Category Archives: Flying

Why choosing our state of mind is so important.

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AirNZ ATRMaybe it was the relentless dull drone of the engines, or the claustrophobic feel of the cabin. Maybe it was the absence of company or even just that my book was not riveting. Whatever it was my one hour flight to escape Palmerston North seemed to take forever. It was so painful. So boring.

After landing I disembarked the plane so quickly you would think I had been ejected. Then I begin a slow relaxing fight with the Auckland rush hour traffic back to Hamilton.

Did you catch that?

My drive home, that was in rush hour traffic, that took twice as long as normal, and even took twice as long as the flight from Palmerston, was relaxing, all because my state of mind was different. Which is bizarre because on any other day it would have been annoying.

Isn’t it scary how my ‘state of mind’ has more effect on my enjoyment of something, than the activity itself.

And my state of mind is formed by my self-talk, or what I tell myself in my brain. If I tell myself I am dreading a one hour flight, I will hate it.

∴

Today I turn 43, and whether I feel old or young will depend on my self talk. Will depend on my state of mind.

It doesn’t matter if its age, or kids, or family, or friendship, or sickness, or sport, or work. You get to choose your self-talk. You get to choose your state of mind.

Will you choose to have a positive a state of mind today?

Go ahead. It can be your birthday gift to me.

And you prepare for the worst. And hope for the best.

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Airbus A380new
Far above the ocean, an engine bigger than a large car suddenly disintegrates blasting shrapnel and metal in all directions. The shrapnel punches holes in the world’s largest passenger jet's wing, damages flaps, causes fuel to spew from the plane and degrades 2 of the remaining 3 engines.

In quick succession an unprecedented 54 alarms appear in the cockpit of the Qantas A380 on route from Singapore to Sydney.

In an interview on 60 minutes Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny describes the situation and some of his key decisions. Part way through the interview he states, "I thought lets protect this aircraft at the most basic level possible. And that was to position it within gliding range of Singapore. And that’s what we did."

"That’s a big call, gliding an A380", states the interviewer.

I love the captain’s reply. It is simple, striking and relevant to many situations.

"And you prepare for the worst. And hope for the best."

“Prepare for the worst” means I’m not ignoring the gravity of the event I am in. I’m not hoping its something smaller than it is. Preparing for the worst means I am recognizing it for what it is. Preparing for the worst means I am doing everything I can to position myself in a place where I have the best possible chance of recovering.

Prepare means more than just hope. It means action.

“Hope for the best”. Hope is critical, without hope all is lost. Hope enables you to make decisions, to think through events, to believe in yourself and the people around you. Hope, I believe, changes your mental direction.

Preparing for the worst in a bad marriage means admitting it is disintegrating and taking steps to fix it. Then hoping for the best.

Preparing for the worst in business means confronting the brutal reality of the situation and takings steps to recover it. Then allow hope to drive you.

Prepare for the worst in health, with the kids, at your job, in your illness and in relationships. Take steps to recover them. With hope!

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

189 | 365 In Awe

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Day189.jpgFor as far as the eye could see low bulbous cloud covered the country and out beyond the sea to the horizon. The sun creeps up to the skyline as the earths revolution enables the break of a new day. The darkness of the night sky fades to blue then to burning bright yellows that reflect over the cloud.
 
From 18000 ft, the curve of the earth is apparent, and I am in AWE of the work of God’s hand. The depth, perspective, colour, cloud, light and darkness are amazing. Such beauty that the camera did not and will never fully capture.
 
Then I am reminded how honoured I am to enjoy it. Less than 100 years ago, few men had ever seen such sights, and even today, very few people around the earth will see such things.

[189 | 365 – In Awe – An amazing sunrise as I flew to Christchurch]

184 | 365 Dream of flying?

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Day184.jpgIt is said that man has always looked at the birds and longed to fly.

Well, I have a non-current pilots licence and could fly, but don’t. I just dream about it. I was talking about it with a friend on the way home from work, and it reminded me about how I long to fly, about how when I get airborne I join a different world, and about how much energy it brings me. Yet flying costs money and that is an entirely different subject.

Anyway, I got home thinking about planes so took this shot of a Cessna 152 made out of Sprite Cans.

[184 | 365 Dream of Flying?]

Danger alright…

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Now that I have my pilots licence for planes, I have started thinking about how inconvenient they are. A helicopter would be so much better. I could drop into the vacant land next to agóge HQ. It would be great.

Well on Friday a Robinson R44 dropped into our neighbours CKL. It encapsulated all of my dreams. The sign by the tail rotor, with agoge in the background, is a warning in more ways than one…

R44_hlg_at_agoge

The Helicopter HLG is owned by Meridian Holdings Limited in Auckland.

Family Flying

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Ufs_familty_trip_2008

Took the whole family flying for the first time Saturday. We flew from Hamilton to Tauranga, took Mun and Dad for a fly, then flew back.

My Son is under 4 so sat with a lap belt on his mums knee. This meant we had 5 people on board (POB) in a four 4 seater plane. Air Traffic Control in both Hamilton & Tauranga both doubled checked when I told them 5.

As always with flying and me at the moment. I learn heaps from each flight and this was no exception.

A great day though!!

Alpha aviation is put into liquidation

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andrewnicol.net

Hamilton based Alpha Aviation has been put into liquidation this week by it’s Australian Parent (Inventis). They produce the aircraft in which I did most of my flight training and sat my PPL exam.

It is disappointing as it leaves the aircraft that the Aero Club and CTC brought effectively unsupported.

Another blow to the Hamilton Airport and Government as well.

I would love to have a look at their books. They are reported to sell aircraft at around $250,000 (which is cheap) and are producing around 10 per year. 2,500,000 million is turnover is not much to support 70 staff and pay for the costs of production. It is has 20 aircraft, has orders for 16 with a further 14 options. The parent company announcement to the ASX is worth a read.

It proves the saying correct “The best way to make a small fortune in aviation … is to start with a huge one.”