Flying Post 9/11
It was 18 years between PIC flights for me. I learned to love flying very early on. Perhaps even from the time I began taking lessons in December of 1980. From the time my training began, I considered how to fly for a living. In short, the circumstances, requirements, and finances wouldn't allow for it. Young flyers today should consider themselves lucky for all the opportunities that are available to train for commercial pilot careers.In the early '90s, I found an aviation club in Connecticut that met and conducted events around flying. Although not a flying club, some members had their own aircraft and some rented. Meetings always had interesting aviation topics and speakers. On occasion I joined a PIC for a flight. Finances still precluded getting my currency and flight time. It was enjoyable, though, to join the other pilots and participate in the aviation events. There would be more pressing life obligations for about another ten years.
By Y2K I had found my way back to another passion from my college days. My first motorcycle since 1983, I bought a friend's BMW K75s. It was my first BMW and first bike in a very long time. By the end of the next year I had sold the K75 and had two more BMWs in the stable. I was daring to pursue those old passions again.
Throughout this time, I had been traveling regularly on the airlines. On 9/11 a group of us were at a southwestern airport when the towers were struck. We were lucky enough to acquire rental cars and the eastern group drove 42 hours, nonstop, home. As everyone knows, the experience of flying the airlines has never been the same. I avoided it for a few months before I was back on regular flights. Let's just say I didn't enjoy the new experience and being a regular "random" inspection subject. This, led to an "enough!" and the determination to get current and buy my own aircraft...
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Do you have a story about your first lesson or aircraft? Feel free to leave a comment and share your aviation experience.
Labels: aircraft, flying, Pilot Certificate
posted by Shawn @ 11:05 PM
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