2008/02 Philippe is not afraid of flying

click on the title link to see the video on DailyMotion

My big friend Philippe is a hero. For people who are not afraid of anything understanding the magnitude of that heroism will not be clear right away. That will probably be the kind of people who like it when they can see the slope when skiing downwards. Philippe does not. I can not relate to that as well.

Both Philippe and I join a fear of heights. They say your fear of heights is gone the moment your no longer in touch with the ground. I am not sure whether this is true. For me the basic sense of fear of flying is not related to my fear of heights. I think its more about control, at least it is for me. For Philippe there seems to be a link.

But, nevertheless, he really wants to fly. Or wanting to fly is perhaps a bit big. After the first session where his Marijke proved to survive a flight with my Marijke, he was now ready for is own air baptism. Not with Marijke of course, as goals should be challenging but achievable. No, captain Harry had to fly the PCA. I haven't got any material from inside the cockpit during that flight but we would be able to compensate for that later on.

That same day the next step was made. Now Philippe flew together with Marijke and Marijke, just before sunset and you can be a live witness of a design feature of the DA40 that had not been emphasized before. As Philippe states: why should you look outside when you can see exactly where you are on the MFD....





Pancake Airlines Crew is trained by Dwarf Powered Gliders (www.dwarf.nl) and Wings over Holland (www.wingsoverholland.nl). Information on the PH-PCA Diamond DA40 can be found on www.diamond-aircraft.at. You can click on the title link to see the video on DailyMotion.