Great post Dave! Apart maybe from the dried sewage, beats wet fresh stuff.
dave_091 wrote:Well my friend, you have come to the right place!
I am a walking, living, breathing example of what you are about to take part in.
Where do I start? I could write a book on getting my PPL (took me just over 10 years).
I started my flight training on December 1st 2002. I'll never forget that first flight. I had just moved in from Victoria a few months earlier and it was my first Ontario winter. I thought that was the coldest day ever!
Anyways, I'm not going to go into too much detail about my PPL journey. I ceased my flight training in September of 2003. I received a call from a employer telling me that I had a job and that if I wanted it I had to leave and start work in two days (it was the military). So, after 16 hours of no sleep and lots of deliberation I called them back the following day and told them that I'll take the job.
At that point in time I had my flight test booked, and my ground school was almost completed. But, I called the flight school and told them the good news that I got a job I had been waiting over a year and a half for. I told them the bad news as well that my flight training would have to be continued at a later date because I am packing up and moving out.
It would be almost 10 years before I sat in the left seat of an aircraft again.
So, Christmas break 2011/2012 rolls around. I have a lot of time on my hands. I am kicking around the house relaxing and enjoying my time off work. The wife sees this as a great opportunity to use this spare time to clean the basement ( I had been putting it off for weeks... okay months). So, off I trudge into the unknown. The basement really needed to be cleaned alright. It flooded in the summer when I was away fighting Ghadaffi overseas. It was a sewer back up so almost everything got wet with 3-4 inches of water, sewer water. However, by the time I got to cleaning the basement all that was left was a dried crust of sh*t over EVERYTHING. I spent days cleaning out that basement. I came across a ziplock bag full of papers. I opened it to see if it was worthy of keeping. Inside was my PTR, Logbook, and all my flying receipts ( I was told to never throw them out) from ten years prior. I remember my thoughts when I started flipping my logbook pages. I thought that it was cool to have almost got my private pilots license. I was SO CLOSE but yet so far. I put the books back in the ziplock bags and left them there for a while. But, I couldn't stop thinking about flying. Flying was on the brain..
I was in a small town of about 17,000 people at the time and I didn't think we had a flight school. I decided to get online and look anyways. Turns out there was a two man operation flying out of the regional airport ( I had no idea we even had a regional airport in that small town). I decided to test the waters and give them a call. After that call I had a flight booked for January 15th 2012!
I went there for my flight on January 15th and brought my PTR and my logbook. The flight instructor there told me that even though my hours are a decade old they still count towards the PPL. I couldn't have been happier!
Since I had almost everything done in my PTR all they had to do was get me ready for the flight test. The two instructors sat down with each other and devised a plan for me.
They took me up flying and assessed my flying skills. They said that I was a little rusty but I remembered the big picture. I remember them saying that I had great prior training and that I had good habits ( thank-you OAS).
After ten years without flying I still had these habits, I guess it goes to show that flying is like riding a bike. You might be a little off balance at first but you pick it up pretty quick.
Before I could fly solo again I had to get a medical and do the PSTAR.
About my radio operators license, I cant remember who I contacted online but I eventually found the right department. I filled in some information about myeslf and it turns out they still had record of me completing my radio operators licence. Nice! They sent me a copy of my licence in the mail... free!
I was about 5 or 6 hours into my refresher flight training before I had all my ducks in a row to go solo. That solo flight was definitely not as dramatic as my first solo, I don't even remember that solo flight to tell you the truth. But, I will never forget my first ever solo.
So, April 9 2012 was my flight test. Passed with a 94%.
I did my ground school at the same time as my flying through Harvs Air online ( I highly recommend them). I passed my ground school as well with a 94%, getting 100% in the air law section.
It took me about 15 flying hours before I was ready for the flight test. I am glad I did those 15 hours flying, I learned a LOT from those 15 hours. My instructors at that small school were top notch.
Where am I now? I have bought my own plane ( a share) and I am continuing on with my CPL.
I think my wife regrets having me clean the basement that winter because my life since then entirely revolves around flying.
So, I guess I owe my new found flying career to my wife!
