Personal Aviation

I took the “What Airplane Are You” quiz and here are the results.

You are a DEHAVILLAND BEAVER. You love
adventure. You are a person of the outdoors,
very in-tune with nature and your surroundings.
You enjoy communication between people, and
also your alone time. You are not afraid to
take risks. You aren’t afraid of sucking up
some of the pleasures that life can offer. You
are a well-rounded individual, who puts your
passion in to almost all you do.

What Airplane Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Just by looking at the list of possible airplanes, I would have said I was most like the bush plane – even without the quiz. That got me thinking about why and how I want to fly. It’s pretty obvious that I am never going to have a career as an airline pilot so, what are my goals? I like the term “personal aviation” to describe what we non-professionals are doing. The personal part implies that we are each free to pursue our own interests without worrying about what experience potential employers are looking for. For me, personal aviation means travel and just plain fun flying.

Travel by GA aircraft can make the journey as much an enjoyable part of the trip as the destination. In fact, some of the trips I would like to make are all about the journey. I would like to fly the length of the Mississippi, follow Highway 1 from Maine to Florida, and make a figure 8 around Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. To make travel by light aircraft more practical, I plan to start working on my instrument rating soon after getting my private certificate.

For fun, I want to get a glider rating and try flying ultralights. I don’t have much interest in doing serious aerobatics but I would like to take an introductory course. A sea plane rating is another possibility. Other fun aviation related activities I would like to try are hang gliding, paragliding and skydiving.

It seems to me that personal aviation can be fully as challenging as professional flying. There will always be something new to learn and learning new things is what keeps us young. I have much to look forward to.