Tag: Europe
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Working on Emergency Landings – Pushing Psychological Barriers
The weather isn’t too calm today, but it’s not too turbulent either. So, we are practicing emergency landings. It’s a strange feeling when the airplane suddenly turns into a glider. I don’t have strong skills yet in estimating suitable field parameters such as height, size, and distance. In theory, it’s straightforward, but in practice, I…
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Improving Landings and Navigational Skills
Today, I flew with another instructor who gave me a simple yet insightful tip that I had not thought of before: during landing, I should not only look straight ahead, but also slightly to the left. This helps me to better estimate my height above the ground and ultimately results in a better flare. During…
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Flying Touch-and-Goes: My First Steps to Mastering Landings
We have started practicing touch-and-goes, where the airplane touches down and immediately takes off again without stopping. This helps to make landing practice quicker, as we save time by avoiding full stops and taxiing back to the runway. Luckily, I can fly circuits at my home aerodrome without having to pay landing fees, which is…
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Navigating the Beauty and Danger of Clouds
Today’s flight was especially beautiful. Previously, the sky was clear with no clouds in sight. On a sunny day, everything appears blue and homogeneous. However, today is totally different; one can see clouds of various sizes and shapes. Initially, it can be a little bit scary, as these cute, fluffy, and innocuous things are very…
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Clear for Takeoff: Conquering Medical and Aviation English Exams
Today was a big day for me: I got my medical certificate and passed the ICAO English exam (which is required for a non-native speaker). I’m feeling pretty happy right now! For those who don’t know, every pilot needs to pass a medical examination to ensure they are healthy enough to fly. There are three…
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Exploring Stalls: Conquering Fear and Gaining Confidence
Today is my second day of flight training, and I have the pleasure of flying with a B737 pilot who has a very positive attitude and speaks English in a clear and understandable manner. I had planned to mount my action camera for better analysis of my mistakes and easier progress monitoring. Unfortunately, when I…
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From Two Dimensions to Three: My First Airplane Lesson Experience
I just had my first flight today, with an instructor of course. Everything was completely new, unfamiliar, and incredibly interesting! Now I understand how difficult it is to maintain altitude, direction, and engine RPM while keeping an eye on what’s happening around you. I’ve been driving for over ten years, but being in a three-dimensional…