Quick Update

So just a quick update, now as the end of the year approaches I am finished until the new year!

I am exactly halfway done with my commercial exams (4 out of 8), and have approx. 106 hours out of 200!

In less than two weeks I am leaving to the Cape for almost a month, so watch out for many (hopefully) photos in the new year! 

As for now, here are some that I took at Lanseria recently. :)

New Toy!

Hi again! 

After seeing it on special, I decided to finally spend the money on a very nice Canon zoom lens, to give me some extra reach!

Here are just two quick snaps I have taken, with more to follow in the future once I get out and about a bit more with my camera again! 

Night Rating

As of yesterday the 8th of July, I hold a night rating too! 

I passed my flight test after a wonderful evening of flying around the Gauteng area with Ross King, who also did my initial PPL test! Basically what this means is that everything my PPL allows me to do, I can now do at night as well! This is the first step towards my Commercial Pilots License so I am very glad to have it!

For the next number of months all I need to do is build my hours and write my Commercial exams. The CPL requires 200 hours minimum total time of which 100 hours must be PIC (Pilot In Command/No instructor on board). I estimate these hours to take no less than 6 months to achieve! On top of this are the 8 Commercial subjects which I have to write as well, with the 75% pass mark in the back of my mind for added err... encouragement!

Towards the latter stages of my hour building I will begin my ME IF rating. ME stands for Multi Engine while IF is your Instrument rating. What is nice is that these go hand in hand, you do the IF rating in a twin engined aircraft and get both ratings simultaneously! 

Now hopefully with all my hour building flights I will be able to take my camera with and get those pictures I have wanted to take for ages but haven't been able to due to being under instruction on most of my flights up to this point! 

With about 120 hours to go, I think I should switch the computer off and go find an airplane that needs to be flown...!

Finally!!

Wednesday, 15 May 2013...

This was the day (I know it was a while ago, and I've been lazy in updating) that I conducted and passed my Private Pilots License Skills Test! 

Ross, my flight examiner, had given me a route to plan a few days prior, and it was as follows: Lanseria to Vereeniging,where we conducted precautionary landings, and a short field take off. Vereeniging to  

Potchefstroom, and on this leg we did the upper airwork in the Johannesburg General Flying Area (GFA) consisting of stalls and steep turns etc. After the GFA we continued our routing to Potch, and further along this leg Ross gave me the mandatory diversion, overhead Klipdrift dam direct for Pilansberg International Airport!

We saw some heavy cloud in the distance, but luckily we arrived at Pilansberg before we arrived in the cloud! We also took a bit of time on this leg of the navigation to enjoy a Bar One each as we ended up being in the aircraft for almost three and a half hours! Arriving into Pilansberg was a nice experience as I love flying into controlled airspace! After our touch and go at Pilansberg I set the VOR (a radio navigation aid) for Hotel Bravo Victor (HBV, a VOR beacon) which took us straight in to the Hartebeespoort Dam area, my home ground! On the Southern shores of the dam we did the forced landing which went quite well and then it was time to head on home! Ten minutes later we were on the ground back at Lanseria!

So I finally have my little brown book, the PPL, and have already used it in taking my mother and brother for a scenic flight over the dam (my dad had previously flown with me on one of my navigational exercises). I have this week also started my night rating and look forward to this new chapter of flying! And to top it off, I received my wings! I hope to post some pics soon onto this post, so keep an eye out!

And the last word goes to the SA Civil Aviation Authority... Oh boy... ;)

Swartkop Airshow 2013

Great day of amazing flying from some of the best in the world!

Anybody want to donate a zoom lens...? ;)

K.K.

Trying not to get lost...

Very exciting news, for me at least! 

In the last 2 weeks I have completed 2 more exams, finished my solo GF hours, and also finished my 5 hours of simulated basic instrument time! That means all I have left is my ATG exam and to get my restricted radio license which can be done by next week! Apart from that the only flying I have left besides my final check ride is to fly my navs (navigation's)... without getting lost! 

Ok no biggy right? Well up till now, I have only learnt how to fly an aircraft proficiently in localized areas whereas now I have to navigate cross country, while flying the plane, in preparation for doing it solo! Now that I have dramatized the story let me just add that I am super excited for this challenge, and have also been properly briefed on what to do and how to do it. Also the first 2 or 3 navs will be with my instructor. 

My first nav will be Wednesday 24 April, and we will be routing Lanseria- Thabazimbi- Nylstroom- Wonderboom- Lanseria.... pull out your map ;)! 

I am really excited for this stage of 'real' flying and also finishing up the PPL, as it looks like I can be ready to test by the end of April! Hopefully that will be the next you hear from me! But if you don't hear from me in the next month, send search and rescue, I may be lost still trying to find Thabazimbi ....

K.K.

Update :)

It's been a while since my last post, I know!

I have been very busy scurrying through my PPL exams (4 out of 7 completed) and finishing off my solo GF hours at the same time, while trying hard to think of something better to do with my life (just as an exercise of curiosity). I am pleased to announce I cannot think of anything better! I am hoping to finish my PPL in the next month, but at most it should take another two months to complete, as it is mainly dependent on my exams, with my practical training nearing an end already! I look forward to posting my completion next, but for now I can just post some more pics that I have taken and found recently of some of the most amazing machines on earth!

Enjoy! (Photo credits where due are on photographs)

 Where it began for most, as children!

 My current cockpit C172

 My current aircraft C172

 What I would like to be flying in a few short years

 And then perhaps...?

New Pictures

Watch this space, I may add some more pics to this post at a later time!

Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche ZS-MYG

Ex SAAF Boeing 707 Tanker

Kulula Boeing 737-800

My First Solo

So it finally happened. I have been thinking about this day for close to a year now, and on Friday the 8th of February 2013, a day I will never forget, it happened! Best part was, my instructor never told me I was going solo (thanks Jason).

I arrived just before 6am at FALA (Lanseria International Airport) as we had scheduled an early morning lesson in the circuit, because any pilot will tell you how nice and smooth it is to fly early in the morning! We flew a couple of dual circuits, and after about my 4th landing we rolled off the runway ready to request taxi clearance back to the hangars. Just before I contacted ground control, Jason asked me if I was keen to give one a "whack" by myself. Well I had the engine running , I was sitting there strapped into the left seat, and I was 'in the zone' so to speak after our dual practice, so I was not about to say no! Besides, any pilot will also tell you (while you are asking him about early morning flight conditions) that his first solo is probably the single most special and important day in his career. Many will even say you are considered a 'real' pilot only after your first solo!

I finally got to taxi like a big boy onto Lanseria's main apron and had a lesson on how to park like a 'real' pilot on the apron from Jason, and I did so in parking bay Charlie 8 behind a nice big Boeing 737-800 (sorry but all the details are important to me). I then dropped Jason off, who as an instructor proceeded to the control tower to observe. I got taxi clearance back to the active runway run up bays, and commenced my pre-takeoff vital actions. Done! Taxi clearance up to the runway holding point, contact tower control. Done! Line up and wait. Done! Final checks. Done! Clear for takeoff runway 06L. Takeoff! What an amazing experience. The next 10 minutes were a bit blurry but great fun and great experience too! I flew my circuit, making calls to tower where requested, doing my checks where necessary and slotted in behind another student who was in turn behind a Kulula Boeing 737-800 (told you the details were important to me) and landed smoothly, which was fantastic. Taxi back to the apron Charlie 8, and wait for my instructor...

You just don't have enough time to sit there and take it all in! We taxied back to our hangar, and lo and behold I noticed the traditional water buckets! You see, pilots also have weird traditions and initiations, the main one being getting doused with water after you first solo by all your instructors and friends etc. Oh well! Jason told me to leave my phone and other electronics in the plane... hahaha!

The rest is history and I will let the pics speak for themselves. By the way, that is ice in the buckets!

First solo, 8 February 2013, Lanseria International Airport (FALA).

Cessna C172 ZS-PXH.

Sent by Jason Everard from Skyhawk Aviation.

SAAF Museum

Another awesome morning of flying some WWII era aircraft at Air Force Base Zwartkop, Pretoria.

Come on down, they normally fly on the first Saturday of every month!