New commercial pilot on the block!

I am officially a commercial pilot!

13 November is now a day to remember for me, as after 2 weeks of weather cancellations I finally managed to complete my CPL flight test. 

It has been a very busy last couple of months finishing my flight training, but it has been worth the work and wait to now hold a commercial pilot licence!

Now, anybody need a pilot...? ;)

Kyle Kruger - Multi Engine Instrument Rated Commercial Pilot

The end is near!

With less than 12 hours of PIC time remaining and having already started the instrument rating, I am hoping to be only one month away from holding a Commercial Pilots License. 

Since finishing my last CPL exam in May, it has been a busy time of hour building and dual instruction flights for the instrument rating! I have even begun flying an immaculate Mooney M20J in preparation of flying a multi engined aircraft, to get used to the speed and 'complex' systems of Multi/IF flying. That, and its an excuse to fly an extremely fun aircraft... ;)

To get rid of a large chunk of hours in one go, I decided to fly down to Durban in my most trusted C172, ZS-PXI. I invited my friend Simon who was only too happy to go along (read 'get a free holiday'), and we flew down on Monday July 14, stayed over one night and flew back the next morning. Attached are some pictures from the experience-building 8 hour return trip! 

 On our way

 Stunning South African expanse

 My map reflecting

 Beautiful early morning, low-level cloud 

 The start of the majestic Drakensberg Mountain range

 KwaZulu-Natal farmlands

 Hills and valleys 

 Arrival via the Durban Harbor 

 The Bluff

 Durban Harbor

 Virginia Airport, right on the beach

 Departing early the next day

 The breath-taking sunrise

 Some low-level practice

The beach beneath us, before turning inland for Johannesburg

2014 Zwartkop Air Show

So the week before my awesome Harvard flight was the fantastic annual AFB Zwartkop Air Show, and once again it was spectacular and did not fail to deliver!

Here are a few of my pictures from the show, hope you enjoy! :D

Best Flight Ever

Hello again! 

So here is a picture of my best flight ever! It was my first experience of aerobatics and my first experience of Warbirds too!

The aircraft, Harvard 7166 (ZU-AOZ) of the South African Air Force (retired). Built in the late 1930's to early 1940's, that makes this aircraft 70+ years old! They were designed for the purpose of training WWII pilots before stepping up to aircraft like the P-51 Mustang! This was a dream come true, thanks to my parents for organising me a birthday present like no other! 

Stay tuned as I had a GoPro camera with me and will post a link to the footage once it has been edited!

This is what she looks like in entirety. (photo by Stuart Soden)

Did I mention... BEST FLIGHT EVER!

My First Video

I have recently realised what a great companion an iPhone is in the cockpit, so here is a YouTube link to a fun video of a recent flight, complete with some ATC audio! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO6UT8hvCpc

iPhone Camera!

So, it turns out the iPhone has an awesome camera on it, which allows me to have it in the cockpit while I'm flying at all times, and for you it means great perspective! Enjoy! :)

Holiday!

Well I'm back up and running for the new year!

I recently got a new computer and am struggling to get my Cape Holiday pictures onto the new one, but here are some from Plett. 

I think you can see what I prefer to photograph, even on holiday... ;)