“What all great teachers appear to have in common is love of their subject, an obvious satisfaction in rousing this love in their students, and an ability to convince them that what they are being taught is deadly serious.” Joseph Epstein
Another flying lesson this morning to learn more about simulated engine failures! I was so excited to fly – especially since it looked like we were going to be grounded because of the impending weather conditions. Today gave me another day to improve what I was being taught yesterday.
Yesterday I told you what I had to learn but I didn’t share with you Roger’s teaching style or the conditions under which I was learning. In all honesty, after the lesson I came back to work for a meeting and when I got home I was exhausted. I fell asleep and dreamed about flying and in my dreams there was Roger saying all the things he has told me many times in my lessons. But, this time, for whatever reason, it made me stop and think intensely and critically. Now some people would say that it sounded more like a nightmare, but it really was a beautiful dream with powerful lessons to learn.
Yesterday we went up to 4500 feet. The winds were just awful – technical term, don’t worry you don’t have to memorize it. Roger simulated an engine failure and I had to pick a place to land. I chose the field. In his very calm, soothing voice, he walked me through the steps. Now for anyone who thinks about flying, a really scary thought would be what if the engine fails. But, in all honesty, Roger’s voice made me instantly relax. Now that’s not only a great instructor, that’s a phenomenal instructor. I went through the steps and I was ecstatically happy when I completed it. We did quite a few of those, picking out fields and why those fields were chosen, then walking through what I was doing with him giving me instruction along the way. Then I did a few at the airport itself.
This morning’s lessons continued near the airport. He took me through simulated engine failures taking off, as I was about to land, etc. It builds your confidence in leaps and bounds. It puts the pilot more in control. I can’t remember a lesson where I learned as much as I did this morning except during my very first flying lessons.
Why did I learn so much this morning? The dream last night made me wake up at 3:00 this morning and really think. Think about flying lessons, think about life, think about being disciplined, think about what all I still needed to learn to stay safe as I will always continue to enjoy sunrises and just being up in the air. The beauty of the sky is my motivator. I fell hard in the passion trap. We’ve shared many, many sunrises with you. For others, the motivator may be how much quicker it is to get from Point A to Point B. But, what I haven’t shared with you is the work that goes into learning all that you need to know to be a good pilot – let alone be a great pilot like Roger is. Like this morning, Roger was telling me, well showing me, that my passengers would complain if I continued to play with the airspeed indicator the way I was doing. What I hadn’t learned was, but he taught me, that the airspeed indicator was a delayed reading so when I saw it was at 80, I would quickly move it to 70, which left me weaving in the air. I couldn’t figure out where I would have learned that. For me personally, flying is a passion. And sometimes it hurts – hurts when you don’t feel that you’ve gotten a grasp on everything you should know and feel that you’re being compared.
“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping… waiting… and though unwanted… unbidden… it will stir… open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us… guides us… passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love… the clarity of hatred… and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace… but we would be hollow… Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.” — Joss Whedon, Screenwriter and Director
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and and some style” Maya Angelou