"Rules aren't always meant to be broken" is a chapter in my book, Plane Reflections: about life and a flight around Australia's coast, and a topic for one of my newsletters. Worth bearing in mind.
Welcome to issue no. 23 of Pilot your life. May 2011
Just recently I’ve viewed a few movies where the main characters have “broken all the rules” and triumphed. However, real life doesn’t always work that way. Here’s a passage from my book, Plane Reflections: about life and a flight around Australia’s coast, which illustrates the potential hazards if some rules are broken.
“Rules aren’t always meant to be broken
There are more rules up in the air than on the ground. You don’t just jump in a plane and take off because you can get into a lot of trouble if you don’t read your charts properly.
There are a lot of Prohibited, Restricted and Danger Areas (PRDs), some of which need to be avoided if they are active, and there is also civil and military controlled airspace.
Some areas are for training or transitting and this applies to planes, helicopters, gliders, float planes, military jets, parachuting, aerobatics etc. Other areas need to be avoided when active for bombing, flares, rifles, lasers, gunnery, blasting, high velocity gas discharge etc.
Quite a lot of things end up in the atmosphere and planes don’t want to be in the air at the wrong time. If you read the documents and obtain weather reports with the PRDs before flying, then safety is assured.
Controlled airspace is one place where you don’t do your own thing without obtaining a clearance (asking permission) first. Planes etc. need to be kept separate from one another to avoid collisions. This is easier in airspace where the control tower has aircraft on radar but in other areas it’s up to the pilot to keep watch and maintain separation.
Along the coast there are military areas where planes can transit by set routes. This suited me in many instances because the routes flew over the ocean anyway.
On one occasion I obtained a clearance to fly along the coast at 1,500 feet. I was on radar, transmitting the designated transponder code, and while I was flying through the area I must have been concentrating on the camera and not on the altimeter and I had gradually descended. The control tower promptly told me to climb back to 1,500 feet. Just as well I did because not long after, a military helicopter came in from the ocean and flew beneath me towards the land.
Imagine what would have happened if I had kept descending and the helicopter had been climbing! A good lesson learnt that day!
So every time you come across a rule which you consider unnecessary, think very carefully before you break it. The rule may well have been designed for your own protection!”
Showing posts with label newsletter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label newsletter. Show all posts
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Turning Negatives Into Positives: Hot Air Ballooning In The Flinders Ranges (Not!)
Turning negatives into positives is a tremendous habit to acquire. It's really looking on the bright side of life and finding what there is to be thankful for. The following newsletter reprint details what I did on "Outback Adventure" after the disappointment of having my hot air balloon flight over the Flinders Ranges cancelled.
Pilot Your Life #15: Turn negatives into positives
During my recent four wheel drive trip into South Australia’s Outback, I put into practice one of the tips I learnt on Oz Flight ’99, my flight around Australia’s coast.
I had to turn negatives into positives several times.
Staying at Rawnsley Park Station, in the Flinders Ranges, was going to give me another opportunity to fly in a hot air balloon. I rather like the serenity of floating with the breeze, like earlier in the year in Florida (see issue no. 9, March 2010).
In the evening before the flight, everything pointed to the right conditions for a balloon launch the next morning. We had to get up early and meet in front of the Woolshed Restaurant at 5.45am, while it was still dark. It was also very chilly so I had on my gloves, scarf and beanie (a sight to behold!).
The chief pilot wasn’t sounding very hopeful because even though there didn’t seem to be much wind at ground level, the small tester balloon, with a light attached, was floating up into the darkness quite rapidly. So the decision was made not to launch the balloons.
Very disappointing. It would have been a beautiful flight, seeing Wilpena Pound bathed in the early morning sunlight. That was the negative side, missing out on the flight. The positive side was that my cabin was only a few hundred metres away and I could go back to a warm bed. Others, unfortunately, had to drive back the 24 kilometres to their accommodation in Wilpena.
The most important positive was that the pilot had our safety in mind and chose not to fly (my kind of pilot – safety first, second and last). Later in the day, the pilots packed up their gear and headed back to Adelaide, with no hope of balloon flights later in the week. I’d previously booked another night at Rawnsley Park in a few days’ time just in case there was another opportunity to go ballooning. Not this trip, obviously.
However, I made the most of the situation since I was already up in time for the sunrise (like in issue no. 6, December 2009).
It was bitterly cold and my boots did get wet tramping through the dew-laden grass but it was worth it for what I heard and saw and photographed. The magpies were carolling away in the trees and in the distance was the faint bleating of sheep. An eagle was even soaring not far from Rawnsley Bluff.
As the sun gradually rose, the landscape changed from the windmill silhouetted against the night sky, to trees cloaked in gentle light and mist still clinging to the ranges. Not a bad start to the day as I chose to look on the bright side and turn a negative into a positive.
So, the next great tip for how to pilot your life (personal or business) is:
Turn negatives into positives.
In order to get rainbows
you have to put up with the rain.
Always look on the bright side of life…
Two of my presentation topics are:
Overcoming procrastination
Turning negatives into positives
Pilot Your Life #15: Turn negatives into positives
During my recent four wheel drive trip into South Australia’s Outback, I put into practice one of the tips I learnt on Oz Flight ’99, my flight around Australia’s coast.
I had to turn negatives into positives several times.
Staying at Rawnsley Park Station, in the Flinders Ranges, was going to give me another opportunity to fly in a hot air balloon. I rather like the serenity of floating with the breeze, like earlier in the year in Florida (see issue no. 9, March 2010).
In the evening before the flight, everything pointed to the right conditions for a balloon launch the next morning. We had to get up early and meet in front of the Woolshed Restaurant at 5.45am, while it was still dark. It was also very chilly so I had on my gloves, scarf and beanie (a sight to behold!).
The chief pilot wasn’t sounding very hopeful because even though there didn’t seem to be much wind at ground level, the small tester balloon, with a light attached, was floating up into the darkness quite rapidly. So the decision was made not to launch the balloons.
Very disappointing. It would have been a beautiful flight, seeing Wilpena Pound bathed in the early morning sunlight. That was the negative side, missing out on the flight. The positive side was that my cabin was only a few hundred metres away and I could go back to a warm bed. Others, unfortunately, had to drive back the 24 kilometres to their accommodation in Wilpena.
The most important positive was that the pilot had our safety in mind and chose not to fly (my kind of pilot – safety first, second and last). Later in the day, the pilots packed up their gear and headed back to Adelaide, with no hope of balloon flights later in the week. I’d previously booked another night at Rawnsley Park in a few days’ time just in case there was another opportunity to go ballooning. Not this trip, obviously.
However, I made the most of the situation since I was already up in time for the sunrise (like in issue no. 6, December 2009).
It was bitterly cold and my boots did get wet tramping through the dew-laden grass but it was worth it for what I heard and saw and photographed. The magpies were carolling away in the trees and in the distance was the faint bleating of sheep. An eagle was even soaring not far from Rawnsley Bluff.
As the sun gradually rose, the landscape changed from the windmill silhouetted against the night sky, to trees cloaked in gentle light and mist still clinging to the ranges. Not a bad start to the day as I chose to look on the bright side and turn a negative into a positive.
So, the next great tip for how to pilot your life (personal or business) is:
Turn negatives into positives.
In order to get rainbows
you have to put up with the rain.
Always look on the bright side of life…
Two of my presentation topics are:
Overcoming procrastination
Turning negatives into positives
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Feeling Like A Small Cog In A Big Machine?
Welcome to issue no. 30 of Pilot your life. March 2012
You can read the full colour version or just read the text below.
Have you ever felt like you were a small cog in a big machine?
As I discovered on my trip to the UK last year, there are cogs and then there are other cogs.
In addition to my passion for flying, I also like travelling on trains, particularly when they’re in different countries. Not only do the trains vary but the terrain through which they travel can be very different too.
In Wales, the narrow gauge steam railways cooperatively market themselves as the Great Little Trains of Wales. One of the great little train journeys I went on was the Snowdon Mountain Railway which runs through Snowdonia National Park in the north of the country. The train departs the station in Llanberis and winds its way over 7.5 kilometres up the steep mountain slopes to reach the summit of Mount Snowdon at 3,560 feet (almost 1,200 metres).
Because of the steep terrain, the train can’t run on normal train tracks. It runs on a rack and pinion system designed by a Swiss engineer, Dr Roman Abt. Basically, each small locomotive has toothed pinions (cogwheels) which grab onto the rack, giving it traction for the ascent. During the descent, the rack and pinion system acts as a brake.
To climb up the mountain, the locomotive also runs with the chimney first and pushes the carriage up the steep incline. Everything is geared to reaching the summit (and returning) safely and working with nature.
Looking back at the photos I’d taken of this little train and its tracks got me thinking about cogs. For some people, the term “feeling like a small cog in a big machine” has a lot of negative connotations like powerlessness, lack of importance and being under valued.
However, this Welsh cog railway illustrates the positive side of cogs.
Cogs are part of a team.
Not only are they a valuable part of a team, they’re part of a successful team because the train reaches its goal, the summit of Mount Snowdon. They’re also extremely important because without them the train wouldn’t run at all. And they’re powerful too because they enable the train to ascend without slipping backwards and descend without speeding out of control down the mountainside.
The Snowdon Mountain Railway also puts into practice one of my own tips. It tackles everything in bite size pieces. There are no big powerful locomotives in the system. All that’s required is one small loco and one carriage. There are, however, quite a number of engines and carriages to take the thousands of visitors up to the summit and back.
A winning formula since 1896 and still going strong.
So what do you think is the logo of the Snowdon Mountain Railway? A cog of course. That’s how important cogs are.
So, if at any time you feel like a “small cog in the big machine” of life (or business) and you need a bit of inspiration, then just think of the wonderful cogs of Wales.
Here are another three tips for how to pilot your life (personal or business):
Turn negatives into positives.
Look on the bright side.
Teamwork is extremely powerful.
Together Everyone Achieves More.
Tackle everything in bite size pieces.
It’s easier to eat a block of chocolate a bite at a time
than it is to try and eat the whole block at once.
You can read the full colour version or just read the text below.
Have you ever felt like you were a small cog in a big machine?
As I discovered on my trip to the UK last year, there are cogs and then there are other cogs.
In addition to my passion for flying, I also like travelling on trains, particularly when they’re in different countries. Not only do the trains vary but the terrain through which they travel can be very different too.
In Wales, the narrow gauge steam railways cooperatively market themselves as the Great Little Trains of Wales. One of the great little train journeys I went on was the Snowdon Mountain Railway which runs through Snowdonia National Park in the north of the country. The train departs the station in Llanberis and winds its way over 7.5 kilometres up the steep mountain slopes to reach the summit of Mount Snowdon at 3,560 feet (almost 1,200 metres).
Because of the steep terrain, the train can’t run on normal train tracks. It runs on a rack and pinion system designed by a Swiss engineer, Dr Roman Abt. Basically, each small locomotive has toothed pinions (cogwheels) which grab onto the rack, giving it traction for the ascent. During the descent, the rack and pinion system acts as a brake.
To climb up the mountain, the locomotive also runs with the chimney first and pushes the carriage up the steep incline. Everything is geared to reaching the summit (and returning) safely and working with nature.
Looking back at the photos I’d taken of this little train and its tracks got me thinking about cogs. For some people, the term “feeling like a small cog in a big machine” has a lot of negative connotations like powerlessness, lack of importance and being under valued.
However, this Welsh cog railway illustrates the positive side of cogs.
Cogs are part of a team.
Not only are they a valuable part of a team, they’re part of a successful team because the train reaches its goal, the summit of Mount Snowdon. They’re also extremely important because without them the train wouldn’t run at all. And they’re powerful too because they enable the train to ascend without slipping backwards and descend without speeding out of control down the mountainside.
The Snowdon Mountain Railway also puts into practice one of my own tips. It tackles everything in bite size pieces. There are no big powerful locomotives in the system. All that’s required is one small loco and one carriage. There are, however, quite a number of engines and carriages to take the thousands of visitors up to the summit and back.
A winning formula since 1896 and still going strong.
So what do you think is the logo of the Snowdon Mountain Railway? A cog of course. That’s how important cogs are.
So, if at any time you feel like a “small cog in the big machine” of life (or business) and you need a bit of inspiration, then just think of the wonderful cogs of Wales.
Here are another three tips for how to pilot your life (personal or business):
Turn negatives into positives.
Look on the bright side.
Teamwork is extremely powerful.
Together Everyone Achieves More.
Tackle everything in bite size pieces.
It’s easier to eat a block of chocolate a bite at a time
than it is to try and eat the whole block at once.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Take Time Out To Enjoy Every Achievement By Going Hot Air Ballooning In Florida
Take Time Out To Enjoy Every Achievement By Going Hot Air Ballooning In Florida. Here's one of my newsletters with Slideshare presentation and text below.
Pilot Your Life #9: Take time out to enjoy every achievement
This year has been particularly busy for me as I’ve already set in motion and achieved some of my goals.
In January and February I went trekking in Patagonia in southern Chile and Argentina. Then, after a week back at home to partially recover, I set off for North America to speak at the Women in Aviation International conference in Orlando, Florida.
Another speaking engagement followed that with the invitation to participate in the Women Fly! program at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Not a bad start to the year.
While in Orlando, I experienced the joy of flying in a much slower mode than usual – a hot air balloon. The flight ended up being both a time of reflection and a time for reflection.
At the Boggy Creek field, with a definite nip in the air, six balloons launched in the blinding light of the early morning sun. The biggest balloon headed off with two smaller ones, then ours took off with two others following behind.
The launch was so gentle that we hardly realised that we were aloft. Very different to taking off in a light aircraft. No roar of the engine with the plane speeding down the runway before lift off.
Apart from the occasional noisy burst of flame from the gas cylinder to adjust the balloon’s height, the flight was so peaceful. Just drifting along without a care in the world and having a bird’s eye view of the land below.
Quite amazing really that I could look out and down and not feel the fear of heights, particularly as the basket wasn’t very deep and there were no seat belts.
As we floated over the swamp, we saw the reflection of the other balloon below. That in turn sparked another reflection.
I reflected back on my holiday in South America. It involved some quite arduous trekking to reach many of the stunning scenic spots in Torres del Paine and Fitzroy National Parks. Once again this was partly to prove that I could complete the walk despite the knee, feet and back injuries from the car accident a few years ago. But I really just wanted to achieve another goal that I’d set myself. Satisfying yet exhausting.
Consequently, the balloon flight, where I relaxed, did nothing (except take photographs), and just enjoyed the experience, was my reward to me for my achievement in South America.
So, another great tip for how to pilot your life (personal or business) is:
Take time out to enjoy every achievement
Treat yourself to something special and enjoy the moment.
It’s great to achieve goals, but remember to reward yourself as you go.
It encourages you to keep striving for the next goal and success does breed success.
Two of my presentation topics are:
Setting and achieving goals
Success
Pilot Your Life #9: Take time out to enjoy every achievement
This year has been particularly busy for me as I’ve already set in motion and achieved some of my goals.
In January and February I went trekking in Patagonia in southern Chile and Argentina. Then, after a week back at home to partially recover, I set off for North America to speak at the Women in Aviation International conference in Orlando, Florida.
Another speaking engagement followed that with the invitation to participate in the Women Fly! program at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Not a bad start to the year.
While in Orlando, I experienced the joy of flying in a much slower mode than usual – a hot air balloon. The flight ended up being both a time of reflection and a time for reflection.
At the Boggy Creek field, with a definite nip in the air, six balloons launched in the blinding light of the early morning sun. The biggest balloon headed off with two smaller ones, then ours took off with two others following behind.
The launch was so gentle that we hardly realised that we were aloft. Very different to taking off in a light aircraft. No roar of the engine with the plane speeding down the runway before lift off.
Apart from the occasional noisy burst of flame from the gas cylinder to adjust the balloon’s height, the flight was so peaceful. Just drifting along without a care in the world and having a bird’s eye view of the land below.
Quite amazing really that I could look out and down and not feel the fear of heights, particularly as the basket wasn’t very deep and there were no seat belts.
As we floated over the swamp, we saw the reflection of the other balloon below. That in turn sparked another reflection.
I reflected back on my holiday in South America. It involved some quite arduous trekking to reach many of the stunning scenic spots in Torres del Paine and Fitzroy National Parks. Once again this was partly to prove that I could complete the walk despite the knee, feet and back injuries from the car accident a few years ago. But I really just wanted to achieve another goal that I’d set myself. Satisfying yet exhausting.
Consequently, the balloon flight, where I relaxed, did nothing (except take photographs), and just enjoyed the experience, was my reward to me for my achievement in South America.
So, another great tip for how to pilot your life (personal or business) is:
Take time out to enjoy every achievement
Treat yourself to something special and enjoy the moment.
It’s great to achieve goals, but remember to reward yourself as you go.
It encourages you to keep striving for the next goal and success does breed success.
Two of my presentation topics are:
Setting and achieving goals
Success
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Be Passionate About What You Do
"Be Passionate About What You Do" is the February issue of the "Pilot Your Life" newsletter. Just email me at fran@franwest.com if you'd like to subscribe to the free monthly email newsletter (or use the "Subscribe by email" link at the bottom of this post). The newsletters usually have photos to illustrate the point and often a free destop wallpaper is offered when emailing a comment back to me.
Pilot your life newsletter no. 20
If you’re going to succeed in life, or business, you have to believe in what you’re doing and do it with gusto. Half-hearted attempts just aren’t good enough. Passion is what’s required.
I love my country, Australia.
I love travel, taking photos, doing adventurous activities, meeting new people and I particularly love flying.
All these things that I have a passion for I managed to combine in the goal that I had set myself, flying around Australia’s coast in a light aircraft.
During my trip, Oz Flight ’99, people could sense that I was passionate about and committed to the journey that I was undertaking.
They wanted to be a part of it too by helping me, giving me good information and advice, providing new experiences and having a lot of fun together.
If you aren’t enthusiastic about or don’t believe in what you’re doing, then other people won’t waste their time with you either.
When people read my book, Plane Reflections, or hear me speak about my flight, they can relate to what happened to me because of my enthusiasm. I can make them feel that they're in the plane with me experiencing the same highs and lows.
And with the photos, they can see what my eyes saw.
But best of all they realise that I'm just an ordinary person who made a dream reality and that they can also do that for themselves.
They too can achieve their full potential.
It’s truly amazing that we have the power within us to motivate other people and to change lives merely because of what we do.
So, my next tip for how to pilot your life (personal or business) is:
Be passionate about what you do.
Your passion and enthusiasm will also inspire others,
not only for your benefit but also for theirs.
Two of my presentation topics are:
Follow your dreams (at any age)
Success
Pilot your life newsletter no. 20
If you’re going to succeed in life, or business, you have to believe in what you’re doing and do it with gusto. Half-hearted attempts just aren’t good enough. Passion is what’s required.
I love my country, Australia.
I love travel, taking photos, doing adventurous activities, meeting new people and I particularly love flying.
All these things that I have a passion for I managed to combine in the goal that I had set myself, flying around Australia’s coast in a light aircraft.
During my trip, Oz Flight ’99, people could sense that I was passionate about and committed to the journey that I was undertaking.
They wanted to be a part of it too by helping me, giving me good information and advice, providing new experiences and having a lot of fun together.
If you aren’t enthusiastic about or don’t believe in what you’re doing, then other people won’t waste their time with you either.
When people read my book, Plane Reflections, or hear me speak about my flight, they can relate to what happened to me because of my enthusiasm. I can make them feel that they're in the plane with me experiencing the same highs and lows.
And with the photos, they can see what my eyes saw.
But best of all they realise that I'm just an ordinary person who made a dream reality and that they can also do that for themselves.
They too can achieve their full potential.
It’s truly amazing that we have the power within us to motivate other people and to change lives merely because of what we do.
So, my next tip for how to pilot your life (personal or business) is:
Be passionate about what you do.
Your passion and enthusiasm will also inspire others,
not only for your benefit but also for theirs.
Two of my presentation topics are:
Follow your dreams (at any age)
Success
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Have a Go: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
"Have a go" is the August issue of the "Pilot Your Life" newsletter. Just email me at fran@franwest.com if you'd like to subscribe to the free monthly email newsletter (or use the "Subscribe by email" link at the bottom of this post). The newsletters usually have photos to illustrate the point and often a free destop wallpaper is offered when emailing a comment back to me. My own desktop wallpaper for this month has been of course the horse and rider "flying" over the jump.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Take Every Opportunity That Comes Your Way
"Take Every Opportunity That Comes Your Way" is the July issue of the "Pilot Your Life" newsletter. Just email me at fran@franwest.com if you'd like to subscribe to the free monthly email newsletter (or use the "Subscribe by email" link at the bottom of this post). July's issue has just been published in www.ezinearticles.com. The newsletters usually have photos to illustrate the point and often a free destop wallpaper is offered when emailing a comment back to me. My own desktop wallpaper for this month has been of course Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
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