Courage, ambition and effort - Freedom of Flight

It was only near retirement age, that I found the courage, ambition and effort to learn to fly. And the money.

This was in 2016, and come to think of it, it was too late. However, I persisted, giving up perhaps 3 times, and accumulated over 100 hours of training flight before going solo.  Normal people would be on their own in about 30/35 hours. But, hey, I'm just slow - like a dungbeetle.

True Freedom of Flight

But the moment I qualified, I experienced true freedom of flight. This is not the same as an airliner, which is simply an air bus, all herded in a tiny space, like cattle.

This is real aviation. A third dimension. There are no roads dictating where to go and how fast you get there. These  pilots chose their own route, timetable, detours to interesting sights.  In 3 years I flew about 600 hours. Went to Margate, Ladysmith, Ugie twice (to see Alan, an old school buddy), to Thuru Lodge- Northern Cape. I've had engine failure with contaminated fuel, near Ermelo, nose wheel collapse on landing at Warmbaths, Instrument systems failure in eastern Cape, and finally crashed EZN whilst taking off. Spending 4 months in hospital, I'm still here, telling this story. . . . .to be continued.

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