Farewell Valkenburg

On Saturday, the 28th of September 2013, ACV (Aeroclub Vlkenburg) held their yearly fly-in. In itself nothing extraordinary, since they do that every year. Only this year was slightly different. Former military Airbase Valkenburg closed down quite a number of years ago already (I believe it was in 2003, or thereabout). The terrain remained state-owned, and nothing much changed, except the military operations seized to exist. Now, the airport is about to be turned into a pleasant, sustainable, eco-friendly living environment. So this was most likely the last fly-in to this 2.5 km (8200 ft) runway. I was lucky to to able to arrange a last-minute fly-along with a friend of a friend, Frank de Jong, through a quick facebook exchange of messages. We would go fly one of the Dynamic WT9's.

EHVB in de verte

New Year's resolutions

Fist of all, my very best wishes to all of you for the new year! Of course, this is the time of the year for resolutions, but I don't really do that. However, I dis plan to start my PPL lessons "full swing" from January, so that could be called my New Year's resolution for 2014. :)
I had already made an appointment with my instructor Piet, and booked the plane in the new booking system for Friday, Janusry 3rd. I had been saving up my leave days at work, so that I can use them for flying lessons as I need them, and this Friday was a day my company was closed, so I decided to start my PPL lessons on that day, to make best use of my "forced" day off.

JAR-FCL RTF / EASA ATO, and the consequences for my PPL Training

Just to throw out some more abbreviations here, I wrote another article on the changing legislation in the world of aviation. More specifically: the world of Flight Crew Licensing. I'm hoping to shed some light on the matter, for the benefit of those that have recently started their PPL training, or are about to start that training (like myself). It all started with a discussion on the legislation concerning training organisations, and the licensing of those organisations, and on what the consequences for students would be. Especially the transition from the "old" regime to the "new" regime, and in how far the "old" education would be recognised end fully creditable towards the "new" education. Lots of that discussion is based on the personal interpretation of the applicable legislation, so there's a certain uncertaincy in the arguments used. Therefore, I decided to ask the executive institute for the Netherlands (the "competent authority"), IL&T (Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport)

Two down, Five to go!

I've just had my first two theretical exams for my PPL course. If I am to believe the preliminary answers, I passed both exams! :D Only five more to go ...

Totally nerveous, I arrived at the exam venue of CBR/CCV. That is the same institute that does the exams for drivers licences (CCV is the professional transportation section of that organisation). I was well on time, as usual, but not the first, this time! There were two others of my theory class already there. The rest of the group came in, minutes after me, so we were all in time. Five minutes before the start of the exam, we started question ing if we were in the correct waiting room ... One of us had a look, and sure enough we had to move to the second floor (no signs whatsoever on ground floor!). Just in time, we all got there, and were alowed in the classroom.

Theory, theory, theory

I have started my PPL (Private Pilot's License) theory course by now. That consists of 7 subjects, each with their own exam. I get 18 months to pass all exams, starting from the first try. They are multiple-choice questions, of which at least 75% of the answers need to be correct, to pass the test. During the 18 months, one gets 8 tries, and in those 8 tries, one has to pass all 7 subjects. The strategy will be to do multiple exams per try, but not too many, because then you'll be too worn down for the last test. Plus, you'd need to study all the subjects at once, and chances are, that you'll have forgotten too much of the first subject you started to study, already.
Furthermore, one has to follow classes with a state-accredited (flight) school, so doing it all as self-study is not allowed. Not that I had intended to do it all by  myself! I know quite a lot already through my Flight Simming experience. But all that, I got from well-meaning amateurs like myself. So it is very well possible that I have taught myself wrong things. And for sure I did not teach myself everything. KLM Aeroclub does not have enough appliccants to maintain a certified instructor for theory classes, and to keep the theory education certificate valid every year. So I registered with another certified flight school: "Dwarf Powered Gliders", based atHilversum Airport (EHHV), after consulting with my Flight Instructor, and some flying friends.

Dwarf Powered Gliders, off to the right of "Vliegschool Hilversum"

$100 mussels

The $ 100 burger is a phenomenon well known in the U.S. General Aviation . It has its origins in the search for a destination to fly to. Lacking a "real" reason to go anywhere , a trip to a distant restaurant obviously is a good excuse to have some air flow under the wings.
As a variant of this , I found the mussel fly-in on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Aeroclub Zeeland a good reason to book the Aquila. This time with Piet de Hondt as an instructor and thus my first flying lesson in "my own" air plane was booked :)
For me, so no $ 100 Hamburger, but mussels , this time !

And : this time the bad weather came only a day later , so I've actually flown my first flying lesson in the Aquila!

First Flight

I finally got to fly "my own" plane! :)

So far, I have flown a lesson in a C172 (PH-ACT of and with Ronald Janssen, Zelf Vliegen), and in the Aquila demonstrator plane (F-HARN with Flight Instructor Ferry Herfst, KLM Aeroclub). Also , I have flown along with an Antonov An-2 (D-FONL, Classic Wings, EHTE-EHSE-EDLV-EHTE), AT-3 (SP-ACY, with Erwin van den Boom, Bami Aviation, via Zelf Vliegen), DA-20 (PH-FLK, with Wouter Nagel, Diamond Flyers), and recently, of course, with a Piper Comanche (D-EGHE, of and with Kees de Hoogh). I have written about that in previous posts, so go look them up if you like :)
But now, the moment I've been waiting for was finally there: my first flight in the plane which I partially own!