Flight School Update

I haven't commented on how flight school has been going since the first week that I started flying, mainly because I am always busy studying or sleeping, or if I do have time, I want to relax. But today, President's Day, has provided me with some downtime to be able to share with all of you just how my experience is going.

At the end of my second week of flying, I feared that I would be kicked out of here. Only 0.4% of flight students don't make it through, and while a small percentage, someone has to make it up. Flying, or trying to, was so frustrating. I can tell you what all of the controls do to the helicopter, but I couldn't make them do what I wanted. I was at an emotional and mental low-point. Luckily, that weekend was a 3-day for MLK Day, and I got to see Sirron, Caroline, and my parents. Sirron was so supportive and just there for me to vent to, and seeing our beautiful baby girl allowed me to recharge.

It was also during this time that I called on the prayer warriors in my family and our friends asking them to pray for me. Friends, I am here to tell you that this is what got me through. God showed me that we need to cry out to Him, and He is always there with us. From this time on, things started to click and have gotten so much better.

At about 18 hours of flying, I soloed, which essentially means that I can get in a helicopter by myself, fly to wherever I needed to, and land it. It might not be pretty (probably wouldn't be), but I could safely get it done. Since the solo, I get a little better everyday. There are still bad days, but I find that I myself am my biggest critic.

Everyday we fly (we have had a lot of weather days which have prohibited it lately), we practice normal flight traffic patterns, landings, and emergency procedures. We still simulate engine failures at 1,000 feet and land without power (2 or 3 times a day), and make a lot of radio calls. I really do enjoy it, but it has become habitual in some respects. It's like driving a car. At 15 or 16 years of age, it is the coolest thing, but by 17 or 18, it's just something you do. Rarely does it cross my mind that I am in the air at over 100 mph...it's just another day of work.

I am now at 31 hours of flight time, and I will be done with this portion at 50 hours, so in two weeks, I will be moving on to instrument training. It is 8 weeks long as well, during which we fly without being able to see outside, only using the flight instruments (flying in clouds or in low/no visibility). We still have academics for several hours a day in addition to flying. We have had classes over weather and airspace most recently, and we test over them weekly. Studying has really slowed down the past week or two (a mistake on my part), but will ramp back up over the next two weeks as we prepare for our check-ride.

I get picture messages of Caroline from Sirron or my parents daily, and the three of us Skype, which is a webcam video where we can see and talk to each other a couple times a week. As you can see from our other posts, we see each other as often as we can. It is the thoughts of them that keep me going, and I can't wait to get home to them, but we still have a ways to go. Where it stands right now, I could be home anytime from September to Jan/Feb of next year. By Christmas is what I am shooting for!

Thanks to all of our family and friends who think about us, pray for us, check on us, and read our blog. I hope this post finds you well.