The First 100
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The First 100
Early one morning, just a few weeks ago, I reached a milestone in my aviating career when I entered the one hundredth hour into my pilot’s logbook.
The first hundred have been full of variety. I have flown in seven different aircraft, with twelve different instructors. I have landed at six different airfields, on surfaces ranging from the ridiculously long, very wide runways at Canberra to the decidedly dubious grass cross strip at Goulburn. I have even flown over Sydney Harbour no less than seven times.
Though I have been lucky thus far and have not had anything go ‘ping’ at an inopportune time, I have had my fair share of dicey moments. There was the time I aborted my second-ever solo takeoff due to an incorrectly set trim wheel. Or the time I almost came unstuck landing on the aforementioned Goulburn grass strip in a gusty crosswind. Getting lost in Canberra airspace was interesting. And who could forget my serious case of the landing ‘yips’ not long after earning my PPL. These are the moments that remind us that, though aeroplanes are not inherently unsafe, they are terribly unforgiving of anyone not giving them the respect that they deserve. These are the moments that we learn from and, hopefully, will never need to experience again.
Other important lessons have been learnt along the way. Finding water in the tanks one morning was a reminder of why a thorough preflight inspection is necessary. Ensuring both ends of the seatbelt are inside the aircraft is a good way to avoid an alarming thumping noise after take-off. And the secret to a good landing, every time, is….. well, I’ll get back to you on that one.
There have been remarkable moments along the way as well. Everyone remembers their first solo, but for me, the first flight I completed entirely without assistance – from preflight to shut down – was even more memorable. Greasing the landing with my first passenger – my mother – will stick in the memory banks for a long time. Spotting a whale just offshore from fifteen hundred feet in a Cessna was pretty special. My favourite flight, however, just happened to be the one during which the logbook ticked over to one hundred hours total time. There is something to be said about flying early in the morning. Preflight by torchlight as the sun is about to peak over the horizon. Ground mist and low cloud in valleys near the Hawkesbury. Beautiful golden sunlight on the city. Pulling off what had to be close to my smoothest landing – ever – was a fitting conclusion.
This is why I fly. For the simple things: walking over to the aircraft on a crisp, clear winter’s morning. Breaking the silence with the sound of a Lycoming firing up for the first flight of the day. Lifting off – indeed, slipping the surly bonds – into a wide blue sky, and going flying for the sheer fun of it. Just you and the aeroplane. There’s nothing quite like it.
My first hundred have been great fun. Tailwheels and aerobatics are next on the list of things to do… flying for the hell of it. To the next hundred!
-=-------=-
No particular reason for this. I just felt like writing it last night...
The first hundred have been full of variety. I have flown in seven different aircraft, with twelve different instructors. I have landed at six different airfields, on surfaces ranging from the ridiculously long, very wide runways at Canberra to the decidedly dubious grass cross strip at Goulburn. I have even flown over Sydney Harbour no less than seven times.
Though I have been lucky thus far and have not had anything go ‘ping’ at an inopportune time, I have had my fair share of dicey moments. There was the time I aborted my second-ever solo takeoff due to an incorrectly set trim wheel. Or the time I almost came unstuck landing on the aforementioned Goulburn grass strip in a gusty crosswind. Getting lost in Canberra airspace was interesting. And who could forget my serious case of the landing ‘yips’ not long after earning my PPL. These are the moments that remind us that, though aeroplanes are not inherently unsafe, they are terribly unforgiving of anyone not giving them the respect that they deserve. These are the moments that we learn from and, hopefully, will never need to experience again.
Other important lessons have been learnt along the way. Finding water in the tanks one morning was a reminder of why a thorough preflight inspection is necessary. Ensuring both ends of the seatbelt are inside the aircraft is a good way to avoid an alarming thumping noise after take-off. And the secret to a good landing, every time, is….. well, I’ll get back to you on that one.
There have been remarkable moments along the way as well. Everyone remembers their first solo, but for me, the first flight I completed entirely without assistance – from preflight to shut down – was even more memorable. Greasing the landing with my first passenger – my mother – will stick in the memory banks for a long time. Spotting a whale just offshore from fifteen hundred feet in a Cessna was pretty special. My favourite flight, however, just happened to be the one during which the logbook ticked over to one hundred hours total time. There is something to be said about flying early in the morning. Preflight by torchlight as the sun is about to peak over the horizon. Ground mist and low cloud in valleys near the Hawkesbury. Beautiful golden sunlight on the city. Pulling off what had to be close to my smoothest landing – ever – was a fitting conclusion.
This is why I fly. For the simple things: walking over to the aircraft on a crisp, clear winter’s morning. Breaking the silence with the sound of a Lycoming firing up for the first flight of the day. Lifting off – indeed, slipping the surly bonds – into a wide blue sky, and going flying for the sheer fun of it. Just you and the aeroplane. There’s nothing quite like it.
My first hundred have been great fun. Tailwheels and aerobatics are next on the list of things to do… flying for the hell of it. To the next hundred!
-=-------=-
No particular reason for this. I just felt like writing it last night...
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Kooka, I really enjoyed your post. As a Sydney boy myself, I have to say I am very jealous of your early morning flight -- I get to fly in the Sydney area < once a year, when home for visits (have been in Pommy-land ~18yrs now..!) and so I know just how beautiful it is to fly over the Hawkesbury / Broken Bay / Victor-1 etc and am very jealous 
Last time, about 6mths ago while visiting a mate in Canberra, we flew up to Sydney at break-of-day in his Beech Bonanza -- the City was glowing with golden reflections from the sunrise as we cruised back down the coast... got down to Nowra before the Navy had woken up (airspace came alive as we were in it) then stopped in at Merimbula for a cuppa and then a tour of the Snowy Mtns on the way back to YSCB (with some full-on MTW turbulence for entertainment en-route!)
I guess flying is a bit like riding a horse (kind of...) - my Dad, who used to break horses, reckoned you couldn't call yourself a rider until you'd been thrown 100 times... similarly, within our first few hundred hours we must have a wide range of experiences in order to fill the cup of experience, before we empty the cup of luck! Sounds like you're well on your way and have managed to surivie the odd fright, from which I am sure you will have learned(!), already... that's what its all about mate!
Andy
Last time, about 6mths ago while visiting a mate in Canberra, we flew up to Sydney at break-of-day in his Beech Bonanza -- the City was glowing with golden reflections from the sunrise as we cruised back down the coast... got down to Nowra before the Navy had woken up (airspace came alive as we were in it) then stopped in at Merimbula for a cuppa and then a tour of the Snowy Mtns on the way back to YSCB (with some full-on MTW turbulence for entertainment en-route!)I guess flying is a bit like riding a horse (kind of...) - my Dad, who used to break horses, reckoned you couldn't call yourself a rider until you'd been thrown 100 times... similarly, within our first few hundred hours we must have a wide range of experiences in order to fill the cup of experience, before we empty the cup of luck! Sounds like you're well on your way and have managed to surivie the odd fright, from which I am sure you will have learned(!), already... that's what its all about mate!
Andy
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Thanks, guys...
Andy - indeed!! Gotta love flying in the Wollongong/Nowra area - I got the PPL at YWOL as it happens - and all that coastal stuff - great fun!! Lemme know when you're down this way next...
Andy - indeed!! Gotta love flying in the Wollongong/Nowra area - I got the PPL at YWOL as it happens - and all that coastal stuff - great fun!! Lemme know when you're down this way next...
PPruNaholic!
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got the PPL at YWOL as it happens
Lemme know when you're down this way next...
Its not all so bad over here though, btw... this can also be a very beautiful landscape in which to fly... here for example is a snap taken on a perfect CAVOK day last summer (now I wouldln't want you to think it's ALYWAYS like that here though!):
Andy
