Consisting of 12 hours flying tuition over a two-week period with Tayside Aviation, I was delighted to have been selected to attend the ACPS (as generously provided by the Air Cadets). Located at Dundee Airport on the east coast of Scotland, Tayside Aviation is the sole contractor to the RAF Air Cadet Organisation, supplying light aircraft flying scholarships to enable young people such as myself to achieve a solo standard of flying.

Throughout my time at Dundee Airport (which is located only 0.5NM from the city centre) I was to fly on Tayside Aviation’s PA28 Warrior II fleet, which differed from the C172’s I had flown at Goodwood owing to its low-wing airframe. Whilst it was certainly fulfilling to add another aircraft type to my logbook, it did take some time to get used to the new checklists and performance figures!

Moreover, with a mixture of general aviation, business jets and turboprop airliners in the circuit, it was an altogether new experience for me to fly in this busy environment that was so different to the comparably serene skies of West Sussex. With the daily flying programme being significantly dependent on the variable conditions of the Eastern coast of Scotland, I was certainly lucky in that the weather was fair throughout the duration of my course, enabling me to fly up to three sorties a day and resulting in only two ‘no-fly’ days during my two week stay.

Nine days and ten sorties after having first arrived in Dundee, my instructor put me forward for a ‘solo-check’, to see whether I was ready for my first unaccompanied sortie. Consisting of one hour in the circuit with an instructor, I found the solo-check to be the most testing flight of my time in Scotland, with all areas of my circuit flying ability being inspected by an instructor whom I had not flown with before!

After having landed, I thankfully was cleared for my solo circuit, and before long I found myself in the air with a noticeably lighter airplane (owing to the fact that I was no longer weighed down by a second person with me in the cockpit!). My first solo flight then culminated with a touchdown on runway 27 of Dundee Airport, and as I was taxiing to the apron I could finally take the time to appreciate how I had achieved a life-long goal of mine.

Now 2019 has arrived I’m now looking forward to getting back in the skies above Goodwood and working towards my next milestone.