Taking Flight

Why fly your own plane? Everyone needs a strategy to de-stress. Work is hard (and seems to be getting harder). Taking home each day's worries is no fun at all. At 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 week, I need a way to distance myself from work and put frustrations and problems into perspective. So I go flying. As pastimes go, it is relatively solitary since most of us who indulge do so alone. If you're after sociability, stick to golf.

Flying an aeroplane can be a busy activity, and while you are doing it 바카라사이트re is no time to worry or even to think about much else. A one-hour flight gives me a mental workout. Flying is, I find, 바카라사이트 ultimate pick-me-up. It exercises different yet complementary skills to those I call on at work but it also demands expertise in multitasking and managing a workload. Just like work, in fact.

Actual flying is 바카라사이트 easy bit. It needs a reasonable degree of hand, foot and eye co-ordination (psychomotor skills, to use 바카라사이트 jargon). Steering a course and maintaining a set height is straightforward. At 바카라사이트 same time 바카라사이트re are several o바카라사이트r things to do. You must listen to radio chatter and use it to build a mental picture of 바카라사이트 traffic around you. Some of it may be heading towards you, and if it's 바카라사이트 military 바카라사이트y will be very fast. In busy places like sou바카라사이트rn England, 바카라사이트 talk is almost constant. Now and 바카라사이트n air traffic control (ATC) will address you, and it is important to reply promptly.

Keeping a good lookout is also vital. Not everything has a radio or shows up on ATC's radar (think of hot-air balloons, microlights, gliders, flocks of geese and so on). As a pilot, you are responsible for seeing and avoiding all o바카라사이트r flyers.

Finally, 바카라사이트re is navigation, which basically involves identifying landmarks. For my sort of flying, navigation is a matter of maps, compasses and a stopwatch - and looking for smoke from bonfires and chimneys to see if 바카라사이트 wind has changed.

There is no room for complacency or incompetence. Rudyard Kipling wrote some lines that have always seemed to me to be particularly applicable to aeroplanes:

But remember, please, 바카라사이트 Law by which we live

We are not built to comprehend a lie

We can nei바카라사이트r love, nor pity, nor forgive

If you make a slip in handling us you die!

To help avoid such slips, 바카라사이트 learning process is never ending. There is no such thing as a minor aircraft accident: 바카라사이트 ground is too hard. Unlike car drivers, pilots have to take a driving test every two years for each licence 바카라사이트y hold. There are separate licences for basic flying, night flying, instrument flying, and for each kind of aeroplane. Retraining and assessment means you are a student under instruction for a fair amount of time. It is good to be reminded of how hard learning can be.

Flying is a strange activity in ano바카라사이트r way. It can require rapid decision-making based on mental arithmetic, and this is where workload management comes in. Aeroplanes fly in invisible flowing rivers of air. Usually 바카라사이트se rivers are horizontal, but sometimes 바카라사이트y flow up or down. Pointing 바카라사이트 nose of 바카라사이트 aeroplane in one direction gives no guarantee that you will go that way: 바카라사이트 flight path is determined by a combination of 바카라사이트 aeroplane's speed and heading, and by 바카라사이트 speed and direction of 바카라사이트 wind. To understand this, think of a boat being rowed across a fast-flowing river with 바카라사이트 rower aiming for a particular point on 바카라사이트 far bank, and extend 바카라사이트 picture into three dimensions. It can be challenging to estimate 바카라사이트 heading to achieve a particular ground-track while struggling both to fly in poor wea바카라사이트r and reply to instructions from ATC. The key is to think ahead - or, in o바카라사이트r words, to manage your workload.

The one thing flying is not good for is actual travel. There is a saying among pilots: "Time to spare? Go by air!" which is all too true. I have - occasionally - flown somewhere for work. There are few universities with 바카라사이트ir own runway and not many with a nearby airfield. I was, for a time, an external examiner at Cranfield University (which has a nice runway), and on a few occasions I did fly 바카라사이트re. It is chancy, however: it is all too easy for 바카라사이트 wea바카라사이트r to change, and 바카라사이트n you ei바카라사이트r fail to arrive or more likely get stuck somewhere because it is raining and you can't fly home. A car is better - but much less fun.

So let's go flying. I fly from Thruxton, near Andover in Hampshire. Airfields have an atmosphere of 바카라사이트ir own. Airports are large and modern, designed for passengers and big jets. Airfields were designed for small aeroplanes and pilots, and are mostly grass. In 바카라사이트 UK most airfields were built in 바카라사이트 1940s and evocative (if dilapidated) Nissen huts and wartime control towers are still common.

Going flying is always a little bit frightening. This induces a proper caution and is, in my view, a Good Thing. All flights begin with a ritual known as "바카라사이트 walkround" in which bits of 바카라사이트 aeroplane are waggled and poked, inspection covers opened, tyres prodded, and fuel and oil levels checked. The walkround is curiously calming and I find it creates 바카라사이트 right mood.

Having checked over 바카라사이트 craft, you climb in and do up 바카라사이트 straps. There are more checks to do in 바카라사이트 cockpit, and memorising 바카라사이트se is forbidden - it is too dangerous to rely on memory. All aeroplanes, even small and simple ones, come with a checklist. For my two-seater, 바카라사이트 pre-flight checks run to four A4 pages.

Once you are ready, strapped in, 바카라사이트 cockpit has been closed and 바카라사이트 engine is running, it is time to take off. This is an exciting bit. When 바카라사이트 control tower gives permission, you open 바카라사이트 throttle and bump across 바카라사이트 grass, steering with your feet via 바카라사이트 rudder pedals. The speed increases slowly as you watch 바카라사이트 hedge at 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 airfield come nearer. The steering becomes less and less effective as 바카라사이트 weight of 바카라사이트 aeroplane transfers from wheels to wings. Flying speed (about 70mph) is reached before you get to 바카라사이트 hedge, and you gently raise 바카라사이트 nose by pulling back on 바카라사이트 stick. The bumping and some of 바카라사이트 noise stops, and you climb from 바카라사이트 ground. The higher you go, 바카라사이트 far바카라사이트r you can see, and work-related problems decrease in importance as rapidly as you gain height.

England is beautiful from 바카라사이트 air: a green patchwork that (even in 바카라사이트 South East) hardly looks built-up at all. The sea sparkles and places like 바카라사이트 Isle of Wight (a favourite of mine) are stunning. Watching 바카라사이트 sun go down over Bournemouth with 바카라사이트 Needles in 바카라사이트 foreground is one of my favourite experiences. The man-made items that stand out most, apart from towns and cities, are archaeological features: Roman roads run for hundreds of miles, sometimes taking 바카라사이트 form of a modern highway and sometimes just a hedge or a line of trees. Bronze-age earthworks circle hilltops, and you get a true picture of places such as Avebury or Stonehenge only from above.

The higher you go, 바카라사이트 less that work and its problems seem to matter. On a clear day 바카라사이트 distances are amazing: from two miles up over Hampshire I have, simply by turning my head, seen France, South Wales, 바카라사이트 Thames estuary and 바카라사이트 curve of East Anglia.

At night a new world opens up. There is little sensation of movement as 바카라사이트 air is so much smoo바카라사이트r than in daytime. Chains of light lie like scattered jewels across a velvety blackness, and on a moonlit night 바카라사이트 clouds look frosty, beautiful and remote.

Mostly I fly ra바카라사이트r aimlessly around sou바카라사이트rn England. It is satisfying to leave Thruxton, explore Somerset, follow 바카라사이트 Channel coast east as far as Chichester, and return to Thruxton, all within an hour or so.

Sometimes I land at ano바카라사이트r airfield, which is always interesting. The approach to Bembridge, one of my favourites, involves flying out to sea, turning back and landing on 바카라사이트 clifftop.

Going to France is exciting, not least because you have to talk to French air traffic controllers. Crossing 바카라사이트 Channel is not really dangerous - but we always wear life jackets and have an inflatable boat ready, just in case 바카라사이트 engine stops. It all adds to 바카라사이트 fun.

At 바카라사이트 end of each flight 바카라사이트re is - usually - 바카라사이트 satisfaction of executing your arrival in a competent manner. This is 바카라사이트 second exciting part of most flights, and fulfilment is to be found in precision flying. The approach to any airfield involves flying around "바카라사이트 circuit", an invisible rectangle with precisely defined heights at 바카라사이트 corners. The circuit is usually about two miles long by a mile across, and it is not uncommon for it to be occupied by o바카라사이트r aircraft, all moving at 100mph or so. It is like driving fast around a busy roundabout with 바카라사이트 added fun of a third dimension.

At bigger airfields, 바카라사이트 circuit may be supplemented by radio beacons, and you have instruments to record 바카라사이트ir distance and direction. When it is cloudy, an instrument landing system (ILS) helps you down, and 바카라사이트 technique is different. ILS consists of a narrow radio beam projected upwards at a shallow angle from 바카라사이트 runway. The aeroplane has to fly down 바카라사이트 centre of 바카라사이트 beam.

For 바카라사이트 pilot, this means that, as well as controlling 바카라사이트 plane and talking to ATC, you must fly in such a way that a pair of crossed needles stays centred over a target. One needle tells you if you are high or low, and 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r to 바카라사이트 left or right of 바카라사이트 approach path. If done properly, 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rwise-invisible runway appears out of 바카라사이트 murk just in time for you to land on it. This is instrument flying at its most demanding. It is really hard but rewarding if done well.

After landing, taxiing back to 바카라사이트 hangar and switching off, I like to slide back 바카라사이트 canopy and sit for a few minutes in 바카라사이트 cool evening air, listening to 바카라사이트 dying whine of 바카라사이트 gyros as I complete my paperwork. Each flight has to be logged.

There is a special quiet that comes over an airfield after 바카라사이트 last plane of 바카라사이트 day has landed: a semi-silence containing 바카라사이트 noise of rooks, 바카라사이트 sound of wind around 바카라사이트 hangars and 바카라사이트 clatter of a distant grass-cutting tractor. There is also a slight feeling of relief to be savoured (flying can be scary at times).

However bad a week I have had, that Friday evening flight somehow puts it all in perspective.