nearlyheaven

Michelin Taxi

Do you like seafood, oysters, bouillabaise, go to the coast; even better fly to an island and sample france's delicacies BUT don't forget the taxi. We didn't. We booked our taxi when still in Limoges and upon arriving at Isle d'Oleron rang again to confirm our arrival. Suffice to say we arrived at the restaurant thanks to the goodwill of a gentleman who had moved here from Paris and still had to take his exams before becoming a fully fledged chauffeur. Of course I believed him not realising he and his dog Fifi who sat in the front with friend were our good samaritans for the day. Local pilots! Taxis are themselves a rare delicacy; even our restaurant hosts had problems with customers holed up for lack of transport. Walking is not good for the digestion when there are no pavements on the narrow lanes so their solution for foodies like us was, their taxi de la cuisine. The chef of the Michelin Guide rated Les Alizes drove us back to the airfield, can't get better service than that.

   

Cleared for takeoff

It was a veritable Piccadilly Circus in the airport circuit yesterday and I came home feeling wan and weary after my lesson. The confidence was at a low ebb and I didn't want to give my instructor another heart attack with my inadvertent mistakes. However, being told to go solo was not what I expected first thing on a Thursday morning. Sue is a master of disguise, I had no idea of what she was planning.

Taking off by yourself for the very first time prompts feelings of both dismay and exhilaration which are quickly overtaken by the need to maintain 80kts, circuit height, not forgetting the flaps and trim, oh and listening to tower of course. I am indebted to Sue for her conviction and the kind and friendly reception from the other students, plus the photos, thankyou.

Solo Success

Yesterday, I woke up with "butterflies" in my tummy as this day was destined for  Gwen's first solo. I arrived at the club in the early morning to meet Gwen and to prepare for the first flight of the day in the trusty Kilo Charlie.

During this last week I knew that Gwen was ready  but the circuit was  too busy or we had crosswinds, so I was waiting for the ideal conditions for this important   flight. 

At last the weather was perfect and the wind sock pointing straight down the runway, the conditions were favourable for sending Gwen solo.

We prepared the plane and off we went for a few low level  circuits and then finished off with a couple of flapless landings.

The controller told us that he had two imminent IFR arrivals, therefore rather than holding for 10 minutes did we want to leave the circuit for a short local flight.

I decided that we would come back to the club and when the two aircraft had landed I would send Gwen solo.

Of course Gwen did not have any idea of what was going through my head.

I sat with her during the initial checks on the club apron and then I  calmly told her that I was not coming on this flight, this was her first solo-- the look on her face was of total astonishment.

 I informed the tower that this was a first solo flight and off she went to runway 21.

As usual during my students first solo flights I was pacing the floor waiting for the plane to come back,in fact the flight took 22 minutes as she was asked to do a 360 degree hold owing to incoming traffic.

When Gwen arrived on the apron she had a crowd of friends waiting to congratulate her.

A most memorable day.

Well done Gwen!

" Sizzling Summer Success Stories"

Sizzling Summer Success Stories
We are half way through the year of which the credit crunch has featured in all the newspapers, everyone seems to be tightening their belts and asking themselves if they can afford to fly or take a holiday in this negative financial climate. Thankfully I am busier this year than previous years and the accommodation is fully booked up until mid September
 
 
Here in France I have been very busy flying seven days a week, with many people aiming to obtain their PPL in a short period of time and others taking advantage of the superior weather conditions  to have a  flying holiday, where they have combined the  experience of  flying in France with some navigation trips to the most beautiful parts of this country. Not forgetting  enjoying excellent lunches at restaurants en route.
Peter Cazalet with Mike Grierson (examiner) after passing his skill tests.
 
My students are coming from many different countries, recently I have had students from Australia, Strasbourg, Holland, Norway and New Zealand. These pilots usually stay for about four weeks to enable them to study the ground examination subjects and to obtain their PPL during this period. It is certainly the easiest method to gain a PPL licence as it is possible to fly at least 3 hours per day every day and this allows the student to retain the information and soon be relaxed and confident in the aircraft and the airspace within a very short period of time.
 
Luckily the weather was extremely favourable in the early  months of the year with crisp visibility and “millpond “conditions this has enabled me to accompany pilots to such St . Flour and Clermont Ferrand with views of the many skiers on the slopes of the Massif Centrale mountains beneath us.
Of course the favourite trips to the viaduct de Millau and the islands off the west coast are always favourite destinations for pilots visiting France and I never tire of flying to La Belle Ile , Ile d’Yeu and Quiberon of course the seafood at these destinations is to die for !.
 
This summer despite the intense heat, I have been flying seven days a week so apologies to all of you hoping to read my weekly diary...... today it is raining need I say more.
 
This rain is most welcome as the pasture fields were drying up to a shade of brown rather than green and the horses were having to be fed winter rations.
 
Sadly our  shetland pony Caramel died in his sleep in the field a few weeks ago, he had reached the grand age of 35 years and had only four teeth remaining, I am relieved  that he just passed away and did not suffer any illness or pain.
 
All of the puppies have departed for their new homes except one male who I have retained called "Edward Bear of Nearly Heaven" of course he is my teddy bear!
 
I am trying to find time each morning and evening to train him and to take the dogs swimming in my neighbours lake.They love to cool off in the water and go hunting for frogs, insects and fish, the puppy enjoys hurling himself of the bank on top of his mother when she is swimming and almost drowning her!.
 
We have restocked with hens and ducks after Mr. Fox decimated our flocks  earlier in the year.
 
I am delighted to have been of help to several Pilots who are permanently living in France. Several have needed a flight with an examiner after allowiing their SEP ratings to lapse.
During these tests I have had to the privledge to fly in several unusual types of aircraft which has been a great experience for me.
 
I am also pleased to have several lady students at present, is is always heartwarming to see more lady pilots as they are rather scarce in my part of France.
 
Roll of honour
 
First solo flights:
 
     Kate Thomson

 
 

Esteban Dwarka

    Paolo Rossi

 

Martin Payne

   
 

Lorraine Thomas

Stuart   Morton
   

  Ugar Edal
 

Stine Angen

   
 
 

  

PPL:

  Kate Thomson

  

  Esteban Dwarka

   Dave Barrow

  
 

Paolo Rossi
 

    Ugar Erdal
  Peter  Cazalet
 

Stephen Bosworth  
 
ATPL:   Congratulation to Marco Rossi for obtaining passes in the ground exams
   at Oxford Aviation School
 
JAR PPL: Gerry Bolger and Dave Cannon have upgraded their licences to a JAR PPL.
 
 
Ugur Erdal with Mike Grierson (examiner) after passing his skill tests.

Changes at the club
 
Following our Annual General Meeting we have a new club President Christian Dalbin , Michel Kofyan the former president has now taken the position of Vice President.
 
Patrick Moussy has taken on the role of CFI for the french students.
 
Christian and Patrick both  speak good English so hopefully all of the English members will feel at home conversing with them.
 

Hornet + Vizsla = BAD

Hi there,

Thought I would share with you the results of when our Vizsla, Poppy, decided to play with a Hornet. She got stung on the face and within minutes her nose had swollen to comic proportions. We whipped her off to the vets who gave her some injections to reduce the swelling. By the evening though her throat had swollen up with a large bag of fluid. See picture  on the right.

Off we went back to the vets who gave her some diaretics to help her get rid of the fluids. She was feeling very sorry for herself for two or three days just sitting in her chair looking, well looking kind of swollen.

So as a word of warning to everyone, if you see your dog playing around with Hornets the consequences can be quite severe. It was quite strange seeing a Vizsla actually sitting still for so long, a definate rarety in our house. Happily all turned out OK for the young Poppy and she is now back to her normal, lively, not swollen self!

And here is a quick snap of Poppy back in full flight jumping over fences!

 

David

Full Flap

Sue " Did you forget to do something as you approached the runway?"

Gwen " I knew you were looking in my direction but I couldn't figure out what it was that I should have done."

Sue " You didn't pull full flap."

Gwen " Oh no, perhaps because the carburettor wasn't out my landing manoevre ritual went out the window."

Sue " The landing wasn't too bad, however, but I can't always be there telling you how to do it."

A Monday morning lesson and Sue is a chirpy and patient as ever. Although we students and club life

can be uphill work Aeroclub Limoges' lady instructor will continue teaching until the oleos dry up.

The results speak for themselves. 

Sunday Lunch

7.00 am  Sunday, the hunt for the wild boar had started. He and his family had been foraging in the corn and sunflower fields leaving a riptide of destruction and consternation amongst our neighbours the limousin farmers. It was an early start for the chasseurs-however not for me. A quiet day revising for the ground school exams or so I thought. Mother usually telephones after Andrew Marr has gone home from the BBC2 studio but she was early this morning. Excited at me being one of Sue's new students and having gained her PPL in the 1960's Mother has plenty of her own stories to recount. The call lasted almost until the Big question and barely was the receiver down when it rang again. Sue, "We're leaving for Isle d'Yeu, can you be here in 20 minutes?"  Shoes, chickens, dogs, where's my flight bag, write message for other half - Nav to Isle Dieu, back much later ?? XXX  p.s. Hope you find the boar.

Within the hour  Sue, Robert Walters and myself  were at 6500ft following Matthew Galvin with Robert's sons in the Diamond Star heading toward the Atlantic Coast. The Diamond Star became quite invisible in the summer sky, however when we landed at Isle d'Yeu the airfield which was very busy, they were parked ready and waiting. Thanks to Sue's forward planning the taxi  collected us promptly weaving a path through the narrow lanes , flanked by unobtrusive white painted cottages, to the harbour restaurant. The brochettes of chicken, lamb and duck ordered were akin to huge Excalibur replicas with salad and eagerly tucked into by the hungry pilots. After a pleasant afternoon on the Atlantic and visiting the tower for landing fees we were ready for the return journey. We flew back between the gliders and french pilots returning to all the corners of France and once again kept our eyes peeled for our travelling companions but to no avail. The undetectable Diamond Star was already in the hangar at Limoges when we landed!

7.00pm  How was the hunt this morning my dear?  Was the boar  really that heavy ? 70 kilos! Did you see my message? Yes it was a super trip and I'm even more eager to get my ppl. The pleasure of a sunday surf 'n turf on the wing has to be worth all that studying. You'll have to come with us next time.

 

 

Nearlyheaven flying in France blog page.

Owing to popular demand I shall commence a new page on the NearlyHeaven web site relating to anything pertaining to  flying in France.

 I shall post articles of interest to students and pilots who wish to fly in France please feel free to post your stories or questions on this site.

Best wishes

Sue

Visions of success has new family!

Visions of Success ( Leko) has sired a new litter of  puppies nine in total 2 females and 7 males.

They are in the South of the Limousin and the mother is a beautiful French bitch called "Bellone"

For further details of these puppies please contact me on info@nearlyheaven.com

" Flying should be fun! "

Flying should be fun!
How many times have I said to my students the words  "flying should be fun"?.
Flying is only fun when you are confident in yourself and your ability to fly your aircraft, when you receive your PPL this is the gateway to gaining  a lifetime of  experience and knowledge. Every time that you fly an aircraft, you will learn something new from your flight.
 During my time instructing in France, I have had numerous students who have arrived here with little or no confidence in themselves. This is due to many different things, personality, insensitive instructors, or just too many different instructors all with slightly different methods of teaching. The other factor which can cause the student disillusionment is that their lessons have been cancelled repeatedly owing to the weather or aircraft off line. They see other students improving and they are filled with self doubt why are they not moving forward more rapidly.
Every one learns at a different pace, some students solo in 7 hours but struggle with the navigation, others seem to take a long time before going solo but gallop through the rest of the course.
Gaining a PPL in 45 or 80 hours is down to numerous factors as mentioned above, the most important thing is that at the end of the training , the student is a safe, confident pilot.
It is no good obtaining a quick PPL but being unable to have the confidence to fly to different airfields and perhaps try different types of aircraft.
It seems that learning to fly is rather like playing snakes and ladders, a student makes progress one week and gains a few rungs on the ladder only to slide down a snake a few weeks later.
Many instructors are excellent pilots, however they may not be good teachers, we all remember excelling in a subject at school because we were encouraged by a particular teacher.
I remember being near the top of the class in the subjects where the teachers were sympathetic and interesting however I just" switched off "when the teacher bored or frightened me.
My school reports were full of either "excellent" or "could do better "according to which teacher inspired me or not.
The same applies to training horses and dogs, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink". I won many races on inferior mounts by using a little horse psychology on jaded animals.
Horses and dogs respond to kind, patient training just as humans do.
We all need structured training and each personality responds to slightly varied methods, some students are timid and some are bold therefore it would seem beneficial to teach each person differently according to their needs.
I was lucky to be instructed by a career instructor who not only imparted excellent knowledge in an understanding way, he took me out flying in very different  weather conditions which gave me valuable experience on which I rely today.
Sadly, a few instructors en route to the airlines are intent on building hours rather than imparting lifelong knowledge to their students.
I have heard dreadful tales of trial flights where the experience has turned out to be terrifying rather than fun because the instructor was showing off his aerobatic prowess.
   
These last two weeks I have had the pleasure to teach two members of the same family Charles (15 years old) and his new step mum Patsy.

 I was approached by Charles father some time ago. He asked me if I could start his sons PPL training during the summer holidays and help him to gain confidence in the aircraft as he was very nervous particularly in turbulence.( His father is a very experienced airline and ferry pilot with thousands of hours under his belt).
I commenced the first flight with Charles and tried to allay his fears by explaining that an aircraft in turbulence is similar to a boat on the water they are both riding the waves, one on the water (we can see the waves coming towards us) but the other one is on invisible waves of air.
I showed him how to trim the aircraft and to sit with his arms folded and to watch how the aircraft handled the turbulence and that his plane was not going to fall out of the sky. In fact after a couple of days of training, he was too busy to notice any turbulence.
We are all scared of the unknown and we feel more relaxed when we are in control.
I am not happy in a car driven fast with someone else at the wheel!
Happily, Charlie went from strength to strength during in his two weeks of training (15 hours) his confidence grew daily, the dreaded stalls and the terrifying unusual attitudes caused several groans at first, however within a short time he said to me "this is fun" !
I would have happily sent Charles for his first solo towards the end of this week, however as he attained his 15th birthday during his training, he will have to wait for another year before he can write First Solo in his log book.
 
Patsy and my other lady student Gwen were not afraid of turbulence, they were initially lacking in confidence in themselves, yesterday they had both "cracked the landings " and indeed we moved from the huge runway at Limoges (LFBL) to the tiny tarmac runway at Saint Junien (LFBJ) to practise short field take off and landings, always tricky with no wind, they both performed like professionals----- well done ladies!

Kobi is shattered...............

Just to say that Kobi has had another wonderful 'away day' with his family and favourite Spanish human who speaks to him with that beautiful, soft Spanish accent.  We arrive at La Chataigneraie and Kobi does not even glance back at us when we hand him over and leave, he is far too interested in what fun and play are in store for him with Teddy, his brother, although  I am not so sure that the older members of his family, his parents and aunts and uncles are too thrilled with another silly, bouncy, and unruly pup coming back to disturb their peace.  They seem to be very tolerant of him though and just look rather aloof and disinterested with his youthful exhuberance.  When we return to collect him, he is happy to leave but would, I am sure be just as happy to stay for more play.  It is incredible to see the difference between the full of energy Kobi we arrive with and the totally 'doggo' Kobi on the journey home.  He needs a long rest when he gets back and by the look of the twitching tail and legs, he is busy dreaming about his wonderful fun day with his doggy family and the lovely Spanish senorita!  I wish our 'exciting' day at Mr Bricolage was as memorable!

Space is at a premium with five Vizsla's.

Unusual sleeping habits

.

  

     

 Zack and Teddy sharing!     .

   Blanchette!

   

 

   Teddy after exercise.

Leko  in his normal  sleeping position

    Teddy waiting his turn for the chair

" There are no bad students only bad Instructors!"

Congratulations to Stine Angen from Trondheim,Norway who recently passed her PPL after only four weeks of training.

During that period of time she flew 45 hours of training and passed all her ground school subjects and skill test.

This was especially remarkable when you understand her initial introduction to flight training.
 
Four years ago Stine booked some lessons in Kissimee Florida,she was hoping to gain her PPL,sadly she had a difficult time there and after 30 hours of being "flown around" by an instructor ( she was never allowed to actually use the controls,the radio or to see a map).

She left the school in tears after being told by the president of the Aero club that "flying was not for her" and "as she was staying in a cheap hotel she may want to use her remaining money on a better hotel rather than wasting it on flying"

As one might expect this experience had caused her to lose confidence in herself,however she still had a burning ambition to fly, encouraged by her family,she decided to give it one more try,after her father had read of some of the success stories on the Franco Flyers blog.

After we had discussed her previous training, I related to her a similar story which had happened to me about ten years ago.

Twenty years ago I took my PPL and night rating followed by an FAA IR.After completing that training I had a burning desire to pass my commercial licence and  to become an Instructor.

However, life is not always predictable and I subsequently went through a divorce which completely curtailed my ambition of working in aviation. In fact with four children to support I could  only afford to fly enough hours each year to enable me to keep my licence valid.

Many years passed, then I had a serious  horse accident, the subsequent injuries caused me to be unable to walk for three years.

Finally owing to my injuries, I had the time to study so I used this forced confinement to study the CPL by correspondence course, with the help of my original  PPL instructor Phil Matthews( Cotswold Aero Club) who received many plea's from me by fax "help I do not understand this question".

After passing the 16 ground  examinations ( the hardest work I had ever done in my life) I was ready to commence my training for the flying part of the CPL licence.

I arrived at the commercial school full of joy and enthusiasm, sadly this did not last as I became more and more nervous, it seemed that my instructor did not teach me,he  expected me to know everything and just chastised me if things were not going to his plan.

After ten hours of "training" I had become a complete nervous wreck and I found that even the task of speaking normally on the radio ( which previously had never been a problem to me) was becoming a a nightmare I was not good enough to pass a PPL never mind a CPL.

I had lost confidence in myself.!

I was not making any progress at all, and after another disastrous lesson my instructor asked me to come into his office where he imparted the soul destroying words "you are wasting your time and money, you will never pass the CPL or become an instructor , why don't you just enjoy your PPL".

I am sure that my readers will understand the feeling of utter devastation that I felt upon hearing those words.

I returned to my PPL school in floods of tears and was informed by everyone in the club that they were supporting me and I could make it!

I cannot describe the feeling of depression that lasted for days after I had been dismissed from this school as I had thought of nothing else except obtaining this CPL licence for over three years.

However I am not someone who just gives up, life as an amateur steeplechase jockey had taught me that.

Luckily, I was introduced to Tizzie Hodson she was a CPL/IR instructor at Oxford Flight training (Gloucester ) who upon hearing my story told me "that there are no bad students only bad instructors."

She suggested that we go for a flight together and afterwards if she felt that I was not good enough she would tell me the ugly truth about my flying skills and future prospects.

We took a Slingsby Firefly Aircraft ( which I had never flown previously) and she threw me around in various aerobatic manoeuvres (which I hated) then she turned the plane around several times and said "take me back to Gloucester". I had no trouble doing this and surprisingly I spoke on the radio without any problem,we arrived at the field and I touched down gently on the runway without any problems and at that moment I felt totally calm and positive, I was no longer a "bag of nerves".

Tizzie's words to me were " you are much better than most of my current students I will take you on"
I subsequently passed the CPL and the Instructor rating without any further problem.nHowever I have never forgotten her words about bad instructors and I vowed that I would always give confidence to students no matter how difficult they found the task of learning to fly.

Within a very short time Stine was soon relaxed and happy and enjoying solo circuits at Limoges, followed by her qualifying cross country flight.I was so proud of her as she was improving and gaining confidence every single day.

She joined  Matt and I on our flight to Cannes this gave her untold confidence and knowledge.
Upon our return home we did some revision work and soon it was the day of the skill test.  
I listened to her calm voice on the radio prior to the flight and I was filled with happiness.

In fact after passing her skill test the examiner Mike Grierson told me she was a "natural" pilot.
Sadly too many students never obtain their dreams owing to the situations as described above.