atomicant

i spent today flying around south western idaho with my dad and a bunch of his flying geek friends. i guess a few years/decades ago, this company started importing these little planes into the us from europe, and they have taken off. safer than home-built kit planes, way more affordable than more the larger cessnas and pipers, they became really popular. my dad got one used about 2 years ago, and ever since then i have tried to get him to take me up in it as much as possible when home. i really like it, because it's not very intimidating and it's relatively easy to fly.

i've been talking about getting my private pilot's license ever since he bought it, and today after doing some research, i found an unlikely coincidence. there is a company that does a weekend long intensive ground school program all over the country, sort of a traveling flight instruction. and lo and behold, it's in portland next weekend. so, i signed up and hopefully will be in the possession of a passing grade on an FAA Private Pilot's License exam by next sunday afternoon.

the nice part about this set up is that i will save literally thousands in fees. once i have passed the test, i can simply come home and have one of my dad's instructor friends (he has several) take me out for probably the price of a cheap lunch at the nampa airport cafe (haute cuisine, i promise you), and since my dad kind of likes me, i can use his plane for just the cost of gas. so, hopefully either by the end of the year or early next year, i will have my private pilot's license. that will make traveling a lot more fun...