A true Gem of game has risen from the minds of 254, the aptly named lounge Pong!!!The recent lull in flying over the past few days has created new and ingenious ways to keep the team morale riding high, a true Gem of game has risen from the minds of 254 aptly named lounge Pong!!!

The game is simple, bounce a ping pong ball over as many objects within the lounge into a cup placed within the arena.... Although the game sounds relatively simple it was deemed necessary to raise the bar for a 254 battle of wit and skill...

The video doesn't show the lounge conditions including winds aloft (constantly updated from Prescott flight service) human inteference from the hundreds of spectators present to watch the events unfold in a unprecedented battle of minds vs the pong!!!! The Better must take into account the huge pressure owing to the fact the video camera was running low on battery, and the extreme pressure exerted by the hundreds of spectators watching for well over 90 mins poised for a victory!!!!

Let battle commence and place your bets with Slippery Ladbrookes Simon Weedon!!! The challengers include Bend it like Boris Carter, Flick it Freddie Flintoff Graham, Stick it in Savell and Catch it like Cash. The short video clips will show the contenders at work, all you need do is judge the skills and place your virtual bets with Si and decide on a winner!! Gentlemen place your bets.

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Lounge Pong

All bets will be placed with slippery Si through the amazing power of the comments form below, then all you have to do is contain your excitement for the unveiling of the Champ pong player in the next few days......

Disclaimer: Virtual bets equals virtual winnings.

Scenes of near riot were witnessed tonight at Oxford Aviation Training's fair weather base as 256 arrived. A lynch mob of a least 700 (it might have been fewer but they kept running around so it was hard for me to count them) formed outside building 54 in anticipation of the hapless course's arrival.

Although the gathering was spontaneous, the reason was understood to be the general feeling that 256 were somehow responsible for the poor weather currently being experienced at Goodyear.

Leading weather forecaster John Kettley didn't say 'It is normal at this time of year to experience change of climate in Arizona as the monsoon season starts, however this year it has arrived early and is obviously caused by the arrival of the new APP course'.

A unnamed spokesman for the mob demanded the following from OATC before they would disperse; AP256 being sent away to appease the weather, showers that didn't flood and towel rails in every bedroom.

OATC supremo Anthony Petteford didn't say 'These developments are quite serious and I have asked both John Standen OBE and Trevor Trivett to contact the US Weather Center immediately to book some better weather. Whilst we can of course send 256 back home it is impossible to meet the crowds other demands which are totally unreasonable'.

In a separate development, both Chief and Martyn have been panic calling all the Solarium's in the Phoenix metropolitan area in order to keep their tans up to scratch.

AP254.com will of course keep you up to date with all the facts as the story unfolds. Alternatively call 1-800-254-FACT for up to the minute information. But wait call now and receive a 254 commenorative freedom pencil sharper. (Ed: I think you may have spent a little too much time in the US. Have you considered taking a break?)

254 Begin glass cockpit training with Flight Safety Academy
A welcome added feature of AP254’s training is 3 hours flying a Cirrus SR20 from Air Safety flight academy based at 5 miles away at Glendale airport. Now this is one Gucci piece of kit! Basically the Cirrus has two large displays, an airbus style side stick, TCAS, a combined throttle/propeller pitch lever, even Satellite Radio so that you can listen to tunes on the go! This is all in place of the standard analogue instruments and controls, as you can see above.

The purpose of this extra course offered by OAT is to help us to understand what is like to fly an EFIS type aircraft, the type of aircraft that we can expect to fly one day (hopefully). If anyone gets the chance to fly a Cirrus it is really recommended, it’s a great weekend of flying for pleasure but you learn a great deal. There are pictures in the gallery and we have also made a video of Kev and Panda’s glass cockpit weekend, which you can view, or download, below:

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You can download this video, courtesy of pilotmonkey productions (available for Birthdays, Weddings and Bar Mitzvahs), here (50mb)

The Saturday of the course is taken up with 1.5 hour classroom session where the systems of the aircraft are explained so that the jump from Warriors to the 21st century is lessened. Then you and your flying partner go out with your Flight Safety flying instructor for a 1.5 hour flight each, where one does general handling to get the feel of the aircraft and start to play with the very capable autopilot. The autopilot is great to use, you can climb and descend at various rates, manually input headings, fly flight plans, instrument approaches and it makes you feel as though you are flying a mini airliner.

The Sunday is taken up by a great cross country flight to Lake Havasu City about 150 miles away to the West and that is the best part. The autopilot really comes into its own, one can plug in a flight plan into the GPS and then one has to engage the autopilot and off you go! About the only thing that you have to do is monitor the route and adjust the throttle, the engine performance page on the aircraft even allows you to adjust the mixture from best power to best fuel economy electronically!

Many thanks must go to all at Flight Safety Academy and especially Justin Gossard for their great instruction and making it a hugely enjoyable weekend!

Finally the answer to the burning question is revealed! We here at ap254.com would like to apologise for the delay in the final answer of 'What Happens Next?' The reason for this delay will become clear once you have viewed the video that I am sure you are desperate to see. So without further ado:

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What Happens Next

As you can see, Boris decided that he would join our hero Dave in the pool before promptly changing his mind when he realised that his mobile phone might not be so keen on the idea.

The Saturday Afternoon Drinking Clu...erm Judging Committee became rather suspicious though that the closest 'guess' to the actual answer came from none other than Boris's Dad. After much drinking deliberation and a lack of solid evidence against this apparent cartel, the decision was made to hold another contest in the near future and double the prize to two packs of soggy polo mints! (The other pack was found floating in the pool in a completely unrelated incident, but we are 40% sure that they are safe to eat...and Denise, we are keeping an eye out for soggy fruit polos, but thus far we have been unable to find any)

So stay tuned as always to ap254.com for all your soggy polo competition needs!
On another note, watch the end of the video again to see George performing a perfect barrel roll, yet again proving that we are actually training out here...

A spokesperson for the US FDA today confirmed that a restricted zone has now been placed around the Goodyear FWB in Phoenix Az after several students contracted a rare virus. In an exclusive interview with ap254.com, FDA representative Ivor Kaufallot said 'There have been several confirmed cases of a seriously infectious disease currently known by the scientific classification 03F. Anyone who comes into contact with 03F could have a near derth experience. As a precaution we have placed an exclusion zone around OATC facilities at Goodyear Airport until further notice'.

This shocking development has a number of serious implications which limit both 254 and 253 freedom of movement until the restriction is lifted however they are allowed out to Scottsdale on Saturday nights as usual.

More importantly this will impact future courses such as 255 from joining their fellow students at the FWB. OATC are currently arranging to send all of 255 to summer camp whilst the restriction is in place.

A joint spokesman for 254/253 said 'We dreamed up this scheme so that we can keep all the aeroplanes, pool, sports facilities to ourselves and don't have to share them with the new course - ha ha! We tricked the FDA by painting red spots on our faces although I believe 03F is actually a serious condition. Is that a tape recorder in your flight case? Damn you pesky kids!'.