Back in High School (1990 and 1991, to be specific), I was a student pilot in the Adrian Soaring Club, flying out of Lenawee County Airport in southern Michigan. I trained with various instructors in their Schleicher ASK-13 wood and cloth glider.
According to my log book, I flew 23 times totalling roughly 6 hours and 41 minutes of time in the air. Yes, some of the flights were short--like the unplanned rope break exercise at 180 feet. It was challenging and fun. But I ran out of money before I could solo. I was close. Quite close if I recall.
By the time that ended, I was flying on my own. I'd fly takeoff, tow, landing, and everything in between. The instructors were along for the ride to make sure I didn't screw up and to help me practice more advanced maneuvers (I had a few left to learn).
Fast-forward 11 years. I recently discovered that a friend of mine at work had just started taking flying lessons--in gliders! I had always planned to get back into the cockpit someday so I jumped at the chance to start flying again.
We fly as part of the Hollister Gliding Club in Hollister, California. It's roughly a 1 hour drive south on highway 101 from where I live in the Santa Clara / Sunnyvale area.
I've started a separate flying blog to record my aviation adventures and related stuff. (There are three entries as of now: one, two, and three.) I may occasionally post any really interesting or important stuff in my main blog, but if you're curious about my progress, I suggest to read my flying blog.
Oh, there may be a couple bugs while I get the flying blog working. Lemme know if you see problems. I know, it needs template and CSS work yet.
Posted by jzawodn at December 06, 2002 10:29 PM
Great to see you've finally gotten back into that. As long as I've known you, "get pilot license" has been near (but never at) the top of your To-Do list.
I have question in my mind, can a moderatly trained pilot, never flew in a particular route, without help of ghround controllers / radars, make a low flight on a building in his first attempt ? ? ?
