Wendy I can fly!
No longer uNAVailable
Hello to all readers (yes, both of you).
Bene a while but it’s been a frustrating summer with cancelled flights and, when I have flown, plenty of windy occasions to contend with hence lots of dual flying. The sum total is that I now have many more xwind landings under my belt and a savant-like ability to predict wind speeds from the random flappings of windsocks.
The biggest lesson for me has been to get better at loosening the reigns, so to speak. If I got hit with a gust on short final, I’ve gotten better at just riding with it for a sec before reacting. Haven’t had a genuinely rough landing in quite some time, even in a session which had 14/21kts of cross (sweated lots, but).
So we ‘ve been having some unseasonably nice weather in Adelaide of late so John and I decided to take a leisurely run to the hills, beyond and back. The route chosen was as follows;
YPPF -> Williamstown -> Morgan -> Alawoona -> Mannum -> WRR -> Dam Wall -> YPPF
Flight planning stage was nice and easy, with the great weather the wind on all legs was ‘variable’ which meant no need to have different tracks/headings. We went through the requisite calculations, plotted our course on the maps (non-permanent marker this time) quick ‘what to do’ in case we deviated from track and away we went in PYW. Quoth the pilot:
Parafield ground, C172 PYW, eastern apron, 21L for substation departure, dual, received ECHO
Tidbits from the nav;
- Lots of paper to juggle. VTC, VNC and flight plan, which I wrote on as we arrived at checkpoints and counted down fuel reserves based on burn rates.
- Position checks proved handy to stay awake because there’s lots of flying where you’re just looking out the window for traffic and seeing some fairly bare terrain in the outback.
- Wondering whether an aviation career would be for me, not much of a scenery guy and, well, you see a lot of that. I do like manipulating machines, buttons, levers and knobs, though. Reckon I’ll enjoy flying more when I have a non-pilot with me who I can bore with info like the advantages of constant speed props, leaning the mixture and helping me look out for a soft place to land during CLEAROFF checks.
- From Alawoona, did deviate from track a little but got a decent view of a country football game so it wasn’t a total loss (up the Rovers!)
- Have a slick pair of aviators, need to now get a gigantic aviation watch.
The only hectic moment of the whole flight occurred on final when a Tobago got a little close for comfort and had to do a go-around right next to me. The conditions were silky so the landing was reduced to little more than a bit of a bump. Actually really very happy with the whole thing. Next goal; buzz the tower at YPAD, holding up a 777 at Modbury then sound the shark warning as I go over Myponga for the lullzzz.
Hours so far: ~60 (1.9 in command, 2.0 IF)
Expense so far: ~$15181k
Another non-aviation post
Is fair stunned to note an increase in some Aboriginal relatives’ use of the term ‘kaffir’ to describe local Africans, sometimes even threatening them with violence, describing them as ‘dirty’, generally undesirable, ‘go back to where you came from!’, etc.
Leave aside (if possible) the inherent hypocrisy of my relatives who do this to other black people, the fairly palpable ignorance from where this originates and the gut-wrenching horror I feel about the expression of naked hatred like that.
The term, kaffir, is considered so damn offensive in parts of the world other than Australia that it has legal standing in South Africa as hate speech which can get you thrown in jail. The use of the term is so dangerous and inciteful that if any person, black or white, was to actually open their mouth and use it in South Africa, well, their safety would be impossible to guarantee. Using it puts you in the same thoughtpark as those who thought apartheid was a top idea.
Fam, you have to be much, much better than that. When you use a term which, in other contexts, could get you killed, stop it. Now.
Someone burped doing a downwind call in the circuit.
“XXX, downwind, touch-and-goOOOOOOOO………… pardon me!”
Band's latest blog post
Sorry about the lack of aviation updates people, just haven’t been flying. Bit short of cash at the moment. So have a look at my band Tumblr and, if you feel the need, have your say.
Anonymous
Q: IM me on Yahoo Msngr it's important. my username is jasontarrycc121224
A:
Absolutely, will get onto it straight away. After all, it’s important.
Off-topic: The Andrew Bolt Judgement today
Not really aviation related but I feel the need to comment on this.
For those who don’t know, columnist Andrew Bolt, “…..wrote that some fair-skinned Aboriginal people, whom he called “political Aborigines”, had received prominence or indigenous awards because they chose to identify with their Aboriginality.” He was sued and found to breach Australia’s Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act today.
The problem lies with his discussion about whether someone is ‘Aboriginal enough’ to hold Aborginal positions. There are no degrees of Aboriginality in a genetic sense. To get a Certificate of Aboriginality, you need to be accepted by a community as being Aboriginal. Once accepted, you’re Aboriginal, regardless of your genetic history. You’re not 1/4 or 1/8 Aborginal, you’re Aboriginal and there’s a fairly practical reason for this; as there are no ‘full-bloods’ left thanks to the policies of previous governments, everyone of Aboriginal ancestry is already ‘diluted’ and quantifying that dilution really serves no practical or legal purpose. Fractions of lineage do matter with Native Americans because those fractions lead to documented history proving people’s tribal history/affiliation, land ownership, etc. but due to the destruction of the aforementioned history by government policies in the past, again, fractions with Aboriginal people are legally meaningless.
This is why his comments were out of line and the judgement was correct.
*Disclosure: I am of Aborginal descent.
