I never thought of anything other than being a flight attendant for an international airline when I was growing up. A Private Pilots license never crossed my mind until the day I continued working towards my Basics Flight Attendant certificate and thought to myself, “what other profound way is there to amplify my passion for the aviation industry to better myself as a future flight attendant?” Nothing will ever equal that moment of exhilaration which filled my whole being when I felt myself flying away from the earth for the very first time as a pilot on the plane verses being a passenger on my first flight.
It was not mere pleasure; it was perfect bliss... my shining moment. Very few people realize what they are passionate about in life at such a young age. As for me, I grew luckier each time I attended airline classes and it just became clearer and more exciting as to honestly know what my I wanted to do with my life! For some people, it takes many years, dedication, time and trial and error to finally realize what you “want to be when you grow up.” As for me, to have actually found that passion in life, is fascinating!
I had my first official take-off flight on Saturday, November 22th, 2008 and it was awesome! Since it was such a beautiful day outside that afternoon, my CFI (certificated flight instructor) did the pre-flight exterior check of our Cessna 152 - he let me walk around with him as he explained into detail what exactly to look for (while my Dad and MF kept themselves acquaint near the cockpit, as this was my MF first flight as well!) Once in the plane, we continued our very thorough pre-flight checklist before takeoff. We then taxied to the runway, went full throttle and took off into the sky! Once airborne, we practiced a lot of basic maneuvers and worked our way up the coast of Long Beach, California, over the Queen Mary and shopping centers down by the beach. I should mention that my CFI basically let me do everything in this flight (literally everything! Even landing the plane). He obviously told me what to do and when to do it, but I performed all the actions. Actually, in my opinion, the physical act of piloting a plane is really not that difficult at all. It’s all the flight theory, learning the controls, navigating, emergency procedures, and stuff like that which requires all the knowledge and training. That being said, I was definitely feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information my CFI was throwing at me, but I managed to just take it all in with the experience! I grew overly excited when we landed back at Torrance Airport because at that point all I could think about was being a pilot on a plane before I was ever a passenger on an kind of aircraft! I defiantly thought to myself that I could totally be tenacious about this whole experience and become a well rounded flight attendant whose got her private pilot’s license as a tool to separate her from the rest of the group. The hardships and perils of the past months were forgotten in the excitement of the present. I shook hands with my CFI and my heart just swelled with those emotions invoked by achievement and the glamour of the moment. It was, and will be, perhaps the supreme hour of my life! My Shining Moment.
I had my first official take-off flight on Saturday, November 22th, 2008 and it was awesome! Since it was such a beautiful day outside that afternoon, my CFI (certificated flight instructor) did the pre-flight exterior check of our Cessna 152 - he let me walk around with him as he explained into detail what exactly to look for (while my Dad and MF kept themselves acquaint near the cockpit, as this was my MF first flight as well!) Once in the plane, we continued our very thorough pre-flight checklist before takeoff. We then taxied to the runway, went full throttle and took off into the sky! Once airborne, we practiced a lot of basic maneuvers and worked our way up the coast of Long Beach, California, over the Queen Mary and shopping centers down by the beach. I should mention that my CFI basically let me do everything in this flight (literally everything! Even landing the plane). He obviously told me what to do and when to do it, but I performed all the actions. Actually, in my opinion, the physical act of piloting a plane is really not that difficult at all. It’s all the flight theory, learning the controls, navigating, emergency procedures, and stuff like that which requires all the knowledge and training. That being said, I was definitely feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information my CFI was throwing at me, but I managed to just take it all in with the experience! I grew overly excited when we landed back at Torrance Airport because at that point all I could think about was being a pilot on a plane before I was ever a passenger on an kind of aircraft! I defiantly thought to myself that I could totally be tenacious about this whole experience and become a well rounded flight attendant whose got her private pilot’s license as a tool to separate her from the rest of the group. The hardships and perils of the past months were forgotten in the excitement of the present. I shook hands with my CFI and my heart just swelled with those emotions invoked by achievement and the glamour of the moment. It was, and will be, perhaps the supreme hour of my life! My Shining Moment.
Pictures from the Flight (thanks to MF, and his camera Phone) :
