Thoughts I would add a few comments about the US Airways ditching (= forced landing on water) into the River Hudson after what appears to be a multiple bird strike putting both engines out. As a pilot I can tell you that was a tough call to decide to go for the river. Every pilot knows that alighting on water demands a lot of skill and some luck to pull it off successfully. Captain Chesley Sullenberger displayed awesome airmanship and skill in doing what he did. We must also heap praise on the First Officer (Co-Pilot) and also the cabin crew for doing a great job on the emergency evacuation. Also the emergency services who were on the scene within minutes and the armada of boats who went to assist and the air traffic controllers who responded so well. This was teamwork at it’s best.

Modern aviation is outstandingly safe. Birds are a hazard to aircraft operations but rarely cause total power loss on all engines. During certification the engines are run on a test bed at full power and a standard weight “chicken” is fired through the engine which has to continue running with any damage contained within the engine. But if a very large bird or a flock of birds is ingested that is more than any engine can cope with and an engine failure may result. During take off and inital climb the igniters are switched on. These are like “spark plugs” which operate every second or so. If the engine flames out (for example as a result of a bird strike) the igniters will attempt to relight the engine. However during the period of flame out fuel may still be going into the engine so that when the igniters operate a sheet of flame may come out the back of the engine – hence some of the passenger comments concerning this.

Of course flying is a bit risky! Just like riding in a car, boat, train is or even walking across the road.  But I want to assure you all that you can fly with no fears. The most hazardous part of my job as a pilot is driving to and from the airport and I go flying a lot more than you do – I will be doing nearly 900 hours in the air each year!

Anyway to more domestic matters. It’s been a nice day today – that’s because I am on days off! I met up with a friend at 9 am and we went for a walk around the water sports centre at Holme Pierrepont. It’s a lovely spot to walk and it was interesting watching the canoists practicing on the water. Then it was off the gym for another coaching session with Jake. After that I was pretty hungry so gave my mate Steve a call and took him for some lunch at Frankie & Bennys on the ring road in Nottingham. It’s one of my favourite restaurants. I like the mix of American and Italian, the food is good and so is the service. It’s gets very busy on Saturday night when they usually have a singer. Oh yes and the cocktails are good too. If you eat there check your receipt because if you go on the web and answer their questionnaire you qualify for £5 off your next meal as long as you spend at least £20 within 30 days of the first meal.

I have known Steve for years now. He is a real character and whenever I need a reality check I go and see him! He is one of life’s survivors – never seems to have a job but he is always fun to be with. If there is anything going free anywhere then he will know about it and he has a heart of gold. The meal was great and I dropped him off in town before heading for home where my new toy had arrived. It’s a radio scanner which I have wanted for a while. Bought it new through ebay and it’s top of the range and comes with a record facility which lasts for several hours and only records when the frequency is active – awesome!

I am planning on going out tonight. I don’t drink alcohol these days but I do love socialising, night clubs and dancing. I will meet up with friends at the usual gay haunts in Nottingham starting at the Lord Roberts (great pub where all are welcome) and then go on to Pink (new bar just down the road), @d2 (lively chic bar which I love and the cabaret on Sunday nights is terrific) before ending up at Nottingham’s top gay venue named “NG1″. Once again all are welcome whether gay, straight or bi. More and more straight people seem to frequent the gay friendly bars these days which is nice in some ways but sometimes you have to ask if someone is gay or straight before chatting them up! Will Young visited NG1 when he was on tour in Nottingham a few weeks ago. Sadly I was away working as I would have loved to have met him as I am a great fan of his music and indeed himself also. I don’t intend to be too late tonight but there again if I pull that would change things!

See you later guys!

Things are quite busy – it must be a day off. Just been for a walk with my mate Chris round the watersports centre at Holme Pierrepont. The water there reminded me, if I needed  to be, of the first rate job Captain Chesley Sullenberger, his First Officer AND the Cabin Crew did in getting all the passengers to safety. Some people think that all pilots do is push a few buttons all day but this is the sort of thing we train for all the time. Job well done!

There just do not seem to be enough hours in the day to do what I want to do! What with working in Liverpool and then coming home for a few days when I get back home I don’t feel like doing too much. The house is clean but certainly not tidy! Have got the washing sorted and then there is the post to go through – much of it junk mail but it still needs checking. I feel the performance of Royal Mail is pretty poor compared to years ago. I am a subscriber to the Radio Times by post and the latest issue has failed to arrive. It’s posted out on Monday but has yet to appear. Rang RT who have give me a credit – they were very helpful.

Got the gym for 1100 for my personal training session. My trainer is Jake at Virgin Activ Nottingham – brilliant coach for me so would highly recommend him. I am also a member of David Llloyd in West Bridgford as I can use their gym at Liverpool Airport which is really handy for the flat there.  Mind you it amazes me how penny pinching DL can be – we used to get a free small biscuit with coffee/tea. A few months ago they said this was being withdrawn as the price of the biscuits had gone up! When you are paying circa £60 per month and around £2 for a coffee/tea I think it’s a bit mean – penny wise/pound foolish as I say! I was chatting to an older lady with a group at DL Liverpool who had asked for antiseptic wipes to clean the machines after use – good idea I thought, but this was turned down. What with this and the withdrawal of the biscuits they had decided to cancel membership and go elsewhere. Now don’t get me wrong DL is very good but I think their attitude is a bit short sighted.

Have managed to get a copy of “Airline Pilot” on VHS, a film made in 1969 which traces a new cadet pilot from initial training to qualifying a Second Officer on a BOAC VC10. He trained at The College of Air Training which was at Hamble – sadly the aerodrome there is now a housing estate. This was the route I originally took to get into airline flying – the first 8 years of my flying were long haul on the Boeing 707 with BOAC. I have just watched the film and must say it brought tears to my eyesg brining back many happy memories of the blood, sweat and more tears which were expended to get there! The basic training lasted 18 months and they were amongst the happiest days of my life. I won the Grand Master’s Medal in my year which was awarded to the cadet with the best all round record of character, initiave and ability – things went downhill after that! LOL The Grand Master of the Guild of Air Pilot & Navigators is Prince Philip and I still have the medal and indeed the telegram from Buckingham Palace.  It was interesting to watch the film and observe that in many ways little has changed when it comes to the basics of flying an aeroplane. One of the biggest changes is that when I started flying in 1971 as an airline pilot there was a minimum of 4 crew members on the flightdeck namely Captain, First Officer, Flight Engineer, Navigator and also often a Second Officer. The cadet pilots of today usually go straight into the right hand seat in a two man crew. Training is now much more comprehensive and the modern simulators are so much like the real thing you cannot tell the difference. But I can tell you that even today it’s a big jump to make! After a landing in gusty wind conditions I often joke as we taxi in by saying “And they think it’s all automatic”.

Anyway time to do the DT Crossword now and have a cup of green tea!

Have just got home after a horrendous drive back from Liverpool – funny I should mention the M6 in the last blog! Had a great days work to Dublin and Oslo (Torp) – rainy and windy in Dublin but crystal clear night in Torp (-2 deg C) and we landed 25 mins early – quick dash back to the flat to get changed and loaded the car up and left at 2315 expecting to arrive home at about 0100. Motorways bound to be ok, so I thought, so got on the M6 – they had closed the motorway between 16 and 15 due an accident on the northbound and had diverted the northbound traffic onto the southbound so the southbound (with me on it) was stationary for nearly 2 hours! Listened to 5 live and the news that LHR is to have a third runway and was incensed by the garbage spoken by the lady from Plane Stupid who are opposing the extra runway. Well I can understand the feelings the locals have about another runway but this Plane Stupid lot give the false impression that Climate Change is being caused by all these awful jets flying around all over the place. I have to confess I am a sceptic on the Climate change issue anyway – even when all the experts agree they can all be wrong and actually they don’t all agree. Aviation has been very unfairly targeted by the green lobby and only accounts for about 2-3% of co emissions. Motor vehicles cause far more effect not to mention the coal burning power stations – we need more nuclear energy!

Well it’s late and I need sleep and have a gym session at 1100 today so see you all later!

Ok well it’s been an interesting start to the day. I woke up just after 7 am. I am quite into Paul McKennas books/cds as I believe that programming the subconscious mind is the key to living the life of your dreams! When you first awake and also as you drift into sleep your brain is going into “Alpha” mode – a time when you are most receptive to new suggestions. This is one reason why I never have a TV in the bedroom because if you watch the news (most of which is very negative) or watch some crazy horror movie then don’t be surprised if you wake up feeling depressed! This morning I listened to the cd which comes with “I Can Make Your Rich” by McKenna – he hasn’t quite succeeded yet but we are working on it! You also need to do various exercises in the book. I would also recommend “I Can Make You Thin” – although I have been into exercise for many years now I have been staggered at how effective this book and cd has been for me.  Another one which is really brilliant is “Get the Life You Want” by Richard Bandler, the co-creator of NLP (I will talk about this another day). The cd which comes with this has got to be one of the best relaxation/programming cds I have ever used.

So having listened to the cd which lasts about 20 mins I had breakfast which for me usually consists of freshly squeezed orange juice with fresh fruit such as strawberries or blueberries and probiotic yogurt – grief that makes me sound like a health freak, maybe I am. Well as I say if you owned a £5 million champion race horse would you keep it up all night, feed it on junk food, give it no exercise, smoke cigarettes, drink excessive amounts of alcohol – somehow I do not think so! If you did you wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t win any races and died early! So surely human beings are worth a lot more than £5 million – look after yourself I say. Anything that is grown from the ground is good for you – I don’t trust these juices in packets – I hate it when they say “pure” Orange Juice – what garbage! They are full of sugar and water – go and buy the real oranges and get a good juicer and hey presto you have something really good for you! (More of this on another day).

So then it’s off to the gym. It amazing how motivation works. Most people think “When I get motivated then I will do……(go to the gym to lose those extra pounds, for example)” but in reality it works the other way. Start to do what you need to do then you will become motivated! Because then you are in momentum! For example, maybe you need to mow your lawn but don’t feel like it. Just go and get the mower out of the shed – don’t even think of mowing the lawn. I guarantee that once you have take that first step you will go on to make a start and then when you have mown the first strip you will go on to do more etc! So it was interesting because this morning all I intended to do was my usual 40 minute fat burning on the cross trainer. But when I was doing a gentle cool down afterwards, something kicked in and I felt like running. I should add I have a target to complete a marathon this year and aim to do three runs a week, one short, one long and one “interval”. I was due to do the long one (usually at least 10 km) so I though well lets make a start. I went onto complete the 10 km in 56 mins – which for me was a good time.

I have actually been to the gym everyday for about the last 3 months bar Christmas Day when I went for a 5 km run. Psychologists say that if we want to establish a habit (or break one) we have to do practice the new behaviour everyday for at least 21 days. If you miss ONE day then you have to start counting again. Twenty or so years ago I was never into exercise but had put a fair amount of weight on. I went on various diets, lost the weight but then put it back on again! But I am a great book reader and also a fan of Oprah Winfrey. I bought a book by her called “Make the Connection” if I recall the title correctly which was about her challenges with weight control. She had tried various schemes to lose weight but then worked with a coach. It transformed her life – the book is well worth reading. So I thought I will copy exactly the regime she used. (If you want to be succesful at anything then just model what other people have done who have achieved what you are after).  It has also transformed my life. The biggest benefit of regular exercise is MENTAL – you feel so much better! Does it take an effort – well yes of course it does! My exercise is scheduled every day as though it is an unmissable appointment. But once you make the commitment your life will change for the better!

So after the gym it’s to the shops for a bit of food. I use M & S locally here. They are more expensive but the quality is excellent and I like their salads etc. I am back at the flat now about to get some lunch before going off to work at 1400 to fly to Dublin and back and Oslo (Torp) and back. We can access all the information on the web now – all the weathers look quite good today (for flying that is) – it’s even above freezing in Torp! Weather can have a big effect on flying and it is always interesting to fly through and over different weather patterns. If we get back on time (and very often we are early) we will land at 2245. I haven’t quite decided whether to stay the night or go straight home to Nottingham – will see how I feel but I have a session with my personal trainer in Nottm tomorrow at 1100 so will need to depart fairly early to make it if I drive down in the morning what with the rush hour etc. I always wonder why they call it the rush hour because it lasts a lot longer than an hour and you cannot rush!!

I know the journey between Nottingham and Liverpool well now. When I was first based in Liverpool a year ago I decided to invest in a SatNav and must say it’s been one of the most useful bits of kit I have ever owned.  If there is  little traffic (for exanple in the middle of the night) I travel on the M6 to Stoke and then the A50 to Nottingham. But if it’s busy I take the non motorway route as the M6 is a nightmare especially if there is a holdup. Also the non motorway route is about ten miles shorter. Sometimes I take the shortest route which is via Leek and Ashbourne – very scenic and also shorter and not that much longer timewise.

Well lunch time is fast approaching so better sign off! To all those who read this have a GREAT Day!

Hello world!

Hi – well this is my first ever blog so here goes! I work as a pilot (Captain) for a well known budget airline and although my home is in Nottingham I currently fly out of Liverpool. So my life is split between the two places but my roots are in Nottingham which is where most of my close friends are. So I am away for a few days and then drive the 106 miles back home for my days off.

Today I have been on standby. This means I have to be able to get to the crew report point within one hour if the company call me.  This would happen if, for example, someone else reported sick or maybe an aircraft was delayed and the crew ran out of hours as we have limits on how long we can be on duty. Standby is usually 12 hours long so I have been on from 1030 to 2230 today.  I have even been in the gym today armed with mobile phone in case the company need me.

I now go to the gym everyday for at least 40  minutes cardiovascular workout – I have a heart rate monitor so I know that I am in the fat burning range. I also have a personal trainer who I see at least once a week. I stick to a healthy diet and have eliminated alchohol although I often go out clubbing as a social life is very important to me – not many people on their deathbeds say “I wish I had spent more time at work”. That said I am passionate about flying although there are quite a few things about the airline industry which I don’t particularly like! I am in my late fifties now and can carry on flying till 65 so long as I can keep passing the annual medical and other recurrent checks.

I have been based in Liverpool for a year and share a flat with another professional and work is a 5 minute drive away. I keep in contact via the web and am currently listening to Radio Nottingham. I hope that the company will give me a base at East Midlands later this year which would be good as my home in Nottingham is only a 20 minute drive away.

I have two sons, Christopher who is a manager for MacDonald’s in Nottingham and Martin who is a bartender in Manchester. We all live busy lives so don’t see as much of each other as we would really like. I am a widower (a term I rarely use now) since my wife of 17 years died suddenly in 1994 due to a cerebral aneurysm. I am quite happy being single as I have many friends.

Life has been quite a rollercoaster but things have settled down a bit now – I left flying for a while after my wife died as the children were younger so to get back into airline flying again has been a godsend and quite a shot in the arm as it were. I feel very blessed in my life now. Are there challenges? Yes, of course – we all have them but my attitude has changed (for the better) due to life events. My message is “Live Life” to the full – Carpe Diem.

Well I am not sure how to get to this bit but it’s such an important part of who I am that I have to mention it. I am Gay – yes that’s right Homosexual! I didn’t plan things this way and maybe I can talk about it more another time. Through life circumstance I have been given a second chance and I am not going to mess up this time! That does NOT mean I did not love my late wife because I did. Things were very different when I was in my teens and indeed it was not until 1967 that homosexual acts between consenting adults aged 21 or more became decriminalised. I am not in a relationship at the moment. I do not feel incomplete as a result of that but if the right one comes along that would make me happy too.

I am also Christian – not a very good one but my faith and belief in God steers me through life.  That said I respect other people’s beliefs and that we should all live in peace. I actually believe that in England now we live in a pagan society and I think if you have a belief in a God you see everything through a different framework – there is a constant struggle between good and eveil in the world. Also, evil prevails when good people do nothing.

I really ought to get to bed really but I don’t have to be up early tomorrow so it doesn’t matter too much. I will go to the gym in the morning and get the paper (I am a Daily Telegraph reader) – I am always interested in current affairs. Sadly I don’t think any of our political parties offer really good leadership but if there was an election tomorrow I would vote Conservative as the lesser of three evils! I would really like to see Proportional Representation in the UK but doubt whether it will happen in my lifetime.

Ok will sign off now – Live With Passion!

I am flying tomorrow afternoon – on duty at 1500 and should finish about 2230. Then I have a few days off which I am looking forward to!