I finally did it!!!

[Mad Girl]

My Fellow Ppruners

Please indulge me while I allow my sheer happiness to overflow for a bit – in your forum.

Yesterday I did my first solo. Not unusual on this website I hear you say.

However…I have been in the circuit for 6 months trying to learn to land in lovely (?) gusty crosswinds. The weather this year…on Saturdays in particular… has been well and truly crap. It prevented me building any confidence in myself and certainly tested my instructor’s reflexes and patience whilst I tried to invent new and novel ways of killing us both.
The conditions were so bad (to me!!) that I even went through a longish period when all I’d do is go-arounds. I was scared to get near the ground in case the wing hit the runway if a gust caught me out.

Through the months of frustrations a number of Ppruners have been chatting to me and virtually SHOUTING at me down the PM system telling me to RELAX!!!! To Kaptain Kremen, Whirlybird and StiknRuda – Thank you.

I was so overwhelmed and emotional yesterday that I’m sure I forgot to thank the most important person in this saga – HFD (His anonymity intact!!).

Thank you for having the faith in me to do it on a day when the circuit pattern had been changed and the cloud base was low.
Thank you for giving me the confidence to look at the empty seat and not freak out. Thank you for drumming the pre landing checks into me so that I really didn’t have to think too hard how to do them.
Thank you for teaching me sufficient restraint so that I didn’t press the PTT and let everyone know how bad my language can be when an airplane suddenly appeared in front of me on Final (I didn’t even hear him call downwind!!).
Thank you for giving me the confidence to execute a go around, moving onto the dead side and keep the little bu**er in sight at all times.
Thank you for giving me the confidence to fly the “old” circuit pattern to try and get separation between us.
Thank you for teaching me so well that I could fly at the right speed, at the right height and on the right heading whilst frantically trying to spot where the hell he’d gone.
Thank you for teaching me to focus and give the approach my undivided attention so that I actually wasn’t the slightest bit nervous of what I was about to attempt (am I stupid or what??)
Thank you for coming to the airplane, opening the door, crouching down on the wing and giving me the biggest smile.
I don’t know if thank you are the words for laughing at me when I was obviously so emotional that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but was certainly starting to shake – but at least I didn’t fall apart until after the airplane was parked and made safe and for that I thank you.
I don’t know if thank you is the right thing to say for letting the CFI shove a camera at me and try to get me to smile – totally impossible at the time - I was still too shocked that I’d actually done it.
But I will say thank you for when I finally managed to get out of the airplane, you could see how much my hands were shaking and you put your arm around me for the photo.
Thank you for getting all of the staff to hunt high and low for the first solo certificates because you wanted me to have it THAT DAY.
Thank you for finding the corkscrew for the wine my partner brought to the club when I text him the magic word – “SOLO”.

Thank you (hmmm) for being the strictest, hardest, most critical, perfectionist instructor in the air – the hard man reputation is deserved!!

But also thank you for being the nicest, sweetest, gentlest and supportive person on the ground – Hard man reputation now well and truly shattered!!!

Going solo isn’t like doing aeros, where the adrenalin kicks in and the grin starts immediately.

It had to sink in….
I had to think about what I’d done and re-live virtually every hour I’ve been in the air up until that moment – all the frustrations, the doubts, believing I’d never come up to HFD’s expectations and that I was letting him down.
I had to re-live my 2 circuits and one landing, probably several hundred times.
I had to drink copious amounts of red wine at the Clubs Halloween party last night and wake up this morning without a hangover but a BIG smirk on my face.
Whilst writing this… the smile is getting bigger, and bigger and I’ve re-lived the moment again and again.

In case you didn’t get it HFD – THANK YOU.

You’ve made me the happiest person on the planet.

Your totally, utterly, devoted student

MG

[MrMutra]

May I be the first then to write "Congratulations" and " well done " :ok:

I hope that you keep it up and continue to face the challenges within aviation.

Well done :D

MrM

[GusHoneybun]

May I also be the second to second the congratulations fellicitated above.

I still remember vividly my first solo. I can tell you the exact time, date, aircraft reg, weather, cloud, wind, even what the instructor said as the bounded off the wing with a cheery wave. Everything about that day was golden, and I guess the shame is that I will never get the same sense of elation that I had that glorious day. Enjoy the moment.

[Keygrip]

M.G. - I chose to stay as a career instructor/examiner, rather than chase an airline career - and students like you, are the reason why.

[FlyingIsFun]

Nice one Mad Girl. Enjoy the moment, it'll get more and more crazy from now on. Nothing like looking across at that empty right hand seat, whilst you are "temporarily uncertain of position" on a solo nav ex...

[Farrell]

Well done!

Like all of us, you will never forget your first solo.

I with you the very best with your flying for the future.

[Whirlybird]

I TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO IT!

CONGRATULATIONS :ok: :D

[B Fraser]

Your first solo out of the circuit will be almost as much fun.

Well done, now go and hang the certificate in the loo :ok:

[Baboon Boy]

So basically from what I can gather on your first solo you had some joker come in and cut you up on final? Thats harsh, would have **** myself if that had happened to me on my first one, well done!:ok:

By the way, whoever this girl's instructor is, get in there! She obviously fancies the pants off you!

[hugh flung_dung]

Ahem :O

Hfd

[Astral_Flyer]

Mad Girl - Fantastic girl! :D

Your write up reminded me of my very first solo flight over 15 years ago. You hear about all of those that go smoothly and how fantastic it was, blah, blah.

On my first solo I took off without having set the flaps. I knew that it wasn't right when I did my checks after take off. ATC changed runways on me... So that added some more time in the air (loved it) The landing went well ..... Until I lost my nerve as it seemed to float on forever (AA5) and I decided that I should go around. I opened the throttle and "forgot" the nose pitch up. :eek:

The next attempt went like a dream. Not having the bulk of another body by the side of you makes a lot of difference.

My instructor was a "real" instructor who was doing it for the love of it. Like yours he made damned sure I had all the tools (and could demonstrate that I had them) to deal with eventualities, before sending me out. Even if I did make a pigs ear of it first time. I learned a heck of a lot on that first solo. From that point on I really got on well with my instructor. I even told him about my fears and weaknesses, that I wouldn't do before that flight.

From what you have said. I feel that you will make a great pilot. Your instructor IMO is worth his weight in Gold. Keep hold of him! They are hard to find. I'm really happy for you. :)

Astral

[Jinkster]

Most congratulations.....

;)

[Mad Girl]

By the way, whoever this girl's instructor is, get in there! She obviously fancies the pants off you!

Leave HFD alone!!!! :}

I love him dearly - but so does my male partner :eek: (well... likes him a lot anyway!! :ok: )

Had a highly enjoyable evening with HFD and Mrs HFD at the halloween party - from what I can remember... :confused:

Ahem :O

Hfd

Sorry HFD - Didn't mean to embarrass you - I'm just Happy!!!

[Whirlybird]

I wouldn't worry, MG; most of us on here understood where you were coming from.

[tescoapp]

baboon boy. I presume you have never taught any female pilots.

They are actually some of the most rewarding students to teach for a bloke but unfortuantly there should be a seperate FI rating on how to deal with them.

They do have the tendency to become very attached to the instructor which they get on best with. Not always in a romantic manner although what goes on in their heads is a different matter, it just seems more to do with a method of dealing with the stress they are under. Mrs HFD was proberly teasing the hell out of him after being told what a wonderfull person he was by all his pissed up female students.

Things that could have been dealt with, with a chuckle and "you knob" with a bloke. Have to be treated like a live grenade otherwise an explosion of tears will follow.

Well done mad_girl and have fun with the rest of the course.

[Whirlybird]

They are actually some of the most rewarding students to teach for a bloke but unfortuantly there should be a seperate FI rating on how to deal with them.

This is an interesting point, and probably warrants a separate thread rather than highjacking this one...apologies in advance, MG.

A very experienced female instructor friend assures me that women learn to fly differently from men, and need to be taught differently. She found it hard to elaborate, but felt that more research needed to be done on this. I haven't taught many women to fly, but my gut feeling is that she's right. Aviation is still very male-orientated, on the whole. I certainly felt this in the beginning; I don't so much now, probably either because I've changed or because I'm used to it. Of course, every student is different anyway. And a man teaching a woman is probably different from a woman teaching another woman etc etc. Nevertheless, is this an aspect of instructing that we ought to pay more attention to?

(BTW, for those who don't know me, I'm female - a whirly....bird.)

Editing as I just thought of something.....

Most women know that other women are sensitive, and likely to get hurt at criticism or being yelled at. Consequently, I rarely yell at my male students; I assume that because it was counter productive for me to be yelled at, it will be for them to. However, just occasionally I have to - it's the only way to get through to them. And they love it! I find it incomprehensible, but they do!!! Now, is this because men expect or like this teaching method, or is it just their surprise that this small, middle-aged female instructor who's usually so quiet and patient suddenly changes completely, and they like the novelty? Or what?

Answers seriously wanted please.

[i.dingbat]

Congratulations Mad Girl. And well done for coping with the unexpected on your first solo.

And to Whirlybird - I'm male, and I don't like being yelled at. However there are obviously some times when I've warranted it :eek: :uhoh: :rolleyes:

[tescoapp]

On a light note

Was sitting at the hold with a ball busting totally focused soon to be modular commercial female student.

Stu " there are alot of birds on the runway"
me "me well if your not happy tell the tower"

Stu tells tower.
Landy comes screaming out and does its work.

Stu does power checks, half way through birdy lets loose with a flash bang.

30 seconds later I was taxing back to the apron with a sore gut after being punched with the stu in tears thinking I had just got her to order the murder of said birds.

[Astral_Flyer]

This is an interesting point, and probably warrants a separate thread rather than highjacking this one...apologies in advance, MG.
A very experienced female instructor friend assures me that women learn to fly differently from men, and need to be taught differently. She found it hard to elaborate, but felt that more research needed to be done on this.
I do agree that the subject of the way that female students and instructors interact with their male counterparts is worthy of another thread.

One of my intructors later on in my training was a woman. The dynamics were different and the pace of my learning did change. I cannot put a finger on what was going on. I certainly didn't get some of the innuendo and puzzled responses at the way I acted, as I did with the men.

I should have pointed out that I am a woman in my previous post. ;)

Astral

[tescoapp]

I certainly didn't get some of the innuendo and puzzled responses at the way I acted, as I did with the men.


That's because she understood your logic of why you were doing things. She had seen it or done it herself during training.

Its not just flying this problem arises. Driver training is exactly the same.

While teaching HGV you have to get the students to think about the mass of the machine and the amount of lethal damage it will do if you miss handle it.

The discussion I used to do was along the lines of your driving down a urban main road at 30 mph and a cat runs out (this goes for cars as well BTW). What do you do?

95% women and about 10% of blokes would say they would perform an emergency stop try and avoid it.

Which isn't the right answer (and nor is ignore it and do nothing)

But 100% gave the correct answer for a child running out who was chasing the cat.

The different sex's allocate different priorites to actions you just have to get used to this fact. And adjust your teaching to suit. I agree that alot more should be done to understand the differences and to incorporate into instructors training. There are more and more lady pilots about which is a good thing. And it is also a huge market (in the grand scale of a very small market) which I think the majority of schools have failed to capitalise on.

PS i think the mods should do a bit of editing into a new thread and leave this thread as a monument to the flying progress of the flying babe who is mad girl

[Mad Girl]

flying babe

Oh Joy!!! If only you knew!!! :D :D

My feet are now firmly on the ground, I'm not as emotional as I was this weekend, and I'm now in analytical mode trying to work out whether I could have handled the whole thing better - and THATS the true tribute to my instructor.

But you've definitely made my day :)

[tescoapp]

All ladys that fly are flying babes.

It would be a bit rude to call you flying heifiers.

Turning male bastard instructor mode on.

Anyway stop mucking about thinking about the past I bet you haven't passed your Met or Nav exams yet :ugh: . How do you expect to be ready for your solo nav without them under your belt. Now your solo and a pilot we go to the next phase of nagging you :p sorry teaching you how to fly.

;)

Good luck you will have little grins appear out of nowhere for a few weeks everytime you think about it.

[Mad Girl]

stop mucking about thinking about the past.

My "male bastard instructor" tells me to understand what you've done wrong or could have done better, learn from it, AND THEN move on.

bet you haven't passed your Met or Nav exams yet.

Not yet..... But I HAVE passed the other 5 AND the RT Practical:p :p :p

[Mad Girl]

As I chose to put a big thank you on a public forum I should also put up an apology in the same place.

I don’t want to start my solo flying by casting aspersions on another pilot.

Thank you for teaching me sufficient restraint so that I didn’t press the PTT and let everyone know how bad my language can be when an airplane suddenly appeared in front of me on Final (I didn’t even hear him call downwind!!).


I went back to the air/ground controller and asked him if the airplane in question had cut in front of me or whether he had always been in front and I hadn’t seen him.

The guy was ALWAYS in front and my lookout and listen out was crap – so to him I apologise!!. :uhoh:

If I had seen him….I could have flown a longer downwind leg and set myself up for a landing first time around and wouldn’t have had to put myself through a go-around and another circuit complete with another loss of visual contact with all the panic that went with it - totally MY fault.

I still need to understand what other options I could have given myself on the go-around and second circuit but no doubt my instructor will sort me out in my next lesson – when I’m capable of listening to him and taking it in.

I hope…. apology accepted.

I hope….. lesson learned, and I hope….I’ll be a better pilot with improved situational awareness going forwards

[the dean]

Aaaaahhhhh...!! first solo...i remember it well...

congratulations mad girl...as keygrip said when we read things like you have written....not alone do we recall out first solo but we recall why we remained as career instructors/examiners...

so off you go..and start looking to set eyes on the next achievement..

some have lost the plot a little at your stage...so eyes forward....

and for your next buzz....concentrate on putting any little thing right next time that you felt you should have done a little better last time. if that is your goal each time you fly then there is something to achieve each time you strap an aeroplane on to leave the ground...

oh and by the way ...you would have been too busy to look last time.....next time look over and take note of the empty right seat.........CAPTAIN...!!!!:D

good luck...:ok:

the dean.

[cessna l plate]

Congratulations Capt Mad Girl
Reports like yours remind us all of our first solo, as it happens I am sat in my office looking at the certificate on the wall, there for all to see !!!!

Now my first solo wasn't that good either. See the plane started sinking a little at about 30', so as I had been taught I applied a little power to arrest it. Problem was that I didn't have an instructor next to me, so the wheels gently kissed the tarmac, then inertia kicked in and the bloody thing went straight back into the air. This was at Liverpool so loads of tarmac, just chopped the power and floated a while.

Gets back to the clubhouse feeling very chuffed with myself, as you do, also quietly hoping that no-one had seen the second landing. Wrong, everyone shaking my hand and patting me on the back, even got a "congratulations" from the tower. Then someone says "yes, well done, we liked both your landings". Took the shine off a little, but I've nailed every landing since!

Well done again!

[Mad Girl]

Gets back to the clubhouse feeling very chuffed with myself, as you do, also quietly hoping that no-one had seen the second landing. Wrong, everyone shaking my hand and patting me on the back, even got a "congratulations" from the tower. Then someone says "yes, well done, we liked both your landings".

I wasn't feeling chuffed with myself when I got back to the clubhouse - just quiet & emotional - and maybe that's another difference between males and females, and their reactions to certain things??

My partner arrived thinking I'd be "hyper", as I am when I've done some aeros - but he was wrong - and picked up on it straight away.

I'd scared myself silly in the circuit.... so the actual landing was almost a doddle (I couldn't possibly scare myself anymore!!).

But I was awarded 9/10 by the tower for the landing. :)

Still smiling!!!

[Whirlybird]

mad girl,

Everyone's different, whether male or female. For both my first solos, f/w and rotary, I was fed up with all the hype and fuss before I even did them. And afterwards, all I could think was, "Right, that's over, now shut up and can we get on with the rest of the course please". With helicopters, they grounded me for the rest of the day, as was the rule, and I was outraged. Apparently, I wasn't expected to be in a suitable frame of mind to carry on, after this Big Event. Me, I was just really pissed off at being told how well I'd flown, when I knew I hadn't actually, and I wanted to get out and correct my mistakes. I don't like being lied to, for any reason.

I know I'm not typical. I actually now get more excited about my students' first solos than I ever did about my own. I finally realise what a big deal it is...somehow, for some reason, it never felt it to me at the time. Individual differences, folks - all instructors should remember that these two words are probably the most important thing to remember when instructing.

My first solo crosscountry, though, that was another matter. The absolute highlight of my flying career, and I'll never forget it. Aircraft trimmed out, knew where I was, sun shining, and nothing to do for ages but look at the seat next to me, realise there was no-one in it, and marvel at being up in the big wide blue sky all by myself. You'll love it, MG! :ok:

[jaycee46]

Mad Girl
You never forget your first solo. I had two attempts at mine. First time, we were in the circuit, and my instructor called ATC for a full stop landing for him to get out, and the student to fly his first solo. He hadn't told me this was his plan, and I had not yet had my medical :O. Plan abandoned, announced over the approach frequency @ Prestwick for all to hear, and assume that I had bottled it, and no right to reply. Anyway, two weeks later, with a shiny new Class 2 medical, the first solo finally happened. Certainly focuses the mind, and bowels. Had to sit at the hold for about ten mins, as Ryanair's evening arrivals were in full swing, and ATC didn't want a first solo screwing up their commercial traffic, but got away eventually. I'd been struggling, like you, with the x wind landings, but Prestwick has two runways, so it's never too bad. I had a perfect wind, very little, and straight down Runway 31. The landing was probably the best i'd done till then, and since! As I was rolling out, all I heard from the controller was 'smoooooooth' - well done G-PA :).
Any hints on passing these exams!?
Well done

[hugh flung_dung]

Whirly: that makes two of us who aren't typical :) I could have written a post with exactly the same words that you used.
Back when I was 16 (late 60's) I got quite excited about my first solo in a glider but I'd done the bare minimum of launches and shortly beforehand someone landed with rather a lot of winch cable stuck in one wing.
The first solos in later life (f/w, r/w and gliding (again)) were a little ho-hum; first solo being lost (sorry, nav-ex) and first solo in an airway meant much more.

Like you, I now get far more excited about my stude's first solo steps than I ever did about my own.

HFD

[Mad Girl]

first solo being lost (sorry, nav-ex)

Well... I hope you've learned how to teach it better than you flew it...otherwise I'm sure :uhoh: :eek: :\ I'll look forward to that!!!


Like you, I now get far more excited about my stude's first solo steps than I ever did about my own.)

......and I've got the photo to prove it :p

[Mad Girl]

Any hints on passing these exams!?


Sorry Jaycee46 - as you're a probationary Ppruner your reply snuck in between Whirly and HFD so I didn't see it until this morning.

Unfortunately the only hint you'll get from me is read the books, make brief notes, read it again, and again, until you've got it straight in your head.

If you've got instructor like mine who has a different job during the week but you get on well - see if he/she minds you e-mailing questions to them during the week - it means you don't have to wait for your next lesson and then bombard them, when you should be concentrating on the flying lesson and also makes better use of the time you've put aside for studying - and make sure you DO put aside a few hours at a time - a few minutes here and there just makes it harder to take in as you have to re-read what you did last time to refresh, before you can learn some more.

I also got the PPL confuser and set up mock exams taking every 3rd or 4th question so that I had a range across the sylabus and sat them under exam conditions.

Don't attempt this until you've done the work as you're in danger of just learning the answers to the questions in the confuser rather then the subject matter in the books.

By the time I was confident I could attempt an answer to ALL of the questions in the confuser bank in less than the time allowed for the few questions in the exams - and achieve a borderline pass mark - I sat them. I went for the speed because I wanted to get out of the classroom as fast as possible - This may not work for you as we're all different.

Air Law was the hardest and I didn't get a particularly good mark (80%) but I was out in 40 minutes. All the others were much better.

I did Aircraft technical in 20 minutes (should be 1 1/2 hours) and got 90%.
HPL 10 minutes - 100%, Performance and Planning 15 minutes - 95%, RT theory 12 minutes - 97%.

I did a couple of sessions of ground school for RT - to ensure I understood the theory and to do trial routes for the Practical. Sorry - couldn't find a way of speeding up the practical - took 1 1/2 hours - and I hated every minute - doing my first oral exam at 43 was not fun and I was as nervous as hell.

Don't be put off by what I've done as I had plenty of practise studying for my professional qualification - which I taught myself.

There is no substitite for doing the work thoroughly.

I hate doing exams and it nearly put me off doing the PPL - now I just accept it's got to be done - and just get on with it. (It also helped that I've got an instructor who would get a gold medal in the olympics for nagging - and getting a lot of the exams out of the way very quickly gave him one less thing to pick on :D )

If you have any problems with any of the subject matter and don't want to talk to your instructor about it- PM me and I'll try to help. And if I don't know or can't explain it very well it will prompt me to go back to the books and read it again.

Good Luck and Happy Flying :ok:

MG

PS - Well done on the solo - got the adrenalin moving didn't it??

[llanfairpg]

Its not just flying this problem arises. Driver training is exactly the same.

While teaching HGV you have to get the students to think about the mass of the machine and the amount of lethal damage it will do if you miss handle it.

The discussion I used to do was along the lines of your driving down a urban main road at 30 mph and a cat runs out (this goes for cars as well BTW). What do you do?

95% women and about 10% of blokes would say they would perform an emergency stop try and avoid it.

Which isn't the right answer (and nor is ignore it and do nothing)

But 100% gave the correct answer for a child running out who was chasing the cat.

The different sex's allocate different priorites to actions you just have to get used to this fact. And adjust your teaching to suit. I agree that alot more should be done to understand the differences and to incorporate into instructors training. There are more and more lady pilots about which is a good thing. And it is also a huge market (in the grand scale of a very small market) which I think the majority of schools have failed to capitalise on.

PS i think the mods should do a bit of editing into a new thread and leave this thread as a monument to the flying progress of the flying babe who is mad girl

But before they do that I would like to add, as an instructor both of fllying and motorcycling I disagree with your reasoning.

To say that running the cat over is the answer is the non thinking drivers answer. When driving you should be aware of all the hazards around you that includes vehicles behind you and oncoming traffic, road conditions etc.

There are many cases in which it would be perfectly safe to do an emergency stop at 30 mph to avoid killing an animal and regardless of what you or i or the DVLA say there are many people who would not dream of doing otherwise. On that basis it is better to think outside of the box rather that use standard inflexible rules of stone. Knowing when you can carry out an emergency stop in complete safety is a better skill to question.

In regard to female and male students again some thought outside the box is needed here. I know a couple of women who wouldnt think twice of getting out of their cars and smacking someone on the nose.I also know a few guys that probably sit down to pee! What i am trying to say is that you should never streotype any student in regard to sex, race or anything else. a good instructor asesses each student on their own personel merit and character. Human beings are individuals and should be treated as such.

[cessna l plate]

Have to agree with you to a point llanfairpg. Yes drivers, not just the student variety, have to be aware of all prevailing circumstances.

However, what was reffered to was a HGV learner. Yes, I am sure 95% of drivers would carry out an emergency stop to avoid the cat. Have you tried an emergency stop in 44t of artic?? Not pretty at best. If the conditions and speed are right, you have an even chance of your trailer overtaking you!!!

The point being made is that as HGV's are so difficult to stop when really heavily loaded that you need to think out of the box all the time. You develop a skill of being one step ahead of the vehicle at all times, second guesing what others are going to do, especially on motorways when the BMW is trying to get 3 feet infront of you. The same applies in the air, you need to be ahead of what the aircraft is doing by anticipating what's happening next.

[tescoapp]

Which isn't the right answer (and nor is ignore it and do nothing)


I will expand abit on that quote.

The answer I was looking for is to begin a controlled brake keeping the lorry under control. This doesn't mean slam the brake pedal to the floor and hope the ABs looks after the whole lot. It involves progressive braking and selecting of a low gear.

Its a progressive brake to allow the people behind to see and brake themselves. And also it starts the braking process which can then be turned into an emergency stop if there is a person chasing the cat to try and catch it.
You can actually be done for dangerous driving in an artic for doing a emergency stop for a cat running across the road.

At low weights they stop alot quicker than a car and alot quicker than a bus. Did you know that if you do a emergency stop infront of a bus you have to wait and confirm that no injurys have been sustained on the bus? Otherwise you are leaving the scene. If you have a school run tail gating you (you proberly won't even know about it. If you can't see the mirrors we can't see you) They will just go straight into the back bars which won't even bend, the back of the trailer will be lifted and the fire brigade will then spend the next 2 hours trying to cut out 2 kids and save the legs of the driver.

There are several things that can happen during a hard brake on a HGV which are potentially lethal.

1. The trailer decides its going to over take the unit ie (jack knife) you then have 45ft of trailer swing round at 25mph across the road which will mount the pavement and take out all other road user's in the way.

2. A tyre blows out. 120psi propelling rubber shrapnel onto the pavement.

3. The load cuts loose. In theory you should have strapped it down so that it should stay on if you tip it on its side. But things fail in service.

4. Carrying pipe or sheet metal. The load slips and 35ft of pipe comes straight through the trailer end through the cab and bounces down the road. Or the sheet metal does the same and it takes 10 mins for you to die depending if you have enough gumption to throw yourself sideways to break the suction keeping your guts in.

A full blown emergency stop in an artic is akin to a forced landing in a plane. If everything works it all ends with happy faces. If one thing is wrong it all ends in tears.

Which is why the lorry drivers get so wound up when people nick there safety zone by nipping infront coming up to a roundabout or Motor cycles deciding that the half lane you have left on the inside to turn left is a perfect size for them. And from experence it stays with you for ever when you run a MC over and he looses his leg.

BTW even in a car I wouldn't do an emergency stop these days for a cat. Even though I haven't been in an artic for 2 years now you can't stop the reflexs working. Still looking 500yards ahead, still braking with the gear box, still double declutching and of course being a bastard and pushing in on roundabouts and taking every oppertunity to piss taxi drivers off.

[cessna l plate]

Well said, that did need clarifying. I would suggest that car drivers arrange to spend some time in the cab of an artic, half a day would be enough to open their eyes, and I know of some haulage firms that will do this if asked!

The mantra of it, and its application into aviation is be prepared, and always expect the unexpected, and predict what you can!

[paco]

First of all Mad (cheshire cat) Girl - well done!

On the subject of males vs females, it might be politically incorrect to say so, but since my middle name is Attila, I must say that I found that there were differences when I used to teach people to fix computers.

Women have more connections between the left and right halves of their brains. Since men do not, they tend to compartmentalise, that is to say, they are more able to leave home affairs behind when they go to work, and vice versa. In other words, once in a compartment of their lives, they can better remain there to the exclusion of anything else. Thus with men you are better off teaching one thing at a time.

Women, on the other hand, see things more holistically, or globally - they connect things up more. They can see underlying detail and relationships more clearly, but may not be able to visualise objectives or goals properly.
Thus, if an issue is not resolved in the cockpit, a male pilot may go home, leaving things on hold while he opens the “home” compartment, and could even have forgotten about it next time he gets back in the cockpit. A female pilot, however, might continue thinking about the issue until some closure is achieved. With women, you can cover several things at once.

Whilst we're on the subject....

Women have a speaking style that is more historical, presented in a narrative-type fashion. Thus, there is more detail in what they say, and they may ask questions in general conversation that men would actually find intrusive or demeaning, or even threatening. The end of the story comes at the end. For women, the purpose behind a conversation is to build rapport and provide help, while for men, it’s to report facts, and the end might come at the beginning of a conversation, and without much detail at all, hence the frustration when a man asks a question of a woman, expecting the answer straight away, but actually getting it over the next five minutes. On the other side of the coin, a long email that gets a 4-word reply can be just as frustrating for a woman.

If you are a woman, and you see a man’s eyes glaze over while you are speaking to them, it’s not because they don’t care about what you are saying - they are tuning out the irrelevant bits until you get to the bottom line. Speaking louder and slower will not change things, and adding more detail will only get an interruption! Try giving the bottom line first, then asking if more detail is required.

Don’t use hints, either. The question “Would you like a coffee?” from a female to a male colleague really means “I would like a coffee.” Similarly, saying something like “Would you amend this publication, if you’ve got time?” leaves many options open, and will likely mean it doesn’t get done at all (never leave anyone an option to say No - sales 101). Being more direct would get more results - men are not mind readers, although they should, of course, learn to listen more attentively, and between the lines!

Phil

[BEagle]

".......although what goes on in their heads is a different matter...."

Too true - ladies are rather more complex creatures as the following indicates only too clearly:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/Manandthewoman.jpg

I used to enjoy teaching my UAS ladies, because they would never settle for being 'average', unlike the lads. Some (of either sex) couldn't make the required standard in the required time, but on the whole the ladies generally put more effort into their flying.

And at least they washed their flying suits. Unlike the lads', which frequently stank of beer, barbecue and BO!

[Mad Girl]

some have lost the plot a little at your stage...so eyes forward.....

Sorry... I definitely lost the plot the next time up. It was a beautiful sunny day and everyone had decided to get out of bed and "clog-up" our circuit. I'd scared myself so badly losing visual on an aircraft on my solo that I was totally fixated on anything that got even remotely close to us to the point of not keeping a good lookout for anyone else.

It's the one you don't see that gets you, not the one you've spotted.

I flew like a right tosser!!!! :sad: - But one thing I've learned is "Move on" and forget about it.

oh and by the way ...you would have been too busy to look last time.....next time look over and take note of the empty right seat.........CAPTAIN...!!!!

Hasn't happened yet.

HFD was quite tempted on Saturday 'cos I was actually getting it together again but luckily common sense won.:\ Crosswinds again.... gusty at times and a bit of turbulence at two different points in the circuit.

I don't have a great deal of confidence in my ability to deal with certain situations and one of the hardest things I've had to learn is to trust my instructors judgement - That's really hard!!!!

Destiny in MY own hands, but on HIS say so!!!!!!! :uhoh: