I Can’t Believe I’m a Pilot!
On April 29th, 2023, I officially became a Private Pilot. I truly can’t believe it and working towards this goal has been one of the most challenging things I’ve done as an adult. Challenging in the best possible way. I used my brain in ways I’ve never used it before, I pushed myself to do things I never thought I could do, and I worked really hard to get my training done in a short window of time. I spent just over a month at Riggin Flight Service in Madison, South Dakota. I officially flew 16 of the 31 days. Some days I was flying 3 times a day if the weather allowed for it. I documented the whole process and tried to bring you all along for the journey. You can watch all of my videos here or by clicking the photo below.
If you’re wanting to become a pilot yourself, do it. Push yourself, save the money, go do it! Here’s what I recommend if you’re wanting to learn how to fly:
#1: Go get your medical. If you’re just looking to fly for fun and only get your Private, you will need a 3rd class medical. Do this before you spend any money on anything flying-related.
#2: Get your ground school out of the way. But time it right! I did my ground school thinking I was going to start flying shortly after and then some things came up and I had to put the flying off for a year. I felt like I forgot a lot of the ground school in that year, but I was very grateful to have the ground school done so I could focus on flying. It would have been so much information to take in if I did the ground and flying simultaneously. As you know, I highly recommend Pilot Institute.
#3: Save up the money. If you “pay as you go” you’ll run out of money and stop flying. This will cost you more money in the long run. Breaks in your flying could mean that you are spending a lot of time and money redoing things you worked on before your break. Save the money so that you won’t have to have gaps in your training.
#4. I know this isn’t possible or great for everyone, but I really enjoyed the accelerated program. I was able to take a chunk of time and get it done. I think it would be really hard to fly once or twice a week. It felt advantageous to be at the school, fully dedicated, flying every minute I could. It takes me a long time to build confidence and once I built that confidence, it was crazy to see what even a few down weather days would do to it/my flying.
I went to Riggin Flight Service for my training and I really liked it. Of course, the experience is only as good as your CFI will make it, and it’s like this no matter what school you go to. A very high percentage of CFIs are only teaching to build time. Some will embrace the teaching, others will not. RFS knew I was there to get the program done in as little time as possible and they saw that I was dedicated and open to anything. I was there early in the morning and stayed late. If the wind was predicted to go down, I stayed at the school. It helps that our entire summer season is built around the idea that we have to go when the weather is good, so it was easy to have that mentality.
I’ve never been more nervous than I was the day of my check ride. But it was all worth it when I found out I passed. It doesn’t have to be something like flying, but I highly encourage you to do something that scares you, pushes you, and challenges you. You’ll feel amazing when you accomplish your goals.
