Goldfields Dustdevils

 We all have our own ways to help us enjoy our time in the sky, as I like to study flying concepts to improve my understanding of the skills we use in the sky (a great thing to do when the weather does not permit flying). Other things we do without even trying like controlling the simple things, like our position we like to fly in, the sites we fly, the time we go flying, what we fly and who we go flying with. Everything you learn to control as a student pilot, Eventually other things start to take over your choices, be it work, family, finance or health issues ect ect, we learn to compromise with our other life for the greater benefit of air time.

 As pilots it is natural to have to deal with many grounding factors such as AIDS, (Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome) and also learning how to avoid chronic symptoms of this disorder. One major skill as a pilot is to launder money from your savings or mortgage account to get than new harness or instrument, which if it is not done properly can lead to more chronic symptoms of the above mentioned disorder. We all know the things we cannot control like the weather which over time has shown that no matter how much effort we put in can still be the most affective grounding factor we will ever have to deal with.On some occasions every bit of effort pays off, we have a wallet full of cash, we are at our favourite site and it is on and is looking like it is going to be on for as long as we care to hang around and enjoy it.What if this was you every weekend, where do we go after that?  Or the question is what kind of pilot it would make you. Can too much great flying be bad for you?

My problem is that I am jealous, I am a South Australian living in West Australia but I like to fly in Victoria.  Go figure. For my tow endorsement I had to drive 2,728km just to get there. That’s 5456 km or 49.6 hrs just for three days in not so sunny Vic, but I was happy my log book had a few extra hrs that I would have not had if I spent a week at home, I have learnt a stack load of vital information on towing and I got to fly one fantastic new Sting 3. Plus I met a new bunch of pilots and I feel better for the experience. I could sum it all up in one word, Grateful.Now if we look back at the simple things we control, our position we like to fly in, the sites we fly, the time we go flying, what we fly and who we go flying with. But now look at these and think how far you would go to change one of these. 30 minutes to a little ridge, 1 hour 30 to Ben Nevis or in my case 5 and a half hours to my closest ridge soaring site. This is what I call, Attitude to fly. 

Pilots change their opinion of sites solely on the effort it takes to get there. Or even not rate a site just because it is tiny compared to any mountain, I feel sorry for any pilot who can not enjoy the not so popular sites on the marginal days, for they have lost that feeling of pure joy and accomplishment just to have our feet leave the ground.  I say enjoy every site, big, small, hard or easy.No site is better or worse, each site is an individual and should be enjoyed for what it is. A great spot to do what we do,FLY