This weekend was perfect for flying, but sadly I am grounded for a while. However, I was at at the Island for the past few days, and observed traffic in the circuit from the ground. Kind of weird. BTW, lots of folks were not heeding the CFS's advice to stay away from the noise senstive area; we saw and heard lots of planes overhead the house where we were staying on Ward's!!!
I've always love the Toronto Islands, long before ever learning to fly, but since flying out of CYTZ, I see my beloved Islands from a new perspective, both literally and figuratively. This weekend was perfect for flying, but sadly I am grounded for a while. However, I was at at the Island for the past few days, and observed traffic in the circuit from the ground. Kind of weird. BTW, lots of folks were not heeding the CFS's advice to stay away from the noise senstive area; we saw and heard lots of planes overhead the house where we were staying on Ward's!!! Click photos above to enlarge, then squint to see traffic! :-)
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Sometimes, things don't go as planned. The irony of my previous blog post did not elude me as the doctor suggested flying was definitely out of the picture for the next little while. Once again, time is my enemy, but this time, it is just time to heal. The good news is it's not a tumour! The bad news is I have some sort of virus of the inner ear that causes dizziness, vertigo-like sensation, and -- in the case of the morning that drove me to go to the hospital ER to seek answers -- extreme nausea and vomitting. The cure, apparently, is rest. And unfortunately, operating heavy machinery like cars and, er, AIRPLANES are out of the picture for now. A cursery search online for labrynthitus, which is what we suspect, shows that this inner ear infection can take 6 weeks or more to run its course!!! At first, I was extremely discouraged -- I had hoped to complete my PPL flight test before leaving for PEI mid July. The thought of taking several months off flying and then starting again, AGAIN, does not hold much appeal!!! But then I decided to make lemonade: Will take this next week off to rest as much as possible, and then will start a regime of daily studying so that perhaps I can at least get my written out of the way before I leave for PEI. Maybe. Ugh! Just getting ready for my first official Cross Country. Apart from the nervous excitement and the detailed workload of the task, it is the time, the TIME that is killing me with this… as the lyrics in Rush’s newly released The Garden underscore, "Time is still an infinite Jest”!
No kidding! Those who are committed to completing their PPL in a full time scenario, this next exercise really tests that commitment. And for those of us juggling full time jobs, families, and other “outside” commitments, well, it’s pretty near impossible to manage the time needed for a proper ground brief. One thing I have found helpful is preparing mentally and in other ways far in advance. For example, I knew over a week ago that I would be flying ex 23 this weekend, so I set aside some time each day to either read, think about or discuss with my instructor some aspects of the cross country. I’ve also flown “cross country” both in Ontario and PEI (albeit neither as PIC obviously). This helps me envision some of the tasks – radio calls, different airport routines, etc. – that lie ahead. Another thing that is helping is that my instructor is breaking the brief into smaller, more manageable chunks. I am so wiped out at the end of each day dealing with my Grade Three students at school, and then my own lovely but exhausting children, I cannot possibly imagine a 5-hour brief!!! Shorter bites of information and planning have been a Godsend for this very demanding exercise. Time’s a jest, not an enemy, and I am joking right back. Seriously. So hard to believe, looking out on the soupy mess that defines this evening's skyline, that only yesterday I was soaring (albeit somewhat bumpily) along the shore, looking down on a creamy, aquamarine Lake Ontario, the occasional stray strand of wispy cloud nearby. Such a sky and water I have not seen -- or at least, not noticed -- since my early days of training. It was a nice visual treat before I had to put on the hood and proceed with my first instrument lesson.
Yea, me too. Again. Finally.
A fellow student pilot and I will be studying together this weekend, so I figured I better pull out the ol' sample exam... This, along with CARS, TC-AIM, etc., will form the basis of our stimulating reading as we prepare for the written. Enjoy the links! |
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. Categories
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September 2013
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