Kulula flight MN475 was booked and I was off to Pretoria. Again!
"All my bags are packed and I'm ready to go..."
My ride to Pretoria.
This view is what we live for...
As I arrived at Bosman station I was greeted with a few familiar faces.
Everyone was talking about the Psychomotor testing that we have to do
the following day. I met a few people that I have not seen before. They
were from previous groups that also passed the Psychomotor tests. The
road to Ditholo was MUCH less noisy and organised. Everybody that was
there, now deserved to be there!
The eager ones.
A group photo on our way to Ditholo.
The gate to Ditholo.
Despite the look of it, it was actually VERY tasty!
The start of a VERY long night.
The breakfast was good, and the 3 cups of coffee as well! At MPI we were briefed that we had to have at least, a minimum of 6 hours sleep. If it was less than that they recommend you to come back at a later stage. Great, I only had a quarter of that! But I knew, if I tell them now then I'm going to have to come back for the next intake and just skip the Psychometric. It was a risk worth taking as I wasn't going to wait for that long, again. We sat down in the exam room and they started handing out papers. A quick glance confirmed that they are more questions to answer. "Whaaaat?" I thought to myself, as this is the first thing I ever hear about forms and things we have to fill in before Psychomotor. Luckily these doesn't need a lot of thinking as it is personality tests. You just have to answer by writing down the first thing that comes to your head. Easy. It does get quite long though. Three of those tests and a good 2 and a halve hours later we were off to Psychomotor Testing!
I wasn't as nervous as everyone said you would be. Maybe the lack of sleep was good after all? I am not going to elaborate on the Vienna Testing System for obvious reasons, but lets just say that it would be better to do some research on it before you decide on doing the test.
Everybody was done and now we have to wait for the results at Headquarters. We arrived at about 11:00 and were escorted to a room with a TV and a small kitchen. There the nerves really started to kick in. All the high ranked Officers that walks by just give you a funny look. That is where they have a tea and smoke break, and now we are intruding it!
A sign just outside of SAAG HQ.
The "Waiting Room."
The nerves come in "waves". One moment you feel absolutely fine and the next it feels like you might just bring up your lovely breakfast that you had. You get so nervous that your stomach aches and your heart beats harder and faster. Everybody just sits there, not knowing what to expect. It was the worst wait I ever had to endure. I really would not want that stress and nerves for anyone, it is not nice at all. Two and a halve hours of stressing yourself almost into fainting, they finally brought the results. Now all of a sudden, the stress is halved. You feel a sense of relief even though you don't know what the results are! A few of us are called into Maj. Mokoena's office, she is the one who will be working with us from this point forward. (We walked through the recruitment part as well and saw where all the calls that eager aspiring pilots make, gets answered.) She first pulled off the trick that Col. Lakalakala did. When she said we did not make it I got excited as I knew that donkeys doesn't get fooled twice... We did make it! Our group got halved again but another group joined in who passed their Psychomotor the previous day. On our way back to Ditholo, the first thing I bought at the shop was a... a... Mosquito Repellant plug! Only peacefull nights lay ahead...
Sitting in the back of the Bumpy Bus,
to ride some Bumps on the Ditholo road.
Medicals were only scheduled 2 days later. We stayed over at Ditholo for an entire day, keeping ourselves busy with whatever we could find. We played soccer and table tennis against the Firefighting crew that were doing their training there. We played "Handjie Tennis," ten pin bowling and we were even made a wooden cricket bat to play some cricket! We played our version of dodgeball... We went for a walk around the Ditholo Camp and also stumbled upon the Ditholo Airstrip. We even went looking for a water source to swim in and just cool down... Memories were already made and it was extremely fun! The food that we got was 5 star. Not once could I have complained about the quality of the food.
"Handjie Tennis" - Despite being overcast, it was extremely warm!
Getting drilled.
The Ditholo runway.
Myself challenging some of the firemen in a game of Table Tennis.
Our lunchboxes that we got every day.
Supper, Anyone?
It was the day of the medicals and we suited up in our tekkies and running shorts and headed off to the SAAF Gymnasium to do our Anthropometric Measurements. We then went to the Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM) for our Medical Testing. We started off with filling in forms and rewriting our details numerous times on stickers. The first test was the eye tests, followed by a urine and a hearing test. We then proceeded to the ECG, followed by my nemesis, the Lung Function test. I honestly classed the Lung Function test as the least of my worries. I am fit, I dont smoke and I do a lot of cardio excercises and frequently do a lot of Diving/Spearfishing. My lungs has to be on standard! I tried and tried but was not succesful. It entirely broke me down inside because I know that I gave it my utmost best and that I could not have prepared better for it. Luckily the Medical testing is stretched over two days and I can have another go the following day! I then proceeded to get some blood drawn. Having a O-Negative blood type, I donate blood as often as I can. Drawing blood doesn't scare me. Well, it never did before my blood got drawn at IAM. The pain was excruciating. The blood flowed really slowly and then she started wiggleing the needle around to get it to flow faster. "Sorry sir, you have thick blood," She said... Pffft, more like, "Sorry sir, but I entirely missed your vein and now its in a muscle and thats why its hurting so much and the blood doesn't want to flow." Luckily that was over in a few minutes. Next it was the physical examination. We had to strip down in our underwear to get examined, nice! That was over quickly as well... And so the first day comes to an end. Tomorrow we will come back for the EEG and X-Rays.
That night I tried to simulate the Lung Function test and practiced my breathing techniques. After a prayer I called it a night. I just KNOW that I will pass the test! The following morning we all headed our seperate ways and finished the tests that we still had to do. There were no specific order in which you had to do the tests, you just went and did it in whichever way you wanted. I sat in the queue to do my EEG. The EEG will be done by Cpt. Muller, whom also does the Lung Function test. I was called up and did my EEG. One tip for aspiring candidates - whatever you do, DO NOT SPEAK to him, keep that mouth as tightly shut until he tells you the test is done. Same thing with your eyes, keep them closed. The pins and needles he puts on your scalp actually hurts quite a bit. You get used to it after a while though, just don't fall asleep with it on. After the EEG we went over to the Lung Function test again. I tried it out again. And again. And again... Tears started to form in the corners of my eyes. I prayed. Everyone else in the queue outside prayed as well. One more try. It was better, but Cpt. Muller still was not entirely convinced. He started giving a speech that lasted an hour. About civillian flying. About University and Aeronautical Engineering degrees. About a Military lifestyle. About rather being a Navigator than a Pilot. He put me at ease, but only a little. The tears started to fade away. I can get through this. After all, he doesn't have the final call, SAAF has. And besides, my lungs are above normal but there is just a slight deviation of what it should be. Is this the end? Well, I certainly thought that it was - but only untill the next selections, then I will be there again!
Heading back home. The weather definitely reflects my mood...
That is why I did not update my blog. I did not know how to say it... What to say... Until 2 months later. I made my weekly phone call, still having some hope and knowing that all those prayers can't be for nothing. FINALLY, she receieved a few candidates' Medical results... "Mister Koekemoer, ID number 930813 xxxx xxx, you are medically fit for flying, Congratulations." I MADE IT! I could not believe it! I am going to become a SAAF Pilot! I later found out that due to the pressure differences from Cape Town and Pretoria, my Lung Function test will have that deviation. It is completely normal as I have not yet fully "climatised" to Pretoria. Phew...
And that concludes the story for now. I will soon update my blog with my report on the Anthropometric Measurements, my visit to Nelspruit with another candidate that I met, and the SAAF Interviews, so please check back soon!
Oh yeah, before I forget! My lovely Girlfriend Chloe and I went to the TFDC Bredasdorp / AFB Overberg airshow as well! The rain was a bit of a let down in the morning, stalling the displays a little. The show was really good though, I thoroughly enjoyed it, knowing that one of these days that that is going to be me flying!
Safe flying to all.
Jaco, Over and Out...
