Feb 22 2009
Waiting
Bad news. For the second time in my flight training career I had to make the decision to stop flying. I’ve fought equipment and weather issues for the past six weeks in an attempt to finish up my multi-engine course: and I thought I was going to slip past the finish line just in time. Last night I had planned an XC up to KSPI; we were filed, my nest was made in the cockpit and the fuel order was filled. But as the sun set, I stood on the ramp with my flight instructor and faced two very lousy options. I could have got in that airplane, flown my last flight in the course and then spent the next ten days down here waiting for the weather to lift so I could get my checkride in. But instead I chose to pack up my bags and go home. I have sinus surgery on Tuesday, so I can’t really fly after that until the FAA reinstates my medical (provided the planets align and the pope gives his blessing). Staying would have meant saving that for spring break or summer, but what college kid wants to spend spring break with stints shoved up his nose and blood dripping down his throat? Despite the fact that I will return to school and finish the course up in January, it still feels like I am quitting on a goal I set for myself. The last time I was forced to make this same decision was at the tail end of my private pilot training, when I got pushed around my my flight instructor back home to the point that I had been flying for over a year and I was down to one week to get him to sign me off on my checkride. My parents pried the AOPA credit card from my hands and we decided I had to stop. It is hard to accept that sometimes the best thing you can do towards your goal is to quit, and being in this biz longer doesn’t make the decision any easier. So as I stuff my post-it notes and flight plan back into my bag and stick the control lock back in the yoke, I force myself to refocus on the second week of January, when I will be back in the plane.