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    My Foreign Flying Adventures
    My Foreign Flying Adventures
    My Foreign Flying Adventures
    Ebook76 pages1 hour

    My Foreign Flying Adventures

    By Helen Krasner

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    About this ebook

    This book contains the author's accounts (previously published in various magazines) of her long distance flying trips as a private pilot. They take place to and within Wales, Ireland, the Highlands of Scotland, France (twice), California, and Russia. The flights were undertakes by both small aeroplane and helicopter, for Helen has licenses for both. Some were primarily to train and gain experience for her commercial pilot's licence and instructor rating, one was an entry to a prestigious international flying competition, others were undertaken purely for fun. One was nominated in 2004 for an 'Aerospace Journalist of the Year' Award. All were adventures in the sense that they involved great challenges, difficult times, and unexpected occurrences. Thus they make exciting, interesting, and informative reading.

    This book should appeal both to pilots and to anyone who enjoys travel and adventure stories. A professional writer for many years, Helen has a fine eye for detail and knows how to tell a good story. Of course the book will be of especial interest to pilots, those who enjoys flying as a pilot or passenger, or anyone learning to fly. But its audience should not be limited to the aviation world, but to all who yearn for foreign parts and adventure, or simply like to enjoy to from an armchair.

    This is Helen's 14th published book, and her 12th aviation ebook. This new book is over 20,000 words in length.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHelen Krasner
    Release dateJan 7, 2014
    ISBN9781310223334
    My Foreign Flying Adventures
    Author

    Helen Krasner

    Helen Krasner worked as a helicopter instructor for several years, instructing for various flying schools on Robinson R22s and R44s. She has also flown a large number of other helicopter types, held a private pilot's licence for aeroplanes, and has had a go at flying microlights, gliders, and balloons. Helen has been writing professionally for many years and contributes regularly to a number of aviation publications. She was nominated for an Aerospace Journalist of the Year award in 2004, for an article about flying helicopters in Russia. She has also had several books published, both print and ebooks, mainly – though not exclusively – on aviation related topics. She is also a former Newsletter Editor for the BWPA (British Women Pilots' Association). You can find out more about Helen, including details of all of her books, on her website, helenkrasner.com.com.

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      Book preview

      My Foreign Flying Adventures - Helen Krasner

      My Foreign Flying Adventures

      Personal Touring by Aeroplane and Helicopter

      By Helen Krasner

      Published by Helen Krasner at Smashwords

      Copyright Helen Krasner 2012

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

      Preface

      I have done a lot of flying over the years, both by aeroplane and helicopter, for I have licences to fly both. Most of it was during the time before I settled down and became a helicopter instructor, and it was done partly – though not exclusively – to gain flying experience needed for that career. Some of it has been in foreign countries, and much of it has been very exciting by all usual standards. Many of these adventures have been published in the past – in flying magazines, the British Women Pilot’s Association newsletter, and various other publications. And it seemed like a good idea to put them all together in book form – and so the idea for My Foreign Flying Adventures began to take shape.

      The articles making up this book are very varied. They start with a trip to the Scottish Highlands with my friend Tricia, who features in several of the other stories too. Then comes a trip round Ireland, followed by a flight in Wales and the Borders to take part in (and win) an international flying competition, the ‘Dawn to Dusk’. Again, I flew with Tricia for both of these adventures. The fourth article is about a group flight to Paris by helicopter, arranged by my flying school fairly soon after I started rotary flying. The fifth is again about a trip to France, but this time alone and in a fixed-wing aircraft, so something of a challenge for me – although Tricia did join me for the last few days. The last two stories are somewhat different, and involve flying in California and Russia to gain experience and build hours before becoming a helicopter instructor. The articles are of different lengths and varying formats (some are in diary form) but hopefully that only adds to their richness and variety. The article about flying in Russia was nominated for an Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award in 2004.

      All of these stories should be of especial interest to any private or commercial pilot of course. But they are also fascinating for anyone who enjoys travel and seeing faraway locations, by whatever means. Travelling by small private aircraft is a unique experience, and enables you to see new places in a totally different way from using any other means of travel. Therefore I expect this book to attract a very wide audience, and maybe it will persuade readers to go out and fulfil their dreams, as I did with my flying.

      So read…and enjoy…

      Helen Krasner

      April 2012

      Contents

      Chapter One: Flying in the Scottish Highlands

      Chapter Two: Flying in Ireland

      Chapter Three: Competition Flying in Wales and the Borders

      Chapter Four: To Paris by Helicopter

      Chapter Five: Solo Flying Trip to France

      Chapter Six: Three Weeks Helicopter Flying In California

      Chapter Seven: Flying in Russia

      Chapter One: Flying in the Scottish Highlands

      Return to Table of Contents

      The weather had been consistently bad for about two weeks. My friend Tricia and I had scanned the long-range forecasts daily, getting more and more depressed. We had Staverton Flying School’s C152 booked for five days, we couldn't change the dates, but our planned trip to the Highlands was looking less and less possible. It looked as though we would have to go somewhere closer, maybe Cornwall or East Anglia. Let’s be realistic, said Tricia. We’re just not going to get the consistent good weather we need to fly up there and be sure to get back on time.

      Twenty-four hours later the long-range forecasters were talking of welcoming back the Azores High, and the media began to discuss the predicted heatwave. By the weekend I was hunting for my current but mislaid Scottish chart, and Tricia was making plans to pick me up at Sleap Airfield on Monday morning: final destination for the day - Oban. I had even booked us accommodation there for that night, so certain was everyone of reliable weather. We couldn't believe our luck.

      On Monday 4th August Tricia arrived at Sleap around midday due to early morning mist at Gloucester. She was tired after a full day’s instructing the day before, so I had planned to fly the first long leg - around two and a half hours - to Cumbernauld. This would give her a chance to rest, and once there we could decide which of us would fly to Oban.

      It was an easy, uneventful flight in lovely weather with great visibility, though high pressure haze was already starting, and we landed at Cumbernauld around 4 pm. We grabbed a late lunch of muesli bars and water - experience has taught us to always carry emergency rations when flying - while I phoned Oban to ask about the weather. Wonderful, said Paul at Oban Airfield, assuring us that we should have no problem crossing the 3,000 ft mountains between them and us. A refreshed Tricia took over for the final leg, and we climbed to 4,500 ft, gazing in awe at some of the most stupendous views We'd ever seen. When I realised we were flying over Loch Lomond I spontaneously broke into song: By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes, and after a moment Tricia joined in. It was that kind of day.

      Oban is a lovely little airfield with views to the Hebrides. Paul and Brian offered us a warm welcome with free coffee and biscuits, and even a lift to our hotel, just down the road. We were glad we’d booked in advance, as almost all accommodation in Oban was full, and Paul was lending caravans and tents

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