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Hello

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:00 pm
by InformalGreeting
I thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself. Before I do I want to thank all of you for the great information you've made available on this forum. There is a wealth of information to be found in this forum and I am very thankful for all of it. Now, a little about me.

I am probably not all that unusual. I have been fascinated by flight for as long as I can remember. My first vivid memory of wanting to fly rather than just being amazed at the sight of planes is from about the age of six or so. My parents had gotten divorced a couple of years earlier and my dad moved from Oklahoma to Kansas City due to his job with AT&T moving. He drove down to see me regularly but then decided to fly down and take me to his home by plane. So I got on the Braniff 727 and was in awe. After takeoff they took me into the cockpit and the pilots talked to me for a couple of minutes. I was hooked. Not long after than the new way I'd see my dad was for him to buy me tickets on Southwest and I'd fly from OKC to KC. That set a precedent. In high school I was known to spend a Saturday by getting a round trip ticket on Southwest and fly from OKC to a random destination, hang out in the airport for a couple of hours and then fly back to OKC. (I miss the days of dirt cheap airline tickets. If it was still as inexpensive as it was then I'd likely still be doing that regularly!) My plan was to go to the Naval Academy and then fly planes in the Navy or Marine Corps. Everything was on track until I suffered a football injury my senior year of high school. The ensuing surgeries meant I would not be eligible for admission (no surgeries within six months) so I went on with other plans. I never stopped loving aviation, but it became something I just admired and didn't take any steps to make flying a reality for me.

Recently I learned about the Sport Pilot program and I love the idea. It is everything I want to be able to do in a plane. I'm fortunate that I could pass a third class medical without problem and have the means to pay for PPL training without problems. However the more I look into the Sport Pilot regulations the more I love it. Keeping the bar to admission to flying as low as possible while maintaining safety is exactly what the FAA should be doing. Since it isn't as popular as I'd like it to be that's the direction I want to take. I may progress into something else later, I may not. But I do know that in the not too distant future I'm going to be taking Sport Pilot lessons. I'd guess I'll travel to one of the "immersion" destinations for the fast track simply because there's no place within a reasonable distance from me here in Eastern Kentucky where I'll be living for the next 18 months or so.

I don't know how much I'll have to add to the discussion here. But I wanted to join just to be a part of this community.

Re: Hello

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:04 pm
by MovingOn
.......

Re: Hello

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:17 pm
by dstclair
There appears to be a school in Lexington that might be close you: http://www.aerotech.net/Flight_Training ... sport.html

Re: Hello

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:37 pm
by Flocker
Welcome aboard!

Re: Hello

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:30 pm
by InformalGreeting
Lexington is about a two and a half hour drive for me. While doable, not ideal.

I agree that a drawback to the Sport Pilot is lack of availability of light sport aircraft. But flying a modern aircraft with glass cockpit appeals to me, so the older certified aircraft don't really fit for me either. In looking at new planes the LSA prices are much more favorable when compared to new certified planes.

The odd duck is that I am fascinated by the Ercoupe and despite it not having all the fancy avionics I could see one of them in my future. The PPL would be nice then since so many of the planes that could be sport pilot eligible were certified at a gross too heavy to be flown by a sport pilot. But if I decide to go that route I'm sure I could find one with time. And if nothing else I could always continue on to a PPL ticket in the future.