P of F and level 6 Engrish...

After stressing out about what I thought was a pretty poor 'Principles of Flight and Performance' exam on Monday... it turns out that I got 89%!

Don't tell ASL, but I think they may have mixed my answer sheet up with someone elses :-/

Oh, and apparently after 33 years of being born in and living in and attending school and university in an English speaking country... I can, officially, speak English! Wow... amazing! Who would have thought?!?!!

Apparently not the aviation overlords... hence my heading along to Heliflight on Tuesday morning to do a "Level 6 English Language Proficiency Demonstration" (aka. the 'Engrish' test, aka. how to 'tax' pilots another $99)

Basically, you talk to an automated recording on the phone for 10 minutes and then a couple of days later they tell you that you can speak english. As you have probably figured out, I am not exactly a fan of this ridiculous system... and had to bite my tongue when one of the questions during the test was:

"People in Aviation have differing views on the need for English Language Proficiency Testing. What are your views on this subject?"

Talk about red rag to a bull!

Somehow, I resisted the (very strong) urge to tell them what a complete waste of time and money this whole process was! Instead, I gave them an answer that expressed my disagreement with methods and costs but viewed it as a necessary evil for safety reasons, citing historical incidents involving break downs in communication.

Anyway, I have Level 6 which is valid for life (or until they decide to change the system!)... now I just need to pay another $50 to get it endorsed on my license! I reckon I should just get my pay direct credited to the 'Campaign Against Aviation' (CAA)...

meh.