Learning to Fly - Structuring Your Lesson and Study Plan to Save Time, Effort, and Money

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By Ben Lovegrove

If you have had a trial flight and you find yourself determined to learn to fly, then you're probably eager to start right away, but before you embark on this project spend a little time planning a study schedule. Obtaining a Private Pilot's license is a rewarding experience in many ways, but it will take up time, effort, and money. You can save on all three by having a structured training plan.

Unless you are retired or fortunate enough not to have to work for a living then most of your time will be taken up by your employment. You may be footloose and fancy free or your may be in a relationship and you will have to take into account the time you devote to your partner and to your home and any other responsibilities.

Learning to fly is like acquiring any others skill; it takes practice and diligent study. So the first question you have to ask yourself is how much time you have spare to devote to your studies. Ideally you should have at least one flying lesson per week but you will also need time to study books, CDs, and other materials. Two lessons a week would be preferable, but it would be difficult to arrange more if you work full time. If you're not working then of course you could book lessons whenever you like. However, you also need to spread the lessons out and add ground school studies into the schedule as they are an essential component that compliments the practical lessons.

A flying lesson consists of a pre-flight briefing in which your instructor will explain the purpose of the lesson and the desired outcome, and a post-flight briefing in which your instructor will review the lesson. Add to that the time spent traveling to and from the airfield and an hour long flying lesson can easily take up three hours. There will be days in which you have two lessons back to back, and later on in the course you'll go on longer flights across country so the time factor will increase.

The point to remember is that one or two flying lessons and accompanying ground school studies can easily take up eight hours per week when you start your lessons. Your enthusiasm will be high so these will be hours you'll enjoy but you may need to explain to your partner that you need to make this commitment in order to achieve the goal. Drops in continuity of training and practice will eventually cost you more time, effort, and money as you catch up when training resumes.

Weather will be a huge influence on your continuity of practice. If you live in the UK then you'll be very familiar with the unpredictable weather. Even the summer cannot be relied up to provide the ideal conditions for lessons and if your chosen airfield has grass runways then there may be days lost in the winter when the ground is waterlogged. Bear in mind that in three of your weekend lessons might be canceled due to adverse weather conditions. If you only fly at weekends and one lesson is canceled then it could be two weeks between your lessons. How much will you remember from one lesson to the next?

Your choice of airfield may involve weighing up the pros and cons of each. If you live near a grass airfield but another with a hard runway is within reasonable distance it might be better to travel to the further field in order to take advantage of the reliable runway and other advantages like the busier control tower. A busier tower will mean more radio calls and that is never a bad thing. R/T (Radio Telephony) i.e. talking on the radio, is often a bit of a psychological block to some student pilots. Fear of saying the wrong thing and appearing ignorant has caused many a student to feel anxious about using the radio. The only way to overcome this is to develop confidence through practice and knowledge. The more you use the radio the better you'll feel about it.

So assuming you have assigned blocks of hours each week that you can commit to learning to fly then your training should keep to a healthy pace and you will soon be marveling at the new skills and knowledge that you have acquired. You will also save yourself money because the continuity of practice and study will cut down the number of flying hours it takes for you to reach the required standard for the practical exams at the end of the course. Once you've bought the study materials it costs no more to study for one hour than it does for ten, but being in the air costs hard cash for every minute of fuel burnt. You want to be good enough to be a competent certified pilot but you don't want to spend more money than is necessary.

Flying schools often advertise a price for a course of lessons that will take your from beginner to someone who has flown all the hours required in the license syllabus, but these figures are based on the minimum number of hours in the syllabus and most students will exceed this figure for a variety of reasons. So budget for more than the price in the advert as it's unlikely you will be ready for the final exams in the minimum time. Save time, effort and money by sticking to your schedule and keeping to a pace of practice and learning that will eventually reward you with your pilot's wings.

Ben Lovegrove is a holder of a UK Private Pilot's Licence. He learned to fly in the 1980s and enjoys nothing more than some aerobatics over the green fields of England. He has two aviation related blogs: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate and Love Airlines.

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Staying on Top of Your Game As a Pilot

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By Jeffrey Synk

There are many things you can do in aviation that will keep you at the top of your flying game and offer lots of enjoyment and excitement whether you are flying or not. New ratings, new certificates, pilot networking, aviation organizations, and magazines are but a few, but before I talk about those more in-depth, first I would like to share with you a little story.

If You Give A Pilot A License
I occasionally read a story to my daughter called, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," by Laura Joffe Numeroff. It's a story about what happens when you give a mouse a cookie. You discover that if you give a mouse a cookie, he is probably going to want a glass of milk. And if you give him a glass of milk, he is probably going to want a napkin, and if you give him a napkin...well, you get the drift. The story goes on and on until finally it comes full-circle with, "If you give a mouse a cookie..."

"If You Give A Mouse a Cookie" is a charming story and somewhat similar to what flying is all about because once you get your Private Pilot license (certificate), it is really hard to stop there. It's basically a tease. Your realize that you are somewhat limited, so you get your Instrument rating. Whew! Your done! Oh, but not quite. You've done some cross-country flights and some night flights and suddenly you realize that you have over 200 hours in your logbook. Then someone says, "Hey, why don't you get your Commercial rating?" This gets you thinking that maybe you might want to try to make some money flying, so you get your Commercial rating. Eventually it becomes one certificate and rating after another much like if you "give a mouse a cookie."

Now whether you want to just stay a Private Pilot or get multiple ratings and certificates, the fact is you have to keep training and learning. Flying is a skill and one that needs to be practiced regularly much like any endeavor you undertake. Besides, it keeps flying interesting and fresh and offers a ton of opportunities, especially if your goal is to fly professionally someday. Now you don't have to go get ALL the ratings available, of course, because that can get very expensive. It is fine to be a Private Pilot and fly because you love to fly. But, either way, you have to stay current on the latest developments in aviation and "proficient" in order to fly safely. This is the best way to stay on top of your game but it is easier said than done.

Staying Motivated About Flying When Not Flying
Money and weather are always an issue when it comes to flying. So what do you do if money is tight or the weather seems to always be bad but you still want to stay involved in flying? Even after you have received your Private Pilot license or have gone all out and launched a career as a pilot, there are always ways you can be working to keep up with what is going on in aviation and the aviation industry. Here are a few suggestions:

Join An Aviation Group
One of the best things you can do to stay motivated and stay involved in flying is to join a group of other like-minded pilots in your area or on-line, like on Facebook. Pilots are a unique group of people and the experiences you have flying are unlike any other hobby or profession there is. It's natural you will want to belong to a community of pilots who share those common experiences. A few groups you may want to consider are aircraft restoration societies, glider clubs, Civil Air Patrol (http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com) and air show planning organizations. All these groups focus on improving aviation in their own way and are a lot of fun to be a part of.

Networking With Other Pilots
Networking with other pilots can offer you many benefits as well. The groups mentioned above are great for networking and a flight school is a great place to build future relationships, too. Your local fixed-base operator (FBO), which is an aircraft service center at an airport that provides fueling, aircraft rentals and possibly charter services, is ideal. Just striking up a conversation about the flying conditions that day or sharing important facts about the local area like "flight restrictions" or preferred operational procedures that you know about or heard about from other pilots may open the doors to opportunities undreamed of. One very good friend landed a flying job just this way. And don't forget to stay in touch with your flight instructor. You never know when you may need that letter of recommendation for a future airline job interview and who better to provide that letter than the pilot who taught YOU how to fly?

Building A Relationship With The FAA
There are other levels of networking and staying in the flying game that you can tap into as a member of the aviation community that you may not have thought of before. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Even though we think of the FAA as that big governmental agency in the sky, the FAA is staffed by individuals who are interested in taking care of pilots and making sure everybody lives up to the same standards so the industry is safe and profitable. If you live near a big enough airport, you probably have an FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) (http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/) near you. These representatives would like nothing more than to know you better to find out how the agency can serve your needs. At many locations, the FAA holds meetings every other week that are really classes for pilots just like you to help you stay up-to-date with your education and to answer any questions that may have come up about the aviation industry and the FAA's relationship to it. Furthermore, the FAA offers free training and free publications through their website all focused exclusively on the aviation industry that you can take advantage of. So include your local FAA FSDO representatives in your network of professional associations. It will pay you well to tap this huge resource.

Flying Magazines And Publications
Finally, flying magazines and publications are a great way to stay in touch when you don't have much time. One of the reasons I got back into flying after a long hiatus was because of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) "Flight Training" magazine available at any bookstore. Here was a magazine that "talked to me." It kept me up-to-date on the latest-and-greatest technology, procedures, news, and commentaries regarding aviation. Then, when I became a flight instructor, it offered valuable tips on instruction techniques and ideas. Another terrific magazine is "Flying." Great articles and lots of good information are filled with every issue. These magazines will definitely keep you on top of your game.

Conclusion
So there you have it. Flying, and flying often, or getting new ratings and certificates is by far the best way to stay proficient and to grow as a pilot. Realistically though, money, time, and personal commitments often get in the way. Hopefully, you have seen that there are other ways to stay in the game of flying even if you aren't actually flying. It is important to stay involved in flying once you start because if you don't, your "flying" dream may slip away and that would be tragic. Being involved with aviation groups, networking, building relationships, and reading magazines are some of the best ways I know how to stay in the game.

Jeffrey is a captain at regional airline and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He flies the CRJ200, CRJ700, and CRJ900. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, a CL-65 (CRJ200) type rating, Gold Seal Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI), and Advanced Ground Instructor. He has over 4000 hours total flight time.
He writes the blog Almost the Speed of Sound (http://www.flycrj.com) which is about his experiences, insights, and thoughts about being an airline captain and flight instructor. He is also the author of "The CRJ Quicknotes Study Guide" which is available at http://www.flycrj.com/order.html
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Airplanes Don't Stall, Pilots Stall Them

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By Doug Daniel

When smooth airflow separates from your wings they stall, losing most of their lift. If you are lucky the airplane drops like a brick, pitches down, accelerates and starts to fly normally again. If you are not so lucky, one wing stalls, rolling your airplane toward the stalled wing as it progresses to a spin before you can recover. It is probably a good idea to keep the airflow attached to the wing and the tail and every other surface needed for controlled flight.

An aerodynamicist would tell you that stalls can only occur when an airfoil reaches or exceeds its critical angle of attack. I would say that a stall occurs only when you try to make the wind turn too sharp a corner.

You see, air is sticky. Not very sticky but it is a little sticky. An aerodynamicist would clear his throat; raise his eyebrows and say, "Viscous." So let's ignore the aerodynamicist. It's sticky. When air blows past a gently curved surface, like a wing, it tends to stick to the surface even though the surface curves away from the wind.

If the wing is symmetric top and bottom and the wind is coming straight on, the wind impacts the front of the wing and builds a high pressure area there. Then as it starts to follow the contour of the wing, like anything following a curved path, it gets pulled out. But its stickiness holds it next to the surface. The result is low pressure over most of the surface, top and bottom.

Now if you pitch the wing up a bit by pulling back on the stick a bit, the air on top must change direction a bit more than the air on the bottom. The result is more low pressure on the top and less on the bottom. Perhaps the high pressure area on the bottom of the wing is bigger than before. The wing is sucked up by the top and pushed up by the bottom. We call this lift.

Suppose you pitch the wing up a lot by pulling the stick a long way back. The air on the top has to change direction a lot and the pressure on the top drops a lot. If you pull the stick far enough, the low pressure area on the top of the wing sucks air from the back of the wing forward, separating the airflow from the top of the wing. This is bad. The low pressure area on the top of the wing disappears as it is filled by the forward flowing air. The wing loses lift. This is a stall.

The airflow separates from the wing of a properly designed airplane before it separates from the tail. If the tail has lift and the wing doesn't the airplane's wing drops and the tail doesn't. This is a good thing because the wing comes down and faces a lower pitch attitude. The results are that the wind re-attaches to the upper surface, lift is restored and the airplane returns to normal.

Now suppose the pilot continues pulling back on the stick. As soon as the wing develops lift, it goes up too far again and stalls again. We call this bobbing action 'buffeting.'

Buffeting is good because it warns the pilot that he or she is pulling too hard on the stick and the wing is ready to enter a serious stall - one that could lead to a potentially fatal spin.

So now we know that the real warning of an impending serious stall is buffeting. We also know that buffeting is caused by pulling the stick too far. So we know that the way to avoid a stall is to pull less when we feel buffeting. We also know that if we pull less on the elevator, that the airplane will go down. That could be a really bad thing. Increasing the engine's power simultaneously with easing up on the elevator can mitigate that sinking feeling

Notice that no where in this discussion of what causes stalls and what to do about them was the concept of airspeed needed. Stalls are only caused by pitching the wings up too far - nothing else. Even though stalling speed is a useful term, there really is no unique stalling speed for an airplane. You have to read the fine print. What 'stall speed' usually means is the speed at which an airplane's wing exceeds its maximum pitch attitude if the airplane is loaded to maximum landing weight, is in the landing configuration and flying straight ahead

Doug Daniel is a long time pilot, flight instructor, software engineering manager and author. His department developed the software for the out-the-window-displays for the space shuttle, F-117, RS-71 and numerous other exotic aircraft simulators. His writing focuses on flying techniques designed to make flying easier and safer. If this was interesting, visit his website at http://www.FlyingSecretsRevealed.com/flying_questions/

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How do Ryanair make money?

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I read an interesting article from Wired magazine recently which basically stated that on a typical London to Barcelona flight it costs Ryanair $70 per seat. (This is the cost to the airline NOT the price of the ticket).

So I got to thinking about this and wondered about the economics.

The plane used on that flight will probably be the B737-800 which has 180 seats. At $70 per seat the cost of the flight is $12600. The flight lasts somewhere in the region of 2 hours therefore the cost per hour to Ryanair is $6300.

Within that $6300 the following has to be included:

• Fuel for 1 hours flight on a medium sized 2 engine commercial airliner
• Half the landing fee for the destination airport
• 1 hours salary for a pilot and co-pilot
• 1 hours salary for 4 cabin staff
• Maintenance costs for 1 hours flight
• Aircraft leasing costs for 1 hours flight
• 50% of the handling fees for the baggage at the destination.
• Salary of the check-in staff at the departure airport
• A proportion of head-office overhead fees
• Profit.

Let's take the head office overhead and the profit out of there so as not to confuse matters too much.

Now let's look at some figures we know: A Gulfstream IV aircraft carries up to 13 passengers over 4500 miles at a time. It has two small engines and can be leased for around $5200 per hour

Commercial aircraft leasors will lease an Airbus A320 (similar to a Boeing 737) on an
ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance & Insurance model) (i.e without fuel and other costs) for $2750 per hour On top of that the airline will have to pay for items such as:

• fuel and oil;
• aircraft landing, handling, navigation and terminal charges;
• passenger and cargo handling;
• airport taxes, all passenger related taxes and security taxes;
• aircraft parking and ground security;
• ramp services including towing, push-back, de-icing, nitrogen and oxygen services;
• all dry goods, including but not limited to head rest covers, airsickness bags, blankets and pillows;
• ATC fees and all international route charges;
• cabin cleaning and water services;
• aircraft interior deep cleaning and exterior cleaning;
• airport security passes and permits, if required;
• over-flight permits;
• custom taxes, immigration and inspection fees, import and export duty's;
• landing and traffic permit and slots;
• office space including telephone, fax, email;
• spare parts facilities (storage) including air conditioning;
• one van for transportation of mechanics and parts;
• insurance - passengers, baggage, mail, cargo and war risk insurance;
• any additional cost reference to insurance coverage will be on Lessee's account;
• any and all other reasonable direct operating costs, incurred in the performance of the flights whether or not listed above.

Aviation fuel is currently charged at around $830 per metric tonne (assuming a 45% reduction of the price of $1280 at the height of the fuel issues). Fuel to Barcelona is about 6.65 metric tonnes which gives a cost per hour (assuming the two hour flight) of $2400

So we know so far that we are looking at approx ($2400 + $2750 = $5150) just for the aircraft and fuel The landing charge at Barcelona is approx €6 per tonne which would equate to approx €250 for the plane or €125 per hour. This doesn't include any of the salaries for the crew, nor any of the additional costs listed above. Flight crew earn less than $72 per hour (which equates to $145 per hour for the two flight crew) Cabin crew are on considerably less than that (say $20 per hour * 4 = $80.

While these figures are only approximate (and the result of some investigative digging on the internet), it does prove a couple of things

1) Ryanair are not good staff payers
2) The margins are very thin
3) Somewhere cuts must be being made to ensure the costs are kept down. Remember in the remaining $100 per hour Ryanair must pay for ALL the maintenance costs, and insurance as well as those costs detailed in the list above

How do they do it? Are my figures inaccurate? Can anyone with inside information let me know please?

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Cost free flying? Worth considering...

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What if I told you there was a way to fly as often as you like, in all weathers, in whichever aircraft you want, from wherever you want, with live ATC and it won't cost you anything. You'd like that wouldn't you? Of course you would. But you would also want to know what the catch was wouldn't you?

Well, I have one word for you: Simulation.

Flight simulation is a growing industry. Since the early days of the Microsoft Flight Simulator the state of the art has moved on in leaps and bounds. Whole industries have sprung up to manage the ancilliary markets with thing such as new planes, scenery and adventures. A whole host of forums, web-sites and communities have appeared dedicated to the art and science of flight simulation. I even heard about a guy who is building his own 747 flight simulator - with full motion control - in his garage!

The problem with a lot of this was always twofold:


1) Even if you get all the latest add-on's, up-to-date software and patches, it was still a case of sitting in your room staring at a screen and playing with a keyboard.
2) It didn't fully replicate the flying experience because it was missing one vital ingredient - proper Air traffic control.

Well unfortunately the problem of 1) is not going to go away soon. Even the guy building his own 747 simulator is still a guy sat at home - albeit with some sophisticated machinery. But the problem of 2) is more easily solved.

Flight sim manufacturers have included some pretty good ATC functionality in their packages. Each release brings more and more advanced settings and realistic situations. But at the end of the day it is all preprogrammed and cannot take the place of 'real' controllers. Back in the early days of flight simulator software there began a parallel movement to create and run a community of Air Traffic Controllers using ATC simulation software. The software was fairly rudimentary to start with, but as with the flight simulators it has increased in sophistication to the point where it can be very lifelike indeed.

Except that it is not, actually real life. It's computer controlled planes in a computer created environment.

So on the one hand you have the pilots wishing they could have ATC that was 'real' and on the other controllers wishing they could have 'real' pilots to control. It didn't take long for someone to make the logical connection and pretty soon VATSIM was born.

VATSIM is the Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network which uses some sophisticated software to link pilots, planes and air traffic controllers together across the internet.

It works very simply:

With your flight simulator program you download a small piece of software which acts as a "squawkbox" to provide a transponder type functionality to your machine. This channels all your typical transponder type information from your flight sim to the web.

On the web are servers which monitor this data and pass it to other simmers who are running the same squawbox software as well as ATC's simmers who are running controller software.

The net result of this is that you fly your own simulation on your own machine, but - with the aid of the squawbox and a headset/microphone - you are connected to controllers who can both see your plane AND interact with you as a pilot, along with all the other pilots who are currently using the squawbox.

The beauty of this is twofold:
a) You get to fly your own planes in your own environment whenever you want, thereby increasing your flight time and experience (albeit simulated).
b) You get fully managed ATC cover - with ALL the appropriate terminology - which thereby increases your comfort level and experience when interacting with real ATC and flying real planes.

The whole process is very well thought through and it works like this:

• Once connected you file a flight plan. This can be VFR or IFR. You can fly long distance in a 747 or just do circuits in your Cessna, or any combination in between.
• You tune your flight simulator radio to the correct frequency and a real live voice greets you and issues instructions. (These folks, by the way have gone through some fairly extensive training and mentoring and are every bit as good as the real thing)
• When you fly you can both see other (non AI) planes in your sim AND hear their transmissions on the radio.
• Air traffic control will act in the expected manner providing directions, asking questions, giving clearances and providing flight following. It's pretty much as close to the real thing as you can get it. The system is even designed to download the real weather from the nearest airport to your current location and update your simulator.

In recent days I have flown my Cessna around the outer edges of the London CTR and been directed away from controlled airspace. I have taken a Dash-7 from Farnborough to Amsterdam, an Airbus A320 from Amsterdam to Gatwick and even flown circuits in a Cessna around Gatwick (It's not recommended in real life as the landing fees are so high and dodging the 747's can be tricky, but it is possible). This weekend I will be flying an A320 from Frankfurt to Hamburg as part of a 'Real Ops' exercise to simulate the real life movements around a major airport. There will be upwards of 400 flights arriving and departing. Should be fun.

Now before you look at this and say "It's not the same as flying the real thing because you would never be able to fly an Airbus without years of training" let me just clarify one thing. I fly all sorts of planes in the simulator, including the ones I was originally trained on - single engine propeller planes - and every time I fly one in the simulator it improves the way I fly them in real life. I can use this as an exercise to do all those things I would never want to do in reality - such as simulate an engine failure or something equally as nasty. It also allows me to practice my instrument flying (Which you will all have done some of in your PPL training) without worrying about really getting lost. Now imagine being able to do all this AND have some friendly controller watching over you - all for free!

I thoroughly recommend having a look at flight simulation and VATSIM. It can surely only improve your flying can't it? Even if it makes you more comfortable talking with controllers this is a great benefit to it.

Here are some links to help you get started:

VATSIM - The central hub for this. Create a free acount and log in
Squawkbox - The connection software (again free)
FSInn - An alternate connection software (A lot more functional but a bit too complex for my liking)

Listening to ATC transmissions - The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949

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There are several great sites out on the internet that are streaming live ATC transmissions for all to hear. However one thing you won't hear on any of them are ATC transmissions from the UK.

It never occured to me to wonder why until I wanted to listen to a friend of mine as her flight left for Hong Kong recently. When I looked into it apparently there is legislation forbidding it. Section 5(1)(b) of the WT Act 1949 states that it is an offence if a person "otherwise than under the authority of a designated person,

either:

(i) uses any wireless telegraphy apparatus with intent to obtain information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any message whether sent by means of wireless telegraphy or not, of which neither the person using the apparatus nor a person on whose behalf he is acting is an intended recipient;
or:

(ii) except in the course of legal proceedings or for the purpose of any report thereof, discloses any information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any such message, being information which would not have come to his knowledge but for the use of wireless telegraphy apparatus by him or by another person."

So for all those of you who like to use scanning equipment to listen to ATC you are all breaking the law by using the scanner. Owning, purchasing and selling a scanner is not illegal, but in order to legally use it to listen to UK ATC transmissions (and emergency service transmission) you have to be a licensed user of the frequencies in question. Any CAA or JAR certified pilots who are reading this will be fine because they will hold a Radio Operators license as part of their certification, but a normal 'man-in-the-street' is commiting an offence by doing this.

But only if you are based in the UK. So If I was listening from Holland, for example and I could pick up Heathrow ATC - or similar coverage from the UK - I could broadcast it legally. Also this law doesn't apply to Southern Ireland which means I can listen in quite legally to Shannon and Dublin. Nor does it apply to many of the European countries, Oceanic countries, Central and North America.

So why the UK?

Well, according to the Radiocommunications Enforcement Policy Unit this is because "No-one likes their private or business conversations to be listened to. Parliament has passed these laws to protect the privacy of radio users". So let me get this right: If you are transmitting using a commonly accessible, unecrypted, non peer-to-peer signal which is easily and readily receivable by consumer grade electronics, you are deemed to be having a 'private conversation'?

What's wrong with this picture?

What happens when it all goes terribly wrong. A test pilot story.

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You may have heard of the SR-71 Blackbird. Built almost entirely from titanium and stainless steel at the Lockheed Skunkworks in Burbank, California, the Blackbird was able to cruise at Mach 3.35 for extended periods, at altitudes of over 80,000 feet. Designed from the start as an invulnerable platform for strategic photographic and electronic reconnaissance, the Blackbird flew with impunity over the Soviet Union, China, and virtually every "hot spot" in the world until it's retirement in 1998.

Of course flying at such extremes of speed and temperature had both advantages and disadvantages. The air friction outside is so much that normal metals used to create aircraft would simply melt. Furthermore, ejection at that point would put a pilot into such extreme low pressure - it's right on the edge of space - that his blood would literally boil. So being a test pilot in such a plane has more than the normal share of risk.

Here's a first hand account of what happens when flight testing the fastest aircraft ever made goes ever so slightly awry. Next time you have an engine loss at 3000ft and have to put down in a field or divert to an alternate airfield think of how much worse it could be.

(Link courtesy of Alexis Park Inn)