This week's tip is from an article on Training by Pat Dower, which is in the latest issue of Cross Country magazine

We all know flying can be rather unforgiving of our mistakes.

But mistakes are often an important part of learning, and here is an eternal dilemma for pilots.

How can we push our boundaries without putting ourselves in hospital or worse?

At least part of the answer is to make progress in lots of small steps rather than giant leaps.

Take for example learning which clouds are safe to fly close to and which are not.

The way to approach that is to gain as much knowledge as you can about what to expect and how to deal with it, and then make a really conservative start.

Provided everything goes ok, next time try a slightly bigger cloud and so on.

Much better than circling up to a big black monster, when you’ve never been to base before!

Photo: Ant Green