Did an intro flight at KEUS (Waukesha) Milwaukee school. I guess I was expecting a little more hustle and bustle, but it’s a small location (3 instructors, 10 students).
We waited in the ramp for fuel for almost an hour. Again, surprised at the squeeze of the cockpit, but so cool to be at the controls of a real plane.
Will took off from runway 28. I was trying to follow him on the checklists and on radio calls. I wanted to make adjustments on the displays as needed, but I held back to stay out of the way until I was given controls.
He complimented my smooth inputs asking how many hours I’ve spent in game flight simulators. (Yeah, I know!). To be honest, maneuvering the plane for real was a lot easier than in a game.
It was definitely a much different experience than when I rode as a passenger on a eagle flight way back in the day. Being in control will do that.
So cool to really feel the power when moving to full throttle or going full idle. I really enjoyed it. I thought I’d be more jacked up afterwards but really just felt like I’d done it a hundred times before. I guess I was expecting a little more adrenaline after the conversation Will and I had while waiting for fuel.
He talked about how he did a few hours of training at a small mom and pop first to make sure he was really ready for everything involved study wise and now just making a snap decision based on adrenaline after an intro flight.
I had a weird empty feeling afterward driving home and kind of decompressing. Probably the anticipation of the flight having passed, definitely wanting to fly more, and the unknowns (the challenges, the studying, the financing).
Glad to hear that you took advice of mentors and fellow students that recommend taking an Admissions Flight. Sometimes you have to have patience on the ramp as FBO servicers tend to get busy with other aircraft in queue, this is something that every location deals with almost on a weekly basis, I am sure.
Do you have plans next? Any idea when you are looking to take the leap of faith or steps in the works?
So you enjoyed it? Sounds like it was different than you expected but hopefully a good different. It’s okay if you’re not 100% sold on the commitment after a one hour intro flight. It’s a big decision, take your time. Go up again at a local school if it will help give you some clarity. It’s a risk, but if you are passionate enough and driven enough, you’ll step up and do what it takes to be successful.
Yeah, except the fuel guy was just sitting in the truck staring us down. It was weird.
Yeah, we have some rough steps we need to work through. As I mentioned before, at least during the training my wife suggested she and our boy spend that time in China with her family. So that requires getting her passport renewed.
Then we need to rent out the house.
So much of it is figuring out the house/mortgage situation.
My goal is next year spring. That gives us time to save a little more and get everything else figured out.
I guess I was expecting an epiphany. Maybe that’s too dramatic! I can definitely feel that passion bubbling. I was really feeling the time pressure the last couple months but I think I’ve set a goal to start next spring. Need to time to get stuff sorted to make it all work. It’d be an easier decision if it was just me, but a little harder with a family, but we have options.