How rude
So there we were today number 1 at the holding point with 2 other aircraft behind us for runway 10 at Leicester. Circuit extremely busy with both training and visiting aircraft etc and the radio operator doing a valiant job of trying to ease the situation. After holding for about 7 or 8 minutes, some kind soul on Final offers to go-around in order to provide a window of opportunity to clear the backlog at the hold (thanks!). The radio operator calls my aircraft up asking if we're ready for departure and my student replies in the affirmative. Student then announces 'lining up'.... We roll out onto the runway, and backtrack about 20m. As we turn around to commence takeoff, some ignorant s@d in a Pitts scoots onto the runway ahead of us, slams the power on and takes off. Sadly this kind of impatience and poor airmanship seems to happen more often than it used to. I'm also seeing more aircraft landing on runways whilst they're still occupied by other aircraft, or aircraft lining up whilst others still backtracking.... The worry is as the operating costs go up, I expect we'll see even more of this kind of thing happening - but it's pretty shabby in my opinion.
I'm sure that student pilots don't believe half of the 'did I tell you about the time when' stuff that instructors moan about.... So on a positive note, whoever was 'piloting' the Pitts provided my student with a great insight into the kinds of behaviour they'll be encountering when they acquire their licence. But if the 'pilot' hasn't got enough money to pay for another couple of minutes fuel at the hold, perhaps they should consider flying something more affordable?
Rant over.