Nearly three months since my last blog post, a lot has happened
I gave my sister and my neice a ride to Boston after they visited us in Maine - a nice comfortable ride for Maya and her bunny!
with my flying! And, perhaps, maybe, hopefully, in a matter of a couple of weeks I will get my license!
I spent the summer in Maine, at our house on Mount Desert Island. N464CD was based at Bar Harbor Airport (BHB) – just a 20 minute drive away. BHB is the home of Coastal Maine Flight Center – a Cirrus training center. So I have spent a lot of time flying and have cleared some big milestones. Here’s my list from the past 2 months:
- A couple of weeks ago I finally took the dreaded FAA Private Pilot Knowledge test. I hardly aced it – but I passed (a passing grade is anything over 70% and I did better than that).
- I soloed – lots. I did dozens of landings and takeoffs at BHB.
- I did solo takeoff and landings at a big/control tower airport (Bangor and Portland) – talking and landing at the same time
- I did solo cross country flights – starting with BHB to Deblois, Maine (all of 25 miles away) and ending last week with a 300+ mile trip that took me from Bar Harbor to Millinocket, Maine to Portland (with a control tower) and back to Bar Harbor.
The biggest thing, I guess, is that I have been gaining confidence. Each of these steps has given me one more notch of confidence – not over-confidence, by a long shot, but confidence that I can do this and pass my test and be a safe, competent pilot.
Maybe just as interesting for me is that I have not lost my enthusiasm. I can’t think of anything that has been as challenging or time consuming that I have done in my adult life. But I have poured my heart into it, embraced it, and had a great time at it. I’ll do some more updating on the blog soon, but I realized today way too much time has passed between postings.
