Summer flying is here – a lot has changed in this past year, and as life does, more changes will come!
Sis may not be flying now, but I remember past flights and am planning for new destinations.
Like many, Oshkosh is a yearly destination for me. While it is certainly about airplanes, the connections made and renewed each year make it a time to recharge and refocus.
While most treks are driving due to logistics, I have also flown in and camped on multiple occasions. The procedures for arrival and departure are published yearly due to the sheer volume.
Landing at Oshkosh is certainly something that Sis and I will do again. There’s nothing like the greeting from the controller upon landing, ‘Welcome to Oshkosh.” The words don’t sound like much, but the emotion and accomplishment of making it intermixed make it so much more.
Air Race Classic will be zooming off again later this month. A descendant of the Powder Puff Derby, this race has been on my radar and bucket list for some time as a skill-based race focused solely on women pilots.
Women have as much skill, capability, and determination as their male counterparts in numerous areas, and flying is no different.
The race flies under daytime visual conditions, and while the course may be the same, the airplanes are handicapped to their abilities; the pilot that flies their airplane to the best of its abilities will win regardless of speed.
The course changes each year, allowing all areas of the United States (and even Canada) to be part.
Seeing women at the controls of aircraft is nothing new. Celebrating it shouldn’t have to happen but is necessary to highlight the differences and encourage more girls to enter into what has been a male-dominated world since its inception.
Camaraderie and spirited competition are highlighted in racing regardless of the mode. That’s what I miss about running, and hope to be able to enjoy it in that vein down the road. Type A personalities are commonplace in aviation, regardless of gender. To be seen as competent, women are often twice as good as their male counterparts to be seen as an equal. While this is anecdotal in nature, it is not entirely a surprise.
Having a goal to work towards makes the journey more rewarding. I have wanted to fly Sis long distances but had outside issues working against me.
While the Bonanza is not airworthy now, we are in the process of restoring her to flight, and with her flying, we will begin working towards our bucket list.
Getting ready to fly a race means knowing the aircraft well and having maintenance issues worked out or mitigated for race purposes and everyday flying.
Places I would like to fly and experience don’t need to be someday; they can be within the foreseeable future.
Getting out and flying, regardless of the aircraft type, is almost always fun. Good weather makes things more enjoyable.
My parents had flown Sis all over creation, and I’m looking forward to making my own trips and memories with her.
At this point in my life, I’m looking forward to exploring locations and making the trips I have dreamed of for too long.
Each of us has goals we want to reach along the way, and if we don’t make a concerted effort regularly toward goals, we stagnate on one level or another.
Life happens while we are making plans; what if making the best of the moment is the entire point of the journey?