A day at the airport

"Tko leti, vrijedi".  This sentence describes the essence of what I feel about flying. Roughly translated from Croatian it means - "He who flies, is worthy".

I've already written about my passion for flying.

Lately I was able to revive this passion with a series of successful flights. I've even recorded a bit from one of the recent cloud jumping experiences.

Old school is the best

During my flight training I had the privilige to meet two very special people, my flight instructor mr. Ziva Frenc and mr. Kusic, an elderly gentleman still in love with the skies.

Listening to them talk about the aviation is fantastic. They spent all their lives flying and I have a lot to learn from them.

Few days ago mr. Kusic had an emergency situation when the towing plane released the rope for it entered a flock of birds. The glider was released on mere 100m leaving mr. Kusic in a very unpleasant situation. Luckily he was able to make emergency landing. In the process the towing rope was lost... Later we spent three hours on a hottest God's day looking for the rope through the neighboring terrain. I was exhausted but mr. Kusic, 73, was just tireless. I had to follow. I couldn't understand that rock strong determination to find a piece of a flying gear.

My instructor mr. Frenc, is one of the most experienced pilots in the country. Having flown thousands of hours of jet instrumental flying over all the continents in the world, I absorb every word of his like a sponge. Some say he is a strange old fellow, but for me he is an aviation legend. Just to be able to fly with him presents me a great honor. Rarely can you meet people with such experience, and to be alive to tell about it. Old pilot is the best pilot.

And the day is over. We spent almost 12 hours, some flying, some helping others fly and some just trying to understand the essence of flight. We are all looking forward to the next occasion, becoming one with the skies...