ABORT, ABORT, ABORT

The last couple of days we have been busy putting into practice yet more of the techniques required by MAF pilots. One of these is knowing well when to continue, and when to stop, especially on take-off and landing.

Before every take-off an abort point is chosen next to the runway (maybe a tree or a windsock) which is just before half way. Any emergency or difficulty before that tree, then the take-off is aborted (even if airborne). We went into a strip in the desert to practice stopping at an abort point, and as you can see from the video if the abort point is chosen appropriately you can abort and stop safely on the runway, even if airborne.

The above video was taken this morning. Stuart and I flew together out to the desert with our instructor. Stu flew out, and I flew back. As a result I was able to take a few photos on the way.

Here is Nampa at 8.15am as we climbed out. To the south are the Owyhee mountains, with Oregon and the desert behind. 






Getting to the desert involved going over the Owyhees, but as this was a training flight our instructor had Stuart fly through a pass between two peaks in the ridge. We've learned techniques to do this safely, and with style!






I've also learned something else imprtant today. The geological feature opposite is sometimes called a 'butte' here in these parts. However the important bit is that this word rhymes with 'newt' rather than 'nut', as I discovered when I told my instructor I was heading for 'Saddle butt'.