I Guess I Can Dance

Sorry it’s been a few days. It's been very busy here the last week or so. Remember? I asked for it and now I have it. I won't bore you all with every detail but I was hitting my first wall this past week. It's that phase of training when it seems like you can't do anything right. You're confused, lost, and downright irritated with everything that isn't crisp. Flying is a lot like dancing. First, you learn each of the steps. You work to master each one individually. But it's not until you begin to put them all together in the appropriate environment (that is to say, to music) that it really becomes the art it was intended to be. Well, the steps are confusing to me out of context. We did precision approaches. We did non-precision approaches. We did the communications with our good friends at Atlanta Approach Control. We did holds. We tracked VORs. And we did it all, of course, blind to the outside of the cockpit. And each victory, fewer and farther between, seemed to be so short-lived. Right after I nailed the ILS approach into some random airport, the celebration was quickly stifled as I called up Atlanta Approach and said, "Asheville Approach, Diamond 246 Delta Charlie is climbing through 2500 for 4000." Wait!! Damn, they're not Asheville! I'm an idiot! And the controller certainly confirmed that in his response to me. But all that to say, this was during the time I was seeing each step out of context. Then came yesterday. We sat at the end of the runway in Peachtree City, ready to go. I called up Atlanta Approach and received the IFR clearance I'd filed for shortly before. We took off and the controller cleared us direct to Auburn. After tracking inbound to Auburn, the controller came on and gave us a set of directions and then cleared us for the ILS approach. I read back the instructions and began the descent. This steady and rhythmic approach would hopefully lead to the opportunity for a great landing. Two hundred feet off the ground, I raised my foggles and boom, there it was. Like a giant concrete carpet laid out in front of me, the runway stretched out straight ahead with perfection. It was a great instrument approach to landing. And then, just like that, we were off again. I called Atlanta back up and told them we were ready for our next leg to Newnan, GA. And so on and so on. You see what happened? Art. All of a sudden, I could hear the music and the dance ensued. It all made sense in context. I couldn't see a thing with my eyes, yet I was seeing a portrait of perfection unveiled right in front of me as all the pieces came together. And let me say, it was beautiful. I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing – I did know what I was doing. Well anyway, all this to say that things are really beginning to come together in training. I’m really beginning to enjoy the challenge of each flight, knowing each day I become more and more equipped to handle it.

Some of you have been asking for some more pictures -- here you go.

This is the view from my new office, my new desk, and Claudia, my instructor.