I went flying today for the second time after taking a nine-month hiatus. After spending last summer working intensively on my private pilot's license, I had to take a break. Life got in the way, as it often does for student pilots. I had to go back to work full-time after a professor's summer off. Then I had to join in the planning of a destination wedding in Miami (I know, poor lil ol' me) and be one its stars (I was the bride). Then I had to write thank you notes for wedding presents and pay bills and return emails and just generally adjust to returning to real life.
Now that I have done all of that, it is time to get back to the business of learning to fly. A few days ago I returned to the left seat and the cockpit of a Cessna 172. Although last year I had reached the point of being able to preflight without my checklist (which I would consult after my airplane walkaround and confirm that I had indeed checked everything), on this day I needed to scrutinize it closely. Once my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) and I had confirmed together that we could take the plane up, we got in, did another checklist, turned the key in the ignition, got the prop spinning, and began taxiing. Even calling on the radio had become unfamiliar to me so I rehearsed what I would say before pressing the button and taking up airtime.
Eventually I taxied to the runway and took off. Leaving the ground of my own volition felt amazing (as did keeping the nose of the plane at the correct angle while I did it). It was a shorter flight, sort of a review for me after my long absence from learning. Under the direction of my CFI, I did some lefthand, righthand, and 360 degree turns. I tried some different altitudes. I followed the Hudson River a bit. And before I knew it, it was time to turn back to the airport.
Today was lesson #2 in my journey back to being a conscientious student pilot. The checklist went a little faster and easier, the takeoff was even more exciting (especially because the commercial jet that needed our runway arrived and took off right before me, taking some of the pressure off), and we did some more maneuvers.
But here's the thing: Although it sounds so cool that I am learning to fly (really, I totally get that), and it is cool, it's also very challenging. I have more days than not that I think I will forever be the equivalent of a student driver with that big plastic triangle on my car that says so and someone sitting next to me helping out with every turn (which my CFI patiently does). One of my biggest challenges is that I get motion sickness - kind of a cruel joke, right? A wannabe pilot who can't keep her lunch down but wants to fly through the skies in a tiny airplane and be buffeted around now and then with no incident. I have tried everything: deep breathing, clenching my stomach, trying to relax my body, positioning the cool air vents on my face, taking Bonine (which apparently makes you drowsy, so I would not recommend...although I was so nervous about not throwing up that I did not get drowsy, so in that way I guess it worked), Sea Bands, ginger gum, and even actually vomiting in the airplane (while in the middle of attempting to fly it). Any new suggestions?
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