After months of studying, flying, dilly-dallying, when I finally get comfortable flying, and feel prepared to give the flight test, it becomes more a test of my patience. The flight test is in 2 parts - the ground portion and the flight portion. In the ground portion, the examiner tests the procedural aspects of flying, documentation, numerous theoretical applications, and so on. The flight portion is a test of flying skills, recognition and recovery from unusual attitudes, flight safety, and emergency handling.
It just so happens that the CFI at my school is also a Transport Canada certified flight test examiner. But he pleaded "very busy", and passed me onto another examiner. My flight test was booked for Wednesday 11-OCT-2006. The test started Wednesday morning and went half way - that's the ground portion - and I didn't do too badly. Then the examiner and I took a short break, got some lunch. At 1:30pm, we got into the plane (ident FIBX), started it up, and found a technical snag that restricted us from doing the test. For those who understand, the attitude indicator was stuck. So the flight part was postponed. It was rescheduled for Friday, then Saturday, then Monday, then Wednesday, but didn't happen on any of those days due to inclement weather. I remained positive all week, always thinking that something good will turn out of all this delay. Now my examiner is going on the operating table for some minor surgery, and his medical validity is under question. So my flight test status is uncertain. He may not be able to continue my test for another month. I may have to abandon the half-done test and redo the entire test with another examiner. Now, my patience is running thin.
On one hand, I've always admired the professional attitude with which the school is run, and I accept that nobody was at fault, if there was a technical snag in the plane or the weather was not good. But on the other hand, I feel that the school has enrolled too many students, the infrastructure and staff is overburdened, the number of instructors is now insufficient, leading to a general downward trend in the overall quality. Quite naturally, in comparison to the first 3 months I was here, I now feel neglected.
Sometimes I wonder if my calm and composed attitude is pushing me to the back seat. Maybe I should consider "talking loudly and being heard" - will things start to move faster? But that's the way I used to be in the past, when I realised that wasn't the best and eventually worked my way to my present ways. What a world, how do you ever balance things out?
So all this has awakened the mystical guru inside me. There is this philosophy I have adopted in the recent past - while it may be relatively more difficult to recognize your own mistakes and unworthy actions than those of others, it is much easier to correct yours than to expect others to correct theirs. When I run into a situation where I recognize a mistake, I am very tempted to point it out, but I first check with myself whether I make the same mistake, and talk only if I positively know the “correct” way, or should I say, a better and more appropriate way. And you know what, that is closer to the action called “helping” than anything else. Why should I be like those people, who are always around, and who will promptly jump in to point at your mistakes and laugh at them.
The one thing that I'm unable to tackle today is people who will ruin a conversation where someone is trying to learn and understand. There are people who will not wait for others to complete their sentences. There are people who will get annoyed if asked how or why they do something. There are people who will go off the topic of conversation. There are people who use so much profanity. There are people who treat others around them like wild pigs (that's the most polite way I could put it). There is only one answer to all of that. It's your life, there's only one chance, one lifetime, do what you want to do, but please respect and treat others the way you would expect it for yourself. I believe that the way you treat and respect others is a reflection of how much you respect yourself. And respect is more than the clothes you wear, the food you eat, the house you live in, the work you do, and how attractive you may look.
Enough of that. Phoooo (the sound made when breathing a sigh of relief).
Well, I finally got that handheld radio. It cost a lot of money, and now I'm wondering if I should sell it back, cash situation is reaching crunch limits. Maybe if I can get a job later on, I can buy another one. An emergency radio is definitely something every pilot should have. I don't want to reach a day when I may regret not having one.
Cheers
Mayur Poddar
