The Flying Leap
Posted by Dave Minor Sun, 22 Jan 2006 03:05:57 GMT
Today marks the completion of a dream that I’ve had since childhood. One in which I know I share with a lot of people. I feel very honored to be able to say that, as of today, I am a private pilot.
It may have taken 8 scheduled days to get the winds to cooperate, but today was a beautiful day finally!
I spent the morning taking the practical test and hanging around the airport hoping to find an instructor on the field who had time to check me out in a larger plane then the Cessna 152 I’ve been training in. My hopes were to take my boys up this afternoon in a Piper Cherokee 140, but the schedules didn’t work out today. Probably for the better.
After lunch, I gave short rides to very special people in my life. First, I got to take my dad flying. He is the man who I got the flying bug from when he went through this process years ago. He hasn’t flown in about 15 years, and I was almost as nervous with him flying with me as I was with the examiner!
Next, I took each of my older boys, one at a time for a short ride over our neighborhood and through a couple of landings. They all had a good time. Sarah was taking care of the Kyle, so I’ll have to steal her away soon to go with me on a special day trip.
I noticed that Weston immediately figured out what the yoke controlled and how that would affect the direction of the plane in the air—even while we were on the ground. He’s definitely got some engineering blood in him!
Hopefully one day soon, I’ll have the opportunity to take you on a ride in the sky!
Congratulations! I know you've been working hard on this. I'll look forward to trips from AR to OH. See you soon!
Congratulations David!! I was hoping to see that you were 'official' when I went to your blog today & WAALAA! We're excited to come for a visit sometime this spring & go for a ride in the sky w/ you.