Finally, I made it! To be honest, I was worried that I would have to return to Moscow before completing my PPL because I didn’t have any possibility to stay here after the 1st of July. It’s much easier to take the exam right after finishing the course because of the fresh skills, and I highly desired to do it before leaving.
I got an unfamiliar route via Prague CTR, and I had never flown it before. During my training, I flew through another CTR in Karlovy Vary, and it only happened twice. Besides, today, I had an airplane that I had flown only once on my long cross-country.
In practice, everything was not as scary as it sounds. I flew as usual, contacted a controller, and he approved my request for flying my route. After leaving a CTR, I contacted an ATC one more time and reported leaving a controlled area.
I think the most challenging part was the weather. Thermal activity was pretty strong, causing a bumpy ride. I saw hang-gliders on some aerodrome, and they were climbing very fast. In those conditions, the approach was a little tricky. For example, I experienced altitude changes from about -5 to +5 and vice versa in just a few seconds without any power adjustment. At least it wasn’t boring 🙂
I am very happy that I made emergency landings without any stress; I was just calculating a new path and turning at a proper point. During engine-out procedures, there is no more feeling that I’m falling like a rock.
Thus, now I have almost 60 hours and an EASA PPL. I am accepting congratulations!
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