Pilot school First Fly news

ADAZHI AIRFIELD AND AEROCLUB TURNS 15!

31/07/2022

On July 30, the Adazi Aeroclub together with the Adazi airfield celebrated their 15th anniversary by arranging a grand celebration for everyone!

Both local pilots and our guests from different countries took part in the flight program. The audience enjoyed the performances of the Lithuanian aerobatic team ANBO, who performed on three Yak-50s, throwing a grandiose show with pyrotechnics. Anatoly Perekriostov, flight school “First Fly” instructor, showed what a light aircraft is capable of in skilled hands, and demonstrated the beauty and grace of flight on the Aeroprakt A22 aircraft. The audience had a unique opportunity to see the solo performance of one of the pilots of the Baltic Bees aerobatic team on the L-39 Albatros aircraft, to feel the speed of 900 km/h at a distance of just a few meters. The program also included display flight performed by pilots on Extra 330LX (one of the best acrobatic aircraft in the world) with their acrobatic programs, Pitts M-12 Monster biplane, a Slingsby T67M-200 and a couple of RV8 aircraft.

The most grateful and admiring audience were, of course, the children! In delight, with their eyes to the sky, they looked at the mastery of our pilots, and for sure on that day the dream of flying was born in many hearts! For children, there was a children's cafe, trampolines, as well as a drone school. The highlight of the program for children was the traditional “candy rain” from an airplane for our airfield.

During the whole day, an exposition of historical aircraft was opened for our viewers. This year, 3 historical aircraft were presented - and 2 of them arrived on their own! A 1947 Piper flew to visit our celebration from the Czech Republic, the legendary Lituanica is a replica of the Bellanca Peacemaker aircraft, on which Lithuanian pilots flew from New York to Kaunas in 1933 for a distance record. The third aircraft and the most interesting was Bleriot XI, a reconnaissance aircraft of the early 20th century, on which the French aviator Louis Bleriot crossed the English Channel for the first time in the history of aviation in 1909. Our friend aviator ValentinsVasjaks and his friend Jurijs Erminass began work on creating a replica of this unique aircraft several years ago. Unfortunately, Valentins died in a car accident, but his work lives on, and Jurijs, together with the Adazi aeroclub and the Adazi airfield, continue to create a copy of the aircraft.

In total, there were more than 50 different aircrafts at the festival! In the middle of the day, the spectators had an access to all aircrafts, there was an opportunity to chat with the pilots, sit inside and take a closer look. Of course, children were especially happy about this, but, according to our observations, some adults also turned into children with pleasure and sat down in the cockpit with delight. At the end of the day, our pilots gave a ride to those who wished during panoramic flights.

The armed forces of Latvia and NATO also took part in the program, an exposition of military equipment was presented. Paratroopers of the armed forces showed their skills in jumping from an AN-2 aircraft, one of them congratulated the audience with a jump with a huge 9-meter airfield flag!

The highlight of the program was the congratulations to the guests from the Adazi aeroclub, which proved that together we can not only fly - see the congratulations below in the video.

Thanks to everyone who took part in our celebration, special thanks to the children's ensembles from Adazi - Ādažu Bungotavas Bundzinieki, Twin Hip Hop Crew for their wonderful performances, as well as our volunteers for helping to organize the holiday.

We look forward to see you all at our next events!

"BALTIJAS VIEGLO LIDAPARĀTU SACENSĪBAS/SALIDOJUMS 2022" TOURNAMENT

04/06/2022

On June 4, the long-awaited “Baltijas vieglo lidaparātu sacensības/salidojums 2022” tournament was held at the Adazi airfield, as well as MHG gliders and light aircrafts rally. Despite the fact that the competition was postponed several times due to weather, the expectation was 1000% worth it! So much drive, excitement, pleasure and positive emotions, our airfield, yearned during the pandemic, has not been seen for a long time!

11 pilots took part in the competition, to find out who is strongest in three exercises - landing for accuracy, rally and "shooting" at the airballoons. Precision landing in a designated section of the runway with a length of only 20 meters became the most difficult for the pilots, but at the same time the decisive exercise in determining the winners. The rally became the most fun and driving, and the spectators liked knocking down the airballoons the most. But regardless of the place, all the participants and, of course, the spectators got great pleasure from the event, enjoyed conversations with old friends and found new ones, sincerely cheered for all the participants.

The entire podium was taken by the graduates of our school!

After the competition there were many flight debriefings (literally), and there will be many more yet to come. Now the participants have something to strive for, as our winners have set the bar high! The next competition is scheduled for July, so there is just time to practice.

Many thanks to the organizers of the competition - the instructor of our school Anatoly Perekriostov for the organization, holding and "charged" briefings, the director of our school Oksana for the organization, atmosphere and very beautiful prizes, as well as to the Latvian Aviation Club.

WORKSHOP "FLIGHT PLAN"

15/02/2022

On Wednesday, the First Fly pilot school, together with the Adazi flying club, held a practical lesson on the topic “Flight Plan”. The lesson was conducted by flight instructor Arnis Riekstinsh. The lesson discussed the topic of filing a flight plan through the LGS LR system (https://ibs.lgs.lv). This topic is extremely useful for students of the school and those pilots who mainly fly in the G zone, as they rarely use this option. The workshop participants submitted 2 flight plans, one very simple, and the second complex - with crossing the CTR zone of the Riga airport, passing several navigation points, a complex route built on coordinate points and returning to the departure airfield. The participants even talked to the briefing service of the Riga airport by phone to clarify some questions :). During the lesson, the instructor emphasized several times that you need to use the flight plan feature, as this increases the safety of flights in the G zone, and also not to be afraid to communicate with air traffic controllers, since they are on their service in order to facilitate the life of a pilot, not to complicate it. We completely agree with this, and we advise all our pilots to fly according to the flight plan more often and communicate with our controllers during flights.

SPRING SEMINAR

12/02/2022

Last Saturday, the First Fly pilot school, together with the Adazi Airfield and the Adazi flying club, held another spring safety seminar. The main topic of the seminar is the transition to the summer season, changes in air legislation and flight rules, as well as, of course, flight safety issues, safety rules that are very useful to repeat regularly.

The workshop participants addressed the following issues:
• change of AIP LR, new map of visual flights;
• flights at low speeds, critical angle of attack and conditions for aircraft stalling into a spin;
• features of starting cold and hot engines, pilot actions in case of engine failure on the ground and in the air;
• providing first aid to the victim, especially the implementation of artificial respiration techniques and splinting techniques for fractures;
• studying the map of visual flights, plotting a route in the Skydemon application, calculating route fuel and emergency fuel;
• peculiarities of conducting radio traffic in the area of the aerodrome and beyond, as well as in uncontrolled airspace;
• general safety measures on the ground and in flight.

Aa a regular part of our security seminars is the analysis of video incidents of general aviation. This allows in a calm atmosphere to discuss the causes of incidents and accidents, analyze the prerequisites and identify the necessary actions that must be taken to prevent an incident or to minimize the consequences. Such analyzes allow us to "keep in good shape" the active knowledge of our pilots of actions in emergency situations and "work out" them on the ground.

The host of the seminar and its main speaker - the flight instructor of our school Anatoly Perekriostov, as well as the flight instructor Arnis Riekstinsh, the anesthesiologist-resuscitator Alexei Mishchuk, the aircraft mechanic Viktor Aleshin, as well as members of the Adazi air club took an active part in the discussion of issues seminar.

And, following the traditions, the seminar ended with barbecues in the fresh air and communication until late in the evening of people in love with the sky, which we have been missing so much lately!

NEW SPRING CLASSES ANNOUNCEMENT

14/02/2022

Our September group of students is already finishing their studies, so we are announcing the admission to a new training classes.

Classes will begin in March and will be held in a classroom at the Adazi Airfield in compliance with all epidemiological requirements adopted in Latvia.

The number of places in the group is limited due to COVID-19, so a guaranteed place in the group will be for those students who sign a study contract before March 15, 2022, and provide payment for theoretical part of the classes.

Classes will be held 2 times a week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays). To register for training, call +371-28489846 or email to info@firstfly.lv.

The regular autumn safety seminar was held last Saturday at the Adazi airfield.

At the seminar, the chief instructor of the First Fly pilot school, Anatoly Perekriostov, talked about the peculiarities of flying in the winter, about an aircraft maintanence in the winter mode and refreshed the pilots' knowledge about preparing flight equipment before flying on a winter day. And for some of us it was completely new information, because at the seminar there were many students of the First Fly pilot school, for whom the upcoming winter season will be the first, they will be able to feel the difference between summer and winter air, between the plane behaviour in warm and cold skies, and also enjoy the magical winter landscapes!

School teacher Alexander Belyovkin told about icing conditions, about how dangerous ice is for our small planes, and what to do if the pilot did get into the icing zone. He showed illustrative examples and explained the physics of the process of ice formation on the surfaces of the aircraft, armed all the pilots present with knowledge that will definitely help us in planning winter flights.

Our aviation engineer Viktor Alyoshin talked about the peculiarities of starting various engines in winter, as well as how to properly warm up the engines and whether it is worth using auxiliary devices for this (yes, it is!).

LU MF associate professor, anesthesiologist, resuscitator Alexey highlighted the topic of first aid necessary for all pilots, gave very detailed information on how to handle various injuries, burns, how to ensure the immobility of a person in the event of an accident, and very clearly explained why it is vital. From his story, we learned about the first aid algorithm and that the first thing to do, regardless of anything, is to call for help.

The seminar ended with a traditional analysis of aviation incidents, our instructor Anatoly Perekriostov analyzed emergency situations using the example of several videos, explained the reasons that led to accidents, and gave useful recommendations on how to avoid such incidents in difficult weather conditions, in planning flights, and in challenging landing conditions. Such analyzes are very useful for all our pilots, they make our flights safer, make us always treat planning, flight execution and ourselves, as a pilot, very thoughtfully and consciously.

On August 22nd, First Fly School and Adazi Aeroclub took part in an air show in Limbaži.

Although the weather did not spoil the pilots, the program turned out to be quite intense thanks to the pilots of the First Fly school and the Adazi aviation club - according to the audience, they liked our pilots the most.

Anatoly Perekriostov, the chief instructor of the First Fly pilot school, performed display flights on two aircrafts - a fast Tarragon and an Aeroprakt A22 school training airplane. On Tarragon, he showed his exceptional flying skills and performed all the aerobatics maneuvers, that this aircraft is generally capable of. And on the Aeroprakt A22 school training plane, he made such an amazingly beautiful demonstration flight that none of the spectators (and even school students) expected that a school training plane in skillful hands could show SUCH a flying!

Among the other performers there was our instructor Alexander Belevkin, who showed what a gyroplane can do. After this flight, there were many people interested in this machine at the school stand.

The pilots of the Adazhi Aviation Club, under the guidance of our instructor Anatoly Perekriostov, performed a flight in a formation of three aircrafts using smoke, which looked spectacular and interesting, as well as a demonstration flight on the American Pitts sports aerobatic biplane.

Jurgis Kairis, a Lithuanian pilot and one of the most famous acrobatic pilots, showed his breathtaking aerobatics, performing all his signature figures on his SU-31 sports plane to the delight of the audience.

At the school stand there were many questions about training at school and about test flights, and also, which made us especially happy, there were a lot of children who, with glowing eyes, took pictures with planes and watched the aerobatics shown by our pilots.

We are waiting in our new autumn group for everyone who is attracted by the Sky!

On 27th of December “First Fly” pilot school together with our friends from Adazi Aeroclub and from neighbor countries celebrated New 2020 Year on our home EVAD airfield. This year Santa Claus did the incredible thing and flew to airfield by airplane, creating incredible excitement among pilots and children! Our Aeroprakt A22 aircraft was specially prepared for this important event and was festively decorated. Santa Claus brought with him a huge bag of gifts for our students and pilots, but Santa Claus did not give gifts just that simple! One had to read a poem, wish a Happy New Year or sing a song. And one of our guests even showed a small performance with his well-trained dog. At midnight, there was magical fireworks display at our airport, and dances, fun contests and live music continued until late at night.

Traditional fall safety seminar about the transition to winter flight mode was held on our Adazi airfield (EVAD). The teacher and instructor of the First Fly pilot school Alexander Belyovkin was talking about the features of different flight regimes, as well as about the critical angle of attack and icing. Even our experienced pilots refreshed their knowledge before the winter season, this information was also very useful to our students and young pilots for whom the upcoming winter season will be the first in their flying life. Neurosurgeon Martiņš Kapickis spoke about the first aid procedure, giving very important information about how and in what order you need to provide assistance in the event of an accident or incident. This topic was very interesting to our audience, there were very many questions about how to conduct resuscitation correctly, when and how to call ambulance, how to correctly determine the degree of body damage and in what cases it is better not to do anything not to harm. Also, aviation mechanic Viktor Aleyoshin spoke about the icing of the carburetor, and also clearly showed what happens to the carburetor at the time of ice formation inside. He gave many useful tips on how to determine icing in flight and what to do with it. Anatoly Perekriostov, the leading pilot instructor at First Fly School spoke about the differences between winter flights and flights in the summer season, about how to use the runways and aprons of an airfield in winter, and showed training videos about pilot errors and analyzed each case in detail – what and why has been done wrong, because, as we all know, its much wiser to learn from the mistakes of others. Since we love not only to work, but also we know how to relax very well, the seminar ended with barbecue, sweets and warm aviation (and not only aviation) conversations till the dark.

Last Tuesday, on September 3rd, a new fall group has started. Future pilots began training with a theory that will last 70 hours of study at our school. The first lesson was devoted to Air Law, where students learned about flight rules in Latvia, about airspace classification, minimum flight altitudes in Latvia and Europe, learned what are ICAO, CAA and AIP. Class will continue it’s study with aerodynamics, meteorology, navigation and other subjects necessary for obtaining private pilot's license.

We congratulate our students with the beginning of their pilot life and wish them good luck in conquering the Sky!

On August 23, 4 aircrafts from our Adazi Aeroclub took part in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the “Baltic Way”. We flew to the Birzai (Lithuania) to our Lithuanian colleagues and, in group of 11 aircraft made a celebration flight above the Presidents of all three Baltic countries that met on the border of Latvia and Lithuania. The history of the Baltic Way is very interesting: the inhabitants of the three countries holding their hands lined up in a live people chain 670 (!) km long connecting Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. 25% of the population of the three countries participated in this peaceful action.

We are very proud of the honor we have been granted to participate in these historical event.

On August 3rd at our airfield in Adazi (EVAD), a traditional Airfield Day was held. The program of the festival included both sport and flying competitions, with everyone participating - from young to old!

The teams competed with each other in the "Fun Starts", and even serious and experienced wise pilots jumped in bags, with a jump rope and pulled the rope with youthful enthusiasm. Excitement infected everyone, but won (as always!) - friendship!

As a part of the day eleven planes of the Adazi Aeroclub members made a joint demonstration flight around the Carnikava and Adazhi, showed themselves in all their glory to everyone who remained on the ground. After that, our pilots participated in flight competitions for precise controlling of the aircraft, and friendship won again!

Our friends from Lithuania pleased all the guests with delicious pilaf of their own preparation (of course, on fire and in a real cauldron) and the program ended with cheerful dances.

First Fly pilot school participated in the largest air show in the Baltic States “Wings over Baltics” which took place on July 20 and 21 in Tukums. We presented our booth there along with our Aeroprakt A-22 training aircraft, which caused big buzz, especially among the younger generation, who were allowed to sit inside, hold onto the controls and took pictures.

All comers received information about our school programs, and future students signed up for our next flight group, that begins this fall.

Various aerobatic teams took part in the air show - the Polish Air Force presented the F-16 and the Orlik group, Lithuanian colleagues brought a group of ultra-light Aeroprakt A-22 aircrafts and the unique An-2, which became one of the highlight of the program, Finnish pilots flew two legendary DC-3 Dakota, Jurgis Kairis showed his literally dizzy aerobatics, First Fly school flight instructor Alexander Belyovkin showed aerobatics on a gyroplane (autogyro). The program was closed by the one-of-a-kind unique Latvian jet aerobatic team “Baltic Bees”, where the founder of our school - leading pilot instructor Anatoly Perekriostov flies as right wingmen with number 3.

On Saturday, a safety seminar and preparation for the summer season were held at the EVAD airfield. On seminar we discussed current issues of the transition from winter to summer flight modes, our aeroclub member surgeon Janis Zaržeckis gave a lecture about human factor and first aid procedures, everyone could ask questions and clarify the nuances of this seemingly well-known process. Club members and students discussed the general issues of the airfield and the school for the summer period, outlined the main dates for the events that will be held this summer season, and shared the differences between summer and winter flights and their experience in preparing the aircraft for the summer season.

On December 28, “First Fly” flying school together with the Adazi Aero Club celebrated the beginning of the New 2019 Year. Santa Claus visited us with his gnomes and brought us a whole mountain of gifts that we received under a huge true Christmas tree, of course not just that simple! We participated in contests and quizzes, including aviation! Disco and dancing were until the morning. Members of the Adazi aeroclub shared their flight experience with First Fly pilot school students and graduates, recalled interesting stories from their student lives and shared news. New Year Eve was an occasion to come to visit us to our friends from different countries, to meet aviation pals and talk heart to heart. We had a great meeting of the new 2019 and we hope that it will bring us all a lot of happiness and great flights!