Suyoung, Nigel and Ingo

Is there a good reason to fly to Malacca, have a coffee and a Nasi Lemak and fly back straight away? No! When you find the only coffee shop closed and left with the option to buy a Fanta, there is even less reason to do so.

Is that going to stop us pilots to do exactly that anyway? Of course not.  We do it for the flying and for the surprised looks on our friend’s faces when we tell them that we will fly for a coffee to Malacca on Saturday.

At least that is doing it for me.  I also like to invite friends and colleagues to fly with me.  I admit there is a little bit of showing off involved, but I do it mostly because I enjoy the company and the opportunity to explain things while flying.  At least when I have them in my airplane, they cannot run away while I rumble on about airspeed and course and all the other little things that are so important to us pilots.  Stamp collectors would probably kill for a captive audience like this.

This week, Nigel and Suyoung have been my victims.  We flew to Malacca, found the coffee shop closed, bought Fantas and bottled water and got back by three o’clock for a relaxed drive back to Singapore.

The weather was gorgeous.  Plenty of CB clouds with a base of about 3,500 feet, but more than enough blue sky shining through.  The wind picked up during the day to about 9 knots (gusting at 14). My landings were smooth, despite the stronger than usual wind.