Challenge yourself

Aviation challenges us with situations that can seem impossible, but when accomplished, provide incredible growth opportunities. Stretching your aviation chops will increase your confidence and prepare you for the next wonderful adventure.

My first flight at AOPA headquarters in Frederick was in a vintage airplane that a local pilot invited me to fly with him. We hit a groundhog hole on the field upon landing and the wood propeller shattered. I loved the flight, but “Bummer” was all the pilot said. It’s been 25 years since that first experience, and although I have 60 hours of flight training, I never have soloed (it’s still early). But I love flying and embrace the possibilities. I have flown across the Andes in a Daher Kodiak, taken off from a mountainside in Africa in a Cessna Caravan, and landed on a gravel bar in a remote lake canyon in Canada in a de Havilland Beaver—and those are just a few of my experiences. You, new pilot, can either fly them or experience them like I have. Here are a couple inspiring ideas from my colleagues:

“Flying a helicopter is completely unlike flying a piston aircraft. The controls, the inputs—everything is different. Hovering is like trying to stand on a basketball while you pat your head and rub your stomach. But it’s so cool.” —Jill W. Tallman

“Years ago, I donned a helmet and strapped into a reproduction of the 1902 Wright glider on the sand dunes of North Carolina, near where the brothers made their famous first flights. It was incredible to feel the aircraft respond to my control inputs in a design that laid the groundwork for a revolution in how we travel—and amazing to see how far we’ve come since then.” —Sarah Deener

“A ferry flight from Florida would never be any kind of historic milestone. Lots of pilots have made more difficult journeys in much more valuable airplanes; I wasn’t special. But doing it for the first time in AOPA Air Safety Institute Vice President Richard McSpadden’s Piper Super Cub wasn’t any less terrifying for me. But after the journey as I put the airplane away, I reflected on what I had just accomplished. In the previous three days, I had flown by myself, most of it over water, and nearly all of it in unfamiliar territory.” —Erick Webb

“I got very little actual instrument experience while training for the rating, so my first solo experience in the clouds was by far the most stress I had felt in an airplane up to that point. The confidence I gained from breaking out on the approach and having the runway appear in front of me was priceless.” —Ian J. Twombly

“I found the seaplane rating a challenging but rewarding experience. It made me a better pilot too. Watching for telltale signs of wind currents from flags, smoke, upturned leaves, waving grass, and the ripples (or waves!) on the water, which determines takeoff and landing options, helped this wheel pilot.” —David Tulis

julie.walker@aopa.org