Nineteen Sunsets

Well, before the beginning of the rest of my life takes off, nineteen sunsets are to set.

This evening I began the final stages of preparation until I glide myself skywards for the first time alone. I've been waiting for this for a decade, and out of 520 weeks, a mere 2 and a bit remain. Whether I'm comfortable, nervous or completely ****ing myself, the 23rd is Point Zero. I'm taking off.

This evening, I flew three launches. The first one took us to 1,100ft, where 5 minutes of flighttime brought us back down. The second launch failed at about 400ft and we touched down straight ahead. The third launch failed at 600ft and the positioning was such that a right-hand mod/circ. brought us back around onto Two-Seven in the centre triangle for a normal landing.

I require one more >500ft CBSA to check off that exercise, and ultra-low-level CBSA demo and <100ft CBSA. Further spinning exercises also. I will update when I have a rough idea about how many launches this will take, but I would about 10. By trend, that would put me soloing on my 235th glider flight. 240th would be realistic though, I expect.

And after? Well, depending on the glider type that I take up alone, it shall determine how many flights I will need before moving on. If I solo on the K13, I shall need a glass-conversion to the K21. This will usually comprise of about 10 solo flights on the 13. If I solo on the 21, I need some solo experience, I believe about 10 solo launches before converting to the single-seater Grob 102. I'll work my way up the gliding ladder until I have a Silver C, when I shall start an NPPL. After the NPPL, which will probably take a couple of years, I'll convert it to a full PPL, most likely transferring to Blackbushe. Then I'll get a CPL, a Multi-Engine rating and hopefully, by then I'll have been through college and starting University. From there, I'll fly a modular frozen ATPL, then depending on the flying academy, I'll be able to convert to either Airbus or Boeing, and join an airline, ready to start my professional flying career.

And it all starts, nineteen sunsets away. Hmmmm, better get on with it then!

~~~