 Despite losing my 90 ml ice packs to the hyper-vigilant aiport security at YYG, I nevertheless enjoyed my latest adventures to that neck of the woods: Lots of up-close views of big airplanes in YYZ and YYG, a visit to the tower in Ch’town and – on the way out of Toronto -- the opportunity to see “the practice area” (the view from Frenchman’s Bay up to Claremont) from a considerably higher vantage point than I usually do in a Cessna! (click any photo above to enlarge the view) Add Comment  Yay! We're here! Off to the tower to visit our chum and get some groceries.... The disappointment of not being able to get another flight lesson under my belt this morning is mitigated only by the fact that I will shortly be boarding a BIG plane for a REAL flight... it's that time of year again -- first visit of the season to Prince Edward Island!! Yay! Finally had a chance to catch an episode of this aviation show last night. Just like -- as a teacher -- I am irritated by faulty nuances in movies and television about schools, classrooms and teaching, so -- as a student pilot -- I also noticed some, er, "inaccuracies" in this show about flying. The contrast of the departing geese and the arriving multi-engine from Porter filled the sky (and my mind) with potential. Those of us who were grounded continued biking to the airport, where we would take flight in neither a Big Porter Plane nor a small goose (although I did fly with one of the latter) !  Yesterday, for the first time, I actually flew "somewhere" as opposed to just practising! (Well, unless you count the crappy pancake excursion to Oshawa Airport!!) Trevor and the boys were in St Thomas, visiting the grandparents, and we decided to fly out and have lunch with them. So, we packed up a gourmet picnic lunch, including a vase of flowers (my co-pilot rolled her eyes almost non-stop at my definition of the "basics"!) and headed out to the small airport near London. It was surprisingly busy, with several small planes and helicopters practising circuits. Good experience with uncontrolled aerodrome procedures, though, and I was surprised at my ability to spot en-route airports from the sky (a direct result -- no doubt -- of my frequent flights across PEI last summer). (click any photo above to enlarge) On the way home, our passenger almost fell asleep in the back, thanks to the lull of the plane and warm sun... until we hit some mild turbulance near Hamilton! I was surprised at how different cruise attitude was in a 172, and although many things about the flight planning and the flight itself frustrated me, the adventure presented an opportunity for extended time in the plane, and allowed me to actually work on and practise some of the more basic things like straight and level flight, which I haven't really done for so long, since it's been forever since my last lesson. Just started flying again on Tuesday after several months away from it, and this personal flight gave me good practical experience to supplement my formal lessons! As a passenger only, no flying myself, but fun nonetheless, and very impressive around the city. But, note to self: "Get a decent camera" -- an iPhone is NOT a camera, especially in the dark, lol!    Never say never! When I was forced to take a break from flying last fall, a number of people encouraged me, telling me not to lose hope, trying to convince me that anything was possible, and that I would fly again. But some challenges seem insurmountable, and my incompetence in the ground school classroom was surpassed only by my increasingly pathetic financial situation. By the middle of January 2012, I had pretty much given up hope of ever finishing my PPL. I just was not willing to make any more practical sacrifices to feed my fanciful hobby. But then, something incredible happened, and suddenly, the only hopeless thing is my stupidity when it comes to physics and math! It now seems that if I can make my brain work in such a way to capture and contain the necessary knowledge, and if I can make my body remember all the moves in the cockpit, I might just actually become a real pilot within the next 6 months. Could it be???!!! YES! (Maybe.) When I first began my training over a year ago, a fellow pilot out in BC offered this insight: "To fly, one needs three things, determination, time and money. You can be a little short in one, but then you had better have a lot of the other two!" Two out of three have always been in short supply for me, but somehow, an abundance of the third (it wasn't money!) seemed to make up for the the shortage in the other two areas. Alas, most recently, one ingredient in particular seems to have completely dried up, and the other, also in short supply, seems to be ever dwindling (the third remains strong). What to do, what to do? It seems like forever since I went flying. Did I really sail through the air along the shores of Lake Ontario and over the colourful autumn fields of Claremont, alone in an airplane, controlling airspeed and attitude on my own somehow, or was I dreaming?! It feels like I've almost forgotten how to fly! Perhaps a miracle will occur, and a sudden infusion of one of the three critical ingredients will appear. It's happened before, why not again? Here's hoping... | Welcome to Vera's Flight Brain...Here I will attempt -- hopefully not in vain -- to share my connections to previous knowledge. Or I might share a few random thoughts loosely connected to flying, too, as well as any useful resources I may stumble across in my studies.
 AuthorVera C. Teschow is a certified teacher and mother of twin boys Alex and Simon. In addition to documenting her flying lessons, she also blogs about babies, teaching and life in general. ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll |
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