Climbing higher

Sidd s -

Hey everyone, and welcome back to my blog post! The past two weeks have been nothing short of incredible, and I’m thrilled to share my progress with you.

To start, I completed my first flight lesson last Friday, and it exceeded all my expectations. My instructor actually let me handle the takeoff and gave me full control of the aircraft—a moment that was both exhilarating and surreal. Calling it a thrilling experience wouldn’t do it justice. The air was turbulent that day, adding an extra challenge to my flight, but rather than being intimidated, I found it made the experience even more dynamic. Surprisingly, despite having never been in the cockpit of a plane before, I felt at home the moment I started the engine. We spent an hour and a half in the sky, soaring over Lake Roosevelt, and the views were absolutely breathtaking—made even better by the fact that I was the one flying. The controls took some adjusting to, but I picked them up quickly, and by the end of the lesson, I felt significantly more confident. I have my next flight lesson later this week, and I can’t wait to share that experience with you as well. 

Beyond my time in the cockpit, I also had the opportunity to interview a few pilots about their journeys in aviation. Their insights were invaluable, but one story, in particular, stuck with me. This pilot began his aviation journey at 17—much like myself—but a negative experience with an instructor led him to take a ten-year hiatus. Eventually, he came back to aviation and successfully completed his training. Today, he flies private planes. His story reminded me that: no matter your age or the obstacles you face, if you have a true passion for aviation, you can always find your way back to the clouds. 

 

Below I have some images from my flight lesson to share with you. I have learned a lot from these two weeks alone, and I can’t wait to climb even higher during the rest of my project!

 

 

More Posts

Comments:

All viewpoints are welcome but profane, threatening, disrespectful, or harassing comments will not be tolerated and are subject to moderation up to, and including, full deletion.

    nico_l
    You finally took off Sidd, how cool for you! Those pictures over Roosevelt are really nice, even for a tan and brown monotonous landscape. My question for you is how different a small private plane like that is different to fly from a commercial one, minus stuff such as the engine technology and automatic systems, because the cockpit looks more or less the same in design.
    March 26, 2025 at 11:55 am - Reply
    joaquin_s
    Hey Sidd, this sounds amazing! It's great that you finally got to take the reins for yourself. I was wondering though, when you said that you felt "at home" in the cockpit, why do you think that could be?
    March 26, 2025 at 2:18 pm - Reply
    vinesh_k
    Great stuff, Sidd! So exciting that you were able to take off and actually fly a plane. Did you have that fight-or-flight response or were you calm throughout?
    April 7, 2025 at 8:37 pm - Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *