Solo Cross-Country #1!

Woo-Hoo!

I did it! I flew my first solo cross-country today.

I should probably back up a bit. I'm a 31- (almost 32-) year old consultant who's learning to fly. I never thought that I would learn to fly. Growing up, my brother loved airplanes and dreamed of being a pilot. I just liked traveling. I loved the exitement of going new places... but never thought I would learn to fly myself! Then I met my husband... and he also dreamed of flying. He was obsessed! For years, he talked about getting his license... but with his already busy schedule as a management consultant, flying back and forth across the country, he settled for dreaming. But after we moved to the DC area, and he stopped the constant travel for work, he decided to go for his license.

To make a long story short, we ended up buying a new Cessna 172 with a glass cockpit! But I still wasn't into the flying thing (though to be fair, I *did* give him ground school as a birthday present!). So, after we bought this crazy-expensive plane (which we have enrolled in a flight school to make it a little less crazy-expensive), I decided I needed to go up for a ride. My dear husband obligingly arranged some time with his new instructor, M, (another long story) for me to see what we had gotten ourselves into. As it happened, hubbie was out of town the night I went up for my first flight. (And as he later confessed, he was worried that I would either love it or hate it... but was more worried that I would hate it-- I tend to get car-sick and scared on roller coasters...) I was also a little worried that I might hate it.

The session started out great. M took time to show me the basics of pre-flighting. And the plane was very new and shiny... and the new-plane smell (leather seats!) was awesome! I found myself clenching my fists on takeoff... but then, when M let me fly, I was hooked! I remember feeling disappointed when we had to land. Then, when I realized I didn't have any reason to go back up, I was really disappointed. So after talking it over, and a little prodding from Husband, I decided to go for it and get my private.

That was almost 9 months ago! And boy am I glad M took me up for that intro flight. Flying definitely is addictive!

I guess I'll have to come back to that solo cross country trip a little later... as you can see, I get a little carried away when it comes to flying.