I will be testing our new Airport!
In July of 2012, the new airport “Berlin Brandenburg International” (BER) will open. Before that, there will be a series of tests for the new terminals.
Yours truly signed up as a volunteer for the test programm and I was accepted. So next February (!) I will spend a day at the new airport pretending to travel.
(originally posted on July 3, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/airport-test/)
My first child was born just a few days ago. So I am “grounded” for a bit to enjoy a different kind of ride!
To be continued…
(originally posted on May 27, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/grounded/)
Today my licence arrived in the mail. The stamp makes it official, what a great feeling!
Last week I went to the flight school to complete the paper work with the instructor. He was not there the day I took the test, so we had a cup of coffee together last week and got the application for the licence ready.
And since I was there anyway, I took my new powers for a spin. Without the physical licence, the instructor had to write a flight plan for me and sign that he was sending me.
I went on the short hop over to Eggersdorf. I had done that trip numerous times before and it was a good first trip as a new pilot.
(originally posted on May 6, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/paper-work/)
I’m not a big breakfast person. When my wife is not home, I often don’t even have coffee before I leave for work. On days like this I usually have breakfast at work around 11 with the second or third cup of coffee.
When I fly, I’m usually in the air by 11 am. On these days I have to eat strategically so that I don’t have low blood sugar when I should be concentrated. So I set my alarm clock a bit earlier and eat a real breakfast with little appetite.
To add insult to injury, the coffee maker will stay cold on these mornings. I am a heavy coffee drinker. I usually start the day with black coffee and keep going strong until the last steaming cup after dinner. On flying days however, I have to factor in the availability of toilets aboard the air plane – or the lack thereof. And for this calculation, the amount of coffee I start my day with does make a difference. Sad but true.
The guys in the flight school joke about a case of beer as the universal currency for making up for mistakes. Running late? No problem, it will cost you a crate of beer! Hard landing? Nothing a crate of beer can’t fix! In real life however, this is nothing more than a line of jokes. Alcohol is dealt with very responsibly amongst the aviators I have met so far.
“24 hours from bottle to throttle”
This catchy rule is what I have learned as the code of honour. It refers more to a state of mind then to a glass of beer with dinner the day before a flight. It means that a pilot should be rested, focused and at the peak of his or her mental capacity during a flight. Very much the way one does not feel, 24 hours after attending your best friends stag party for example.
I was still surprised when I learned that the official FAA ruling is “only” 8 hours between consuming alcoholic beverages and operating a commercial air plane. The maximum allowed blood alcohol is 0.04 % (0.4 promille). This seems like a lot to me.
Flying is all new and exciting for me. It requires my full attention. It is hard for me to picture how the routine of a commercial pilot with thousands of hours must be like. But I know how I feel at my boring desk job when I come to work on the day after a big night out. Usually these are not the most efficient work days.
So for now I will stick with my 24 hours. It helps me prepare for the flight mentally. I will see how it goes once I’m in the 3 or 4 digits with my flight hours. Right now I’m still in the low 2 digits and I guess it is okay to still focus on every aspect of flying very much!
To be continued…
(Originally posted on March 9, 2011 by tilbo at aloft.blog.com/eat-drink-fly/)
“Du redest doch schon so lange davon. Mach doch mal!”
When I tell the guys at the flight school (they are actually all guys, females are as rare as oxygen on flight level 390) that my wife sent me here, I shut down conversations. The fact that I don’t have to justify flying at home gives me major street cred with my new best friends. That is a promising start.
The only woman I encountered during flight training are Marita as the friendly flight control voice in my ear coming from the tower and Konny who was in the theory class with me.
I’m getting a sports pilot license. It will let me fly light sports aircraft. 475.5 kg max take off weight, 2 people. It is an easy entry into flying. My equipment is the Italian MD3 Rider. It is a modern high wing metal aircraft and is is a good trainer as it is very forgiving.
I had my first lesson in June of 2010. I started flying before going to ground school. I’m not sure if this is the most efficient way but it sure did get me hooked.
Ground school was several weekends with a total of 60 hours. The time was not nearly enough for the content of the curriculum and after passing the test with over 90% I still don’t feel very sound on weather and law. I will have to keep reading I guess.
During the summer I made good progress and clocked a lot of hours. But we had an early fall and the weather was against me on more than one occasion. Frustrating weeks of cancelled lessons were interrupted by flights in marginal conditions. Slow progress with only a hand full of solo flights were a very early test for my patience. That made me a student with more than minimum hours and more than average experience in marginal conditions. Not the worst thing if you learn to accept it.
Now it is early February and I have a few of the more interesting requirements still open in my curriculum. A long distance flight, safety landings and a mock up flight exam again and again. The sun is back again and my spirits are high!
To be continued…
(Originally posted on February 28, 2011 by tilbo at http://aloft.blog.com/mach-doch-mal/)