My initial reaction to this quote was to giggle, but after some thought I realized how wise Mr. Livingston was. I have been around aviation for over eleven years, gasp! No matter how hard you dig your feet in the ground you still end up getting pulled in. At first I was impressed with my pilot boyfriend, and then I was disgusted because the planes always took him away from me, and then I realized he was doing what he loved. Most of the time I just kept my mouth shut and let him move forward. I'd just ignore it as much as I could. After a couple years of ignoring it, I realized if I ever wanted to see my husband I'd just have to embrace it. I embraced it by bringing him lunch, helping with events, and making coffee time for the guys when I was off in the summer. After awhile my desire to be more involved grew and so did the business's need for someone who knew how to use a camera. It was a match made in heaven!
My involvement with my camera paid off. I was able to bring some publicity to Classic, use my creativity, and make my husband proud. Actually, one of the pictures from my first air to air photo shoot ended up as the cover of the 2009/10 Iowa airport guide and Iowa sectional. I've since had winning photo entries in the Iowa Office of Aviation's annual photo contest, and even had some of my photos published in aviation magazines. How do this relate to learning to fly? I'm getting there. Embracing and being immersed in aviation has given me a lot more knowledge than the average private pilot student. I dare say enough knowledge to make me a bit dangerous. The combination of my will, knowledge about aviation, and my teaching background have made me a difficult student at times. I guess I didn't realize how difficult until recently when Shane enlightened me. Shane and I had a fairly long conversation about this on our way to Oshkosh (Oshkosh happens to be the yearly mecca for pilots). I realized after some reflection that Shane was right, and I haven't always been an easy pilot student. It kills me to admit when Shane is right! I'm making an effort to be a better student, and I figured the above quote was a perfect reminder.
A bunch of things have changed since the last time I blogged about flying. The weather has dropped about 20 degrees, life has been a bit crazy, and I've soloed two more times. I've now soloed on both one six and three four which is good for the old self confidence. However, I've been flying in the pattern at Pella for MONTHS!! I'm talking since the end of February. Yes, I know it's good practice and I'm thankful for it. But I'm
My last lesson was a good experience but frustrating at the same time. We dealt with a headwind the entire lesson which added some elements I wasn't used to. It had been a very long time since I flew with a headwind. The most frustrating part was coming in on final. I'd pull out power too early and we get low. As a result my landing would be flat which is far from ideal. I went around and around, and was struggling even with good coaching. I finally asked the CFI to model it which Shane said was a huge step for me. He asked me many times when we were training together if I wanted him to show me a skill. Most of these times I'd just want to work through it on my own. By the end of the lesson, my landings had improved just not as much as I'd like to have seen. I think learning to fly is kind of like being on a rollercoaster. One minute you're on top of the world because you've greased a solo landing, and then next minute you feel totally incapable of flying alone due to a headwind. And just when you start to question what in the world you're doing you get another solo flight that boosts your confidence. I guess that's why I'm still a student pilot! :)
