Flying
I learnt to fly a plane before I learnt to drive.
Cambridge, England
Cambridge Aero Club
I started learning to fly here when I was 14. I could not drive myself to the airfield, but I was learning how to take an aeroplane into the sky.
At the time, the order did not feel unusual. Flying was simply the thing I wanted to learn, and I was lucky enough to begin.
- Started
- Age 14
- Course
- Private Pilot's Licence
- Instructor
- Ben
The cockpit
Learning by doing
Flying turns every abstract lesson into a physical decision. The instruments, the weather and the aircraft all respond to what you do. There is nowhere to pull over while you work it out.
What survived
The logbook
The original logbook, kneeboard and course book are still with me. Together they record the flights more precisely than memory can.
From the archive
Around the airfield
A few small photographs from the same period: aircraft arriving, parked on the grass and opened up for a closer look.
The course, one flight at a time
Lessons from flying
I am returning to the original course book and logbook to write the lessons down, one flight at a time.