What brought you here? Your journey to General Aviation
What brought you here? Your journey to General Aviation
All of us have a different story of how we came to be involved in general aviation.
For some, you are just starting this journey, for others, it has been a life’s quest.
Being involved doesn’t mean you have to be a licensed pilot or to even fly at all. There are all levels of participation and they all matter.
I came upon this path in a pretty conventional way. I wanted to be an astronaut. Born in 1970, I missed the Space Race, but the Space Shuttle was heating up as I was coming of age and that coupled with Sci-Fi really got my juices flowing to go beyond our Earth.
At the time, only a few non-pilots flew into space, so it was a natural progression to see myself as a fighter pilot as a first step towards my end goal. As I peeled back the onion on what it would have meant to be a fighter pilot the excitement of that almost eclipsed the original goal of becoming an astronaut.
All was for naught as my bad eyesight precluded me from flying fighters in the military, so in my late teens I switched gears, although not completely. I thought if I can’t get my thrills pulling 8Gs in an F-16, I can go to work as an airline pilot and buy myself a Pitts Special and get my jollies that way. This was the vision I held in my head for over a decade and that is essentially what happened, although I don’t fly for the airlines; I fly corporate (fractional) and I don’t fly a Pitts; I have an RV-8.
I never made it to space – the original goal, but I’m very happy with where my life has taken me thus far. I’m still a huge fan of manned space flight and I continue to dream!
So what brought you to general aviation and has the journey been what you expect? If you are just starting, what’s your plan? We’d love to hear your story. Feel free to put your thoughts in the comments below or send me an email.
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It was more than a little exciting watching the Saturn 5 rockets launch! What fantastic power! But, as you can see, our desire for space has dwindled to next to nothing. I think it was good for NASA to develop the Shuttle. After that, it should have been turned over to private enterprise and NASA should have gone onto something else like developing components for a Moon base and preparing for Mars. It is difficult to finance this kind of stuff when the majority of jobs in this country are now “service” orientated. When companies moved their mfg. work overseas for cheap labor, it also cheapened what could be done in this country. The tax base has shrunk so severally that taking all of the so-called 1% money won’t pay the bills.
Glenn,
You are so right. They will look back at that period in history in amazement of what was accomplished. I hope we can get back to that, but like you, I’m not holding my breath.
Brent
The last part of your comment really resonates with me. A couple of years ago, I visited the American Air Power Museum on Long Island, housed in the hangar where Republic built P-47s during World War II. As I read the statistics on how many aircraft were produced, including those built under license by Goodyear or General Motors, I was awestruck. I could not help but wonder, if the need arose again for such manufacturing prowess and volume, could we do it? I was very sad to realize that the answer is probably “no”.
I wanted to fly my whole life. Studied birds in flight, climbed Mountians to get high, yearned to pull the steering wheel up and lift the car in the air at 16….but could not begin training until mid 40’s. So here I am launching a second career and appreciating every minute, even the blood sweat and tears of pounding the ratings – some in Ohio, some in Florida, some at Lexington. Being a CFI is a natural fit because the first career is a teacher/coach, but I can’t help yearning for that bush pilot job. I am a Mountian girl in my core….Ohio is sort of flat!
Christine,
That’s awesome! You are an inspiration on a couple of fronts! Keep up the great work!
Brent
As another child of the early seventies, I wanted to be an astronaut, too. Obviously, I went another path. But what made the dream of flight a reality for me was stick time in the back of a privately owned Citabria that made me realize how attainable it all was. For me, having a mentor made all the difference in the world.
That’s awesome! Having a mentor is huge.