Sunday Morning
This morning I flew solo again. I took the same route to the north over Lake Lanier that I flew yesterday. However today was different: at no time did I feel nervous or afraid. My goal was to fly out over the lake and have a good time and that is exactly what happened. I knew my buddy Lorin was at one of the marinas watching for me. Later, I learned he saw me plain as day circling the Lanier shores. It was a lot of fun and extremely satisfying.Radio
On my way home, when I called the tower at 10 miles out I learned that their radar was down. Fortunately, it was not a busy afternoon. They did ask me several times for my position and I had some dialog back and forth with them. Radio communication is no longer an obstacle for me. The chatter that used to be totally incomprehensible is now second nature. I landed and taxied back to Advanced Aviation.
Evolution
Yesterday I was consumed with trying not to mess up, make a mistake, or get killed. Fear and isolation dominated my senses and it took all the will power I could muster to manage that fear. As terrified as I was, the experience was necessary for me to evolve. Demons are never really defeated in the safe light of day. You have to climb down into hell and face them alone in the dark. I am truly grateful to my instructor, Chris, for training me to win that battle.
Today, I relaxed and enjoyed a Sunday morning flight over the lake. Fear was replaced with confident situational awareness. Instead of isolation, I experienced a deep sense of respect to be exercising a privilege that I've worked hard to earn.
2 comments:
Doug - I follow your blogs religiously. Have you done any night flying? How much have you spent so far? I started flying and gave up after third session due to high cost. It was two years ago and cost was around $120 per hour. I heard nowadays it is close to $160. I dream about flying everyday and the only thing in my reach is X-Plane on my iMac. I have to mention that I was also kind of scared when I first experienced "thermal pockets". I read FAA books whenever I get time hoping that someday I will also fly like you. You are doing a great job sharing your flying experience. It helps people like me to rethink about aviation.
- Jigar
Hiya Jigar - Glad you're enjoying the blog. The DA-20 I fly is $110 per hour. The much fancier DA-40 I flew with my sister at Thanksgiving was $164 an hour. Most schools, including mine, don't let folks train on the fancy stuff initially. So $110 to $120 is still a typical rate for a trainer aircraft. Since September 2008, I've spent around $6,000. Good luck and I hope you can make it work!
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