Me
Haagen Dazs (:
"You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky." — Amelia Earhart

take me to the sky

3:49 pm I really should be studying for organic chem test or preparing for my meeting with miss cheng tomorrow, but I guess like Dr. Hang said this morning, sometimes, we have to take some time to reflect on what's going on in our lives, and to learn to focus. So now I'm going to attempt to write a proper post about my 6th sortie and the entire SYFC experience so far, and not worry about anything in the meantime.

I haven't been going for training very regularly lately partly cause I want myself to get better so that I will not be grounded anymore, as I've come to realise that I really can't fly when I'm feeling unwell.

So on saturday I flew my 6th sortie (after I was grounded for the on Thursday), which is the last one of phase 1. Dewitt was not early, and waiting never fails to make me a very anxious person, but I think I felt considerably better because I felt good about the flight the previous night, and knowing that I was flying with my dearest primary instructor, and not some other killer instructor really helped.

As I expected, he let me do the take-off, and this time I managed to do it without THAT much yaw (yay me!), and I think it helped to have got that right, will try and do it again next sortie. Went up, on the first turn, I think I was still quite haven't warm up, but kept telling me to relax and that I'll make it (to phase 2 i pressumed). I did an overhead climb to bravo. For the first time in my life. So turned around in circles, appreciated the sky, felt extremely thankful for the opportunity I had to be soaring through the skies.

The visibility was very very very bad. really could not see anything at all, felt like I was flying instrument, and in the end I did, and thanks to the DI and AH that were spoiling-ish (ON), I thought I flew quite badly (wings level that wasn't really level), but didn't let it bother me too much, just tried to do my best. The actually turning exercise itself was fine cause he showed it to me before, and yeap, was blessed with extremely wonderfully calm skies, and apparently even managed to hit my own slipstream in the turn. :D Also, cause of the poor visibility, we climbed to 8000 ft! (: Felt air so cool that I've never felt before, see a whole new part of the sky that I have definitely not seen before and it was just awe-inspiring. I used to (and still do) find it amazing for the MRT train to look like the snake in the nokia phone, but that day, saw the haze line, and I remember thinking that it is for times and sights like these that makes all the pressure of trying to juggle flying with school, studying checks, procedures and all worth it.

When he did stalling, I was blur. Very blur. Should've read all the way there, but didn't, but it helped so that when I sat through the briefing later in the day, I wasn't lost at all. (: Yeap, but after he hurriedly showed me stalling, we went back to the circuit pattern and he showed me a landing, like he did last time, and told me to follow him through, and that I was going to do it the next time (was surprisingly calm, and managed to absorb and remember quite abit of stuff). After we landed, we were off again, and after he handed me control, I just tried to do all that he went through with me, but I was quite disappointed with myself, I wasn't as steady as I was normally up in the airspace, but I managed to land successfully. :D When I touched down, I think I was smiling.

After the flight, for the first time he walked up to the board, and counted 10 more sorties before I'd be able to go solo (if I do survive that long), and after that he told me things that I was happy to hear at that point, but on hindsight, I just wished wasn't going to happen. For daddy, dewitt my flying daddy, and everybody who've given me so much support, I will work hard so that john can get his milo. I'm one step closer.

But, after my own file-reading, I overheard what was being said in the other debrief room, a coursemate being told by his instructor that if he didn't show improvement by the next flight, it would be his last, that I reality begin to sink in. Just as we were beginning to get to know one another so much better, feeling comfortable with one another, not all of us might get to continue on this journey that we began.

It's been an amazing close to 3 months with 157, from orientation when we were all new to each other, all that groundschool, CAI saturday after saturday, eating sim, eating lousy overpriced food, eating prata, lots and lots of time on the phone with cherie/joanna filling each other in on good/bad flights, time online with l-man and enson, tonnes of sweets from lekning, wayyy too many sick jokes from my dearest instructor, raman, and the guys, and most importantly, plenty of laughter. :D Sure, I love flying for what it is, but having others who share that passion and love makes it even better.

I can't imagine how next saturday's going to be our last saturday together, just seems all too soon, but we'll see each other when we report for flights and things like that. (: We'll stick together. Mr Hi said that we're a strong course, we'll be able to do it. :D GO 157! (although other than cherie i think no one else would be reading this)

For me, I'll keep going. Much better now compared to Saturday evening, and whatever happens would have happened for a reason. Shall just bear that in mind, and keep doing my best.