September 22, 2021

I miss flying. I haven’t flown an airplane since our move to Tucson. Part of this absence from the sky has been due to trying to find a flying club that I’m comfortable with. Another part is the fact that I don’t know these parts too well, and more specifically, flying over the American desert. It’s going to be different, and I’m going to need to quite a bit of flying with an instructor to get familiar with these parts. We are situated near three airports; one of them is an Air Force Base. I’m sure I can navigate these parts just fine, it’s just the nuances of flying in the desert that I need to learn.

Back in our Upstate New York days I loved flying as much as I can. I flew with a great group of pilots. I completely trusted the airplanes I flew, mostly because I had an ownership stake in the airplanes and I knew them inside and out. When we moved to Chicago, I enjoyed flying, and I met some really nice folks in the aviation community, but I was never 100% comfortable with the airplanes. I had a few maintenance issues in the air. None of these issues with dangerous, they were just uncomfortable. I have to hand it to my airline and other commercial pilot counterparts: they fly airplanes they don’t know at all on a daily basis and they don’t think twice about it. Maybe they do. I really don’t know.

I shared my thoughts around flying again with my husband today and he is as encouraging as always. I’ll be in the air soon. With monsoon season winding down, I feel like the weather will be much more cooperative. After all, Southern Arizona has around 350 sunny days a year, and that means lots of flying opportunities.

There’s always a risk when soaring above the airplane in a man-made craft. I know too well what can happen when things go wrong. I’ve known too many pilots that have met their end doing what we love. It’s all about controlling the risks, being confident in our skills, and knowing our craft.

I’ll get this figured out. I have to. I’m excited to. I look forward to flying again. I’ll be learning lots of new things.

Never stop learning.