The Background

The Adventure
     Life is a pathway which splits into many other paths, each leading to a different place. Many times we pass a fork in the road, and we must choose which direction to walk. If we were to walk some distance on each path, we would discover that although each pathway is different, with different hills, valleys, and rough spots, they all share one similarity. They are all an adventure. Although we are not able to walk on each other's pathways, sometimes our pathways merge, and we walk through the same area where someone else has walked before. In these instances, we often wish the person ahead of us had left a map or a note of some sort, telling the conditions of the road ahead.
     This is my what I hope to accomplish here. No one may have exactly the same adventure as I am having, but I will write down a "map," a note showing the path I walked, so that someone may someday find it, and it will help them on their adventure. And I will write not only for the sake of those walking my same path, but also simply for the enjoyment of anyone who would like to read it. I will also write so that God's work may be seen as I follow His leading.
     The adventure I am on is one many have had before, and doubtless many will have in the future. I am learning to fly. Since I was a child I have dreamed of soaring above the clouds as the pilot of an airplane, with four gold stripes on my sleeve, carrying passengers and cargo to far away places. Although I have grown up a bit since then and learned that being a pilot is not quite as glamorous as I envisioned it, I still feel drawn to the cockpit, and I believe God has called me to pursue this passion he placed within me.
     As with any adventure, there was a beginning. However, my love for aviation began at a young enough age that I cannot pinpoint the exact day, or even year for that matter. I do remember around the age of 12 hanging out at my friend's house one afternoon, and he showed me the best thing I had ever seen - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. We took turns flying all kinds of airplanes, from Cessnas to Boeings, using his computer's keyboard. From that time on, I was hooked. I began saving up my money to buy my own copy, which took a while. When I finally had enough money, I purchased the brand new Microsoft Flight Simulator X and a joystick. In the following years, I spent many hours flying and modding the simulator. Sometime in those years I decided I wanted to fly for real, and that became one of my main goals.
     As I thought of learning to fly, I started to feel that God was leading me in the direction of missionary aviation. With that in mind, missionary flying is now my end goal, but this is something that will take a few years to accomplish. Before going into the field I will most likely have to train for an instrument rating, a multi-engine rating, and a commercial pilot license, as well as build several hundred hours of flight time.
     Galen, my uncle, is a pilot, and he has taken my flying in his airplane quite a few times, as has John, a powered-parachute pilot. This has been a big part of keeping me motivated to press on toward earning my pilot certificate, and I have also flown a little with a flight instructor I know, which put a total of 4 hours in my logbook.
     Now, after much anticipation and planning, the time has come to begin training. I researched many flight schools and many ways of earning my certificate, and I decided on Sporty's Academy in Batavia, OH. They have an accelerated training program, which consists of devoting all day to training for two to three weeks. I will come out of the program with a Private Pilot License, which allows me to fly small, single-engine airplanes, with or without passengers, but not for hire. Before beginning training there, however, I needed to either pass the written exam ahead of time, or be prepared to take it when I get there.
   
Ground School
     I am using the online version of Sporty's Learn to Fly Course, which is a combination of video lessons and interactive material, to prepare for the written exam. The videos make things easy to understand, but there is a lot of information presented, which can be somewhat overwhelming at times. I have really enjoyed going through all of them. This took about eight weeks of studying in my spare time. I was working a full-time job during this time, as well as managing of several other responsibilities, so this consisted of one to two hours of study per day on average.

Medical Certificate
     Before I can fly solo, I had to be examined by an FAA-approved Aviation Medical Examiner. I set up an appointment with the closest one to home, and after a simple physical examination, he signed my third-class medical certificate. It was actually faster than I had expected; I was assuming he would have to send in the results, and I would have to wait several days or weeks to be approved. I was pleasantly surprised to walk out of the exam room with my medical certificate in my hand.

It Begins
     With all that taken care of, I am ready to begin the flight portion of my training which takes place at Sporty's in Ohio. I had called in early June to schedule the training, and the earliest date they had available begins on August 15. This was later than I had anticipated, but it ended up working out nicely, because ground school has taken longer than I planned.
     Today I leave home to drive down to Batavia and get a good night's rest at the hotel before my first day of training. Then I am supposed to meet my instructor at the airport at 08:00 the next morning. Needless to say, I am quite excited to finally be doing this, and I am looking forward to seeing how God will use it for His glory.