Andy's Blog

Today was an exciting day. It was a day I have been waiting for at least the last five years. I took my first flight as a pilot. For those of you who think I am a nerd, you're right, but I am going to give you the details anyways.

I flew a Cessna Skyhawk 172S, with a Garmin 1000 Full Glass Cockpit. I spent three hours at the Cobb County Airport - McCollum Field (RYY). I am doing my flight instruction with Premier Flight School and it is located just outside of Kennesaw, GA.

I was amazed how much my flight instructor (Chris) let me do on the very first flight. I had a minor problem while taxing (which you do with your feet) keeping the plane on the center line. Then we were cleared for takoff, and he turned to me and said, "alright, line her up on the runway and apply full throttle." I never thought I would get to do that on the first flight. He told me Vr was 65 knots (speed you initially pull up) and V2 was 80 knots (speed you are cleared to leave the ground). I taxied onto the runway 9, applied full throttle and we were off.

I climbed to 3500 feet and then trimmed off and kept an approximate heading of 90°. We headed straight for my church: Mount Pisgah. Once leveled, speed topped off at 105 kts (which had a ground speed of 120 kts, which translated to MPH is about 130). Once to Mount Pisgah, I immediately banked to the right to a heading of about 210° to fly over my apartment. Once there, we maintained a gradual turn to Altoona Lake.

Once to Altoona Lake, it was time to prepare for landing. I headed for the airport at with a heading of 135°. Once within about 5 miles from the airport, I banked right to a heading of 180°. It was at this point that I figured he would take controls, but he didn't. As I approached the flight line of runway 9 at RYY, I banked to left for a heading of 90°, lined up with the runway, extended flaps first to 10° and then once below 85 kts extended them completely. I slowed to about 70 kts and began descent. He let me fly to about 300 feet above the ground (which is approximately 1 mile from touchdown and approximatively 1300' feet above sea level) and then he took controls. He landed the plane and I taxied back to the hanger.

Some of my initial thoughts. Taxing is harder then you would think, but I sort of expected that. Flying was easier than I thought. It felt so natural. My flight instructor said I did a great job maintaining altitude (which is usually a steep learning curve for most) and it was apparent I had a great start.

It was weird being "in control" for the first time on a flight. When I first flew on a private plane for work, I remember thinking how the "turbulence" felt different than on a big plane. The plane I flew today felt like the other private aircraft I flew in before, but being the pilot made it feel strikingly more in control.

Well I have written enough I guess. It was fun. I am excited. And I am hoping to have my license completed by August. So everybody look to the skies, it might be me ;-)

Today was a great day in aviation. You had the first A380 landing into ORD - a monumental day. Then...drum roll please...I scheduled my first intro flight!!! Now, I am not sure which is actually a bigger event.

For those of you who read my blog, you will say, "what the heck, I thought you started this back in September." I did. But then I freaked out because I thought I might take a job in San Diego, and decided not to pursue it and pay off my student loan instead. Well, at the end of March, I will officially have paid off my $11,000 student loan (which I'll blog about later when I actually officially pay it off). This frees up about $900 a month, so I decided now is the time to FINALLY do this. After four years of teaching myself everything I could about aviation, the time has finally come, and I am stoked.

Honestly, I would be doing this flight on April 1st if it weren't for my trip to Japan on April 3rd. I get back from Japan on April 14th and on April 18th, I am taking to the skies, my first logable hour in the cockpit. I am hoping I can pass my written and medical exams before my trip to Nepal on June 1st and my trip to LA on June 11th. So then from July to September I'll hit the sky and rack up my 40 hours required by the FAA by visiting friends and family at Hilton Head Island, SC (HXD), Montgomery, AL (1A9), and of course, Huntington, IN (HHG).

I don't really have a point to this blog, and this is a rare post that is really just about what is "happening" in my life. But if I were to make a point, I think it would be this. We all need passions in life or else I think we will drive ourselves nuts. Sure they don’t have to be as expensive as a pilots license, but we need something. For the past two years I have done relatively little besides working very hard. Even my old "interests" (i.e. web production, video production, Bible studies, etc...) have all become my "professional interests," and frankly, as cool as it is to enjoy what you do, I think if I were to reflect I would admit that it has been hard not to have "non-work" interests. Sure I have done a lot of traveling (which is my fav), but at most that takes like 7 weeks out of my year. Leaving 45 weeks to "just work." But that all changes on April 18th. And April 18th changed because of today: a great day in aviation.

P.S. The photo is of me flying over Mt. Everest (in Nepal!!) with my flight simulator. I know I am a nerd.