Back in the air!
It has been over a year since I went on my first discovery flight and flew my first single engine airplane. Any idea of getting my pilot license in 2020 was quickly put on the back burner due to covid and expanding my real estate business.
I had been studying the ground school portion of flight school but was intimidated by the idea of finding an instructor that I got along with and trusted
Then things suddenly starting my pilots license fell into place.
A few weeks ago I went to the Wings over Houston Air Show and took my zoom lens with me. I had never tried shooting aviation photography before and thought it would be a fun challenge. It ended up paying off big time!
Not only did I get some pretty cool photos but within a day of posting them online a pilot who flew in the show reached out asking if I could send over some photos for him to share. I gladly did and also mentioned that I’ve been working on my pilots license and was looking for an instructor.
Soon after the phone rang…
It was an instructor who also flew in the airshow. I didn’t hesitate to book a lesson the following Monday.
Within 5 minutes of meeting Rick I knew I had made the right decision. His flying days started when he was 15 years only, since then he had accumulated over 3000 in fighter jets and over 6000 hours commercially. Now he flew and instructed out of passion not for monetary reasons, the absolute perfect qualities for a CFI.
Lets Fly!
After a brief chat, we made out way to the tarmac to do our pre-flight check, soon after we were airborne. We headed south, flying over my home town, one of my properties and finishing up by flying over my office. I was pleased to learn this quadrant of airspace is where I would log most of my student hours, being familiar with ground references will come in handy on a lot of flight maneuvers in the beginning.
We ended up doing a few quick exercises to properly trim the plane, essentially the poor man’s auto pilot. When I was able to balance the Cessna 172 it would fly straight and level without much effort, for the most part.
Since we had a little time to burn we finished with a touch and go. Followed by a rough final landing, there was some confusion for me between adjusting the power and pulling back on the elevator. I tried not too get overly discouraged by the landing and ended up going back and studying afterwards to see where the confusion came from.
Overall, it was am extremely rewarding experience and I cannot wait to get back in the air and share the lessons learned.
There’s no doubt I was overly anxious the days leading up to the lesson. Flying is undeniably a dangerous hobby, but it doesn’t have to be as long as you have the proper training. The whole process of events from the Airshow to meeting a flight instructor with combat experience in fighter jets has reconfirmed my belief that anything you have ever dreamed of is out there ready for you to achieve! Stick with it and stay self motivated!
