I have been flying since 2006, since 2011 on vintage aircraft, since 2012 aerobatics, and since 2013 as an instructor at the Glider Aerobatic Club – GAC Benešov, whose director is Miloš Ramert.
SPL-FI – pilot license 2011, advanced piloting 2012, skiing 2013, instructor 2013, slope 2014, total flight time 440 hours / FI 120 hours
2013 Kolín Cup 3rd place
2014 Czech Republic Acrobatics Championship 1st place, Kolín Cup 1st place
L-13, L-23, L-13AC
Twin-II
VT-16
ASK-21
LG-125
VSO-10
DG-1001
L-13SE
Since childhood, I wanted to fly. Who wouldn't want to be an astronaut and fighter pilot in the 1980s? I needlessly let myself be discouraged by a counselor at elementary school, who listed all the real and imagined difficulties that it would bring me, instead of telling me what to do to make it work. I also regret that I never got seriously into model aircraft building (which would have helped me understand aerodynamics, aircraft construction, and piloting more than any textbook) and that my prejudice against the military, which is widespread among musicians, prevented me from getting a pilot's license for free and of the highest quality. Music completely absorbed me and I forgot about flying. It wasn't until my first tour to Namibia, South Africa, and the USA, which took place by plane (I enjoyed the B 747 SP the most, where in the 1990s you could visit the freely accessible cockpit throughout the flight), and a visit to the aviation museum in Nevada that reminded me that the desire still remains.
My first opportunity came at the airport in Hradec Králové, where I bought an acrobatic flight on an L-23 during a break between games to see how I would cope. Then I asked a pilot I met on the train to Černošice what I needed to do. He sent me to Bubovice, saying that they follow the rules there, and that's where I completed basic training on the winch on an L-13. Instructors Martin Doněk, nicknamed Paleček (aeroclub technician), Petr Hodulák (transport pilot, but also guitarist and singer of aviation songs, organizer and presenter of aviation entertainment), Miloš Matějka (transport pilot), and František Rus—all mechanical engineers—put all their energy into getting at least the bare minimum into my head and hands, me being a humanities moron—how not to kill myself and others.
Miloš Ramert and his large team of instructors took care of my further development at GAC Benešov – first by retraining me on other types of aircraft, wooden historical ones (Orlík and Šohaj), aerobatic ones (L-13 AC, Twin II nicknamed Betonová labuť, ASK 21, and DG 1001) and the powerful VSO-10, called Vosa. This was followed by advanced pilot training and participation in competitions, where I gradually rose from last place to first in the Sportsman category – after everyone who had beaten me moved up to higher categories.
This was followed by an instructor course – sometimes absurd situations arise when my student, who has decided to renew his qualification after many years, has flown a hundred times more than me as a military or transport pilot and teaches me more than I teach him. After completing the course, I can no longer make excuses that I don't know how to assemble a hangar, how to disassemble and assemble aircraft, what the latest EASY innovations are, what transport vehicle is used for which aircraft, what car and what driver is allowed to drive it, when all radios in aircraft need to be replaced, and who I am allowed to seat in the front and who only in the back. Sometimes I wonder if it was worth it.
The most beautiful things are and always will be flights.
Climb to 1,200 m, with good visibility across the entire Czech basin from Šumava to Krkonoše, 6 minutes of acrobatics – rolls, loops, somersaults, twists, barrel rolls, flying upside down, turns at a 60° angle at speeds of up to 260 km/h and g-forces of up to 6G – an experience comparable to flying in a fighter jet.