What do you love about flying?
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Australia
Age: 58
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There is no better freedom than when flying the gliders. There are so many extraordinary sensations in soaring flight, lovely chapters of true freedom and enjoyment in a...
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Australia
Age: 58
Posts: 423
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From an old RAAF advertisement circa 1970's:
" I'm sailing up here it's a beautiful day,
The Earth seems million miles away,
it seems like only yesterday, I dreamt that I would fly.
On the wing of an Eagle I,
can reach right up and touch the sky,
I've broken all the chains that bind and seen the world through different eyes,
Hey, look at me, I can fly!".
" I'm sailing up here it's a beautiful day,
The Earth seems million miles away,
it seems like only yesterday, I dreamt that I would fly.
On the wing of an Eagle I,
can reach right up and touch the sky,
I've broken all the chains that bind and seen the world through different eyes,
Hey, look at me, I can fly!".
I've been lucky enough (some would say otherwise, I suppose...) to have, in 9000 hrs, never flown anything with an autopilot*, which has been fine because one of the greatest joys in flying, for me, is getting comfortable enough with the machine to not have to think about how you want it to move, just letting your hands and feet do their thing and making it happen with relatively little effort.
Most of my time's been on helicopters or aerobatic fixed wing, where the connection between eyes, hands, feet and aircraft is very direct and responsive; and throwing yourself around the sky in either a full-on or smooth and relaxed way depending on your mood and the situation is a privilege I'm glad I've had.
Then there's the places you find yourself - jungle pads, beaches, rocky peaks, the backs of ocean-going vessels (I'm talking rotary here of course), or the inside of clouds, hanging off the wing of another aeroplane, flaring onto some steeply sloping grass goat track, coming down the ILS over a big city at night - I could go on and on but won't, you'll be glad to hear! All I'll say in closing is I've done some great **** and felt very fortunate about it.
*Apart from a few minutes here and there in AS350s with dodgy heading / altitude hold.
Most of my time's been on helicopters or aerobatic fixed wing, where the connection between eyes, hands, feet and aircraft is very direct and responsive; and throwing yourself around the sky in either a full-on or smooth and relaxed way depending on your mood and the situation is a privilege I'm glad I've had.
Then there's the places you find yourself - jungle pads, beaches, rocky peaks, the backs of ocean-going vessels (I'm talking rotary here of course), or the inside of clouds, hanging off the wing of another aeroplane, flaring onto some steeply sloping grass goat track, coming down the ILS over a big city at night - I could go on and on but won't, you'll be glad to hear! All I'll say in closing is I've done some great **** and felt very fortunate about it.
*Apart from a few minutes here and there in AS350s with dodgy heading / altitude hold.
There are days when the paperwork is painful, there are days when the things inexplicably break, there are days when the weather is crap, there are even days when the pax are a handful...But I can't get over the ever changing view out of the office window:
clear skies all,
'866
clear skies all,
'866
The small percentage of humans that can be PIC and the fact I'm part of the lucky bunch
The first time I was doing ccts when the air was so still and so smooth that I actually thought I could fly for a minute.
Flying at 8500 watching eagles... Above me.
Asking pax to look up the "how to land" section in the POH approaching a destination.
The views.
The first time I was doing ccts when the air was so still and so smooth that I actually thought I could fly for a minute.
Flying at 8500 watching eagles... Above me.
Asking pax to look up the "how to land" section in the POH approaching a destination.
The views.
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Australia
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Probably the best part is running up along the coast at 500' on an early winters morning, nothing can really compare to that, looking down at all the people surfing and walking who are also looking up at you, having no idea what they are missing out on.
Also, absolutely nailing a landing - like it's the smoothest you've ever done, then looking over to your instructor to see what he thought of it only to remember that he just sent you solo.....
Also, absolutely nailing a landing - like it's the smoothest you've ever done, then looking over to your instructor to see what he thought of it only to remember that he just sent you solo.....
Thanks Anthill, I enjoyed your gliding story too - and definitely related to your Zen description. It is a real sensate sport with many mental challenges.
asw28-866 - do you own and fly an asw28? Nice! Mine's an asw20L - goes very nicely.
Someone has to do it, and I'm glad it's me!
asw28-866 - do you own and fly an asw28? Nice! Mine's an asw20L - goes very nicely.
Someone has to do it, and I'm glad it's me!
