Take-Offs Are Optional

Since the title of this blog is "On A Human Journey" I thought that I would like to use this post for more of the human journey part and share a recent personal experience.

In my last post on Sat. Nov. 13/10 I wrote this: "Tomorrow is iffy for the weather conditions, and so if I was running the universe, I would at least make the airspace in the Lock Haven Pa. area perfect flying conditions, especially for tomorrow!"

Well, little did I realize that in spite of the fact that I do not run the universe, and that there were overcast conditions, the One who does run the universe made sure the weather was flyable, and because of that, after my practicing take off and landings, and a few emergency procedures, I was taken by surprise when my instructor asked me if I wanted to go do that by myself! I was not prepared for him to ask me, and I almost said no!  I asked him if he was serious? And apparently he was, so a feeble "Okay, I think so." is what came out of my mouth.

That is a major milestone in a pilot's training! It is the very first time that you are the only person in the airplane, and every decision is your own to make, and the instructor is not there to keep you from making a mistake! It is something I have been itching to do for a long time, and I was psyched to do it Saturday, but when I could not, I figured it would have to wait a couple weeks, and so I was psyched out, when he asked me on Sunday!

My legs turned to jelly, and my heart was pounding, and adrenaline was pumping! We had to go in the office to be able to take care of some paperwork first. He had to endorse my log book, etc. mean while I paced the floor a bit, and tried to shake off the he-bee-gee-bees! I then decided to go sit in the plane, and get comfortable for a few minutes, before I taxied to the runway for takeoff.

One of the thoughts that crossed my mind was something I have heard often in the last few months. Take offs are optional, but landings are manditory! It is usually related to weather, but it could be for any reason that a pilot does not feel comfortable enough to fly. Too tired, not feeling well, winds are squirrely etc. Every pilot has to have a mental checklist of a go or no go decision point. It is something that will serve me well during my flying career, but this day favored the go decision, and I am glad that it did.

Once I was at the hold short line lined up to pull on to the runway, I then seemed to be able to calm down, and focus on the task at hand. It just meant doing the same things I just did perfectly several times already. But there is something about how sensitive you become to every single little detail of what is happening the first time you apply full power and start down the runway! The plane takes off quicker since there is less weight in the plane! The controls react a little differently, but all of my senses were on high alert!

A solo involves doing three take off and landings. You just climb up to altitude, and fly a rectangular pattern, and then descend, back onto the runway. That's the tricky part! Every landing is just a little bit different than the one before, and it involves a certain finesse to make it smooth and soft. It just so happened that I accomplished that milestone in my training. I won't go into all the details of my solo, it would take too long to describe for the purpose of this blog posting anyway.

Now it is on to the next phase which involves flying to other airports, as well as learning more techniques to flying situations a pilot may encounter. There is still a written test, and a final oral test, and practical flying test with an examiner before I can become certified, but it is that much closer to becoming a reality.

Earlier in my training, with there being so many delays, and causing me a lot of frustrations thinking it was taking so long etc. I wondered if I would give up and quit. I finally came to the conclusion that in 12 months I would be a year older than I am now. The fact is that I could either be a year older with or without a pilot's license! I chose to be a year older with a pilot's license.

As it so happens, the instructor takes a picture of each student and also submits an article that he writes to the local newspaper, and leaves it to them if they want to print it or not. I do not know if they did, but I do have a copy of the article that he wrote, and I will post it next.

I still have many spiritual insights that I am anxious to share, but I do think that the cyber airwaves have enough room left for me to indulge my experience, about the three optional take offs that resulted in the three mandatory but successful landings!