@clarepropThe 'operations' link isn't working any more - but I'm sure that's just coincidence...
Sam, didn't you just
know that was going to happen...
A little message to whoever deleted the website link (as you're obviously reading this thread), you're wasting your time. This is the internet. If you tell a lie, it stays for ever...fourth para down...
Tracey Curtis Taylor - Aviatrix, Adventurer, Inspirational Speaker
Whoever you are, it's likely you aren't a pilot so let me take five minutes to give you my thoughts on why people here are so angry.
Although our training is not so intense (nowhere near in fact), as say for example, the Paras, the Royal Marines or special forces, we take achievement very seriously. The aforementioned troops reserve their most basic repugnance for sad characters called 'Walt's' (after Walter Mitty) who pretend to have been part of their fold to impress others. To pilots, going solo is one of the most fundamental steps in aviation. It's not just the first solo but the first solo circuits, night flights, instrument flights or navigation flights. We set the term 'solo' as a proud standard - it means something to all of us and each can relate to another pilot who has achieved the same. To call yourself a long distance solo pilot using basic navigation is something to be admired and praised - much like a solo Atlantic or Pacific sailor - it is an incredible adventure which is honoured by your peers. However, to say you will do this or worse, to say you have done it, as an attempt to deceive brings out the same emotions as felt by the soldier who has trained so hard. It's cheating, pure and simple. It's cheating every nervous 10 hour pilot on his or her first solo, every quaking first cross-country navigator but most of all, it cheats those who have gone before and really put their lives on the line to push the boundaries.
Do the decent thing and tell the truth.