Seeing as we're being honest...
After reading all the "I learnt about flying from that" articles in Pilot and other mags I resolved that I was never going to be one of the numptys that suffered controlled fight into terrain.....
Qualifying x-country, second leg Exeter - Cardiff, everything going according to plan so far (much to my surprise). Oh look clouds! Oh look hills under clouds! Oh look, from my height above cloudbase ahead of me, I can see a gap all the way through. Let's decend below cloud base and follow the gap through to the Bristol Channel. Oh F**k, where's the gap gone!!!! Looks over shoulder, Oh F**k where's the clear sky behind me!!!!!!.
At that point the gods smiled, the clouds opened and I got to Cardiff. Strangely enough I have never, ever, ever put myself in such a stupid position again (cough splutter, I have come close once).
The moral of the story is that if it looks like s**t, smells like s**t, feels like s**t, then it probably is s**t.
The second moral is know your limitations, expolore your known limits carefully. When in doubt get your ass on the ground.
2 Commandments
1. There are old pilots and bold pilots but there are damn few old bold pilots.
2. I'd rather be down here wishing I was up there than up here wishing I was down there.
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The 16 men of Tain are unsung heroes. CubTrek. To slowly go.....