Design a life you love.
When I went for a flying lesson this morning, I kept thinking of that saying.
As with every lesson with my flight instructor, I learned a great deal starting with, “I’m safe” which is an aviation acronym:
- Illness – is the pilot suffering from an illness which might affect their flight
- Medication – is the pilot taking any prescription or over-the-counter drug
- Stress – Pressures of every day life that can affect performance
- Alcohol – within the past 8 hours
- Fatigue – has the pilot gotten enough sleep, for instance
- Emotion – upsetting event – but the “E” has been changed to “Eating” (hydration, nutrition)
The most exciting thing that I learned this morning, however, was how to feel the plane for landings instead of dealing with the mechanical aspect. I was thrilled! The landings were much smoother.
I also learned that it takes three minutes for the wake turbulence from a jet to dissipate (which is important when following a jet when you’re landing).
And, did you know that the typical sound level of a small plane is about 88 decibels at about 1000 feet above the ground – the equivalent of a dishwasher.
I love Roanoke Airport (Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport) as I’ve said previously. One of the things I just learned is there is an underpass. Construction of the tunnel became necessary as a result of a 900-foot expansion in 1985 to Runway 6/24 crossing its right-of-way (along Virginia State Route 118).
There’s always a song that I choose in the morning to listen to all day in my mind. I get my energy from the songs I choose. I hope you start every day with a song in your heart and a smile on your face.
Marc Riboud, a French photojournalist, said “taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” Although I wasn’t the one taking any of the photos on this site, I truly appreciate Riboud’s sentiment while viewing the photos. Or, as Ansel Adams wisely put it, “there are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”
