Progress test one (PT1) for flying is now due! Just completed my last solo flight before the test. Everything went well on the flight so the same should happen on the test. The winds are due to calm down, so that will make things a little easier, though I’m not betting on that! This last solo flight was the last chance I got to practice everything and get it polished before the test! Having gone well it has given me a confidence boost. I’ve found that spending time debriefing myself and analysing how the flight went step by step really helps. I’ve started to use google earth as a tool to debrief myself on how my navigation exercises had gone and it helps to write a report for myself so I can look back on it and remind myself of what went wrong, what I need to do next time, etc.
The process to get to PT1 after the last pre-PT1 solo flight is to complete all paperwork in the your file, ensure your logbook’s up-to-date and then your name goes up on a board where an examiner will allocate himself to you. A few people on my course have already done their PT1 and from what I heard it’s a lot of hard work and it’s intense!
The plan after PT1 is to get as much flights done as possible to get a little ahead so I can later concentrate on groundschool, for the next phase of exams which are due in about 2 months. It feels like we’re in a time bubble here – a lot of events are compressed into a small space of time! You hear family and friends saying “oh you’ve only got 6 months left now!”, however, to me that’s a long 6 months, as there’s a lot of hard work to be done between now and to the end of the course! When you’re looking forward time periods appear long, however looking back you realise time really has flown by. Don’t know if that makes any sense!