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The final phase of flying based on instrument flight rules (IFR). This uses techniques based only on the instruments, which means you don't need any visual reference to fly! Normally this is simulated by putting up plastic screens so you can't see out - however no need for screens on this day as cloud was doing that job for us.

This for me was one of the best experiences yet, a miserable day on the ground in Jerez and we entered the cloud at 1500' - after about 15 minutes with zero visibility we popped out the top at 5000' to a fantastic sunny day. Awesome ! (The tops of the mountains in the distance are 5500' high).

Being completely IMC (in cloud) does however play some tricks on the brain - for example a thin patch in the cloud creates a light spot will be interpreted by the brain as where the sun should be. Now if this example happens to be low and to your left, your brain re-aligns itself and you suddenly have the sensation that your flying with 90degrees of bank when in fact your straight and level. It's quite an unnerving feeling to ignore all you natural instincts and completely rely on the gadgets and dials in front of you but unfortunately failing to do so is pretty deadly!

I have also had my first international flight this month ! As part of the commercial license you have to complete solo night circuits - Spain for some unknown reason don't allow solo student pilots to fly at night, so we complete the circuits in Faro, Portugal.

The flights are another memorable experience with the circuits completed over the sea, which means its completely pitch black with no real boundary between sea and sky! Landing at night is also somewhat of an art form as it looks like you are flying into a huge hole until you get too about 30 feet when the landing light first illuminates the tarmac.

All in all the trip is a bit of a jolly and myself, Chris and Henry with our instructors managed to fit in a reasonable evening meal and a few beers to round off our hard days work.

As for other things this month has been a bit of a motoring fest - the picture above is the Moto GP at the Jerez circuit... Not a bad day out apart from the fact that there were a few hundred thousand slightly annoyed Spanish folks that saw there rider get pushed off the track on the last lap by the unstoppable Rossi.

The pictures below are a Rally / Hill climb event in one of the local mountain towns (Ubrique)....

A shot of the lights at the Jerez Feria - a week long party

 

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