Pretty tame by the standards of some of you here but here is my story.
I was in the Air Training Corps from the age of 13 until commissioning and then served as an officer until my 30s. I enjoyed giving something back, and even after I left I instructed cadets as a flying instructor at their annual flying courses.
The skills and interests I developed from those years were varied and gave me life long interests. Outside of ATC I enjoyed tramping, shooting, hunting, cricket, gliding and of course flying. I made my first ever flying solo in a glider with the ATC. A friend who owned a farm once asked me and a mate to come out and he would pay us 50 cents for each possum we could kill. So off we went into the night with our .22 rifles, torches, a few packets of cigarettes, some snacks and a shot gun for good measure (not sure why!). We spent the whole night shooting the pests and I think by the morning we had strung up something like 150 of their carcasses. Anyway one of them was a bit more second hand than the others, my bad. Possums when hit by light just sit there and stare at you. That's why they sit in the road and won't bloody move. This one was spotlighted by my mate and I shot at it. Nothing, still watching us. Shot again, same result. Emptied the magazine into it, my mate cursing me for being a bad shot. Then I felt rain on my face, yet the sky was clear and the stars were out. My mate shone his torch on me and I was covered in blood. Mr possum had had the last laugh, getting wedged in the trees and me wasting my magazine on him. Possum fur is exported now days, back then we just left them to rot or ate them. They could make good slippers if you gutted them and you wanted to go back to basics.
But flying was my passion and that is what I went on to do. Wearing glasses and having pretty average school grades as I was a bit lazy when I was a teen, meant I could not become a military pilot. So I left school, worked at an insurance company in a desk job (never again, it nearly drove me insane) to pay for my flying lessons, and generally got on with it. Private Pilot Licence, lots of adventures with other flying mates, parties and a great time. Then on to a Commercial Pilot Licence, Instrument Rating, Instructor Rating. Lots of adventures and stories from instructing but I'll leave that for now. Lest to say I have grey hairs and some lines in my face from some of my experiences in light aeroplanes. And then onto flying night freight and an air ambulance, which is pretty much what I do now. And there are many stories from those flights! And a few more greys. As of today I hold an Airline Transport Licence and am a captain. A long way from those ATC days!
I was in the Air Training Corps from the age of 13 until commissioning and then served as an officer until my 30s. I enjoyed giving something back, and even after I left I instructed cadets as a flying instructor at their annual flying courses.
The skills and interests I developed from those years were varied and gave me life long interests. Outside of ATC I enjoyed tramping, shooting, hunting, cricket, gliding and of course flying. I made my first ever flying solo in a glider with the ATC. A friend who owned a farm once asked me and a mate to come out and he would pay us 50 cents for each possum we could kill. So off we went into the night with our .22 rifles, torches, a few packets of cigarettes, some snacks and a shot gun for good measure (not sure why!). We spent the whole night shooting the pests and I think by the morning we had strung up something like 150 of their carcasses. Anyway one of them was a bit more second hand than the others, my bad. Possums when hit by light just sit there and stare at you. That's why they sit in the road and won't bloody move. This one was spotlighted by my mate and I shot at it. Nothing, still watching us. Shot again, same result. Emptied the magazine into it, my mate cursing me for being a bad shot. Then I felt rain on my face, yet the sky was clear and the stars were out. My mate shone his torch on me and I was covered in blood. Mr possum had had the last laugh, getting wedged in the trees and me wasting my magazine on him. Possum fur is exported now days, back then we just left them to rot or ate them. They could make good slippers if you gutted them and you wanted to go back to basics.
But flying was my passion and that is what I went on to do. Wearing glasses and having pretty average school grades as I was a bit lazy when I was a teen, meant I could not become a military pilot. So I left school, worked at an insurance company in a desk job (never again, it nearly drove me insane) to pay for my flying lessons, and generally got on with it. Private Pilot Licence, lots of adventures with other flying mates, parties and a great time. Then on to a Commercial Pilot Licence, Instrument Rating, Instructor Rating. Lots of adventures and stories from instructing but I'll leave that for now. Lest to say I have grey hairs and some lines in my face from some of my experiences in light aeroplanes. And then onto flying night freight and an air ambulance, which is pretty much what I do now. And there are many stories from those flights! And a few more greys. As of today I hold an Airline Transport Licence and am a captain. A long way from those ATC days!
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