I’ve finally finished going through my photographs from our trip to the Isles of Scilly in 2006. I’ve put together a collection of my favourites. Click through to comment on any individual photograph.

Ask a CFI has done a post on Checkride Butterflies and it reminded me of my first time.

“You fly just like a woman.”

I blink.

I am sitting in the left seat of a Piper, somewhere over the beautiful English countryside known as the Cotswolds. On my right is Bob, an experienced pilot and examiner in his early 60’s. He is checking me out for my complex rating. We’ve done circuits, a few different landing configurations, then flown out and up for general handling. I remembered my HASELL checks, managed to get the plane into the stall on my second attempt (something about it still makes me shiver) and I am feeling pretty good about the recovery. The steep turn to the left was a bit of a roller coaster but I was within limits when I turned back onto the straight and level. I didn’t panic during the practice false landing and I could swear I saw his mouth twitch into a smile when I had plenty of time spare for a passenger briefing. I thought it was going well.

His words fill the cockpit and time stands still.

I was no stranger to the attitude that women shouldn’t fly. I did my PPL training in southern Spain which was a unique introduction to Mediterranean machismo.

When I did my cross-country solo, I planned a straight-forward route from Axarquía to Granada, Granada to Almería and Almería back to Axarquía. I’d flown the run a few times and I was feeling quietly confident about it. Granada and Almería both have reassuringly large runways and very little traffic, a perfect combination. Everything went fine for the first leg, then I landed at Almería and strolled in to sort out the landing fee.

A red-faced man fired questions at me in Spanish: was it a private plane? Where had it come from? How long was it staying? A younger man stood nearby with a pad and pen as if ready to take notes if I contradicted myself. It was a bit odd but seemed to be going well until he asked about the pilot.

“That would be me.”
“No, I mean the person that flew the plane,” he said. Perhaps he thought it was a language issue.

“Sí.” I gave him a winning smile. “That’s me. I’m the pilot.”

He frowned. “You?”

“Yes, me.”

“All on your own?”

I could feel the blush creeping up on my face, as if I’d done something wrong. “Yes, alone. Sola. I am the pilot of that plane.”

He stepped passed me and walked over towards the apron, looking out towards the plane, as if I had some able-bodied man hiding beneath the wing, ready to pop out and fly the plane when no one was looking.

I fumed inwardly. I was pretty sure he was airport security and had no business stopping me from getting to Ops. I bit my lip, kept the harsh words from escaping.

He shook his head and stormed out of the room. The young assistant stepped forward to follow him and then stopped, put his hand on my shoulder.

“I think that’s great,” he whispered, then rushed to follow his boss.

I grinned like a maniac all the way home.

So yes, I’d seen it before and I knew that there were men out there that felt women just didn’t belong in the cockpit. It wasn’t such a big deal for me, personally, flying for a hobby as opposed to fighting against a glass ceiling. Still, it pushed me through my PPL, made me strive for more than just competent. I wanted to be good, good enough to erode the stereotypes.

“You fly just like a woman.”

Today is important to me, today I am expecting to become a real pilot. And now this. We’re straight and level. The examiner, who seemed a very nice British gentleman when I met him an hour ago, is looking at me expectantly.

I blink again and promise myself I will keep my cool, whatever happens.

“Pardon?” The word comes out as a whisper.

A smile flashes across his face. “By which I mean, you have bothered to learn the theory of what you are doing rather than just jumping in the cockpit and going through the motions. It’s refreshing.”

“You mean, I passed?”

“Of course you passed! That was great. You need experience, of course, but who doesn’t! I’m utterly confident you will continue to apply yourself like you did today and make a very good pilot. That’s the airfield at your two o’clock, by the way, I want to see a flapless landing.”

I set up for the approach, trying to quell the semi-hysterical laughter bubbling in my throat. I passed! How silly of me, to assume that was an insult. I should know better. Women pilots – after all, it’s not some newfangled idea, just think about Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson!

As the plane touches down, I allow myself a huge smile. That’s a comparison worth striving towards. I want to fly just like a woman.

I joke about a fear of landing but there’s a more serious thing that I fear.

Spiders.

Ever since my son was born, I have tried to repress this fear, worried that I would pass it on to him. When he was a toddler, I saw his reaction when I screamed at a spider in the bedroom. “If my parent is scared of this little thing, why then it must be horrible!” Since then, I have tried my best to be brave.

So when I noticed a web in the garden, I got my camera to document it.

The huge spider web stretched from one of the trees to the rosemary bush. I was intrigued and took a photo. The web was broad and with large gaps, too big, it seemed, for any of the midges or mosquitos around here. I wondered what the spider was hoping to catch.

The next day, I found another web, stretching across the path. And then a third, across the stairway leading to the pool. It started to feel like the spiders were cutting off all the exits from the house. I went out to take photographs of the webs.

The spiders crawled down from their hiding places to watch me. I retreated.

I swore at myself for being such a wimp and I went back out to take more photographs at dusk. This time the spiders were perched on the centre of the webs, waiting patiently. One waved a foot at me while I took its photograph. I started to back up but found myself worrying that I’d back into another web. A pine needle fell from the tree and landed in my hair. I screamed so loudly, I suspect they heard me all the way on the coast of Africa.

I hid under my blankets for the rest of the evening.

Google tells me that it’s likely that the spiders are European garden spiders (Araneus diadematus) . Wikipedia assures me that they are not prone to attack. But it’s not being bitten that I’m worried about.

They wait, hanging in the centre of the web, for any prey to blunder into their web at which point they wrap it in silk and eat it. One spider could clearly not take on a 4′11" overweight German-American woman in her 40s. But if they ganged up on her… with webs in every direction …. maybe?

Today I saw the start of a web on the office window. I think they are coming after me.

There are no spiders at 10,000 feet, right? It’s time I went flying again.

Sometimes I can lose the entire day just reading websites and following links – but I can justify it by passing on the results. I’ve collected the best of what I’ve found to save you time! I’m such a martyr.

The FAA have released their transcripts from Flight 1549 landing in the Hudson in two formats: Air Traffic Control tapes in MP3 format and the full transcript in PDF format. As you read it, you can see the captain mentally ticking off options. I’d have slipped a swear word in there somewhere. Full Transcript from America West Cactus 1549:

2029:26 L116 okay which runway would you like at teterboro
2029:28 AWE1549 we’re gonna be in the hudson
2029:33 L116 i’m sorry say again cactus

Passengers reject pilot, spokeswoman blames mass psychosis. But it’s OK, pilots aren’t required to be coherent for flights. Passengers stop flight after ‘drunk’ pilot sparks panic – Times Online:

Flight attendants initially ignored passengers’ complaints and threatened to expel them from the Boeing 767 jet unless they stopped “making trouble”. As the rebellion spread, Aeroflot representatives boarded the aircraft to try to calm down the 300 passengers.

One sought to reassure them by announcing that it was “not such a big deal” if the pilot was drunk because the aircraft practically flew itself.

The Big Picture is one of my favourite photography sites anyway so I was thrilled to see them highlight these stunning aerial shots of London: More of London from above, at night – The Big Picture – Boston.com:

Jason shot these images with a camera attached to gyro-stabilized mounts from a Eurocopter AS355, hired out at around £1150 (GBP) per hour, using Nikon gear and either a 14-24mm or a 70-200mm lens. Even with that, the low light and heavy vibrations can make things difficult, Jason says “I often shoot tethered to my MacBook Pro to check the sharpness of the images whilst I shoot.”

Seems someone forgot to activate the brake cable. Ooops. Videos and Photos of Army Special Ops, Navy SEALs, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard in Action – Shock and Awe – Military.com:

How to Blow 80 Million in 6 Seconds

Plastic Pilot is always on the lookout for good content to share with us. This week, he asked instructors for flying advice and published their answers. 5 Instructors give their top tips | Plastic Pilot:

So my best advice to pilots is to continually study, become a lifetime student of aviation! Don’t let complacency creep into your flying skills. Just like a physician has to stay up on the latest medical journals, techniques and practices, so must a good pilot continuously review airplane flight manuals, aviation regulations and trade publications (and blogs!) to keep current and sharp in this continuously changing environment of aviation.

Some interesting new information on BA 777 Heathrow Accident, brought to you with commentary from Cranky Flier.British Airways 777 Accident at Heathrow Linked to Delta Incident >> The Cranky Flier – Airlines|Airports|Air Travel Blog:

It’s odd to see this report come out before the investigations are finished, but Boeing must have seen something that it really thinks needs to be fixed. The chance that this could cause another accident is slim, especially now that they’ve recommended some operational changes (like, fly lower where it’s warmer if necessary) that will help avoid the problem.

Yes, it’s somewhat tasteless but to be honest, I fell for it! Turns out it was a prank.Virgin Sues Over Hudson Crash Prank – TMZ.com:

According to the suit, filed yesterday in Federal court, Virgin claims Adrants Publishing posted an ad on its website, Adrants.com, showing a photo of the jet planted in the Hudson River, with the caption, “The Hudson Crash: Just One More Reason to Fly Virgin.”

This Flight Global article is fascinating. NASA puts forward concepts and possibilities for the next century, including dismissing competition to reduce pollution (only one flight per route). I’m not sure I like the sound of their view for the future of private pilots.Flight 100 – the next 100 years:

Flying cars transporting people along dedicated “highways in the sky” at low cost on high-volume routes similar to the railway networks operated today, could be the answer to growing road congestion. The new generation of very light and personal jets will become an increasingly viable alternative to the strict regime of commercial flying, at a fraction of the cost of today’s business jets. This could fuel the growth of air taxi operations, which would become an integral part of the transport system and open remote and formerly inaccessible areas to businesses and individuals.

This Gizmodo article is a few months old so maybe everyone but me has already seen these bizarre uses of jet power but it did make me laugh. I have to admit the Darwin Awards come to mind.Gadgets: 10 Gadgets That Have No Business Using a Jet Engine:

Jet-Powered Toilet: Powered by a Boeing Jet engine, this outhouse can reach speeds in excess of 70 mph—giving it the distinction of being the “fastest toilet in the world.” The way I see it, that puts inventor Paul Stender on the same level as Chuck Yeager.