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Over the last 8 months I found myself up to my neck in everything other than my passion for aviation. I'm not sure how it happened but work seemed to raise its ugly head time and time again and in particular on those perfect days when we all would like to be flying.
 It reminds me of when I was a child at dinner time where I'd always eat the brussels sprouts and beans first to get them out of the way so that I could thoroughly enjoy the meat and potatoes. My problem is that work ended up being like a giant sized serving of vegetables and the "good stuff" seemed to be enjoyed by everyone other than me. It was then that I had a revelation. By eating one bite of lamb roast followed by three bites of vegetables the sprouts became much more bearable.
With this epiphany clanging like a church bell in my head it then dawned on me that I was no longer current and that eight months had indeed transpired since I'd last sat in the left hand seat. Currency is one of those things that seems to creep up on private pilots and then like a soon to be "red carded" soccer player it slams you in the back and knocks you off your feet.
Due to not taking the time out to do the minimum requirements of three take-offs and landings within ninety days I now found myself effectively grounded. Yes, technically speaking I could still go out by myself and do a few touch-n-goes to regain my currency but who is going to hire a plane out to a private pilot so that they can do some solo circuits to regain their currency?
I know that I wouldn't and my guess is that many insurance companies would find that financial risk a little too hard to swallow. Then again, most insurance companies typically find anything involving the words "pay out" as a signal to leap to clause forty-four, part three subsection "z" of the "doesn't have to pay" part of the insurance contract.
So I now found myself in the position that I couldn't take my wife for the fly around the city until I did some dual circuits with an instructor. It's a pain but a reality.
It was at this point that I received my second revelation. The rules that enforce me to do a minimum of flying are designed to keep me and any passengers I may carry alive. I thought that it was pretty decent of the regulators to care about pilots and their welfare more than they were often prepared to.
I've chatted with pilots who view the rules as more of an advisory document to be kept firmly in a locked cupboard in the basement and I've met others that seem to know the regulations better than the national anthem. My personal observation is that the pilots that know the rules seem to have less "scares" than those that "yeehaa" across the sky in their bunking broncos.
It was then that I called up my local flying school and requested a two hour session with an instructor. I was told that two hours wouldn't be necessary to gain my currency but wanting to be a "remain alive" pilot I insisted on a full service and overhaul of my piloting skills. It just seemed to me that it made sense to have everything checked out and make sure that my skills were up to specification and that no bad habits were transforming me into a future flying cowboy.
The day came and after thoroughly checking out the plane the first port of call was getting a refresher on Class D airspace and in particular the radio calls. I picked up a radio call sheet and taxiway diagram for Moorabbin on downwind.com.au so that made things a lot easier.
What I discovered was that flying is like riding a bicycle. I found myself automatically doing things in the cockpit as the drills of past training reasserted themselves. When you think about it, flying really isn't that difficult but flying in difficulty is why we train.
Getting a complete skills overhaul was like a breath of fresh air that I would highly recommend to every pilot. Don't wait until you're no longer current or fall into the delusion that three touch-n-goes every ninety days makes you a safe pilot. You may be legal but legality is a waste of time if you're still unsafe.
Since I didn't place the instructor on a strict time schedule we ended up taking our time to thoroughly go over procedures etc. So during the two hours I did steep turns, forced landings, radio call practice, landings plus quite a bit of time spent on the aircraft systems. This last item was really worthwhile since the new glass cockpit contained a number of surprises that made life a lot easier.
The time up in the air with the instructor was a great experience. Not only am I now current but I've learnt a few more things and also have regained the confidence that can often evaporate if you haven't flown for a while. What I plan on doing now is getting tucked into a regular dose of roast with the vegies on the side rather than the other way around. |
