Outside of the Shop

In 2021, I made the decision to pursue my lifelong goal of becoming a pilot. I signed up for classes at Beach Cities Aviation Academy at Jack Northrop Field / Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Hawthorne, CA, and spent the next year and a half training to officially become an aviator. 

Three months after I began my training, I was severely injured in the crash involving my Super Beetle, and would spent the next month in recovery before I was able to get in the air again. It was after that crash that I decided I was probably much safer in the air, far away from crazy LA drivers! 

During the course of my training, we experienced an in-flight electrical fire while I was in the traffic pattern with my instructor, which caused us to have to divert back to the field and make an emergency short approach landing. This became an excellent teaching moment in Crew Resource Management (CRM) as we were both able to play critical roles in a task-saturated emergency scenario. 

While flying Solo, I experienced a problem with one of the aircraft's magnetos before takeoff that I was able to diagnose on the ground with the assistance of the flight school. This became a great example of making a Go / No-Go decision on the ground, with an emphasis on "Get There-itis" that the FAA warns us about. Eventually, after talking it through with the flight school's mechanic, I made the decision to take off and return to HHR after taking the time to map out as many potential landing sites as I could find in case an in-flight engine failure were to occur. 

In the end, I earned my Private Pilot's license after approximately 130 hours of training in Cessna 172 type aircraft, most of which was spent maintaining my proficiency during the several months I had to wait for a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) to become available. During this time, I became familiar with both the classic "Steam Gauge" and GP1000 instruments, as well as various types of GPS systems.