I have always wanted to be a pilot. It is so freeing to be in the sky, alone with just the roar of a propeller and engine to accompany you. Looking down everything seems so flat and tiny (even more so than usual for Iowa). I have earned my Private Pilot's License about two years ago now, and about a year ago is when I finally became IFR certified. So, I can fly without visual reference to the ground plus it just makes me a safer pilot! 

This video is from a while ago now, and it shows me flying with another pilot on an early cross country flight to Sioux City from Estherville and back. The quality isn't fantastic, but it was almost entirely shot on a phone over two years ago. The flight itself was my first really long cross country and it went very smoothly as I remember it. I was not the pilot in command on this flight and I was just riding along with another student that was further along for fun.

This video is of my first cross country flight by myself. These early flights were all done in a C-152 which is so tiny that you can hardly fit comfortably in the cockpit on your own let alone having someone else in there as well. I am not a big person luckily so it wasn't such a big deal, and back then I was running cross country which kept me very fit and lean. I fly mostly C-172's today and they are much bigger on the inside with plenty of room to comfortably sit 3 people. 

This last video shows more of my Private Pilot License training with some steep clearing turns, and a trip out to Sioux Falls with a flight instructor. When we got out to the airport and landed in Sioux Falls the F-16 squadron was doing some practicing as well which was very cool to see. Just another example of the cool things we can see and hear (those fighter jets can be extremely loud!). I seriously enjoy flying around and the aviation community in general, and that is why I am hoping to get a commercial exemption to operate a drone legally to do some really cool things in the future. Aside from that, I'll keep this blog posted on my adventures, success, and plans!