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So when most people think about how they are going to spend a birthday they probably think about cake, cocktails, dinner, maybe presents. I thought a reasonable way to celebrate another year in the books was to complete a pretty major milestone in my flying career.
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It is hard to describe the experience of learning to fly to people who have not done it. It is equal parts elation and frustration as you try to assimilate all the procedures, regulations, and knowledge required to become a pilot. Instead of a ``learning curve'' it is periods of frustration followed by discovery and joy. It is an investment in brain real-estate and muscle memory as well as the more obvious time and money.
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Nothing major to report, went down to the Rochester Air Center last Thursday and after buying a new plotter (I seem to have lost mine between taking the practice test to get the sign-off on Monday evening and Thursday afternoon...) took and passed the written exam. I scored a 92% (missing 5 questions).
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Last night was a perfect night to fly. No clouds, clear, nice strong wind from the south to help us scoot home.
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In typical Rochester weather news, this week was forecast to be crap but all of a sudden it ended up being quite nice. In fact it was nice enough that I was able to get my night orientation flight in the book.
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Last weekend I finally had the opportunity to get out and fly my first dual cross country. For those who aren't versed in the bowels of the FAA's flight training requirements a 'cross country' is a flight in excess of 50 Nautical Miles from your 'home' airport. The dual means I had my instructor along as opposed to the 'solo' variety which is still coming up. We planed to fly KSDC SYR KRME then KRME GGT KSDC.
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Thinking back at the first 12 or 13 hours of my flight training I have to say it was mostly an experience of pretty constant enjoyment. My instructor has a mission based syllabus so all the lessons up until now have been go somewhere do something missions which I really enjoied. It means I got to go through the process of a typical flight: plan, brief, pre-flight, and execute the mission. Going somewhere (usually a nearby airport or landmark) means I got to go through the phases of a typical flight (departure, enroute/cruise, arrival) and the differing work loads associated with them. I'd exersize my skills (such as they are at this point) in various tasks such as pilotage (navigating by looking at a map and out the window), radio communication (not with ATC yet, but CTAF certainly), straight and level flight, airport operations, etc...
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The hardest thing about vacations is coming back home and getting used to returning to the daily routines. I had a fantastic time in California as has come to be expected by now. There are a few new pictures over in the gallery. The highlights were the AOPA Summit in Long Beach and the spirit tasting and pairing at the St George Spirits distillery in Alameda. I had a fantastic two weeks visiting with wonderful friends, eating more than my share of awesome food (Izzy's steakhouse has my vote for best steak ever and Gather in Berkley for best healthy meal ever) drinking my share of delicious wine, beer and spirits and got to take in more of California, which is never a bad thing.
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Statistically speaking flying (even General Aviation) is pretty darn safe to life, limb, and property (AOPA has some nice statistics here) however it does pose a significant risk to your wallet. Flying is of course not a cheap hobby to have in the first place but it is all the ancillary costs that you don't factor in. Yes, you DO need that $1100 headset, yes you DO need that 'I fly' doormat you saw in the latest catalog that randomly showed up at your house because the FAA publishes certificate holder information publicly, and YES, you do need to get in the big sky buses to go to various aviation related events in all parts of the globe. Flying isn't a drug or an addiction, flying is something that was always there in your blood that you woke up and now that it is awake it is no longer something you can ignore.
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Today marks ten hours in the log book and a little over a month of flying lessons. I have been to (and landed at) two airports other than my home base and am starting to get comfortable with the multitude of tasks that you have to complete while operating an aircraft. The ground operations are pretty solid (preflight, planning, taxi, run-up, getting around the airport) and on smooth days I'm pretty confident during climb, cruise and descent.
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I had my first honest-to-goodness-fly-the-plane flight lesson last week and I swear I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. I have no trouble understanding the science of flying, it all makes perfect sense to me. The best part of science though is always practical application. Sure, theorizing about the Higgs Boson is fun but when you get down to the part where you are slamming subatomic particles together at nearly the speed of light something totally different happens. Similarly when you are going down the runway at full throttle and the plane gets light and you get the nose up above the horizon it is just something you can't quite get out of your skull.
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Earlier this year I had the good fortune to visit some friends in California and take my first ride in a light airplane. In spite of the 29,000+ miles I have flown this year the smallest plane I had been on prior was a twin-turboprop Delta Connection flight out of IAD to ROC so this was a really unique experience for me.