Good
evening!
Now
an important milestone in my career has been
accomplished: my first solo flight. Last week was the third
consecutive week of practical flight training, and thanks to the
weather being flyable every day except one 10 of the 12 students in
my class, including myself, managed to do our first solo flight
before this week's theory classes. Of course we have been looking
forward to this moment a lot so it was a rewarding experience, and a
great feeling to manage to fly an airplane all by ourselves!
The
days before the solo flight we practised a lot of starts and landings
and also emergency procedures if the engine stops at take-off,
landing or low altitudes in general. Our airplane is a very safe
plane and the geography in rural Skåne is very forgiving, so even in
the very unlikely event that the engine stops we should be able to
land safely on a field or even on the same runway we just left, no
matter when in happens.
On
Friday, the very day of our solo flights, we began flying just as we
had the day before (on the ”final rehersal”) flying back and
forth landing and starting immediately again (”touch-and-go
landings”) on the same runway. After three such landings, if the
instructor judges that we're ready, he/she steps out and we continue
doing the same thing for another four landings all by ourselves. All
of us that had passed the ”final rehersal” could complete our
solo flights. Later in the day the class gathered and those who
finished their solo flights that same day were all greeted by
respective instructor and then soaked by a bucket of cold water. This
is an old tradition...
In
the evening the same day, last Friday, I ”hitchhiked” to
Jönköping, where I had decided to spend the weekend, with my
classmate who was going to his hometown Linköping. In Jönköping I
met my cousin and my aunt who both live there, and then my friend
Andreas from my physics class in Uppsala who guided me around the
town. We also went fishing (no bites) and on a half day trip to
Eksjö, a small and cute old town in the countryside where they had a
pretty large air show. On Sunday evening, I tried the famous
Jönköping kebab pizza (it was great!), and then hitchhiked back to
Ljungbyhed with Sören and a perfect week came to an end.
This
week we have had only theory lessons studying the final parts of the
Private Pilot License stuff. Next week I will, together with half my
class, fly again and we'll do our first solo flights outside the
airport area and simple navigation flying according to a predecided
timetable, and more. The following week the other half of the class
will fly while we others will have final theory repetition before the
final school exams in three weeks from now, on September 13th.
Another week later we will do in principle the same exams but for
Transportstyrelsen, the Swedish aviation authorities, and if we pass
all parts of that exam then we are ready for acquiring a Private
Pilot License regarding the theory part. The exam consists of ten
parts or so and each part costs 500 SEK per try, so I better succeed
on the first try...
Finally,
some bad news, however not affecting me this far. Believe it or not,
while Ljungbyhed is a rural village, it's locally known for having
lots of burglars and thieves. And since my class arrived in June,
we've been exposed to a lot of trouble. As of before, we had heard
about lots of people getting their bicycles and car gasoline stolen.
Then in the beginning of the summer someone, who seemed to have
aquired a key to our housing, stole food from the refrigerators. It's
hard to believe, but a lot of things from a new pork fillet to an
open package (!) of ham have gone missing. Soon after, expensive
sport shoes put outside one's apartment also were stolen.
We then let
change the locks and barricaded the basement doors. Then they broke
one's bicycle lock (but changed their mind and put the bicycle at
another place), and also they stole more gasoline from cars on the
parking lot. A while later, people once again entered the building,
presumably through veranda doors that someone forgot to lock, and
stole more food and other stuff. The straw that broke the camel's
back came yesterday when they stole a motorcycle belonging to one of
the military pilots who are here temporarily. So starting tonight, we
will take turns staying awake on guard during the nights.
Blue skies!
Photos:
Four
very excited TFHS students line up on solo flight day.
My
instructor leaves me alone for the first time.
A
very happy me.
Six
very wet but happy students.
Jönköping
sightseeing and fishing with Andreas.
Eksjö
air show (flygdag) 2012.
Eksjö wodden town, popular tourist destination.
Beautiful
and completely quiet advanced flying with a sailplane. Must try
flying a sailplane sometime as well! By the way, did you know that
the age limit to aquire a sailplane pilot license is 15 years, and
that it usually costs only around 20 000-25 000 SEK? As a comparison,
to aquire a PPL for engine-driven aircraft you need to be 17 years
and often pay more than 100 000 SEK.
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