The Maiden Flight Podcast (Mark Maiden)

Circuit flying is very exciting and rewarding as you complete a full flight from take off to landing within 5 or 6 minutes. However, becoming proficient in the circuit takes time, patience and a lot of practice. Join me as I talk about my first impressions of circuit flying and some of my highs and lows as I learn to land.

Episode 5 - Circuit Flying

A pilot will never forget the first time they flew an airplane on their own with no instructor present. I experienced this on the 10th December 2011 and needless to say, it was an event that I will cherish and never forget. I count myself blessed and privileged to be able to say I can fly an airplane by myself and it just makes me more keen to continue with my training and get my license.

Follow along with me as I describe the events of that day!

Episode 7 - First Solo

Welcome to the Maiden Flight Podcast coming to you from Dublin, Ireland. This is a brief introduction to the podcast where I hope to chart my experiences of learning to fly and beyond.

Episode 1 MP3

After 5 years of training I am delighted to say that I have achieved one of my lifetime goals in passing my Private Pilot Skills Test. I can officially say that I am a Pilot! What a great feeling!

Its been an exciting journey and all came to a head on the 5th May. Listen in as I talk about that day and what doing a skills test in Ireland is all about.

Episode 15

My first few lessons were both exciting and overwhelming! Join me as I talk about my initial experiences with flight training and why ginger biscuits rock my world!

Episode 3 - Ginger Biscuits Rock!

Getting to fly a brand new airplane is a rare event in a pilots life. For some people it might only happen a handful of times, and for some, not at all.

What with changing flight schools and a new airplane I was really looking forward to my first flight in the Grob G115. Follow along as I describe my first flight.

I've included some pictures of the Grob below in case you don't recognize the type.

Episode 11 - First Flight In A New Plane

Join me as I talk about my next group of lessons as I learn steep turns, take offs and discovering the reality of stalls. And there's a subtle announcement too!

Episode 4 - Turns, Take Offs and Stalls

It's been a while since I've recorded so I just thought I'd put something out there that's short and sweet with a basic update of what I've been up to. The big news this episode is that I'm changing flight schools and looking forward to flying out of a new airfield.

Apologies in advance for the quality of the recording...I'm trying to find an easier way to record on a regular basis.

Episode 10 - A Quick Update

I was very surprised and honored recently to be asked to be a guest on another aviation podcast in the UK called the Plane Talking UK podcast. Carlos, Matt and Simon produce a very professional and upbeat aviation podcast dealing with the latest civil and military aviation news, and took the time to talk to me about my own pilot journey.

Thanks to Carlos and Matt for a great time! Head on over to planetalkinguk.com for more information on the podcast and I've included the episode within this post for anybody who is interested.

Plane Talking UK Podcast Episode 42

I thought it was about time that I brought everybody up to speed on where I've been and what aviation avgeekery I've been up to!

When you don't get to fly how do you keep up your aviation interest and learning? In this episode I suggest a few pursuits that can keep you up to speed when you can't get to fly.

Mentioned in this episode :

AOPA Flight Training Magazine : flighttraining.aopa.org  @AOPAFTMag
In The Pattern Podcast : inthepatternpodcast.com  @InThePattern
Xtended Aviation Podcast : aviation-xtended.co.uk  @AviationXtended
Plane Talking UK Podcast : planetalkinguk.com  @PlaneTalkingUK
Plane Crazy Down Under Podcast : planecrazydownunder.com  @pcdu
Neil Bradon : getmyppl.blogspot.com  @pilot_ngb

Get Involved :

I would love to hear from you regarding your flight training or pilot experiences that I can share with other podcast listeners. You can reach me on Twitter at @markisflying or via the email address that I mention in this episode.

Episode 12

How do you go about picking a flight school? What are the main criteria that you feel you need to have to feel comfortable? Join me in this episode as I talk about my own experiences in choosing a flight school.

Episode 2 - Picking a Flight School

Shortly after my solo I got the opportunity to practice some crosswind landings with what I would consider to be fairly strong direct crosswinds. This was a very new and challenging experience for me as we hadn't ventured out to fly with winds above 15 knots at this point. The METARs for the time I was flying showed the following :

EIDW 181200Z 28025KT 9999 FEW018CB BKN033 06/00 Q1008 NOSIG
EIDW 181130Z 28021KT 9999 SCT020 07/01 Q1008 NOSIG

As our runway is 22, this meant a direct crosswind of between 18 and 23 knots. Follow along as I tried my hand at crosswind landings for the first time.

Episode 9 - Crosswind Landings

I finally decided to get my Theoretical Knowledge Exams out of the way so with CRP-1, charts and a notepad in hand I headed out for my lessons and subsequent exams.

PPL Equipment and Books needed for PPL study

It was a lot of hard work but am delighted to say that I passed all of them.

Listen in as I talk about that experience and also describe some sample questions.




Mentions in this episode

• My awesome family, Rowena, Jody and Luke. Follow Rowena on Twitter at @MaidenRowena
• The Plane Talking UK Podcast. Download episodes on iTunes and follow them on Twitter at @PlaneTalkingUK
• Tony Simpson and his Cessna 150. See Tony's blog at http://tony-cessna150.blogspot.ie/

Episode 13

After 18 months of no flying, I am finally back in the air! I've been so looking forward to this time that I ended up pretty nervous with the anticipation of what was to come and wondering how rusty I would be after the break.

Follow along in this episode as I talk about getting back into the cockpit again and talk through some feedback from some valuable listeners.

 
Mentions in this episode :

• Fred on Twitter @LittleMissSunsh
• Krzysztof Kacprzak building a Zenith CH 750
• Derek Murphy
• Evan Schoo @evan_schoo 1000feetagl.blogspot.com.au
• Adam ‏@Goflyingaus https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/go-flying-australia-podcast/id956125487
• Neil Bradon @pilot_ngb
• John Power @jpower67
• Grant Mcherron @falcon124
• Pilot Pip http://www.planesafetypodcast.com/
• Drew Lindsay

 Listen to Episode 14