by Greg Brown,
With persistence and patience, you too can overcome challenges learning to fly.
As I’ve shared over the last few days in my posts about Jeanne Peterson, Chevy Chevallard, and Phil Ferdolage, there is no ceiling age when you’re too old to learn to fly. Regardless of age, staying focused and committed (persistent) toward your goal is the key.
Today, I’d like to share an email from Mark Harris written to Jeanne Peterson that shows how anyone can face challenges becoming a pilot, but that keeping at it will bear fruit.
Hi Jeanne,
My name is Mark Harris. Greg Brown asked me to drop you a note regarding my experience in learning to fly. I just turned 47 a couple of weeks ago and have had my private pilot’s certificate since the end of March of 2008. So I’m a relatively new pilot with about 160 hours under my belt. I’ve always wanted to learn to fly, ever since I was a kid, but waited until my kids were older and I had a little more discretionary funds to learn. As soon as I received my certificate I bought a [half] share in an older [Cessna] 182.
During my primary training I caught on quickly to most things in flying. The one area that dogged me was my landings. For some reason I just couldn’t get it. And my CFI wouldn’t let me solo until I could land consistently. Go figure…
I read every article, read books, and listened to every podcast I could get my hands on [to] help me master my landings. I even contacted Greg with my concerns via email which is how we originally met. While I was extremely frustrated I knew intellectually that I would get over this hump, but that didn’t make my frustration any more palatable.
My CFI was smart enough to recognize my issue and changed the focus of our training to include an earlier-than-planned cross country flight along with other maneuvers to take my mind off the trouble I was having. After a while, the landings started clicking, slowly at first but getting noticeably more consistent. I was actually landing on the centerline of the runway now.
It got to the point where I was feeling confident about my landings and I was “willing” my CFI to jump out of the plane so I could solo. One day he did! And I felt more confident with him out of the plane than I did with him in it. I did my 3 landings without incident and he took my T-shirt and wrote all over it and hung it up in the training room. He took my picture next to the plane. That was Halloween day of 2007.
It was all worth it. I use my plane for work almost weekly and fly all over the state of Arizona and recently made a flight into John Wayne Airport (SNA) in the LA basin area.
I know that you will do great, just keep heading towards the ticket. You’ll be glad you did.
Regards,
Mark
For Mark as with so many others, persistence paid off. Just months after earning his pilot certificate at the age of 47, Mark is now flying wherever his business needs take him.
What are some of the reasons you want to fly? What obstacles worry you through your anticipated flight training? Insert your thoughts in the comments section below.
About Greg
Greg Brown is an award winning flight instructor, pilot, author and columnist. In 2000, he was the National Flight Instructor of the Year. Greg writes the Flying Carpet column for AOPA’s Flight Training magazine and co-authored You Can Fly! with Laurel Lippert. His other books include Flying Carpet, The Savvy Flight Instructor, The Turbine Pilot’s Flight Manual, and Job Hunting for Pilots. Visit Greg Brown’s own blog at www.GregBrownFlyingCarpet.com.
