Six months later and we have made it through ATPL ground school. Definitely a massive challenge, without doubt one of the hardest tasks I’ve set myself in my life. They require a lot of determination, a huge amount of self-control and above all a high workload. After sitting in the classroom all that time, knowing that I will be back in a plane is a fantastic feeling. Although, before my first flight back I definitely had some nerves about how it would go and to see how much, if anything, I had forgotten.
After sitting in the classroom all that time, knowing that I will be back in a plane is a fantastic feeling
Not that there is pressure to go back to flying and instantly be some sort of flying ace but I think we all felt nerves in some way about how we would actually perform back in the air. I was mostly apprehensive that I would have lost many of the basic tasks and duties that you need to be on top of when performing a flight. The kind of things like radio communication, pre-flight and in-flight checks are all relatively simple when you are practicing them day to day but after six months away from it you find that you’re second guessing yourself. After contacting air traffic control the first time back I couldn’t help thinking “did I word everything correctly there”?? And if I’m honest, I probably didn’t. It’s amazing though how after only a few minutes back in the plane you start to feel comfortable again as the flying brain starts to warm up. It all becomes familiar once you are over the initial nerves and you begin to settle back in to the mind set of flying.
The feeling then of getting back into the air, controlling the aircraft and seeing the ground sink away beneath you was exactly as I remember, exhilarating. The familiar landscape of Cork looking fantastic in the sunshine from a view of 4,000 feet, nothing beats it on a nice day. It was a great reminder of just how lucky I am to be doing something I enjoy so much. Was it my best flight to date? Definitely not. If I’m honest I felt fairly rusty in terms of general handling of the aircraft. Especially the landings, probably the biggest control aspect which I felt a drop in ability as they weren’t exactly what you would call smooth. But you often hear in aviation “any landing you can walk away from is a good one” so I’ll go with that. But overall the first fight back was great with no real mistakes made so I was delighted.
It was a great reminder of just how lucky I am to be doing something I enjoy so much
With the refresher flights completed the next step is to continue on with navigation flights where I left off in October. With flights to different airports around the country like Shannon, Kerry, Waterford ahead of me, I am looking forward to seeing alot more of Ireland from the air over the next few weeks/months.