search
top

Destination: Perfect Moments

Have you ever wondered what it felt like to have the freedom to fly?

A few Saturdays ago, flying one of Skydive Columbus’ Cessna 182s over Lancaster Ohio, I had just let out my 2nd group of skydivers this season. I managed a perfect 60 degree banked spiral at 160 mph down from 10,000 feet; pulled power off at 4000 feet; made a textbook entry to the traffic pattern at Fairfield County Airport. I never again touched the throttle until after I touched down so softly on the numbers and right over the centerline of the faded, narrow runway that I couldn’t feel the airplane land; I made the first turnoff and made my way proudly (in my mind) back to the hangar.

All that was running through my head as I taxied in was HOW MUCH I LOVE FLYING! Even after doing it for 39 years. The satisfaction of making that perfect flight, approach and landing is serene and invigorating all at once.

Trust me, those perfect moments are few and far between in anyone’s flying career, but they make all the training, work and not-so-perfects worth the effort and frustration.

It can happen in many different types of flying: the perfectly executed instrument approach; floating over the magical colors of the leaves in southern Ohio in the fall; weaving your way through summertime showers to your destination without finding a bump; mountain views, the precision of nailing the perfect loop ……

Every pilot knows exactly what I’m talking about.

In a larger sense, there are many such life experiences that are so worthwhile, so thrilling, calming, exciting, and full of wonder that you come away thinking “everyone should try this at least once”.

Other endeavors have yielded similar feelings: floating down to a pristine coral reef; the quiet slap of waves and wind during a sunset sail; an easy slalom down a pristine, ponderosa lined mountain ski trail; the perfect tee shot (something I’ve never personally been able to do, but my friends who have say it feels great!) ; smoothly and quickly cracking two targets on a sporting clays course; for some, it’s closing a big sale; or even sitting down to dinner at a world class restaurant. For most of us living a hectic life, those perfect opportunities and performances are rare, but boy when they happen…

Capturing these experiences, and the opportunity to achieve them is what this blog and AIRvocation are all about.

Helping people to get a small taste of these feelings, (and there are countless more); and inspiring those who “always wanted to to that” – to do that!

AIRvocation advocates for the kind of personal travel freedom to make these kinds of experiences easily and frequently accessible, and making getting there as much fun as the destination.

I hope you’ll stay tuned to more ideas and adventures to come …

 

 

top