First Flight

July 12, 2013

I went on my first flight at LCG in Wayne Nebraska. That weekend was chicken days in Wayne, which is a local festival celebrating the community. The Young Eagles program was giving away free flights as a part of the celebration. I went on the flight as a part of the Young Eagles program. At the time I was just below the age cutoff to participate, and I remember being extremely excited for the chance to leave the ground. We flew in an older Piper 140. I flew with my brother, with me in the copilot seat and my brother riding in the back.

When we got back on the ground I quickly realized that I needed to continue to pursue flying. After making it back home I did all the research I could into flying and came to the unfortunate conclusion that I could not afford to pursue the dream.

Introductory Lesson

May 12, 2018

A few years later I was back up in the sky again. My girlfiend had purchased me a free first flight lesson voucher at St. Charles Flying Service. The flying service had setup a “Groupon” discounted first flight lesson to bring more students into the door. I was able to fly in the copilot seat, and my brother flew in the back seat. I was able to taxi, and take the controls for a large portion of the flight. My instructor handled the majority of the actual flying work, but I really felt like I was the one controlling our adventure through the air. After 20 or 30 minutes we returned to the airport, my instructor landed, and I taxied us back to the ramp.

First Primary Flight Training

June 12, 2020

After working at Garmin for nearly a year I had my first flight lesson. I flew at KIXD and rented through NCAS. My first lesson was with my instructor Jim, who is a local legend when it come to primary instruction. He instructed countless Garmin employees, and continues to. A great instruction to light a fire of passion in his students. I flew in a 1981 Cessna 172-P with the long range tanks in it. It was painted a hideous yellow with blue accents, and was affectionately named “Tweety bird”. This plane was later scrapped for rust on the firewall…

First Solo

August 16, 2020

After gathering about 15 hours of dual instruction time I was sent to do my first solo flight. At this point in time I felt comfortable and competent. I think my confidence was still lacking a little but I knew what to do and had done it many times before that. My First solo was actually in a different Cessna 172 than I had been previously flying. I flew in N972NC which is a 1971 Cessna 172-L. This is the plane I would continue to fly thoughout the rest of my primary training and would later take my checkride in.

Checkride

September 5, 2021

After just under 60 hours of flight time I took my checkride. My training had been full and complete and I had grown anxious about the checkride which only caused me to delay it further. I believe I could have passed the checkride much earlier, but waited until I was confident that I was fully prepared. I took my checkride with a Kansas City area DPE, Ron Albertson. He was a big name in the area and commanded respect and competency during his examinations. When I wrapped up my flight with Ron he said that I was “Shit Hot” and signed my logbook.

Let’s Buy a Plane

November 2nd 2023

Right around the time of my first biannual flight review, my itch to adventure into ownership grew. I don’t think there are many pilots who don’t have the goal of one day owning an airplane. I had historically run the numbers many times on ownership and always decided that it wouldn’t work for me, and that it wasn’t a realistic goal. Then one day I just decided I was going to do it, and that it had to happen now.

After hunting far and wide for Cessna 172s, I mentioned to my buddy that 150s and 152s seem like an interesting option. Less plane, but also less money and as far as I was concerned the same amount of smiles. He referred me to another pilot based out of his airport that was looking to sell a 150. The plane was simple but exceptionally clean and the previous owner had a stellar reputation on the field for his quality of work. The deal was right, and I was ready to sign. I walked away being an aircraft owner.