Another Step

It was a warm March day. Sunny skies, calm winds, and great visibility. Translation: a good day to fly. This wasn't another ordinary day of flying for me. It was time to solo again. After being unable to solo the past few weeks due to sickness, weather, and other issues, there was finally a break in the weather. My instructor and I jumped in the plane, ran through our checklists, and to make a long story short, we taxied to the runway. Several planes were out that day, giving air traffic control a run for their money. After concluding our run-up and a few other items, we were ready to for takeoff.

We were cleared for takeoff, but not before ATC snapped at us for asking which traffic pattern to fly. Apparently, asking for traffic pattern before you take off was too early for them. Lining up on the runway, pushing the throttle to the wall, the airplane slowly picks up speed and in a few moments, lifts off the runway. We continued up and climbed to 500 feet above the ground and began making our designated traffic turns. Everything went smoothly as we followed the downwind leg, to base, and then on final. The plane glided onto the runway, the main gear touching first, as the front wheel drifted down slowly as the plane bled off airspeed. One landing down, two more to go. Clearing the runway, we returned to the taxiway and prepared for two more take offs, all which went very well.

After making our other two landings, we returned the plane to the ramp for fuel. We had a lot of flying to do afterwards. As the plane was fueled, the feeling of excitement and anxiety crept its way through my veins. It was time for me to solo once again. Although I had done this before, somehow, this only slightly eased my tensions. With a few last pointers from the instructor, I hopped in the plane, ran through my checklists, and received clearance for taxi to the designated runway.

Approaching the hold short line, I did my run-up, and ran through the final points of my checklist. Now it was time to fly. I radioed the tower, and was cleared for take off. To my relief, all the busyness of the traffic had dissipated, leaving the entire runway and traffic pattern to myself. As I had done many times before, I lined up on the runway, added full power, and began my takeoff. Seconds later, I was airborne. With long range fuel tanks filled to the top, I noted the plane took a little longer to get off the ground, but soon enough was flying. I climbed to 500 feet above the runway, and began making my turn from crosswind to downwind. Announcing my pattern position, I was cleared to land. I continued on my downwind, turned to base, final, and glided to another decent landing.

To make this long story short, I did the same thing two more times, and called it good. I was half tempted to make another takeoff, but decided against it, as I had probably given fate enough opportunities to mess with me while in the plane all by myself. I taxied to the ramp and shut the plane down with complete satisfaction knowing that I had done well.

My day, however, was only half over. I now had to wait until it was dark. As you continually build on your flight training, new challenges come your way, and on this day I was presented with the first opportunity to fly at night. My flight instructor and I went off into the city to run a few errands and to waste some time so that it would be dark enough for us to fly. After tinkering around a bit, we returned to the airport and began making our preparations. With everything taken care of, we again hopped into the plane and received clearance for taxi to the designated runway. By this time, the sun had set, and only a few rays of daylight remained. The only useful light available was the little red cabin light in the cockpit that shined just enough on the instrument panel to barely discern the gauges. I was already nervous. We were cleared for takeoff. Able to use only my landing light to center the plane on the runway, we picked up speed and slowly rotated to lift off to begin our climb.

By the time we cleared the airport, it was completely dark. It was about at this time, as we were making our climb while tracking a VOR, that I noted how differently the airplane was acting. The plane seemed to be flying itself. All I had to do was set the proper trim level, and keep a few fingers on the yoke. The plane practically did the rest. As we continued flying, I was making turns so smoothly, it reminded me of what if felt like to fly on a commercial airliner. Really, I'll give all this credibility up to the weather conditions. Less winds to kick you around, and cooling temperatures with clear skies and a full moon. It was a beautiful night to fly.

As we continued, we transitioned to some aspects of flying that really make me nervous: slow flight and stalls. I generally don't like to fly a plane using these maneuvers, but you have to learn them in order to be safe. Adding the condition of doing this at night contributed more to my anxiety. I did find however, that after utilizing a trick another instructor taught me, slow flight came very easy, and to my benefit, I was considerably less nervous. It did me well to hear my flight instructor giving me positive feedback.

Then came the stalls. First a power off. These aren't so much an issue with me, as they are considerably less "violent" than their counterpart, power-on stalls. Without loosing so much as a hundred feet, I was able to stall the plane, recover, and climb out of the stall. The power on stall was a bit different. After initiating the stall, I had an adequate recovery, but not well enough to meet practical test standards. Perhaps another day. Power on stalls are a little more "violent" because the plane struggles to continually fly with the wings pitched at an angle that prevents airflow over the wings to generate adequate lift . This creates a necessity to utilize more input of the control surfaces at the occurrence of the stall, and if not corrected properly, can result in dangerous situations.

After taking care of the slow flight and stalls, we moved on to some night landings. This was by far my favorite part of the flight. Continuing to track a VOR, we discovered that we had overflown our intended airport. So we turned a 180 to see if we could catch sight of the airport beacon. After a minute of searching, we finally located the beacon, but no runway lights were in sight. This didn't really cause me much concern. Airport lights at uncontrolled fields are usually on a timer, and can be activated by clicking the airport's radio frequency a few times. After getting the weather conditions at the airport, we clicked the airport's frequency. Seconds later, the airport lit up in colors of blue, yellow, and red. It was like a Christmas tree. We entered the pattern and prepared to land.

Landing at night is a little tricky. Visibility is reduced, and you can only rely on your landing light and airport lights to determine where your position is relative to the runway. As we continued on our final approach, I noted that the airport lights drifted closer to the plane than what I was used to. Although it was the same rate at which I make landings during the daylight, I felt as if we were flying faster than what I was used to. However, I was able to make a good landing.

After making our first landing, we practiced a few more take offs and landings, and then decided to head back to our home airport. While en route, I noticed that while I could see the beacon of the home airport, I could not see the runway lights. After a few clicks of the frequency, I again saw the lights magically come up. Nothing is more gratifying than see the airport you're going to land at after a long day of flying. We landed, taxied back to the ramp, and secured the plane for the evening.

Overall, it was a great day to solo, and a great day to discover the wonders of night flight. Slowly but surely, I am drawing to a close of my flight training, but coming up are a few cross country trips that I am looking forward to making. That night, I left the airport wearing a smile on my face, having the satisfaction of a job well done.

Reality Check.

My last post was about owning an airplane. This post is a little more realistic. A few weeks ago, I was obsessed with the pursuit of owning an airplane. I did the research, I looked up prices, and played with finance calculators. No matter from what perspective I tried to look at it, the numbers didn't look favorable. I just couldn't afford to make such a purchase, whether in part, or in whole. A few weeks have passed since the last entry. My head is a little more stable, and my goals, a bit more manageable. While at some point I would hope to own an aircraft, I have come to terms with the fact that ownership is not possible for me right now. Airplanes are expensive. There's the cost of the actual plane, plus maintenance, avionics upgrades, insurance, hangar fees, fluctuating fuel prices, the list goes on and on.

Airplanes are a great way to travel. If you can get with a pilot who is safe and has some experience under their belt, you're in for some great experiences in the air. It's faster, considering there isn't a speed limit, unless you're within specific altitudes and airspace (at which, most airplanes, aside from jets won't normally cruise at 200 knots), and through effective navigation and communication with air traffic control, those long car rides turn into relatively short airplane rides. Plus, when you consider the General Aviation sector, you don't need to worry about baggage fees, lines, the TSA, layovers, and other commercial airport hassles. In general aviation, you can most likely arrive at an airport that is closer to your final destination than most commercial airports. The only drawback to all of these conveniences is...money.

In ground school, you learn about the four forces of flight: lift, weight, thrust, drag. These are, "physically" speaking, what keeps planes maneuverable in the air. This is the proper answer to give when you are asked this question on your knowledge test, or by your FAA examiner.

However, ask any pilot what the four forces of flight are, and they will most likely give this "humorous" answer: dreams, reality, money, FAA. As a favorite comic of mine often says, "It's funny because it's true." Airplanes are money hogs. That's a fact. So if you happen to make enough money where you can continue to keep one of these things in the air, then I would love to be like you one day. Unfortunately, today is not the day, and I do not see that day in sight any time soon.

However, while I have accepted that now is not the right time, I have continually planned on what I would like to accomplish while I continue in my flight training.

1. Finish my private pilots license- This has been a slow process due to being employed full time, and only being able to fly on the weekends. I do not complain about this. I'm thankful to have a job, and one I love at that. I have set a goal completion date, and I am constantly working towards that goal by studying for my knowledge exam, and continually practicing in the air.

2. Take a year off from training- Some may say this is a bad move. I agree. But the sabbatical from training will allow me to replenish funds for my next round of training, and in the time between, I can continue to build flight hours. Remember, flight training is expensive.

3. Add an IFR rating- An IFR rating becomes very beneficial to pilots, because you're no longer restricted to visual flight rules (VFR). This means if you happen to get in some soupy weather, you can be all the more proficient in flying your plane through it. Although IFR rated or not, it's best to avoid bad weather. Sometimes it can be unavoidable. I would much rather have an IFR rating and feel comfortable flying by gages, than being a nervous VFR pilot who has found himself in a tight spot.

4. Add a Commercial rating- This is where it gets fun. At this level, you can start charging your passengers. This doesn't mean that you'll be flying a jet for an airline (but if you've got the money, you can get the training). But if someone asks you to fly them to the beach, it's perfectly legal to charge them for it. This means that if things go wrong in the air, you're paid the big bucks to make sure that people stay safe.

5. Add the CFI- I'm still not sure how I feel about this one yet. Being a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) requires, you guessed it- time and money. Working full time doesn't really allow me to fly often, so this CFI rating would require some patience. However, both the commercial rating, and the CFI rating are a great way to generate some return revenue on your investment in your flight training. More often than not, I would say that you can get more students than you can passengers wanting to take beach trips. Being able to teach on the weekends, I wouldn't be able to have many students, but that's ok with me. I prefer to work closely with a few students, especially in the flight training environment.

So there it is, my expensive and (forgive the pun) lofty goals. Each one will require time and money. I always seem to find myself chomping at the bit in an effort to move forward, and often times I find that I'm not ready to make such an advancement. With these goals, as with all the other aviation goals I've had, I have to keep telling myself one thing. "Small steps."

Chasing the Dream

I'm beginning to feel like a broken record. Once again, my attentions in this post have been directed towards aviation. A lot has happened since I've chosen to embark on this adventure. Since my last post, I've experienced my first solo, and have continually been able to enhance my piloting skills in the left seat. Learning to fly has been interesting. There have been times when I've been ready to walk away from it all, but after some down time, I start clamoring to go back up again. It's an obsession. Maybe an unhealthy one.

My attentions have started to turn to ownership. Aircraft ownership. After doing just a minimal amount of research, I've quickly learned that owning an aircraft is extremely expensive. A simple airplane will cost a little over $100,000. The one I want costs right over $600,000. Or course, these are brand new models. Still, pre-owned airplanes, even ones close to 30 years old can still cost around $30,000 to $80,000. That's still too much to sink a wad of cash on. For me, at this point in my life, anyway.





Yet, there are still a multitude of options. Home built kits are available. I've happened to recently find one that is comparable to the plane I would love to have (which is posted above). All for a considerably lower price- $50,000. Still, that's quite a chunk of change to sit down on an aircraft. Not to mention the amount of hours that you have to put into assembling the aircraft yourself.

This goes without saying that to accomplish such a dream as this, you first need a lot of commitment. In an effort to make such an investment seems intimidating to someone such as myself, having no ability to make such a large investment. What can be even more intimidating is not knowing when, if ever you will be able to make such an investment.

Before I go any further, I want to stop right here and add something. When I look at all things, I'm pretty blessed. I've been able to to go to school and earn a Masters degree. I've been able to land a job right out of grad school. I've been able to move back to my hometown and be with my family. I've had unbelievable support from family and friends that have enabled me to accomplish what I have so far. I've been able to buy a new car, and afford flying lessons. I am blessed to find myself in a position where anyone who is less fortunate than I am, who has a greater amount of responsibility to their family would give anything to be able to spend money the way I do.

I am not using this post as a way to whine that I'll never be able to afford my own airplane. I'm blessed enough to be able to afford to pursue my interests. However, what I am saying is that for anyone who has any desire or goal that seems overwhelmingly huge, it IS intimidating. It is BEYOND intimidating. It seems impossible. If I am to buy my own plane, I don't even know where to begin. The same goes for a lot of other things...buying a house, for instance.

I'm not sure where to go from here. I certainly can't add the "It'll all work out in the end", or the "If it's meant to be, it will happen." Frankly, I can't help but wonder if this entire aviation pursuit has been a horrible waste of money and time. The further I get into it, the more I start to wonder.

It's been fun discovering aviation so far...but the amount of uncertainty for what the future holds still remains intimidating.

Reality

In my office, I have a poster from the "glass-half-full" folks of Despair, Inc that features a beautiful orange sunset sinking into a crystal blue ocean, while a hang glider soars out into the sunset. While it is a pretty picture, the caption reads, "There is no greater joy than soaring high on the winds of your dreams, except maybe the joy of watching a dreamer who has nowhere to land but in the ocean of reality." Better yet, just look at the picture below.



No doubt, it's a pretty funny quote. The Germans actually have a word for this- schadenfreude, which literally means "happiness at the misfortune of others." As long as something bad is not happening to us, things can be as funny as hell. Yet, when something happens to us at our expense, it's us who is doing the suffering, and others who are doing the laughing. That's just the nature of life.

As I put this into perspective, I see countless students come into my office looking to start something new or start over. They will tell me about all the things they would like to do. Some want to make money, some just want to explore a new area of interest. And as I sit there and chat with these students, I find myself telling them to chase that dream. Pursuing your dreams has always been sort of a mantra for myself, and something I tell others. I believe that we cannot find any value or satisfaction in our lives until we are pursuing something that gives us personal satisfaction.

However, as we continue to chase the dream, it seems we drift further and further from reality, and it's not until some mishap, some shaking event that brings us back down, crashing into the ocean of reality. It's a sad fact, and it happens more often than not. Perhaps what hurts more than crash-landing in this ocean of "reality" is the recovery. The feelings of uncertainty and not knowing the answers to the questions of what to do next, how to recover, if the dream can be chased again, or if it should be abandoned all together.

It is unfortunate to fall short of your own expectations when it comes to accomplishing something. It's pretty much devastating. But, there is always a tactic to use to avoid crashing into that ocean of reality- HAVE A PLAN!

As simple as it seems, I've seen countless people go into something without ever fully thinking it through. Sometimes, this blind faith is necessary- to go without knowing where you are going. In fact, this lack of planning can sometimes put you in a place that you didn't expect to find yourself in, and what's more is that you've found that you're in a great place to be in. But more often than not, my life experience have taught me that if you're going to act on something, you'll need to think about the options that lie ahead of you before you proceed.

When it comes to education and training, I think the greatest short sight is the lack of financial planning. People underestimate the cost of the endeavor they pursue and when the money runs out, progress stops. This is a result of improper planning, and failing to budget time and money adequately. Sometimes, we find that we're guilty of not cutting costs- we buy that movie, or indulge ourselves in the $5 lattes from Starbucks without ever thinking how this affects us financially in the long run. But, it all adds up. If you spend $5 on a latte Monday through Friday, you've spend $25 in one week. Over a month you'll have spent $100 on lattes alone. Continue to add it up and that's about $1,200 for the year. Just for a frozen coffee drink.

While lack of financial planning does have the impact on your plans for the future, a lack of planning on the future also has devastating effects. Often times, I have found myself guilty of planning only one goal without considering any other alternatives. When we find that something does not go our way in this plan, we don't have any other alternatives. **CRASH** Hello ocean of reality.

With all that said, here are just three easy steps that I believe will ensure that dreams can continually be pursued:

1. Make a plan- It's better to know what you're going to do, how you're doing, and when you're going to do it.

2. Discipline yourself- Stick to your plan. Don't deviate away from it or distract yourself.

3. Create alternatives- When something doesn't go right, having another option is better than none at all.

On a final note, I think it's great to soar on the wings of your dreams, as long as you also have a parachute packed.

Affirmation

This past weekend, I had an affirmation involving my interest in aviation. It was more like an epiphany that turned into an affirmation, really. Let me explain. It all started with Netflix. Being a rather new subscriber to Netflix, I was browsing through the selection of movies. Nothing being out of the ordinary, aviation happened to be on my mind. I searched for movies or anything that had to do with aviation, with little luck.

A few weeks later, I found myself again on Netflix. This time, aviation was not on my mind. I was looking for some movie, something to add to my queue. After find a satisfactory title, the usual "You might also like" window pops up. There it was. My eye was drawn to it in a split second. One Six Right. One Six Right is not a movie, but exactly what the tag line described it to be- "The Romance of Flying." I instantly added it to my queue, and move it to the front of the line. As I returned my latest rental, I waited in anticipation for my recent find to arrive in my mailbox.

When it finally arrived, I naturally began watching it. At first thinking that I had wasted my time waiting for this documentary to arrive, the first minutes or so was nothing but symphonic music and shots of airports and airplanes. I began to ask my self, "Is that it? Just planes flying around to pretty music?" I'm glad I was wrong. After what was a slightly long and boring intro, the film began to cut to the chase.

These pilots, these storytellers began talking about their discovery of aviation- whether they seemed to trip into it, or if they had an innate interest in it from the beginning. Somehow, either they found it, or it found them. That's when it hit me. Hard. While I sat back watching this film, I heard pilots talking about experiences. Some would go to airports and watch the planes take off. Others would get a hand radio and listen in on the communication between pilots and air traffic control. At this point, I distinctly remember looking at myself in the mirror with a huge sense of irony. Indeed, I have done those very things, except in a different fashion.

When I was in grad school, and on occasions where I did not have anything to do, or if I happened to be stressed out, I would find myself driving to the airport. Just the glimpse of an airplane took my mind off of whatever I was worried about. I loved to go to the observation area and simply sit back in my car and watch the planes come in and out. There was something unexplainable about it. The sound of a jet engine, the marriage of man and machine and the ability to conquer gravity. The sleek prowess of the aircraft. Perhaps a combination of everything. Watching planes somehow put my mind at ease. I can still find myself feeling like a kid in a toy store whenever I am near an airport. Looking around, trying to spot planes- watching them take off and land, listening for the roar.

Even now as I have begun my flight training, my appreciation and and perspective has shifted. It is one thing to watch planes, it's another thing to fly them. Much like any skill, it takes practice. The more you practice, the more proficient you are. However, that being said, I have a HUGE appreciation for the feeling of flight. And once again, I find it is indescribable.

Shortly before takeoff, you perform a final check of your gages. Throttle the plane up, checking gages and making sure that your controls are free and correct. The plane aches to inch forward with urgency under the strain of the brakes. After everything checks out, throttle down, and taxi onto the runway. Line up on the center line, making sure you're front wheel is straight. Then, full throttle. The engine speed increases, and you gradually pick up speed. Your gages come alive, and as you continue rolling down the runway you gently pull back on the yoke and continually pull back until the nose of the aircraft rotates up. At this point the airplane almost freezes in position for what feels like minutes. Then suddenly, you've separated from land and are now airborne. You continually gain altitude as you leave the runway. As you trim the plane up to continually climb, the horizion increases. Objects on the ground get smaller and smaller. Feel the plane. Where does it want to go? What does it want to do? Adjust the controls, trim. Repeat. Adjust. After reaching your desired altitude, you pull some throttle off, and re-trim. Now you're cruising. Despite the noise in the cockpit, it's serene. Nothing around you but sky. Breathtaking. It is those moments that stress leaves my body. It's just me, and the plane (and the flight instructor, for now).

One Six Right affirmed in me that this idea of me in aviation is not hair-brained, or half hearted. Since the beginning of my interest in aviation, One Six Right has shown me that with a little bit of effort, and some commitment, you can accomplish what you are pursuing, even if it starts with a simple dream. I have learned not to doubt myself, but to take small steps. Sure, it's going to take a while. But after I get to where I'm going, I'll have the view to enjoy.

Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Life I Learned in Acting Class

Everything I ever needed to know about life I learned in acting class. I have been thinking about this statement for some short time, and the more and more that I think about it, the more evident it becomes to me that it’s true. In my career as an undergraduate student, I was a Drama major. One of the lessons I learned about theatre is that drama imitates life. And sometimes, life imitates drama. Here are a few lessons on life that I learned in acting class.

Lesson One: We all have something to accomplish.
In acting, we call this the “objective.” It’s what a character wants out of the scene. Moreover, there is the super objective, what the character wants in its existence. Sometimes, characters could achieve their objective and other times they weren’t so lucky. Nonetheless, the characters strive for their objective, regardless of the end result. An objective is a foundational piece of what motivates acting. That core desire to gain something. To accomplish something. To earn something. Objectives are usually derived from the phrase “I want to…” Once that objective was achieved, they move on to their next objective.

Lesson Two: There will always be adversity.
These are called obstacles. Obstacles can come in all forms from physical limitations, to specific circumstances of a time period, even to other characters in the story. Some people choose to associate individuals as antagonists. However, I prefer the term "opposing force." Not every story has an antagonist, but every story has an opposing force. There can be no good story line, or plot, without some form of obstacle(s). It is the challenge of overcoming the obstacle that makes acting; it makes the story interesting. Every obstacle encountered is unique to the character. They are forced to finding some way to overcome, circumvent, or avoid such obstacles. Acting calls these tactics, and it’s what actors use to overcome, circumvent, or avoid those obstacles we face. Sometimes these tactics work, and other times they don’t.

Lesson Three: We all walk the hero’s journey.
The hero's journey is the same in theatre as it is in any literary work. Joseph Campbell coined the actually terminology for this model, but since the beginning of literary history, the same formula has been used. To make the long story short, the hero undergoes challenges, opposition, rejection, and through these experiences is transformed, where they are then accepted which ultimately leads to a personal victory and wide popularity.

Obviously, this is a bit different in real life, but some elements of the hero's journey are still true. Not knowing what we face each day, we take it one at a time. Although we we do not face challenges to the point of what we find in classic pieces of literature, they are in a way transforming to us. Specific life events in our experiences change us- graduating from college, getting married, having a child, etc. All of these have some effect on us.

Lesson Four: Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
You will always need to set some time aside where you can examine or work something till you have it perfected. I was always taught that you have to "hearse" before you rehearse. This lesson has been proved to me many times, and the most recently in the new role that I am in with a current production. I have had to sit myself down and run my lines. I've had to repeat these lines many times, not because I was trying to memorize them, but because I was trying to put the right "color" in them. Repetition also helps in memorizing something.
In acting, there is something known as the "Illusion of the first time." This basically means that when you are performing, you have to make your acting look like you are doing this the first time ever. Oddly enough, the only thing that can make you accomplish this, is doing the action over and over and over. Actor don't get good doing things once. They get good because they've done it time and time again.

Lesson Five: Find your beat(s).
Beats are subtle changes in a scene. They can be something small as a change of thought by a character in a monologue, or the change in direction or shift in "power" in a scene. These beats help actors to further find their objective, and also assist in the overall direction of the entire play. Every single scene is littered with beats, and they can be found grouped together, or scarcely found throughout any scene. Chances are though, if you're not finding a beat, you're not looking hard enough.

Lesson Six: React.
Acting is as much of reacting as it is interpretation. It was Sanford Meisner who really brought this idea to fruition in realistic acting. In every scene where there is more than one person (and often one person) you can only do so much with what you are given. You have to pay attention to the subtle actions and words- where the emphases is placed. It is this reaction that makes the scene engaging and draws the audience in closer to what is happening in the scene.

Lesson Seven: It takes a team.
The art of theatre is very much a well oiled machine. While actors are on the stage performing, the audience is (or should be) unaware of the controlled chaos that is happening around the theatre. Stage hands are running around making sure set pieces are in their proper place, helping actors get in and out of costumes. The stage manager is maintaining every detail of the show, calling light, sound and set cues. Actors are running about preparing for their next scene, and the orchestra, if you're watching musical is blowing through a barrage of notes.
Each and every single member of this production team holds an important role. While the actors are very much the ones who are seen the most, if one person backstage fails to do their task, the entire production suffers. Often times, during a production things can go wrong. Again, an entire company must rely on each other to ensure things are safely and effectively taken care of. That's why at the end of every curtain call, before the actors go off stage, they always point to the booth, the orchestra and acknowledge all those who are not even heard or seen. It's because of them, the production runs smoothly.

Putting it all together.
To sum it all up, acting imitates life. I'm pretty sure we are all walking our own journey. The story of our lives are about us, we're the heroes. As we walk the course of our lives, we are destined to face struggles- obstacles. As we overcome these challenges, we can see ourselves transform through the power of learning from our previous experiences. And as we move on from these struggles we begin to develop new goals (objectives) and set a course for accomplishing that goal. Sometimes, there may be a slight diversion, or even a complete change in what you are after (beat) where we have to abandon what we were after and completely change our ideas or goals about something (reacting). As we set this new course, or even change our goal, we find that there are people who surround us to help us on our way. Life is a journey that is not meant to be traveled alone. I firmly believe that we find people who are close to us to help us as we go on our way. They're friends, family, even complete strangers. Don't forget that you're never going through something where you can't get help.

So there it all is. Acting in a nutshell. Life in a nutshell.

Act well your part, for therein all the honor lies.

The Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

"Ground, Cessna One Two Papa."

"Cessna One Two Papa, go ahead."

"Cessna One Two Papa, we're here on the ramp requesting taxi via Bravo to runway one nine for a VFR departure to the Northwest"

"Cessna One Two Papa, you are cleared to taxi via Bravo, runway one nine."

"Cleared to taxi via Bravo, runway one nine, Cessna One Two Papa"

*A Few moments later*

"Tower, Cessna One Two Papa."

"Cessna One Two Papa, go ahead."

"Cessna One Two Papa, on the ramp at runway one nine, ready for a VFR departure to the north west."

"Cessna One Two Papa, cleared for take off. Winds at..."

"Cleared for take off. Thank you, Cessna One Two Papa."

That was the beginning conversation between myself, ground control, and air control before I took off on my last lesson. A typical routine conversation between many pilots and air traffic controllers, but this conversation happened to be my second. Ever. My novice to the field of aviation is still apparent, and will be for quite sometime. But I have found that the more you immerse yourself into its realm, the more you will be able to find yourself speaking the language. This past week, I even compelled myself to memorizing the entire phonetic alphabet:

Alpha
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
Golf
Hotel
India
Juliette
Kilo
Lima
Mike
November
Oscar
Papa
Quebec
Romeo
Sierra
Tango
Uniform
Victor
Whiskey
X-Ray
Zulu

It was easier than I thought. I just had to give my mind a task to do involving these letters, rather than sitting in a chair staring at the same words over and over again. So I found that task- license plates. Driving around, or walking through a parking lot, You can see all kinds of license plates, each one with their own individual sequence of letters and numbers. I would look at each plate and from memory, attempt to recall each phonetic letter and use it as a call sign instead of a plate number. Stupid? Yes. Did it work? You bet.

Before I continue, I need to put it out there that I'm not devoting my entire blog to discovering flight, but as it so happens, that's what I'm focusing on as a life long learner at this point. I have a few other posts coming on different ideas, but they will happen in good time.

Now, back to flying. I now have four and a half hours logged of flight time, and things are starting to get interesting. For the first time ever, or at least it felt like it to me, I had complete control of the airplane during my last take off. Once you get into your groove, you'll find that the process is pretty easy to follow:

Line up on center line. Make sure your front wheel is straight. Full power. Use rudder to keep aircraft going down center line. Airspeed at 50 kts, pull back on the yoke to rotate the plane up. Keep pulling back slightly. Plane lifts into air. Continue climb. Maintain an airspeed of 70 kts. Level. Trim.

It's that easy. I may have left a few things our for redundancy, but having that experience of being able to have the controls to yourself without corrective input from the instructor is a bit intimidating and liberating at the same time.

The plane is getting easier to fly, and all the time we're learning new things: Stalls, slow flight, steep turns, more stalls, using the instrument panel, the list goes on and on. The more time you spend in the plane, the more you learn.

But it hasn't been friendly skies the entire time. I have subjected myself to my own personal scrutiny of wondering why I am doing what I am. Why am I spending copious amounts of money for something I have no idea which direction I am going to take after I have earned the credential? Why can this plane be so hard to fly sometimes? Why is some of this stuff going over my head? Am I wasting my time and money? Personal evaluation is important in everything. I have always known myself to be overly critical of myself.

Regardless of what I put myself through, I also need to step back and ask myself these questions: Am I enjoying what I do? Yes. Is what I am doing fun? Yes. Am I accomplishing a goal that I have set for myself: Yes?

Three yeses. That seems worth it to me. Although at this point, Im not sure where or what direction this is going to take me, but as I written before, we don't know where life is going to take us. We don't even know what is going to happen tomorrow. The best we can do is enjoy the ride.