I Went BUMP in the Night!

I've been up flying several times in the past few weeks, but the one time to talk about was my night cross country. KCOS-LHX was the route. I think I finally feel comfortable with being able to plan a cross country. Having never used a slide-rule in my life, it took a few times to figure out the "flight computer". I have the most patient CFI who walked me through it, then I took over and finished.
My night CX took place on a Saturday night. For anyone who knows me that completely affected my "beers on dad's deck" time. I refuse to consume any alcohol at least 24 hours prior to wheels up, which is much easier than I thought it would be. I guess when you have such a passion for something, things you enjoy take a huge back seat!
After some final ground prep and pre-flight checklists it was 8:15 PM. Again, if you know me, I am normally in bed by 9! I was a bit concerned at not yawning during the flight but Mother Nature quickly showed me she was the boss.
The minute we got up, the turbulence started. It did not abate until we descended below 8k. It is a whole new world flying at night and being tossed around like a ping pong ball. My CFI says it was only "moderate" turbulence, but to me it was more:-)
We hit LHX, had crosswinds so I did the second touch and go, better than my CFI's first she said! Then it was back up to the bumps to head home to KCOS.
On both the outbound and return we hit rain, snow, and grapple. I was really proud because I did all the flying and just let the plane do what she does best, FLY! Overall it was a great learning experience, a story I will never forget. Oh, and we didn't land until 10:30...way past this girls bedtime but I never got tired once!

Still Here....

Lesson learned...don't let life slow you down! I've still been flying but for January and February I had to focus on work. Life, work, and reality of me slowed me down for flying. Working on learning to fly and practicing flying have to become more of a priority in my life. Unfortunately being a wife, mom, and full time teacher seem to limit my flight time. But I am back on track, have been for a few weeks, and I've realized I need to fly more and more. My style of learning is such that I need to do and do and do in order to feel comfortable. So, until Powerball comes my way or a rich relative I never knew about leaves me a million dollars, I have to get better at equally sharing time between life and flying. Someday I hope that flying becomes my life!

So today I will add a few posts to get you caught up on my flying adventures. I would like to figure out how to make this blog like others I have read with links and categories...My hope is to figure out how to make categories and add flight information and links, recipes, and anything else a female flyer might be interested in! After all, just because I have to wear pants and tennis shoes to fly it doesn't mean I don't love a pair of high wedge sandals and a summer dress:-)

Rachel

Left Rudder!

Today was a great day for taking to the skies. Unfortunately my favorite plane was booked except for 1 1/2 hours this morning. I snagged that time but had to stay in the pattern because I had to get the plane back by 11:00 fueled.

This was my first time doing everything without anyone beside me. For my solo a few weeks ago, my CFI had to go up and be with me for a few touch and goes before I kicked her out. But today I did it all alone. Pre-flight, calling ground, calling the tower, taxi, run-up, and take-off! It's amazing how much slower you go when your back up security blanket isn't there to remind you to do something!

For example all of my landings felt tippy to the right. Left rudder you idiot! I finally figured this out during my debriefing. But all of my landings were still ok, not perfect like I hope for, but thats ok, it's a learning lesson I won't forget! I've been told that after about 2,000 landings I should be fine. Haha! By then who knows what I'll be flying or where.

Glorious day even if I stayed in the pattern. And a busy one! Had to watch for quite a bit of traffic and got switched from 17R to 17L. Touch and go 3 times:-)

All in all a great day! The best thing....the pilots using my plane both before and after me were females. One a teenager and the other in her late 40's. It's great to see females starting to rock the aviation world!

Finally Doing It!

I have had the idea to Blog on my dream for several months and now that I have a week off from work I'm doing it! Here's my story from the beginning. If I can learn to Blog from the iPad I will hopefully be able to keep this thing going:-) This blog is for everyone who ever had a dream or passion and for one reason or another didn't follow through. It is never to late to make your life what you want it to be. All it takes is one person who says you can DO IT and then take the leap!

As a kid I loved to travel, especially if I could fly to where I was going. I applied, was accepted, and went to the University of North Dakota to become an airline pilot. I lasted 3 weeks and got homesick so I came home. Ever since I have bee kicking myself in the ass for not following what I had wanted to do. Fast forward 18 years...after a devastating blow to my life, my best friend for over 25 years decided that my place in her life was no longer needed and she ended our friendship via email while I was on vacation. Talk about immaturity. Looking back after counseling and reflection I realized that no, I am not the mentally unstable one. Unhappy was I, very much so, but crazy, no. And in reality when one judges you to the extreme she did, it normally means that something within them is wrong and that I was her outlet.

Anyway, I digressed. That act by someone I loved and trusted shook me to the core. To the point where I realized it was time to make me happy for once and go do what I have always wanted to do-FLY!

So last winter I started flight lessons. I had a good instructor but wasn't really feeling it. Then I met the most amazing women, Zoan, and switched to her as my CFI(certified flight instructor). All of a sudden I had another women inspiring me to live my dreams.

I have over 25 hours now, not a lot considering how many I need to get a job. But every time I'm up in the air I am another person! Hey Noni, I guess I do have multiple personalities:-)

It is hard to explain. If you have discovered your core and passion then you know what I mean. The more I fly, the more I HAVE to do it. I hope that my blog inspires others, no matter what their dreams may be or how old they are to live life. NEVER let anyone tell you it's too expensive, you're too old, or you should think of others first. Because if you are finally a happy person then everyone around you will reap the reward! Live it ladies!