My Flying

This is in response to a message posted on Avcom.

I don't know if you have been following my own 'blog' in the pages of SA Flyer, but I've been reading your blog - full marks for perseverance - keep it up
It is clearly a lot harder to learn to fly using winch launches in a place without much thermals than it is for me at Brits using aerotow (at R150 a pop)

Don't let the accident keep you down. Learn from it and grow. GL

Hi GL

Thanks for the kind words. I am definitely very shaken, but have not considered moving away from aviation or flying. This is of course a completely different matter where my wife is concerned.

I do follow you progress in SA Flyer and it is interesting to note how things differs and are yet the same. Keep up the good work!

The greatest obstacle I have found in learning to fly gliders is the instruction. Sometimes an instructor will not arrive for duty, and then all students are naturally grounded for the day. But even more difficult to cope with is not having a designated instructor, but having to be instructed by one from a group of seven instructors.

The problem with this is that, not only do their styles and priorities differ, but even more so you can’t really develop a relationship with one. So he can’t truly follow your progress accurately and help you to concentrate and work on areas that need attention. I think this really slows down the learning process.

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One of our motor glider members was involved in a serious crash, late Saturday afternoon. There was a very sad loss of life and he is presently in hospital in ICU.

I will add more to this story at a later stage.

Update 19/01/2007: The pilot is recovering.

No training yet. Due to start next week.

A Happy New Year to ye' all, my fans, friends and family!

Overall the camp was a success and thank you to the organisers. It would have been much better if the weather had played along. The average thermals for our time there were no more than 2.5m/s. Sad, but we made the best of it.

Click here to view photos.

Short camp summary:

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