it must be an international call as no one in their right mind would call at this house on a Monday.

- "Hello, with whom am I speaking?"

The mystery voice asked, the tone of their voice was somewhat serious and it was clear he meant business. I told him who I was,

- "You and the rest of your class are required to be in Classroom 3 at 1000hrs for a meeting. Please inform the rest of your class. All cadets are required to attend and in uniform..!"

He then hung up. I was taken slightly aback by the call, but at the same time, in the pit of my stomach I could sense what was coming. As per the request I ran around like in 'The Apprentice' when the call comes, knocking on all of the doors I came across shouting,

- "Guys, we have a meeting at 1000hrs in Room 3, everyone has to attend, I think it's serious..!"

Ok, so it wasn't that early in the day, but as expected, our days off come far and in between, so we were all enjoying a well-deserved(?) lie in.

So we rushed to shower and uniform up. We scrambled everyone and got into the course cars. Rushing over to the airport for the meeting, the conversation took an anxious tone. We all sat speculating on the severity of the meeting and its possible outcomes.

A few minutes to go till 1000hrs and there was a crowd of cadets classes including our own. This was very much the 'waiting outside the headmaster's office' situation. Smirks mixed with fearful looks. For many of us, this was the first time we had seen the perpetrators from the initiation.

We filed in as our superiors lead the way. As we went in people calmly took seats available and some went straight to the back of the classroom to find a place to stand, as far from the 'blast zone' as possible.

Everyone was in, the door slammed shut, the inquiry began;

- "Can someone please explain to me what happened on Saturday..!"

The Debrief..

So, following the initiation few made it to the party, many of us, due the excesses of the initiation were left in a mess. Thankfully we were ferried by the tee-total seniors back to our apartments a short drive away.

I awoke, in much of a daze, in an apartment similar to mine, but a reflection of it. There stood a bin next the me; I had obviously been taken home by someone fairly responsible. Slumped on the sofa was a fellow cadet, passed out in the foetal position. I gathered my faculties and made my way out of the apartment. I had my senses about me; I figured I would try and find some familiar faces. Before too long I found some fellow cadets;

- "Where is everyone; what happened..?"

I asked cautiously, the reply informed that there were still some people awake and about. It was some time past midnight and there were people in the Jacuzzi. I was still in wet clothes from the initiation, so made my way over, without changing into fresh swimming attire.

There, by the Jacuzzi were a few cadets, some beers and a small gathering of naked women. Still slightly drunk, with the preceding events, this all seemed slightly surreal. The after party continued for some time; it wasn't until 0430hrs that I got back to my room..

The Initiation..

Saturday brought about the second weekend for most of the cadets in my class; for some of us our time in AZ had been much longer than that.

It is commonplace for the veteran cadets, for whom AZ has become home for the past months, to throw a welcome party to us, the 'newcomers'. I have used the word welcome party, however, as is almost always the case, the 'newcomers' never make it to the party. The reason for this is the Initiation which precedes it.

The theme was the World Cup; so we were to dress accordingly, but also advised to bring a white t-shirt which we would not mind getting ruined; this set the tone for the evening..!

The night began promptly at 1900hrs, two lines of chairs filed down the bar room. One of the 'seniors' howled

- "Find a row and sit in the chairs next to your flying partner..!"

Experience tells me that in these hazing situations it is best to blend into the crowd and not to stand out like a sore thumb, I advised we sit somewhere near the middle. We mounted respective barstools after removing the can of beer and shot glass swishing at the brim with luminous liquid. The moment we sat down another senior arrived and began taping our 'middle' legs together in a three legged fashion. We tentatively smelt the shot to try and identify what it was; this gave no clue, the smell was dull with a potent hint of nail varnish remover. We sat eagerly awaiting our fate..

Another senior emerged and began;

- "Welcome the your initiation, there are a few rules for this evening, before you get to the party, you must each do at least ten shots before leaving the room. You each have a shot and a can of beer in your hands. You will compete in a boat race against your flying partners. The losing team will do a forfeit. Before we start, does anyone not drink?"

No one responded..

- "Good, is anyone allergic to latex?"

Again, no one responded..

- "Does anyone object to public nudity?"

Silence filled the room..

- "On your marks, get set, go..!"

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall..

Imagine if you will, driving through the Arizona Desert with the windows closed, air-con off, heating up to the max., five guys in the car and the searing sun flowing through the windows; welcome to Car Sauna..!

This past weekend has been Memorial Weekend, this has meant that a three day weekend was given to many of us. Most of the other guys from the course had only arrived on the Monday, so hadn't really hadn't done much in America. With plenty of zeal, we decided upon a roadtrip. The next question remained; where to go? The options on the table were LA, San Diego, Vegas or staying in AZ and doing stuff in and around the State.

After much deliberation and many frustrating phone calls to the 'Hotels' and car rental companies. It appeared we had a car and rooms booked to set off early on Saturday morning. Estimated off blocks time was 0745hrs. We didn't leave until 1200hrs..! With 9 of us going in two cars, the haphazard manner of planning and execution meant that the cars were not where they were meant to be and the payment had not quite been confirmed.

So, we set off , slightly annoyed with the complications, but nonetheless we were on our way. There is nothing quite like a bit of Road trip Banter; two cars, nine guys..! We were racing through the desert , singing rugby songs, playing car sauna and plenty more..

Once we arrived in San Diego, we tried to find our hotel. After asking in one hotel for directions it emerged that we had inadvertently booked into the San Diego YMCA..

Two nights in San Diego and a day at the beach..!