IMC

In the last month I’ve clocked up 17 hours of fixed wing flying (and 15 hours of rotary) and it’s taken that long to remind myself of the subtle differences between the two styles of aviation. Keith, my IMC instructor no longer has to remind me that airfields can’t be approached at 500 ft from the heading that I happen to be approaching from  and I no longer try to take off directly from my parking spot. I don’t park ‘nose in’ at the fuel pumps anymore either now that I’ve remembered planes can’t fly backwards. (A serious design flaw don’t you think ?)

In flight, there are significant differences that I have to remind myself of too – plank pilots measure heights in thousands of feet, chopper pilots do it in hundreds. In a plane, we’re encouraged to fly over bridges instead of under them (how odd !) And you can’t easily land a plane at your favourite pub if you have any intention of taking off again afterwards. Despite all this I’m having a thoroughly enjoyable time continuing my IMC instruction under the capable direction of Keith Postill. Read More→