Passion for Learning

Well it certainly has been a while since I last posted.  I have no excuses so I’ll just get right back into the good stuff.

I started this blog for a few reasons, the most selfish one was that I wanted to have an indelible record of my flying.  Not just a log of hours and aircraft types but of the actual feeling of what one experiences while going into flight training and beyond.  I get really detailed in my flight posts (almost to the point of boredom I wonder) but I do this because I would love to be an old man telling these stories to my own grandson.  In turn the posts are intimate and expose a bit more of my thoughts then one might do publicly.

The second reason is that I want to be an ambassador to general aviation.  I believe firmly that these aircraft serve an important and vital role to the spirit of man.  I hoped that by publishing my ‘secrets’ as it were that someday, someone could read what I had gone through and it might help them get through the same thing.

My thanks so far have been many, such as when you post comments and offer me sound advices.  (Thanks cannot be said enough to Tony or David for their shared spirit and graciousness) and I have slowly made inroads into the airport subculture but I recently was lit up in am amazing way when a young lad who was nearing his own flight test leaned over my desk to say, “hey you have a blog right?”  ”Yes.”  ”Well thanks, it helped me to read some of the stuff you went though when I was going through it myself.”   I almost fell onto the floor!  What a great compliment to receive.

That really truly made my day.   It also made me realize that I should post more often…….

Mentors are important in our lives.   With most knowledge you can buy the basics but to gain true wisdom is priceless.  This applies to business and certainly applies to flying.  You get to a point where you know all you can “buy” but still don’t know a whole lot.  Then you go and gain experience, with experience comes wisdom.  Mentors just make the process faster and a lot more interesting. 

One of my flying mentors is a gentleman named David who has stuck with me through apprehensive early PPL time, offered me frozen fingers while we did a “pre-buy” inspection on the ramp of a Piper Cherokee at 0 degrees!  Most recently allowed me to fly his aircraft from the left seat. David has an IFR certification and is able to fly in clouds.  Here is a video clip that shows the kind of experience I can get flying with him. 

Thank you David.  I know I owe you for one broken vent window, don’t let that keep us from flying together soon!

(Jeanne, the link to the video is here, in case it doesn’t open in your browser.)

The title of this post relates to a line in Robert Pirsig’s excellent “Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance“.   Which is known somewhat as a must read for anyone seeking higher knowledge.  In the book he relates to how much easier it is to perform a task if your mind is clear of “clutter”.

You know the voices you hear in your head, sometimes doubting, sometimes encouraging but rarely shutting up.  They can get in the way of pure enjoyment of life.  They can also get in the way of pure control of a machine like an Airplane.

You can take these concepts a bit further reading www.pilotpsy.com which is an excellent resource for taking your airmanship to the next level.   This is not beginner “Stick and Rudder” type of stuff so be warned, it’s a how-to of a completely different sort.

In a nutshell for my next flight, I  intend on becoming completely enveloped in the moment of it all.  Still remaining as far ahead of the aircraft as I can, but being entirely involved in the whole thing.  The experience or the essence if you will, of man touching the sky.  I’ll not let the thoughts of normal ground pounding life interfere with the spirit of the flight.

I expect overall to feel an improvement of the smoothness and “feel” of the entire thing.   Only time will tell.