So when I turned that magic age of seventeen I knew where my hard earned cash was going…flying lessons. Hours of vacuuming and cash register work had earned me the privilege of sitting in the left seat of a Cessna 150. Like many new pilots I was awed by how much there was to learn about how to get the seemingly simple machine up in the air, around the pattern, and back on the runway safely. I remember countless takeoffs and landings over the Holstein cows that peppered Vermont fields around the north-south runway. “Don’t scare the girls”, I used to say to myself as I’d hold off adding all the flaps until assured of the runway. And then one summer day my instructor said those words, “You’re ready.” He got out and I alone got that little Cessna off the ground and back safely. What a moment!
Now fast forward twenty years, where instead of the left seat, I sometimes sit in the right, and have had the opportunity to say those words, “You’re ready”, to the student who has entrusted me with their teaching. Watching the now solo pilot safely takeoff and land the Cessna, I think of all the hours of flying and learning that have occurred over the past twenty years. An instrument and seaplane rating, a Commercial and Instructor license, countless aviation articles and books all have kept that yearning for more knowledge fulfilled. As a known life-long learner, I admitted to myself long ago that I would always want to learn more, and given that there’s always more to learn in aviation, I need not worry about that day when I say “Ahh, I learned it all.”
What I’m struck with recently however, is how much I’ve learned about myself through learning how to fly. Have any of you ever asked yourself the “why” questions related to flying? For example, “Why do I enjoy flying so much?” I usually, ask this at least once or twice a week. I’m sure there are as many answers as there are pilots…”the view”, “the challenge”, “quick transportation”, “it’s cool”. All of these answers have probably crossed your own minds, and rationalized too many dollars and numerous cold starts as well.
And what about aviation teaching us the “how”? Consider, how we make decision to go or not. Do we gather data, or go on our “gut”? Do we try to please others or do we make backup plans? The way we answer these questions can decide a pilot’s and person’s fate. Do not make them rashly.
Have you considered the “who” question? Who goes into aviation? Who are those friends who like to “slip the surly bonds” too? Do we call them for that weekend getaway to the coast in our trusted bird? This one ties in nicely with the question “where”? Do we simply go around the pattern perfecting our shortfield technique, or do we sit down for days and plan that cross country we’ve been meaning to do for years? How about a nice half hour flight off the river to our favorite fishing hole where only float planes can reach? And the “where” questions always seem to keep me glued to the side windows when I have a free moment between scans and checklists, as I ask “where will I be in 20 years, and will all this beautiful landscape be here in another thousand?”
The parallels between flying and our own life’s decisions are vast. Are there crosswinds that are just too strong, where we need to go to another destination for a runway that aligns us better? I suspect many of you have chosen other activities that you use as metaphors to your own lives. I am glad that mine is aviation. I will continue to learn and draw parallels and I hope as I do to become a better pilot and student of life.
