The last of the hour building, exams, IFR Training and the A350!

I have been pushing very hard to complete all of the CPL subjects at the CAA with 3 exams remaining at the beginning of Feb 2014. The new syllabus horror stories made me slightly anxious to get going and I finally wrote all three and eagerly awaited my completion certificate from the CAA. Ops and Air Law was a beast which I left last and after mapping out exactly what I had to study I got right to it. I didnt make the first or second attempt because the syllabus structure differed from the exam in some aspects. For example, part 93 was not supposed to be in the exam, but there were 4 questions on it! Also, we had to memorize ALL of the minima criteria for every category aircraft, speeds, alternates, remote airfields, THE LOT!

On my third try I was very relieved to see the green writing saying that I had passed after I clicked the “SUBMIT” button. I did pretty well in the end. This was the first exam I had ever failed right from PPL to now so it was a bit of a let-down but oh so grateful to have made it.

I celebrated my 100 hours PIC last week by organizing a flight with my grand mother and cousin to Bela-Bela (FAWB) North of Pretoria. I have family up there so I thought we could drop in and have some cool drink and cookies in the shade. Many pics were taken and I will upload some soon.

Highlights of hour building was my trip to Richards Bay (FARB), 3.5 hours each way, clear cloudless weather en-route and family waiting on the other side. I did suffer from a deflated nosewheel during my landing roll out but took everything in stride and got the wheel sorted out Sunday morning, just in time for the trip back!

After spending so much time studying air law and operations I was very eager to start my IFR training. I had my very first briefing on Sunday with Henry and will be updating you all on the transition from single engine to eventually getting my Multi-Engine Instrument Commercial License!

I managed to catch a glimpse of the glorious A350 on its global test flight. See the pics below..