To Fly or Not to Fly

"That was something I wanted to do for a long time, a major ambition." - Steve Fossett, Millionaire pilot completes flight around the world

The last several weeks, with the weather being non cooperative and money being kind of tight, I have had to put my flying lessons on hold. As a result, I became unmotivated and started questioning why I wanted to fly in the first place.

I have always loved traveling by plane but I didn't realize how much I enjoyed "flying" until I sat in the cockpit of a Cessna 172 - one hand on the yoke the other on the throttle. I felt empowered. Flying has become a personal challenge for me. As long as I can remember, I've always daydreamed about being an astronaut. The idea of traveling to another planet is a fantasy of mine (Yes, Becky, in Fantasy Land, I am an astronaut). I'm saddened that I may not be able to make that space flight in my lifetime.

Tonight I went to the San Luis Obispo Chapter Ninety-Nines dinner/meeting. They are an organization of women pilots. They have fly-outs once a month to many interesting places. This month it will be to Furnace Creek. I look forward to coming along for the ride. I met other women pilots and their stories of triumphs reinforced the reasons why I started to fly.

There's Roxanne who just flew her first solo flight. Coincidentally, we have the same instructor. It was actually good having met her. After talking with her, I feel really good about my instructor. He's young but very knowledgeable and teaches by the book. I'd recommend him (Eric Jones) to anyone wanting to fly in the San Luis Obispo county.

I even got to meet Ellen one the air traffic controllers. Wow, she was nice and gave me a lot of pointers. Cool - she also invited me to come up and visit her in the ATC tower next time I fly. That should be a lot of fun to tour the ATC tower. She is the only female working the ATC tower, so if you've flown into SLO, she's the one clearing you in. Say hi to her next time.

It was a great dinner held at the Spirit Restaurant right in front of the airport and across from PCF Aviation. Twenty plus planes must have taken off and landed during those 2 hours. We sat in the porch and had front side view. I found out the restaurant used to be a terminal.

Upcoming Events:
Sun 3/5 - Flyout to Furnace Creek
Sat 3/12 - Pilot Refresher Course at SLO County Library
Sat 4/30 - De-Mistifying Local Weather & Procedures for VFR and IFR Pilots - SLO County Library at 9:00 am. Cost is 35.00

Another short term challenge is to skydive. I've been looking at SF and Lompoc. I figure once I experience the air, then I can start looking at the seas and learn to scubadive. I can only imagine the many hidden treasures beneath the waves.
Sometimes I feel as if my to-do list is getting longer and longer and I am afraid I am running out of time. I wonder if anyone of you have a list also and if you also feel you are running out of time?