Certainly not a long journey if one looks at the time that has elapsed but it feels as if I'm living in a parallel life with amount of knowledge that has been crammed into my head in two and a half months. I am struggling to comprehend my levels of responsibility now as I consider my license to fly not only myself but passengers who will put their confidence in me just as I did in so many young pilots over past years!
As students around me go solo for the first time I am reminded of the 19th of February in Oudtshoorn with just over 10 hours of training behind me, as I ran through my checks alone for the first time, and only Terrence, my instructors confidence behind me. "What to do last", open throttle to full and only a mixture of self
confidence and nauseating nerves in the pit of my stomach accompanied me as I left the runway. As I turned onto left crosswind for runway 22, the tension eased and for the first time I was able to look to my right at an empty seat and "whoop whoop" to myself just before the full impact of this solo flight hit me square between the eyes, "it's not a success until these wheels are safely on 
the ground again!" It's incredible what a small realisation like that does for one's concentration and focus. Never before had I done my checks so efficiently. As I turned onto finals and muttered PUFFCL to myself, and broadcast my final approach, took a deep breath and ended my first solo flight ever in style! I have to say... life has not been the same since, the exhilaration, the challenge, the satisfaction, and the passion just keeps getting better!Every exercise after that initial solo was different to the last, obviousy not in definition only but in the nature of personal achievement. Flying alone beyond the airfield parameters into "uncharted" territory was a surreal experience, to the point of feeling entirely detached from the rest of the world for a moment. A sense of responsibility unlike any I'd felt before accompanied with a freedom that could only be described by someone who has been there.
Forced landings over neatly ploughed fields, precautionary landings over the naked banks of farm dams, navigations over hidden jewels in the Outeniqua mountains, 
all leading up to that one goal, my ppl. I honestly did think that beads of blood would develop on my brow before my ppl test as I considered the propsect in early days, imagine my surprise when all I felt climbing into my aircraft for the test was slight sweaty palms and total confidence that I was ready for this. It was one of the best flights I had yet experienced, a chance to prove not only to my testing instructor but to myself that I was able to face most situations with at least a measure of confidence and proficiency that instills confidence in my passengers to be!From a Comm students point of view, everyone knows that all a ppl is, is a license to learn, that said, as achievements go, there are very few if any that measure up to being licensed to fly & I consider it an absolute privilege to be one of a minority of blessed individuals!
From my limited experience, the one thing that I can testify to is that flying is not just about having the money and ability. It is about passion, hard work and more important than anything, a community of aviators who stand by you, support you and teach you because of their passion for flying & willingness to impart knowledge and experience to their students! Instructors must be given all the recognition and thanks due to them, all my instructors have been totally selfless with their time and expertise, big up to them and to all the other staff at FTC George.
