The Flying Fish

. . . hearing that you've passed all your commercial pilot license exams. What can I say? I got the news 30minutes ago, and I'm shaking with relief and happiness. The hard work has paid off!

Saturday, 18 June I’ve finally done it! After several days of procrastination and bad weather, I finally got my act together and told myself to go for a flight in a Cessna 152. And I survived! For the past couple of days I’ve been asking myself one question; To fly, or not to fly? Ask any pilot that question and they’ll probably hit you with a large, heavy object. Trying to decide whether or not you should go fly is like deciding whether or not you need oxygen. So why the hesitation? Well, the last time I flew all on my lonesome in a C152 was about a year ago. During my PPL training, I only flew solo after a quick dual flight to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything. So this was quite different; I would be climbing into a relatively new aircraft, by myself, right off the bat, and I was scared. I knew that if I didn’t get over my fear soon, it would just consume me. I knew that all I had to do was get in the plane and fly... And I eventually did that (after the thing started). When...

After waiting several weeks to get my paperwork for my Night Rating back, I got fed up and called the CAA. They had received my application, but they just hadn’t posted the stuff I need. They sent me a fax to prove that they had indeed processed my application, and I was Night Rated. A few days later I get a phone call from them. “We can’t process your application because you don’t have the required hours.”... Well isn’t that just fantastic. So I hauled out my logbook, and hey look, I didn’t actually have the required number hours. My instructor and I somehow missed that I only had 4.9hrs actual instrument time (requirement is at least 5hrs). Now what? It’s been over 30 days since my test, so will I have to retest? After calling the CAA for hours my instructor and I finally got through to someone in Licensing, and they said it would be okay if I just get the hours and submit a new logbook summary. Thank goodness! So it just goes to show how easy it is to miss something. Needless...

So after much waiting, pacing, hair-pulling, and listening to excuses from the CAA, I got my exam results. Instruments = Pass. Happy! Air Law = Fail. Here I thought I had aced Law. Just goes to show you that these things are so unpredictable. All that's left is Air Law and Navigation. And I have just under 3 weeks to study. Please, please, PLEASE let me pass these next time!

Friday, 13th Today was the first time in a long time that I was up before 8am (I’m definitely not a morning person). I eagerly made my way to BP to get some petrol for the plane, and then headed towards the airfield. Not even 5km from home, the weather went from sunny to fog. Oh well, I’ll take my time putting the fuel in and maybe it will burn off. Almost an hour later, and no improvement. Okay, I’ll go and have some coffee. After 30 minutes, there was still no improvement. Great. The met office said it should start to clear... Rule of thumb, when the met man says something, expect the exact opposite ;) So instead of flying, I went to Cape Town in search of boots. That mission was also unsuccessful. Saturday, 14th Yes, sunny with a light breeze. I went for a walk around the neighbourhood, and when I looked to the north and west, I was greeted with walls of fog. Right then, no flying for me today. Monday, 16th Fog isn’t bad in Stellenbosch, it’s just hazy. So I decided to stay close to...

On Monday I wrote the Law & Ops exam. In true CAA fashion, they asked some strange questions. But luckily there was a total of about 44 questions, so you have room for error. I can barely remember what the exam was like, so I’m just going to have to wait and see if I passed. Instruments, well... I was most worried about the Magnetism side of things, and for the last couple of days I worked hard on those sort of questions. The CAA threw a real curve ball and gave us quite a basic paper; a whole 22 questions, four of which required calculations. I had been so focused on mastering the complex calculations that I forgot to study the basic stuff. So I have no clue as to how well I’m going to do in that exam. I wish I could really relax and be even more lazy than usual, but I still have Nav left, so I suppose I should start studying for that. Ugh. Until next time.

I realise that this is a bit late... Saturday, 16 April 2011 Swirling smoke rises into the sky, obscuring the sun and giving everything an orange glow. The source; a raging fire on the Helderberg Mountain. Curious person that I am, I went to investigate, and I was shocked at how much of the Nature Reserve was going up in flames. Fire engines, Police cars and Traffic Cops were everywhere, and crowds of people had parked on the side of the road near the dam at the base of the Reserve in order to watch. Minutes after arriving (12:20), I heard the tell-tale ‘wap, wap, wap’ of the Huey. ZS-HBU, based at Stellenbosch airfield, came through the Helderberg Gap and immediately set to work. Twenty minutes later, a Kamov came along to join in the fun, and the two choppers set about bombing the flames closest to the residential area. The fire extended from the bottom of the Reserve, to the very top of the Helderberg Mountain. The strong south easterly winds were pushing it towards the western slop...