New Plane... what a buzz...

One of the things that I decided to do a long time ago was to learn to fly when I could afford it and I now can. Many years ago my partner (Sue) bought me a trial flight as a birthday present and I loved it so here we are. I started the lessons in October last year and have clocked up over 12 hours of flying so far.

I fly with Sheffield City Flying School, when I first popped in to enquire about costs etc I was met by one of their instructors (Justin), who is so enthusiastic about flying that I couldn't wait to get started. He has been very patient with me and makes flying fun, he genuinly seems to enjoy what he does. All the instructors that I have met there, including the owner are very friendly and I can't recommend them enough.

We decided early on the it would be best for me to learn to fly in a PA-28 which is a four seater plane as I'm not really built for the two seater plane. The plan I have clocked up the most hours in is a PA-28-180, whos' call sign is G-DLTR, she is a nice plane to fly and I was making reasonable progree with her.

The current stage of my flying has reached a point where I am in the "circuit", the circuit is basically where you fly in a giant rectangle, landing at an airfield, rolling down the runway and taking straight off again, repeating it over and over again to get the hang of most aspects of flight.

This has been the hardest thing so far for me, doing everything at the right time, mainting the descent, keeping the speed right etc... its the most stress I have been under for a long time, my last lesson but one things starting coming together and I felt a lot better about it. My biggest problem is that I am my own worst crittic and keep beating myself up, then just as I thought I was making progress Justin suggested trying a new plane that they have just got in...

I'll try most things once and I am so glad I did, the new plane is a DA-40/D and it is amazing, do responsive, climbs very quickly and as it has a plexiglass cockpit cover the views are amazing and the speed....

I have booked some extra lessons, plus a nighttime flight for next week and I can't wait to get back in the air.

If you live in the South Yorks area and fancy a trial flight or learning to fly then I cannot recommend my school highly enough, their website can be found here
http://www.sheffieldcityflyingschool.net/

I have started keeping my logbook online, it details can be found
http://www.e-logbooks.com/pilots/log_book.asp?pilot=PJolliffe