HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 41 May | June 2019 Which aircraft is best for which student, will they need a QuikR or HypeR for navigation flights, or a GT-450 for local and circuit flying, or do we have a two-stroke conversion when the GT Lite would be best? How much fuel will be needed in each aircraft for the day’s flying? Then it's time to check the weather and NOTAMs which is needed to determine whether we fly in one direction or another – or if we fly at all. Now, if I’m lucky, it’s time for breakfast and I’ll get something to eat. If not, we work until morning tea time and I’ll get to eat then. Sometimes the students bring a feast with them, which means s/he will advance in their training quicker… only kidding! However, we did have a student who brought hot chocolates and cakes in each morning. This raised the bar a bit. I had to stop this, as we were beginning to get over MTOW. It’s now time for the first student to arrive. Most of them are so keen they arrive almost an hour early! Yes, this is why I am up very early – I need to beat the keen students. Next follow briefings, pre-flights and then the engines start up. The air comes alive and so does the radio. The flying day has begun. Hour after hour the aircraft go up and down and round and round. Students come in and fly, and then they sit around in the hangar or head home, waiting for their next training session. It's quite funny… at times I hear the students talking among themselves, and they are always commenting to a newer student about their experiences, and how ‘this’ and ‘that’ is done to overcome a potential problem that may arise. I like this. It's good to see the students helping each other out. If the weather is not suitable for flying, we do theory for the day, so it becomes a ‘chalk and talk’ session. It's now the end of the day and the radios start to go silent. The Aerodrome is starting to close down for the night, but my job is far from over. It’s now time to clean the aircraft and make sure that all the maintenance is done for the next day of flying. The aircraft are all in the hangars and the doors are closing and the students are heading home. Now it's time for the paperwork. There always seem to be more paperwork than there was yesterday. The lights go out and the hangar falls silent. The aircraft are now sleeping after a hard day of flying. It's 9pm, time for dinner, and, oh, no! I have missed that TV program I was going to watch. Never mind, I'll catch it another time. Tomorrow is another day,… or is it? The days become a blur, as the routine is still the same, no matter what day it is. Except for Thursdays. On Thursdays we close early, and friends and anyone else who is around, all head to the RSL for dinner and then the movies. We have been doing this for several years. I like it, as it gets me away from the Aerodrome, and the CFI becomes just Peter for a few hours to friends and students alike. It's now the weekend, and, just occasionally, there are no students at YFT. Although students are my livelihood, it is nice to have a day to ourselves every now and then. When we get one, it’s great. Past students who are now good friends, come up and we go flying for fun. We may do formation flying, as ‘Shadow Flight’, or we may fly to another aerodrome for breakfast, or just go for a flight around the local area. It doesn't matter, we are all just having fun in the sky, and that's why we all became pilots. Never forget that... You came to someone like me, with the aim of flying for fun or business. After all the hard work you put into your training, (and you may remember those days when you said to yourself, ‘I am never going to get this!’)… you did get it,… and now you are, like me, a pilot! First solo: John First solo: Wes First solo: Emily Scott in the GT-Lite GT-450 The fleet QuikR going into hangar Re-fuelling the GT-Lite