Pictures...

Our mess table and the name...

The boys go solo...

(John and I in the air the day before his solo flight. My beloclava is the best sunblock and the only thing that works!) Also the two happy faces of Mick (front seat) after his first solo and Mike equally happy.)

There is always something special about a solo flight. That triumph of man over machine, the sweet taste of victory after weeks of disciplined training - it is something that few understand and fewer still experience for themselves. The sacrifice two new pilots have made to join the rank of those that can justifiably look down upon those that have never gone solo, though big has been well worth it, especially looking at their faces. Mick the SOS Capt did his first solo flight day before yesterday. Then John followed with a solid performance yesterday (27th Feb). Well done and congratulations! (Could this be the start of the SOS Air Wing Division?)

Today we are going to see if Fred can get there. He has been struggling a bit with those landing, which is the most difficult part of flight. Looking at the CCTV monitors the weather seems fine and the only excuse left must be his lovey girlfriend Maria. (I would be distracted too Fred! ;)

Mixed in with this sense of joy is some nostalgia. Our time on board the ship is coming to an end. Two weeks of mingling it up with the crew and they in turn having made us feel like part of the family makes it hard to say good buy. We got a SOS ships T-shirt which is cool. (The crew members wear them all the time). We will miss this time and the new friends we have made. Of course life on the island is just like that - people come and go. On the other hand, I am also so ready to go home too - I can not wait for that familiarity of my own bed! I start my journey home on Monday at lunchtime. It is going to be a long trip since this time round I fly to Mauritius first before connecting to Jhb. The end result is that I will only arrive back in Grg on Tuesday the 2nd (it must be the longest trip ever from Sez to SA!) Naturally I think it is worth it...
;-)

27 Feb...

Flying around rain cells. There is good reason for the whites of Mike's eyes!

27 Feb
It was still a struggle to get up. 5 o clock is just not my cup of tea! The usual morning ritual followed – having a pee, washing the face, running hot water, shaving, showering – all in an effort to shed the comatosed state of those that have been deprived of sleep. Still, when I walked into the mess and greeted John there was undenyable effort to keep the eyes wide and bright. Even John looked the part – we were both longing for that sleep!

Every morning we wish for rain. It is not that we do not want to go flying, just that there is this desire to stay in bed longer – well at least till its light. This morning flashes of lightning greeted our eyes from the mess room. Even from the CCTV it was clearly visible without needing to go outside. Of course by now we were up and kind of awake. The feeling of being cheated enters the mind. I could have been sleeping. Then we would not have known it was thundery outside. Ofcourse, but maybe we could have looked first before going through the wake-up ritual. Even that would not have worked. Getting to the deck involves some stairs (effort) and it’s still too dark to see anything. One needed some light to see if the clouds were really threatening or not and by the time you can see that it is good you need to be at the airport to take advantage of the early morning air. Even with the signs of lightning one could not be too sure of its distance – the activity could be far away and flying at the airport quite good. No, the notion of being cheated is well grounded and for a moment it lingers in the mind.

We waited till 6:30. By his time it was light enough to see what’s going on. We walked out on deck and looked around. The sky was filled with CB cells. Big ones. A new one was developing over the airport and I could see the rain falling from its base clearly. The tops were billowing upwards at a healthy rate of knots. It’s an easy call. My bed is so snuggly and comforting…

26 Feb

Another long and hard day. Up at 5 and 5 hours training. Teaching people to fly sure is a tough job...

The sun stroked the high clouds with dashes of pink, eluding the presence of some over development in places but it was still too dark to see clearly. When we arrived at the airport I could see there was some rain falling out to the north east but the wind was light and we had at least an hour or two of flying time. I manged to coax Fred into the early morning session, which was tough. He is the only one on board with a girlfriend and I could see he did not like the idea of being pried away from those lovely comforting arms in the early hours of the morning, especially for the stress of having to land and not dying. In the beginning Fred did his best to try and kill us on a number of occasions. In fact even now he reminds the two of us of that hidden tendency lurking in that muddled student brain. It is the kind of lurking that keep us flight instructors pondering the wonders of desk jobs... But for some inexplicable reason we keep doing it. (Maybe because we need the money!;)

And so it is with John and Fred. That lurking killer. Ever present. Making us work for our money. That is why I am, once again, so tired. Or it could just be the 5 o clock starts. ;)

We got grounded 3 times during the day because of CB cells. They were moving in from the North East and very well marked so we could judge it well when to quite and go and land. One actually had a weak gust front that made the students take note. I guess all good in the training process. At lunch time one large cell was overhead the island and rumbled away in deep resonating pleasure. We were starving and since we were heading to the ship for some of Evelyn's great meals it all sounded good.

Tommorrow is another fiver for me and John. I hope to see some more progress. (It has been there but slow in coming. ;) Guess then it is time to turn in...

25 th Feb

Phew! Boy I am tired. Up at 5 this morning and only back at 8. 5 hours of intensive training. I am off to bed now because tomorrow is another 5 o clock start... But the sea is beautiful. and clean. Saw some dolphins, sharks, bump head parrot fish, eagle rays and stuff while doing circuits around the runway. So it is all pretty... But I am pretty tired now. Will write something good soon...

:-)

It rains.

23 Feb!

Finally it rains! Mike and I are relieved - it means i is a rest day. Ha! That is a mistake. Fly we might not have but rest we did not. It was lecture time and we set some brains on the boil stuffing them with lots and lots of new information - all about weather and navigation and other interesting bits of air law. It was 3 hours of the stuff in the morning. then lunch. Then another three hour session of navigation in the afternoon (which was more like 4 hours!). Every now and then I would walk out to check on the weather (there are these cool CCTV circuits on the big screen so we can see what the weather is doing) just to make sure that the CCTV monitors were not lying. There was a slow drizzle all day. But it did mean we got home earlier. No need for sunset flights with late pack ups. I actually hope for good weather so we can fly. The students need more experience before we leave - we only have 5 days left...

Will keep you posted!

Progress...

Wow. Time flies. Would you believe it is the 22nd? At least there is progress in the flying. Mick is landing o his own - now and then we have to put in some input but it is minimum. In smooth air he will manage real well. He is just about ready for his first solo - I am sure he does not feel the same though! ;-) John too has been making great progress. his feel for direction and pitch on climb out is spot on - it is just his landings that wander off every now and then. Nothing that more practice wont cure. Fred has been spending some time with Mike. His confidence is also increasing and even though he does not believe he is progressing we can see the difference.

The weather has been unusually fine. We have had no rain and the winds have been light to moderate north westerly all the time. The flying around the runway is very enjoyable with a mix of turbulence and smooth areas - great for giving the pilots exposure to a variety of conditions. But Mike and I are both tired. For this reason I am going to sign off and go to bed.

;)