It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an update, for many reasons. One reason is I had a huge gap in my flying lessons, from August 2017 to June 2018. Another reason is I have been busy trying to figure out how to be a full time good teacher and still see my son and husband sometimes. There wasn’t really time left over for studying between lessons and actually putting in the work I needed to, both for my employment, and for studying. The third reason is: I felt really discouraged. I won the Mommy Pilot’s Scholarship for 2017 to help me with training expenses, which I am really excited about. At the time I only worked part-time, so it was really encouraging as it would help me afford lessons. Then I got a full-time job with no time for lessons and dropped off the aviation scene. It seemed even more awful to win this scholarship and be so encouraged by it, then not be able to continue to press forward. I encouraged myself with the thought all school year (I’m a teacher) that summer would come soon and I would have time for family and studying ground school information and taking lessons.
So, filled with hope, I went to schedule my first lesson. A few days after I scheduled the lesson, I received an email from the online booking software that the plane was offline because of a deer strike. I had to re-read it. DEER strike, not BIRD strike like one would think! Needless to say, I didn’t get to take that lesson. I managed to get one lesson in the following week and was a bit relieved. While rusty, I hadn’t forgotten everything, and the Cessna 152, while not a 172 like I wanted, was familiar enough for me to feel very comfortable. It definitely was more comfortable than the other planes I tried out, especially the Piper Warrior, which I felt was built for a large man not me! In my next post, I will tell you all about my Goldilocks experience of trying different planes and instructors, but for now, just know I’m happy with the final choice!
I had a lesson scheduled for today and when I looked up the weather it was MVFR and I thought, I might have to cancel. Then, I was checking the weather again, and was relieved to note it was VFR. My relief was short-lived, as right about that time my CFI called. The 152 is offline again, due to a fuel leak. Apparently, when someone sampled the fuel this morning, the plane had started leaking fuel. So, no lesson today either. But I did check the weather twice, which is good practice reading a METAR. I checked it first without the Text box checked so I could practice reading a METAR and then clicked the Text box to check my accuracy. I still remembered how to read a METAR, so that’s some weather practice in, at least. I’m going to use the time I would have spent in the lesson using my Sporty’s PPL course to study.
The highlight of my aviation summer was meeting 3 of the Tuskegee Airmen in Tuskegee, Alabama, earlier this summer. Look for a blog entry about that (soon!) as well as some book recommendations for children about aviation and famous aviators.
Waving At Airplanes 