How it went

The day was almost standard. If anything, it was perhaps too low-pressure. The pressure at the surface of Renton Municipal Airport, 32 feet above sea level, was 29.60 inHg, rather than the standard 29.92 inHg.

Breakfast was eggs-in-the-nest with Dave's Killer Bread, a bunch of grapes, and a tall glass of 2% milk. I wasn't hungry enough to eat the banana.

Artist's rendition. The nest is actually buttered toast. Not pictured: bananas.

The temperature warmed from its initial standard conditions of 59ºF/15ºC to 73ºF/23ºC. Cruise performance would be midway between the center and right-hand columns of Cessna's cruise performance table in section 5 of the 172S Skyhawk's Pilot Information Manual. That's fine--I'd just be sipping a little less gas at 2500 RPM. And the checkride wasn't going to burn more than 15 gallons of the C172's 53 usable gallon capacity, anyway.

I had been looking forward to this day for two years. I had been ready in the fall of 2011, but mono, weather, a change of instructors, the school getting really popular, a determination to reach a normal BMI and never get fat again, and changing roles at work all took their toll on my training schedule. But now that that was all done, it was finally time to do what I could have done two years ago.

I got to the airport early to skim through the Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide one last time. Skimming through a book is free; the exam isn't.

The oral exam concluded around 2:15pm. I had skipped lunch on the strength of my breakfast, so I grabbed a Snickers. The 'E' in IMSAFE is Eat!

N639SP had just returned from her 100-hour inspection, trivializing the task of locating her maintenance logs. There were 7 crystal-clear quarts of fresh oil in the engine.

Both while climbing and while on final you could feel each of the day's variable wind's 5 knots shifting direction with the caprice of a bored dilettante. We never climbed above 2700 feet, so we had plenty of bumps from the terrain throughout the maneuvers. Because of the bumps, I increased my airspeed for slow flight and on final approach beyond what was necessary. There's being within PTS and there's being proud with your maneuvers, and I wasn't proud.

Anyway, I passed! This is my announcement! I am now a private pilot.

Here's where it happened.

I'm equal parts pleased with the accomplishment and frustrated that it happened two years later than it could have. I know that becoming-a-private-pilot-is-a-beginning-not-an-end, but it's a huge relief to have finished the end of the beginning, especially after such a delay.

I highly recommend aviation as a hobby for those with the means. Become a software developer, pay off your loans, build up your "oh *&@#$" money, and learn to fly.

Pro tip: don't get mono.<sup>1




1</sup>If you have to, kiss everyone in sight before starting your training. Stop being a baby about it and go contract a disease.<sup>2

2</sup>I'm kidding, of course...but only just. Seriously, don't get mono.