(Disclaimer - I'm a NEWB, any advice is welcome) My Journey starts here, with all of you. I am currently grounded, but soon, I will spread my wings, and soar into the world of aviation. I COULDN'T BE MORE EXCITED!!! I am located in southeastern North Carolina, and in the fall [or sooner], I plan to start training to fly. About 12 years ago, I was a lineman for at Air Wilmington FBO in Wilmington, NC. Located right between the Cape Fear river, and the Atlantic coast. Working at the FBO was my favorite job growing up, hands down! I sell insurance now, and not nearly exciting. So far, I've spoken very briefly with a flight school at Cape Fear Airport in Brunswick County, and also a few CFIs located right here in Wilmington. There are a few give and takes with which direction I will ultimately go in. The flight school has a few planes and instructors on site; and with my second option, I can rent a Cessna, and have 1 of the 3 CFIs that Air Wilmington referred me to train me. If I can find an airworthy/ affordable Cessna 150, I would train locally, but until the day.... My biggest goal in becoming a pilot is to enjoy a hobby with my 2 sons. They are both under 7 years old now, but it's great timing to get them ready before they hit flying age. Also, I want to use my pilots license to start a career later in life. I have many ideas, a subject I can go one for hours about. Please feel free to share you experience, suggestions for me, equipment, anything! I'm a sponge right now, and I'm taking all the knowledge in I can get! BTW - If you live in Southeastern North Carolina, and every need a flying buddy; I will gladly help cover expenses for a day/weekend flight for a little adventure! I want all the time I can get in the air, even it's in the back seat! Thank YOU! Patrick Barnes Wilmington, NC Grounded (I will vlog/blog my journey from ground level to 15,000 feet, and post everything here and my youtube channel. Links to YouTube, IG, REDDIT coming soon)
Welcome Patrick, I hope you enjoy the journey! Do some research and be sure you qualify for a third class medical before you go too far down the path.
Good luck! Lots of hard work and dedication but becoming a pilot is one of life's greatest achievements... One that many of us now kinda take for granted. Thanks for the reminder of just how cool it is!
Until the YouTube revenue kicks in, that’s all the further the net to catch all the possible viewers will reach on social media?
Sky is technically the limit, but I say 15,000 because it's the highest I've jumped from. I thought to myself, "wouldn't it be cool to land the plane than to jump from it...."
Welcome to the horrifying world of PoA. This is a rough crowd around here, so be prepared to get the boxing gloves out.
