Today I flew GBLZH, a nice red and white C152. I flew for 25 minutes with the instructor, then flew 3 circuits solo in 30 minutes.

We were on runway 10, the wind was fairly light and pretty much straight down the runway, sometimes a slight crosswind from the left. The touchdown point for the runway is rather bumpy which can be quite offputting; what could be a smooth touchdown seems to be quite heavy, or maybe I am still a bit rough. I think I have just about got the hang of getting the speed right over the numbers, then flaring at about the right point. Practice makes perfect! I have heard from a few people that a good landing comes from a good approach, which comes from a good downwind and a good takeoff. It definitely makes sense, if you have everything set up right, and take care of the speed and height it works out right in the end.

Anyway, I need to get on and pass my meteorology exam soon.

Total Flying Time
Dual: 14:35
Solo: 2:20
Total: 16:55

Anyway, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy all things festive.

In 1920 the first World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920 at Olympia in London and was an inside exhibition of Scouting. The second, held four years later held in Copenhagen was the first international Scout camp which set the tradition of Scout Jamborees.

Today Scouting has twenty-five million members world-wide (not counting Guides) and is still growing. Approximately four million of those are from the United States, the largest single Scout Association. There are 155 countries with internationally recognised National Scout Organisations. There are more than 28 million Scouts, youth and adults, boys and girls in 216 countries and territories. More information on the history of Scouting can be found on Scoutbase UK.

This year, being the centenary of Scouting there are numerous events being held worldwide to celebrate the largest organisation for young people in the world. The largest event will be the 21st World Jamboree held in Chelmsford, Essex, UK. The World Scout Jamboree will be a gathering of Scouts from around the world for 12 days from 27 July to 8 August.

Please sign this petition to the UK Government to increase the awareness of the centenary of Scouting.

I would just like to register my disgust at this awful suggestion. There is no way I can believe having an ‘extra hour’ of light a day will stop 450 deaths a year. I don’t know about everyone else, but I have headlights on my car for night driving.

The whole world bases its times on UTC. UTC is the world standard time. If Europe wants to be on the same time as Britain, they can change!

Another big argument is the costs of doing business between Britain and Europe because of the time differences. I personally don’t see how +1 hour is going to make much difference. What about those who do business between Britain and USA or the far east? Do they want the them to change their time systems aswell?

Stop wasting your time Government and come up with some useful suggestions for once!

[edit] Looks like they ran out of time.

The video is from the West Midlands Police helicopter which is based at Birmingham.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s slightly alarming to see the aircraft touching down with only the left main undercarriage, then having to lower itself onto the right engine. Look out for the sparks! Good bit of piloting to get down safely.

Unfortunately the aircraft sustained irreparable damage and was written off. It now sits parked on runway 06/24 waiting to be dismantled for scrap.

Here’s a Christmas song to get you in the mood, recorded by my brother and his friends.

Click here to view the embedded video.

From the OpenSUSE website: The openSUSE project is a worldwide community program sponsored by Novell that promotes the use of Linux everywhere. The program provides free and easy access to openSUSE. Here you will find a community of users and developers, who all have the same goal in mind – to create and distribute the world’s most usable Linux.