I'm a Pilot!

Matthew K

Matthew K

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Sep 14, 2016
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788
Location
Georgia
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Broke Engineer
Hello all!

As of today, September 1st 2017, I am officially a Private Pilot! My General aviation introductory flight was in late July of 2015, and a little over two years later I am officially a pilot!

I honestly wasn't expecting the weather to cooperate today. This whole week had been projecting bad weather for Friday, but THANKFULLY it worked out quite well.

As for the check-ride itself, I found it somewhat unexciting. I had a great time and the instructor was very knowledgeable and friendly, I just suppose I expected it to be more challenging. I studied and fretted all this week about today. I have read about other people feeling the same way after their check-ride, I just suppose I expected the worst case scenario. The in-flight portion was 1.5 hours and the ground portion was about another 1.5hrs.

Now my first flight was in July 2015, but I didn't start training consistently till March of 2016. I'll admit, it has taken me a good bit of time to get my license. However that is purely b/c of financial restrictions(flying is expensive for someone with relatively little income) and minimum age requirements. I am still happy to say that before today's check-ride, I had 57.7 flight hours, and given the amount of time it has taken to get me here, I don't think 57.7 hrs is to bad at all.

I could go on and on about all my training experiences, but in the interest of not making my very tired arms fall off, I'll stick to just answering any questions anyone might have over writing a 5 page essay ;).

Now if all this summer hurricane weather would pass so I can actually fly in the evening that'd be great! :p

P.S. I'm 17(not kidding) :D
 
Well done Matthew!
Keep that attitude of perseverance throughout your life and you will be successful at whatever challenge you set for yourself.

So where you goin' for your first flight as a pilot, and who ya takin' with you?
 
Matthew K said:
Hello all!

As of today, September 1st 2017, I am officially a Private Pilot! My General aviation introductory flight was in late July of 2015, and a little over two years later I am officially a pilot!

I honestly wasn't expecting the weather to cooperate today. This whole week had been projecting bad weather for Friday, but THANKFULLY it worked out quite well.

As for the check-ride itself, I found it somewhat unexciting. I had a great time and the instructor was very knowledgeable and friendly, I just suppose I expected it to be more challenging. I studied and fretted all this week about today. I have read about other people feeling the same way after their check-ride, I just suppose I expected the worst case scenario. The in-flight portion was 1.5 hours and the ground portion was about another 1.5hrs.

Now my first flight was in July 2015, but I didn't start training consistently till March of 2016. I'll admit, it has taken me a good bit of time to get my license. However that is purely b/c of financial restrictions(flying is expensive for someone with relatively little income) and minimum age requirements. I am still happy to say that before today's check-ride, I had 57.7 flight hours, and given the amount of time it has taken to get me here, I don't think 57.7 hrs is to bad at all.

I could go on and on about all my training experiences, but in the interest of not making my very tired arms fall off, I'll stick to just answering any questions anyone might have over writing a 5 page essay ;).

Now if all this summer hurricane weather would pass so I can actually fly in the evening that'd be great! :p

P.S. I'm 17(not kidding) :D
Click to expand...

Congrats. If you're well prepared, the checkride shouldn't be hard. You know exactly what it's going to include (you've studied the ACS) and your instructor has already ensured that you're capable of meeting standards. Nevertheless, congratulations on this achievement. I was 20 when I did my private and I can relate the the cost issue. Have fun and fly safe.
 
GRG55 said:
Well done Matthew!
Keep that attitude of perseverance throughout your life and you will be successful at whatever challenge you set for yourself.

So where you goin' for your first flight as a pilot, and who ya takin' with you?
Click to expand...
When weather allows, I'm thinking of taking my parents out for lunch(or breakfast) to either KSSI or O9J :).
Brad Z said:
Congrats. If you're well prepared, the checkride shouldn't be hard. You know exactly what it's going to include (you've studied the ACS) and your instructor has already ensured that you're capable of meeting standards. Nevertheless, congratulations on this achievement. I was 20 when I did my private and I can relate the the cost issue. Have fun and fly safe.
Click to expand...
Agreed. My instructor did a swell job in preparing me for the check-ride. Ironically, my examiner got his PPL at the age of 17 as well! Now on to trying to save some cash to get my IFR rating(maybe high performance endorsement first)! :D
 
Congrats! Learning to fly young is a sure sign of an excellent aviator! :D (I got my license at 16)
 
Congrats!!

That said, you were already a pilot. The first grade of pilot certificate is........

That does NOT take anything away from your recent accomplishment.

Congratulations!!
 
Congratulations, Matthew! Well done! And done at a great age! You have your whole life to enjoy aviation! Congrats again, Pilot!
 
Congrats and good job on maximizing the TBFR (Time Before Flight Review). Had you done yet yesterday, you'd only have 365 days but now you have 395 days. Ideal would have been Jan 1 on a leap year (397 days), but probably not worth the wait. :)
 
Good on ya. . .sometime in the next 200 - 300 hours your confidence will grow, likely out of proportion to your skills, and you'll scare yourself spitless. Your brain will then raise Hell with your body for putting you in that position.

It'll be a great learning experince, unless you're stupid (you don't sound stupid); Confidence shaken, you'll be overly cautious for a bit, at least in similiar situations, then gradually recover your elan, and get on with it.

The barrier to PPL is not real high - there are plenty of pilots better suited to coin collecting or board games: they like the idea of being a pilot, but worship so devoutly at the alter of safety that they suck the joy right out if it. . .

If you go a few hundred more hours and are never scared, never in serious doubt, or never feel in over your head. . . Monopoly is good.
 
Sundancer said:
Good on ya. . .sometime in the next 200 - 300 hours your confidence will grow, likely out of proportion to your skills, and you'll scare yourself spitless. Your brain will then raise Hell with your body for putting you in that position.
Click to expand...

BTDT, got the t-shirt. It's true. You're safest by the numbers now, tapering off to about 200 hours, then you scare yourself and you get serious again. Just by the stats of it all, anyway.

Stay sharp!
 
Matthew,

First, congratulations!!

Now, on to the serious advice....

If you don't already have one, go out and buy yourself a baseball bat. I mean, do it right now! Always carry it with you. You'll need it to beat off all the women that will be chasing after you!!!
 
Congrats! Two thumbs up. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Now you have a certificate to learn with, really learn, gain confidence and experience. Go fly often!
 
Well done! Welcome to the less than 1% of us who can legally fly an airplane by yourself!:thumbsup:

Sounds like you were very prepared for the checkride which is a tremendous gift your instructor and you yourself gave to you.

Now the real fun starts! The PPL really is a license to learn even more and experience sights and adventures of the world from up above that only us fortunate enough to know how amazing flying is get to appreciate! Go have fun flying and welcome to the friendly sky.
 
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