I Got My Wings!

While I usually keep this blog strictly ‘work related’ I am going to get a little personal. Yesterday evening I became an official FAA certified pilot. After a year and a half of training, almost 90 hours of flight time, passing an FAA knowledge test, and three hours with an authorized examiner, I was officially handed my temporary pilot certificate. (The real fancy one comes in the mail in a few weeks!)

I was bitten by the flying bug as a child, like many pilots, and no matter what I did it never seemed to go away. It was a horrible nagging feeling that just wouldn’t subside. Every time I saw a plane I would imagine flying it myself. About two years ago I thought to myself, “why haven’t I done anything about this!?” I went online, did some research, found an instructor, joined the flying club, and started my training. Many hours later (and unfortunately many dollars later) I finally got my pilot certificate.

Honestly, I couldn’t have done it without people like Vance Cochrane, my instructor, the advice of many other great instructors at West Valley Flying Club here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Sherry Diamond, a very professional and fair examiner. I feel lucky to have done many things in my life, but nothing really comes close to the feeling of accomplishment I have right now. While there are many more ratings ahead of me and many more check rides, I am sure nothing will compare to this feeling.

So, my suggestion to you: if you have that same bug, that itching feeling to go flying when you see a plane fly over, do something about it! While it is a lot of work, it is also very rewarding. And quite honestly, would you rather be sitting at home this weekend watching TV, or be thousands of feet up in the air zooming across the country side? I’ve made my choice.