Holy $**T Moment

Flying alone has never been a problem for me, in fact, it is my release, the reason I love flying. When things start to pile up on me and it seems like it's never going to end, the only therapy is to head to the airport and go up and circle the clouds, to look down on life. In the cockpit it is you and the airplane, looking down you realize how small things really are, how insignificant your current worry is.

I've flown with passengers since I've gotten my private, not many, but I've taken friends(and a girlfriend) up with me. I used to fly with my father at age 14 and I would be on the controls the whole time and never had one worry.

So while sitting at the end of the runway watching the first student I've ever flown with advance the throttle did I suddenly say "holy shit." Now, this 18 year old kid, and not that I'm much older, is looking to me to be a guiding force and have all the answers. I'm confident in my ability and my knowledge, I know I can land this plane in an emergency, I know I can handle an unusual attitude or abnormal situation. There is still however, that knowledge in the back of my mind, saying "this is it, your completely in control of your life and this kids life".

I believe you have to love that feeling, learn to embrace it. It's that feeling that will constantly make you strive to be a better pilot/instructor. It's that feeling that will drive me to not become complacent when I'm sitting in the right seat letting my student do steep turns while I stare out the window.

This is an old thought of mine and I felt it would be an appropriate starting point for this blog. I now have more hours instructing and still have/love that feeling. Each flight I learn something more about students, the airplane, instructing and myself.