The icebreaker

I've always wanted to be a pilot. Real life has a habit of getting in the way of dreams. Work, kids, money tend to postpone the unnecessary. My kids are mostly in college now, and while that may have made the money situation tight, my job is such that I can get some free time when I like.

I had not thought too much about flying lessons until my oldest son gave me a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator X for my birthday. That was like throwing gasoline on a fire(which I've been stupid enought to try). I wanted to fly for real. One little bitty problem arose: my wife was not nearly as excited by the idea as I was.

Fast forward to June, my wife and I take a cruise to Alaska. I'm able to talk her into taking a seaplane flight to a lodge near Juneau. That's us on the dock with the Taku Glacier and a seaplane in the background. Turns out that the wife did not have such a horrible time on the "rickety" little plane. Matter of fact, she was to busy snapping photos of the scenery to notice much about the flight. This is one of the glaciers we flew over that day. If you're going to Alaska, I would highly recommend this trip. If you want to read more about the Alaska cruise, you can check out a blog written by one of my table mates http://www.timstravelblog.com/

At any rate, the whole thing has the effect of softening up my wife a bit, and what do you know, she finally says I can fly!

That's what this blog is about. I've read other blogs about flying. Most start with their first lesson. I'm going to start now. I have to select a flight school and get my medical certification which will be more complicated than most since I have amblyopia (lazy eye). The amblyopia is the reason I did not try to fly when I was younger. You can't fly for a living with that condition, but it is possible to get a private pilot's license.

I hope you enjoy.

Tony