Last Monday I finally got to a point where my instructor (Bertie) was happy for me to sit my Club Pilot (Novice) exam. I am pleased to say I passed, unfortunately I didn't get the one hundred percent I wanted, 4 wrong out of 45 and of course those 4 were not any of the instant fail questions so not too terrible I suppose.

I still have several CP tasks to complete which Bertie says we can do in "one good day on the hill" (I'll try to get that in writing). These last item to sign off is the "final assessment" were your instructor agrees the student "right attitude to flying" (fortunately for me they don't seem to do any background checks to make sure you have a brain).

This weekend I attended a BHPA coaching course. It was interesting spending a whole day with BHPA members in a classroom and strangely it seems to validate in my mind the effort I have put in over the past months. It isn't that I don't believe what my instructor or other pilots on the hill tell me but sitting in a more formal environment seems to give things a more concrete feel in my mind and it also helps when you see that the BHPA is run in a professional manner.

Fortunately for all concerned, there is no chance of me becoming a club coach any time soon as a CP rating plus at least 10 hours flying logged before you can be approved as a club coach by the chief coach of your club.

Still being a new boy I just mostly listened and most of the conversations that I did have of course revolved around the weather and it seems most people think we are well overdue for some good weather because it has been so bad for so long.