Aviation

In 2019 I earned my private pilot certificate in single engine land ("SEL") technical advanced aircraft (TAA) in Palo Alto, California ("KPAO").

One will usually find me flying Cirrus aircraft like the SR-20 or SR-22T on the western side of the United States.

Purpose

The reasons I fly don't have to do with earning money as a pilot. It has more to do with the adventure of flying, seeing things from a different perspective, challenging myself to accomplish something few people do, learning something new, opening more possibilities for weekend getaways, and doing something that lets me treat friends to new experiences.

Frequent answers to questions

• No, I'm not scared, but I do worry about unmanaged, unmanageable, unidentified risks.
• Yes, there is some math involved, but not as much as people seem to think.
• Yes, it is expensive. (this makes up 50% of the math one must do in aviation).
• Earning your private certificate takes less than a year if you commit to flying 2-3 times per week.
• When you rent an airplane, you usually only pay for the time that the airplane's engine is actually running (measured on a "Hobbs meter" in tenths of an hour), not for the time you have the airplane booked.
• It depends on the winds and the type of airplane flown, but somewhere around 172 miles per hour.
• No, I have not actually deployed the parachute.

Okay, I was only asked that last question once, but I'm still uncertain whether they were joking or not when they asked. I had been giving a safety brief to a passenger regarding the Cirrus Aircraft Parachute System ("CAPS").

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