Learning to Fly

My father left Zambia..
He settled in Salisbury Rhodesia.

I was old enough to take flying lessons at the Mashonaland Flying Club.
What a wonderful time and what a challenge for a young man to knuckle down and apply myself to the discipline of learning to fly.

Alas there were many distractions such as regular nights out and of course I discovered girls.

Flying training continued in a haphazard way and I reached the solo stage. Then it was time for solo hours without the instructor doing exercises that had been demonstrated .

I bumbled along in a haphazard way, passing the Air-law exam, passing the Navigation and Meteorology exams all the while in an irregular way that drove my instructor to distraction..

Then UDI came and the tone and mindset changed as a more serious tone set the pace of life. Young men were suddenly required to be in uniform and the simple pleasurable life moved into the shadows as the new reality took over.

When sanctions and steel rationing made running a business impossible my father packed up and left for South Africa. To start anew in a place that was in a boom cycle with government spending on vast projects that made setting up a viable business easy and rewarding.

I got married and left the business of my father. I eventually decided to move to the UK and enrolled at the prestigious Chelsea College of Aeronautical Engineering. This was based at Shoreham Airport. During the weekends I now continued with my flying lessons and soon finished them and having passed all the relevant Examinations only had to do the dreaded Flight Test.

An appointment was made and weak with anxiety finally passed this last hurdle with a real gentleman who glossed over my more embarrassing errors and instead demonstrated the finer art of aircraft control and forward planning to me. He signed me off and his examination which had actually turned into an intensive instruction hour that was never forgotten.

Let loose with a new PPL, the world was my oyster. I flew regularly and even found employment with an organization that paid me in free flying hours as part of my remuneration package.

My wife had in the meantime qualified in her chosen profession and as we were both young and full of optimism we both decided to get back into the sunshine.
So we packed up and left the UK for South Africa.

If I had to do my flying license again, I would try and get it all done as quickly as possible because I would save an enormous amount of time and money by not having to redo flying exercises because I was rusty and having to redo the written examinations because I had moved to another country.

In the USA you can put our money down at a professional flying school and get your Private flying license in 3 weeks. This is the way to go because intensive training is best and once the basics have been mastered progress is rapid.

My advice to wannabe pilots, save or borrows enough money to be able to enroll in such an establishment.

Google “Flying Training” and narrow the search down to your chosen area.