" Dogs vs Frogs"

" Dogs vs frogs"

Spring has really arrived in the Limousin with blue skies and temperatures of 26° last week. The leaves are on the trees and everywhere looks beautiful. I am truly privileged to teach flying in this beautiful unspoilt part of France.
On the downside, Lucia is mowing the lawns daily as the grass grows so quickly.
During the last week, I have stayed close to the Limoges airport area as I have been doing some concentrated teaching with a lovely couple, Jason and Nicole.
This young couple originate from Australia and are currently living in The Hague.
Both served with the military in Australia, spending many hours in helicopters though not as pilots.
However, this previous experience helps with their training as they are already familiar with general aviation terminology as well as the basic flight instruments.
As Jason and Nicole have a baby son called Jack, they take turns at flying and childminding which seems to be working very well as both were ready to train in the circuit by mid-week and this is what we have been doing over the last few days.
Limoges Bellegarde is in class D airspace so we have to integrate with commercial IFR arrivals and departures as well as military training flights.
This provides excellent training for my students who become used to performing 360° orbits and extended downwind legs to make way for Ryanair or other IFR traffic. This gives them the confidence to fly into other large airports without undue concern.
Quite often, Ryanair and FlyBe flights have to wait until we have landed though the commercial flight crews usually give us a friendly wave.
I am delighted with the progress of my English Radiotelephony class for French pilots and I am now receiving enquiries from prospective students who are not even members of our club.
No problem. It is very rewarding to support French PPL holders in this way and I am sure that we will be able to accommodate a few 'outsiders'—by prior arrangement, of course.
The puppies are now six weeks old and have discovered how to bark!
We have a steady stream of visitors to see them as the dogs will spend another few weeks with their mother before transferring to their new owners. It is so nice to meet these people and to offer advice on bringing up these delightful dogs.
Now that the weather is warmer, the older dogs have been going for a daily swim in my neighbour's lake which is presently full of very noisy frogs whose 'mating' calls can be heard from a mile away!
Being bred for hunting, my dogs are swimming in all directions to catch the elusive frogs who are pretty good at diving out of trouble. However, the dogs never tire of this frog-hunting sport.

   

 " I'll catch you one day!"

  

"  I got all my onions on! hahaha!"