Deciding to Fly

I grew up as an Air Force Brat, with B-52s and KC-135s flying low and slow over my head on a daily basis, as well as the yearly air shows that included F-15s, F-16s, B-1s, B-2s, F-117s, and every other aircraft you can imagine. My father worked on planes (F-111s and B-52s) since before I was born. My grandfather was a B-17 pilot in World War II, before the Air Force was even called the Air Force. He was upset when he had to change his flight number to the new system – previously he had a 4-digit pilot certification number. Nowadays, the pilot certification numbers are as long as your social security numbers. He was one of the first. To make a long story short, flying is in my blood. I’ve grown up with hearing my family talk about it for years, I’ve grown living within a mile or two of a major flight line. It is what I’d always known.

I took ground school for gliding when I was 15 years old, but since I wasn’t yet able to drive I never finished. I always wanted to fly, but somehow that desire was pushed aside as other distractions got in the way.

Fifteen years later, just before going to Alaska, I told my father that I really wished I could take flying lessons, but the price was so high, and it seemed irresponsible to spend my money on something like that.

A month later, I visited Ketchikan, Alaska. While there, I took a flight on a floatplane with a pilot named Dave Doyon (his website can be found here). I was enthralled. While in the air, I could hardly speak because I couldn’t wipe the grin off of my face. I felt like I was a kid again.

When we landed, I couldn’t come down from the high. Flying wasn’t just a whim; it really was in my blood and has been a lifelong dream, but that flight sparked the realization that flying was something that I was going to do now, not just something I would do someday. The money I’d have to spend to make it happen wasn’t an irresponsible waste - sometimes what you love is worth the money you have to spend to make it happen.

So that decided it, I did a bit of searching while still in Ketchikan and found a few Seattle area flight schools. I made some calls and set up my introductory flight lesson for the Saturday after I returned from Alaska. I knew it was time for me to learn to fly.