A Wasp Sting

“I was looking for a place to set her down, as I was taking fire, I managed to land at Ballykelly. A surprised and angry engineer made his way out of the hangar, and as he started to open his mouth to shout, what I can only imagine were profanities, the turbine exploded behind me.” […]

AStar in the Aravis

Last Sunday I was standing in one of the expansive rooms of the Louvre museum on the banks of the Seine, in awe of the decorative grandeur of the vast ceiling and skylight, my eyes were scanning across the gold leaf and vibrant blue paints, when I saw the name L. Da. Vinci painted onto […]

CPL(H) 1 – Night Flying

To say the start of this year has been atrocious for weather would be an understatement, it’s purely unrelenting and it shows no sign of stopping as we head on into March. This posed a significant challenge… poor weather and Gloucester (EGBJ) shutting air ops at 19h30L meant rapidly running out of early nights. Achieving […]

Jetranger Xmas Fly-in

To keep yourself current on the types you have on your licence, it is necessary to fly each type for a minimum of 2 hours per year, and undergo a proficiency check with an instructor within 12 months of your proficiency expiration date. I hadn’t flown the Jetranger since I had rated on t back […]

Deadalus

The last few weeks of 2019 were awash with poor weather, so when a few crisp days presented themselves for flying I jumped at the opportunity to get the hours up. Just before the AS350 rating, which was now set for the end of December, I had the chance to take out the R44 for […]

Ston Easton Park

Ston Easton Park has long been on the visit list, ever since I passed my skills test in December 2018 I wanted to land at a grand country hotel, where you can park right on the lawn in front of the house. Lucknam Park and Ston Easton were both in the running for the top-spot, […]

Tremorfa

As the year rapidly begins to run away from us, the nights begin to draw in a lot sooner and the cold and wet weather is here to stay for the autumnal and winter period. To cease a weekend of crisp autumn weather in early October is a blessing, and it just so happened the […]