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The one adage I’ve never quite been able to get my mind round is: “There are no bad students – only bad instructors.”! It was said by a very experienced instructor many years ago. I never quite got the hang…

There aren’t many decent aviation biographies on the bookshelves these days but every now and then, a really special one appears. One such is ‘Open Cockpit over Africa’ by Victor Smith. Walter Waldeck met the author. Courage is a relative…

Most accidents are caused by a series of poor decisions at some stage before or during a flight. These poor decisions lead to other poor decisions which lead to… One of the best job descriptions I have heard to describe…

My eyes snapped open, my heart beating wildly. I’d hardly slept. I shot a glance at the bedside table clock for the tenth time in the last hour. 0330. Okay – Time to get moving. Einstein once said, ‘Time is…

Wally Waldeck is a senior captain on the A340 for SAA. Apart from being a very good author for us and a highly experienced and capable member of our team that we are truly blessed to know. He is also…

Nothing prepares you in life, to face death. In my previous articles I’ve tried to show how quickly and innocently mortal danger sneaks up on the unwary in aviation. Even if you’ve had the best training in the world, it’s…

When your very survival depends on the helping hand of a stranger. Anyone who’s ever been lost in an aircraft will tell you it’s not a pleasant experience. But at night – it’s positively hair raising! And I’m not talking…

To begin with: an apology to Gary, Belinda and Mike for being such an unreliable contributor. No excuses really. Just a little writer’s block and some Attention Deficit Disorder (Kids, wife, dog, mother in law etc.) Scully Levin cornered me…

(Some practical tips on passing the flight test with a CAA examiner.) By Walter Waldeck Flight tests are stressful events for candidates, no matter what their level of experience. Even now, thirty odd years after my initial ATP test I…