Three reasons I love flying
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I felt compelled to write down my top 3 reasons I love flying. Certainly there are more reasons to love this amazing endeavor, but I thought I’d take a stab at it the week of Valentines day.
The Sensations
- Visual overload : nothing compares to the view afforded to pilots. It’s almost ethereal. Seeing the earth from our vistas is one of the best things about flying. With new lightweight and inexpensive cameras, its easy to share the inspirational panorama with others.
- Physical connection and instant feedback : the physical sensations are not anything you have ever experienced. It can actually be a little overwhelming for first-time flyers. When you manipulate the controls, you get instant feedback. You are in command and the airplane responds. A deft touch is rewarding. There’s a reason for the endearing term “velvet hands” among aviators. Of course, throwing our birds around the sky is super-fun too!
The Fraternity
- Strong sense of community : flying puts you into a small tight-knit community. Pilots will help each other to a fault. My closest friends are all fellow pilots.
- Brotherhood : As an extremely small segment of the general population, we are in an exclusive club where the connections run deep; camaraderie and esprit de corps are ingrained in us. We are the elite among society, at least in our minds! I’m obviously joking, but there are some healthy egos among pilots. That’s ok, we’re all family.
The Challenge
- Perfection is illusive : Good pilots should always strive for perfection. Approaching any flight this way will keep the challenge alive so we can pursue continuous improvement of our craft. Let’s face it, the act of taking flight is an ever-present boost to our egos.
- Mentally and physically taxing : you have to use all your senses to fly well. This isn’t unique to flying, but coupled with other stimuli it is certainly gratifying. Because flying can be done at so many levels, this allows you to modulate the amount of complexity or difficulty, depending on your goals.
These are the three major categories that attempt to capture why I love flying. I could easily drill down to each small thing that contributes to my love of the sport, but that list would be exhaustive – hey, that’s the good news!
Since flying is so individualistic, feel free to post your thoughts on the matter below. I’d love to hear from you! What makes you love flying?
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I would add my two cents, but I think you’ve already nailed it!
Excellent reasons Brent. My favorite of your favorites is “The Fraternity”. One of my personal reasons is “Freedom”. Once I am airborne, every worry and care in the world goes away and I experience pure freedom from all problems. Merely being in an “Aviation” related environment will quite often produce the same results.